The video for this presentation is available on our Youtube channel: https://youtube.com/allceuseducation A continuing education course for this presentation can be found at https://www.allceus.com/member/cart/index/index?c= Unlimited Counseling CEUs for $59 https://www.allceus.com/ Specialty Certificate tracks starting at $89 https://www.allceus.com/certificate-tracks/ Live Webinars $5/hour https://www.allceus.com/live-interactive-webinars/ CEs can be earned for this presentation and more at: https://www.allceus.com/member/cart/index/search?q=PTSD Pinterest: drsnipes Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/allceuseducation Counselor Toolbox Podcast: https://allceus.com/counselortoolbox Nurses, addiction and mental health counselors, social workers and marriage and family therapists can earn continuing education credits (CEs) for this and other course at:

1. Instructor: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes Ph.D., LMHC, CRC, NCC
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 |
Webinars $5 | Specialty
Certificates $89

2.  Highlight the functional nature of most behaviors
and reactions
 Define PTSD
 Examine the function and meaning of PTSD
symptoms
 Develop an understanding of why some people
develop PTSD and others do not
 Explore useful interventions for persons with
PTSD
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

3.  Humans and animals experience reactions to
prompt behavior
◦ Anger/Fight
◦ Fear/Flight
 Reactions are responses designed to
◦ Protect life
◦ Achieve a reward/avoid punishment
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

4.  PTSD: Traditional exposure to an event or multiple
events
◦ Military
◦ Crime Victims
 Gradual Onset PTSD: repeated exposure to horrific
or threatening events causing a sense of
helplessness
◦ Law Enforcement
◦ Military
◦ Child Abuse/Neglect
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

5.  Exposure to a horrifying event in which there was a
sense of helplessness
 For each symptom that follows, we will identify
◦ The function
◦ What triggers that symptom or exacerbates it
◦ How the person deals with/mitigates that symptom
◦ Other things he or she could do
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

6.  Re-experiencing the traumatic event
◦ Intrusive, upsetting memories of the event
◦ Flashbacks (acting/feeling like the event is
happening again)
◦ Nightmares
◦ Feelings of intense distress when reminded
◦ Intense physical (panic) reactions to reminders
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

7.  PTSD symptoms of avoidance and emotional
numbing
◦ Avoiding reminders of the trauma
◦ Inability to remember important aspects of the
trauma
◦ Loss of interest in activities and life in general
◦ Feeling detached from others or emotionally numb
◦ Sense of a limited future
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

8.  PTSD symptoms of increased arousal
◦ Difficulty falling or staying asleep
◦ Irritability or outbursts of anger
◦ Difficulty concentrating
◦ Hypervigilance (on constant “red alert”)
◦ Feeling jumpy and easily startled
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

9.  Anger and irritability
 Guilt, shame, or self-blame
 Substance abuse
 Depression and hopelessness
 Suicidal thoughts and feelings
 Feeling alienated and alone
 Feelings of mistrust and betrayal
 Headaches, stomach problems, chest pain
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

10.  Similarity to the victim (or being the victim)
 Proximity to your safe zones (home, work)
 Social support after the trauma
 History of mental health problems
 Number of stressors in the past 6 months
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

11.  If you were not the victim, how were you
similar to the victim?
 How are people around you similar to the
perpetrators?
 What was (or would have been) helpful for
people to do after the trauma?
 Who can you rely on to do those things now?
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

12.  What can you do to take back your “safe zones”
 How can your protect yourself from this in the
future?
 How did the experience change
◦ How you view things?
◦ What is important to you?
◦ How you will live your life now?
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

13.  Function
◦ Balances neurochemicals
◦ Helps reduce cortisol
◦ May improve adrenal fatigue
 Safety
◦ Environmental (Feng Shui)
◦ Common sense
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

14.  Anchoring
◦ (So when you awake you can stay in/get in the present
mom)
◦ Lights
◦ Safety item/dog
 Stimuli
◦ Sounds
◦ Smells
◦ Sights
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

15.  Routine
◦ Let your body know when it is time to sleep
◦ Find ways to release stress and tension
 Medication
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

16.  Brainstorm different ways to create safety
◦ At home
◦ At night
◦ In the car
◦ At your office
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

17.  Nonjudgmental people
 Available 24/7
 Empathetic
 Help to meet health and safety needs
 Handle the details
◦ People in shock/traumatized cannot remember
squat. They need people to prompt them and write
things down
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

18.  Some things you logically know are not
threatening but still evoke a startle response
◦ Acknowledge the event
◦ Be kind to yourself
◦ Recognize the value of the startle response
◦ Identify times when your startle response might be
greater (i.e. library vs. restaurant)
◦ Identify ways to mitigate your startle response
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

19.  Some beliefs about safety, happiness, or people/situations in
general can be distorted by trauma. Ask yourself:
◦ What happened?
◦ What is the belief?
◦ Is this belief based on facts or feelings?
◦ How reliable is the source?
◦ Are you using extreme words?
◦ Is the belief based on only part of the picture?
◦ In what ways does this belief protect you?
◦ In what ways does this belief impair your life?
◦ How can you best use your energy?
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

20.  Overgeneralization
 Control fallacy
◦ You could have controlled it
◦ You can change it (If I would have…)
 All-or-Nothing Thinking
 Catastrophizing
 Grandiosity
 Personalization
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

21. Can’t squeeze blood from a turnip
 Emotional Health
 Physical health
◦ Exercise
◦ Nutrition
◦ Sleep
 Socialization
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

22.  A grief process
◦ Loss of control
◦ Loss of a sense of safety
◦ Loss of hope
◦ Loss of idealism
◦ Loss of ___________________________
 Grief Stages
◦ Denial
◦ Anger
◦ Bargaining
◦ Depression
◦ Acceptance
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

23.  What losses did you experience as a result of the
trauma
 For each loss:
◦ What about this makes you angry?
◦ How can you deal with this anger healthfully?
◦ Anger protects you and pushes people away. What do you
still need to be protected from?
◦ Depression signals a sense of hopelessness or helplessness.
About what can you be hopeful? Empowered?
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89

24.  PTSD can be from a single event or multiple, ongoing
stressors
 Traumatic Events can change people’s beliefs about the
world in an extreme way
 For some people understanding the function of the
symptoms can help them
◦ Desensitize
◦ Modify their beliefs
◦ Make positive, mindful choices
AllCEUs Unlimited CE $59 | Webinars $5 | Specialty Certificates $89