Victims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) know exactly what it’s like to live inside their head years after a life-altering traumatic experience. PTSD is a disorder that develops after an individual directly or indirectly experiences a traumatic event, such as the following:
• Combat
• Domestic violence
• Rape
• Miscarriage
• Emotional/mental abuse
• Car accident
• Loss of a loved one
• Natural disaster
To be diagnosed with PTSD, one has to report symptoms such as panic attacks, insomnia, and depression that have persisted for at least one month; however, symptoms don’t always appear immediately after the event. They could emerge months or years after the incident.
Reliving the Past in the Present: PTSD Flashbacks
Memories of the dangerous, life-threatening or shocking event can be replayed at any moment during your waking hours if triggers are present. It could be a scent or a scene in a movie that sends forth a stream of images in your mind, forcing you to relive the nightmare whether you want to or not. Sometimes these vivid flashbacks are temporary; other times, they could be so powerful that it dissociates you from reality and you can’t really tell what’s going on around you as your subconscious recalls every graphic detail of the incident. It’s a nightmare from which you can’t wake up until it’s over. To numb the emotional pain of vivid recalls, people often turn to drugs and alcohol to bury those memories.
Why Traditional Therapy Doesn’t Work for PTSD
Talk therapy isn’t for everyone. In fact, in many cases, it can actually worsen the symptoms of PTSD! When individuals experience a traumatic event, the conscious and subconscious parts of their brains process information differently. Talk therapy engages the conscious part of the mind, which is equivalent to only 12% of the brain. The other 88% remembers events in terms of stories, metaphors, and symbols, according to Michele Rosenthal, author of Your Life after Trauma: Powerful Practices to Reclaim Your Identity. The distinction between the conscious and subconscious explains why you could try positive self-talk and still experience physiological symptoms such as heart palpitations and cold sweats.
How Wolf-Assisted Therapy Helps
When traditional face-to-face talk therapy doesn’t work, addiction therapists resort to wolf-assisted therapy to try to connect with their clients. The primal connection between animal and man somehow disarms one’s primitive instinct for self-protection. According to UCLA Health, wolf-assisted therapy and other types of animal-assisted therapies have a plethora of benefits, including but not limited to:
• Automatic relaxation
• Mood elevation
• Lower anxiety levels
• Reduces/eliminates loneliness
• Removes initial barriers/resistance to therapy
• Lowers physical pain
• Provides more enjoyment during therapy sessions
• Releases endorphins
• Increases social interaction
Animal-Assisted Therapy at the Nation’s Best Center for Addiction Treatment
At New Method Wellness, one of the nation’s best alcohol and drug rehab centers, you will find a wide array of holistic therapy programs that will help release you from PTSD’s time capsule so you can move forward. Our skilled clinicians and addiction therapists have helped thousands of clients overcome symptoms of PTSD while breaking free from the shackles of alcohol and drug addiction. Are you looking for an alternative method because nothing else has worked? Try something different and revolutionary. Check out our heartfelt testimonials and the Dr. Phil Show to hear what others have to say about us.
For more information about our treatment programs, call 866.951.1824 today!
