The Struggle With PTSD

As I have stated in recent posts, most of us have experienced some type of trauma in our lives. However, depending on many things, including the severity of the situation and our own resiliency, we may have been about to bounce back with few repercussions.

Yet for many people this is not true. We are not surprised to hear of combat Vets who struggle with PTSD. It is probably easy to imaging that firefighters and police officers can struggle with PTSD. But you might be surprised to learn that anyone who has suffered a trauma can suffer from PTSD. This article in The Herald Palladium talks about many other situations that may cause someone to struggle with PTSD.

The statistics are daunting “Seventy percent of the adult population in the United State has experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives”. Folks, that means if you count out 10 people, 7 of them have experienced trauma in their lives and many of them have not found a path to healing.

We see it in the clients we work with. Many of our clients are children and teens in foster care, or how have been adopted out of foster care. Sadly, since the new guidelines for taking children/teens into protective custody are that they must be in ‘imminent danger,’ you can only imagine what they have been through. It should be no surprise that these kids struggle. They may lack personal boundaries. They may have real difficulty focusing and staying on task. They may be quick to shut down or lash out. But there is hope for these kiddos.

Good therapeutic interventions can make a difference. Nevada Equine Assisted Therapy can be a powerful part of the treatment team. We work with children and young as 4, teens, adults and even seniors. We are familiar with and embrace Trauma Informed Practices in our work and encourage care gives to become aware of the special needs of those who have  experienced trauma.

We work one-on-one with the client and the horse of their chose (we have 6 full size horses, plus to miniature horses in our herd) to address their specific challenges. Increasing focus. Decreasing Impulsivity. Learning and implementing calming/self-soothing/coping skills. Setting healthy personal boundaries and much more.

If you or someone you know, a child, a teen or an adult, are struggling with anxiety, depression or PTSD, seek help! There are many resources available in our community and we are here to help. Give us a call or send us an email and we can schedule a time for you to come out to the ranch. We will show you around, introduce you to our horses, learn more about what you are dealing with and share how we may be able to help.