HEALING SILENT WOUNDS OF WAR: POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER(PTSD)

HEALING SILENT WOUNDS OF WAR: POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER(ptsd)
By, Martha Tassinari, Physical Therapist/Certified CranioSacral Therapist and Owner of South Shore Healing Center, Duxbury, MA

Are you a veteran who has been diagnosed with PTSD and is discouraged with your present treatment and you still are experiencing sleepless nights, difficulty focusing, flash backs, panic attacks, pain and anxiety?

Perhaps you are a civilian who recently experienced or witnessed a traumatic event and you feel stuck with painful memories that just don’t seem to go away.

When overwhelming feelings of stress, pain, and anxiety seem to rob you of your health and your life, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! When you have PTSD, it can seem like you will never heal from what happened or feel yourself again. There is HOPE and help is available.

If you are open and receptive to complementary ways of healing, ready to make your life a priority, and willing to reach out to others for support, CranioSacral Therapy maybe the gentle SOLUTION you’ve been looking for.

So what is CranioSacral Therapy? Craniosacral Therapy is a very gentle light touch therapy that releases tensions in the central nervous system which affects all other systems in our body. It allows your body to relax and self-correct. It releases tensions deep within the body to relieve pain and restrictions and improve whole-body health and performance.

CranioSacral Therapy helps to equalize the mobility and fluids of both sides of the brain as well as enhance the circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) throughout the brain and spinal cord.

The function of CSF is to protect the brain and spinal cord from trauma, deliver nutrients to the central nervous system, and is essential for optimal brain function. In addition, treatment focuses on releasing any abnormal compression on the cranium (skull) which assists in alleviating symptoms of depression.

Somatoemotional Release, a form of CranioSacral Therapy, is designed to help you in releasing your mind and body of the effects of the past trauma or injury. It is a highly effective form of treatment which transforms physical and emotional pain into a state of balance and well-being.

So what is PTSD? PTSD can occur after exposure to a traumatic event such as war, natural disasters, terrorists attacks, sudden death of a loved one, rape, kidnapping, sexual or physical abuse, and childhood neglect.

There are many signs and symptoms of PTSD. The following are the more prevalent symptoms: Insomnia, outbursts of anger, hypervigilance (on constant red alert), difficulty concentrating, intrusive thoughts, upsetting memories, flashbacks, nightmares, loss of interest, and feeling detached and emotionally numb.

Most people associate PTSD with our combat soldiers, who account for a significant amount of the cases; however, it can result from any experience where a person feels terrorized, threatened, or degraded.

John Upledger, an Osteopathic physician has done some excellent research on the role of CranioSacral therapy in addressing PTSD. He created a program called the “Vietnam Veteran Intensive Treatment Program” and found that the 22 veterans which participated in the program and received CranioSacral treatments had significant improvements in their PTSD symptoms.

Recently, I had the opportunity of working with some craniosacral therapists in the Boston area and we provided CranioSacral Therapy for some of our New England Veterans. I had the honor of working with a young veteran that was in Iraq. He was a bit skeptical at first. He had told me prior to his treatment that he had difficulty sleeping, limited ability to concentrate, chronic fatigue, some depression, and was having neck and right shoulder pain.

He responded well to treatment and he reported after his treatment that he felt that his pain had subsided, he felt energized and able to concentrate more and felt that some of his symptoms of depression had lifted. The other veterans who participated and received treatment from the other therapists also demonstrated a significant decrease in their PTSD symptoms.

The number one question these veterans had was “Why this treatment isn’t offered at the VA hospitals?” This is a great question and it is my mission to share this treatment with others and to have it available as another resource for people who are suffering from PTSD, chronic pain, stress and anxiety.

Many veterans receive treatment from the VA in the form of medication and talk therapy, but with limited results. A recently published statistic reveals that 15-20% of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well as 30% of Vietnam veterans experienced PTSD. About 5.2 million adults suffer from PTSD during a given year. In addition about 7-8% of people in the U.S will have PTSD at some point in their lives.

These statistics are truly disturbing and my hope and mission is to help those who are suffering from PTSD and allow them to reclaim their lives and bring awareness to our community.
Take the next step: Free yourself and reclaim your life with gentle light touch therapy.
I invite you to visit www.southshorehealing.com