Treatment methods

Post-traumatic stress disorder: therapy – customised and multi-modal

A multi-modal approach has proven successful with respect to taking the various biological, psychological and social aspects of PTSD into account. We apply a variety of therapeutic techniques, taking your individual circumstances into account.

Conservative treatment methods

Post-traumatic stress disorder: Treatment in several phases

PTSD treatment consists of three phases: stabilisation, confrontation and integration.

Stabilisation
During the initial phase, the primary focus is on building a trusting and stable relationship between you and your therapist. You will learn to understand your reactions to what happened, how to regain a sense of security and the ability to trust and develop disassociation strategies. In addition, you will practice how to break down self-destructive behaviours and reduce tension. Imagination methods and creative therapies such as art or music therapy have proven successful with respect to disassociation.

Confrontation
Once you have been adequately stabilised, the next step is confrontation techniques. You and your therapists will develop situations that can be easily controlled and supported and supervised by the therapist. The objective is to understand the threat as something that happened in the past and integrate the trauma into your biography.

Integration
In the final step, you will learn to accept the trauma and its consequences. This is intended to prevent further disorders, mobilise social support and promote social and professional reintegration.

Therapeutic breaks can be scheduled between the individual treatment phases and trauma confrontation is not always sensible in every case.

Supplemental treatments

In addition to psychotherapeutic methods, at Schoen Clinic, we also offer you supplemental treatments such as relaxation techniques, as well as enjoyment and self-confidence training. The use of body-oriented methods has also proven successful. Creative therapies, such as art or music therapy, can make it easier for you to access and process visual memories.

Trauma group

In the trauma group, we encourage you to overcome your helplessness and psychosomatic symptoms as well as change limitations in your everyday life. With the help of psychotherapists and the other patients, you will learn to talk about your current stress. Be done with remaining silent and feeling isolated. Here, you will learn options for coping with stressful feelings and tension differently than you have to date. This will help you understand yourself and accept what you have experienced.

However, you do not deal with traumatic experiences in-depth in the group; this takes place in one-on-one therapy.

Resource groups

In the group, together with your therapist, you will develop strategies for controlling yourself and regulating your emotions with respect to handling the symptoms of PTSD. The objective is to achieve enough stability to allow you to control your symptoms and prevent them from getting more severe. In addition to behavioural therapeutic methods, forms of relaxation, the imagination and stress management are applied.

Art therapy

This secondary therapy offers you a way to express yourself when you don’t have the words. The focus is on your own active actions, recognising and implementing your own needs and practising self-care behaviour. You will work with a variety of materials in a group of a maximum of 8 participants and have discussions.

Psychotropic medications

If your symptoms are particularly severe, we can support the therapeutic process by administering medication. If the patient suffers from severe states of tension or agitation or stubborn sleep disorders, it may be helpful to use medications to combat symptoms of psychosis (anti-psychotics).
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Authors, 16.10.2019