Nurturing Spirit Acupuncture Healing ~ Growth ~ Vitality

Acupuncture for Recovery from Trauma and PTSD

Whether your traumatic experience happened recently or long ago, whether it resulted from military or foreign service, terrorism, a natural disaster, an accident, a serious illness, a medical procedure, the loss of a loved one, sexual assault, or physical, verbal, or sexual abuse, it can profoundly impact your life. You may feel constantly unsettled or unsafe. You may startle easily or find that you are hyper-sensitive to certain sights, sounds, smells, or physical sensations. It may be difficult to concentrate, remember or think clearly. Perhaps you have difficulty sleeping or are troubled by nightmares. Unwanted, vivid memories of traumatic incidents may replay themselves over and over in your mind. You may feel numb and disconnected from your life, or your emotions may feel chaotic and run the gamut from fear and anxiety to rage to guilt and shame and back again.

All of these symptoms may be interfering with your life, making it difficult to maintain relationships, work a steady job, or engage in activities you used to enjoy. You may find yourself withdrawing from others, avoiding public places, or even seeking out alcohol or drugs to numb your pain.

Fortunately, acupuncture is a safe, effective, and drug-free way to help people recover from the after-effects of trauma and return to living happier, fuller lives. In my years of practice, I have made PTSD and trauma an area of special study and I have used acupuncture to help many people suffering with these issues to heal and experience more peace, joy, and fulfillment. I firmly believe that nobody deserves to live with the pain and limitations imposed by PTSD, and I am committed to helping people recover.

Because acupuncture treats body, mind, and spirit as a seamless whole, it can simultaneously address the physical, mental, and emotional effects of trauma. By restoring balance to the nervous system, acupuncture can help tone down the activation of your sympathetic nervous system (aka "fight or flight" mode) and help you to relax back into parasympathetic activation (aka "rest and digest" mode). By treating areas of the body affected by trauma, acupuncture can help release the emotional pain that is being held in the body's tissues, helping you to process the feelings and memories, let them go, and move on. By harmonizing out-of-balance emotions, acupuncture can help you return to an appropriate relationship with fear, anger, and grief instead of feeling like they rule your life.  

If you are working with a psychotherapist to address your trauma, acupuncture can support that process and speed up your progress in therapy. Acupuncture treatment can be helpful regardless of whether or not you are taking medications for pain, depression, or anxiety. With time, consistent treatment, and your doctor's supervision, it may be possible to reduce or eliminate some or all of your medications.

Testimonial

*** For me, acupuncture with Kate has alleviated or reduced symptoms of a variety of health issues, especially some chronic ones – such as PTSD, migraines, poor sleep, stress, muscle pain, etc. And I truly enjoy my time with Kate, finding her to be a skillful listener, deeply empathetic, wise, and giving of concentrated attention. Kate is dedicated to my recovering health and a life in balance; I am grateful to her for an improved quality of life that I never thought I’d achieve.
- L.K.

For people recovering from traumatic experiences or PTSD, acupuncture can help:

• Calm anxiety
• Ease depression
• Reduce hypervigilance
• Promote restful sleep
• Alleviate nightmares
• Improve focus and memory
• Decrease irritability and angry outbursts
• Stabilize mood swings
• Reduce flashbacks
• Relax tight muscles
• Ease physical pain
• Process and release painful emotions