PTSD

                                  Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

It may surprise you to learn that many of your PTSD symptoms 
are not due to your trauma.

They are caused by your nervous system's 
response to your trauma!

Surprised?


Here's what happens

Whether your trauma is physical, mental, emotional, sexual, birth, medical or any other kind of trauma, your body responds by activating your basic survival mechanism, the fight-or-flight response.

It can now be clinically measured that when a trauma is great enough, you can actually get permanently stuck in a constant state of fight-or-flight.

After you've survived your trauma, this innate survival response is not only no longer needed, but may actually be causing many of your PTSD symptoms.

 

Here's what you need to understand

The symptoms of a nervous system chronically stuck in fight-or-flight are very often the same as those reported in PTSD!

This is not a coincidence, yet it is completely overlooked in most PTSD treatment regimens.

• Could it be that many of your post-trauma symptoms have less to do with your trauma itself, and more to do with your nervous system being stuck in fight-or-flight?

• Could it be that you might be spending your time and energy mistakenly treating your symptoms, and not the underlying cause of those symptoms?

The answer to both questions is an emphatic YES!


Testimonial:

When a trauma therapist referred me to Dr. Tessler, I was a mess. I had survived 7 years of cancer treatment and 4 years of an emotionally/verbally abusive marriage. It was the hardest decade of my life.

I had all the symptoms of PTSD: I felt emotionally numb and detached; I was hopeless about the future; I suffered from constant confusion and had short term memory problems; I couldn’t sleep through the night; and I was so tightly strung that I was constantly being startled. I felt totally burnt out and firmly stuck.

I had survived, but was stuck in survival mode. Every day I would get out of bed with one goal…just make it through another day. I lost my faith because I couldn’t believe I had survived cancer just to be in total misery…just existing.

I was very discouraged when I realized how long talk therapy would take to help me heal…to help me move forward, especially with my children growing up so fast! I was missing it all! I just didn’t have the ability to enjoy anyone or anything.

I was lucky enough to be pointed to Dr. Tessler’s website, FightorFlightTherapy.com. I took the quiz and scored 212. I met with Dr. Tessler and decided to give it a try. I followed the very simple instructions…it was so easy! Just sit and look at a special light for 20 minutes once or twice a day, and ‘just be.’ It was so simple, yet so effective.

As therapy progressed, I started seeing solutions to my problems. The veil of confusion was lifting. I was functioning again! My job became easy, I started working on my relationships, I felt peace, joy, and hope…I was finally unstuck…finally moving forward!

By the end of treatment, I felt I was flowing with the universe again…a feeling that eluded me for over a decade. Life became joyful again!

After completing the therapy, my score was 27. Really, 27! Fight or Flight Therapy was worth every penny and every minute. I have my life back!

Here's a perfect example

After a lifetime of treating her PTSD, here is how Fight or Flight Therapy changed this person's life.


Case Report

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

31 year old woman diagnosed with PTSD referred by her psychotherapist who specializes in trauma and EMDR

History                                                                                                                                                   
    very abusive childhood 
     food withheld, high expectations, sexual abuse in the family,         but not her(?) 
      eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia)
      intense SAD (winter depression)
      "massive clinical depression" in college
       panic attacks, couldn't leave the house
       years of counseling and medications needed to graduate 
       stage 3 breast cancer at age 27
       healthy for 3 years now

Symptoms and concerns

     extreme high stress
     anxiety: 9 out of 10 on the anxiety scale
     perceived as intense and hypervigilant
     nightmares:
          very light sleeper
          wakes 1-3 times per night and may not fall back asleep
          has vivid active exhausting nightmares
     fatigue and chronic low energy, due to constant:
          sleep deprivation
          extreme high stress 
          9 out of 10 anxiety
     horrible driver:
          6 auto accidents
          totaled 3 cars
          constantly surprised by cars around her
     poor immunity due to chronic stress:
          chronic pelvic pain
          recurrent kidney infections
          can be on antibiotics for weeks at a time
    "I've been surviving since the day I was born"

Initial Fight or Flight Questionnaire Score: 250

Personal goals for therapy

     1. to be calmer and less hypervigilant
     2. improved decision-making and problem solving
     3. to be able to see the 'big picture' and analyze the 
         individual parts
     4. improved ability to prioritize
     5. improved immune system

Initial comments

      "I've been working on these issues my whole life." 
       "I don't see how looking at a light is going to help."
       "I'm only here because my therapist insisted I come."


Fight or Flight Therapy

one month later

"I'm able to see the big picture of my whole life"
     for the first time ever
several things came up during the light therapy sessions
     able to work through them with her therapist
     very helpful

two months

"exciting improvement!"
nightmares were almost nightly
     now only one in the last 2 ½ weeks
packing for a trip used to take hours, now only 45 minutes
boyfriend says:
     less startle, less vigilance, less 'pounce'
both think the changes have been "really impressive"

three months

more of the same changes
     even calmer
     more focused
     a lot mellower
     less head chatter 
overall: "a lot more comfortable in my own skin"
hasn't felt the adrenalin rush since the first stage of therapy

Final evaluation (four months total)

handled IRS audit really well (would've been overwhelming before)
feels more integrated
      a new sense of ownership over all these new changes with light           therapy
major changes in close relationships (better, healthier)
better sense of how to take care of herself

Therapy Goals: final review

1. to be calmer and less hypervigilant: "excellent, huge change"

2. improved decision-making and problem solving: "dramatic"

3. to be able to see the 'big picture' and analyze the individual parts:
      "definitely, very capable of now"

4. improved ability to prioritize: 
       "one of the biggest changes, exceptional"

5. improved immune system 
       "no medical issues for months, even fewer colds"

 

Final Fight or Flight Questionnaire Score

Before Fight or Flight Therapy: 250   
 After Fight or Flight Therapy: 41 !!!


Susan Q

Fight or Flight Therapy has changed my life twice for the better. 

Both times, after car accidents, it returned my cognitive faculties, which is a great relief. It also has given me back a composure that is more resilient to stress because of no longer being constantly triggered. I have regained the ability to enjoy life in all areas and have a freedom that was previously hampered by the effects of PTSD.

The first time I experienced Fight or Flight Therapy, my life was in overwhelm. I was stressed, anxious, had to control everything and was hard to be with. I was a difficult person and my life felt out of control. I really wanted to recover so I did all the sessions and though at first it seemed a struggle to get through, because everything was a struggle at that time, after a while the sessions became easier. 14 years later going in with the knowledge that this therapy was easy and effective I could enjoy the quiet 20 min sessions. I got through my initial fidgetiness and by the end I looked forward to them, and the time went by faster than expected.

What helped was not having to control my thoughts. Letting the thoughts flow reduced any anxiety that was present because there was no judgement, except my own which I quickly got over, and wow did I have some good insights. Sometimes during the 20 minutes I would experience a release of emotions, and I could let them pour out in that solitude. It was an enormous amount of healing which brought about peace of mind. Peace of mind was one of my goals for this therapy. More joyful was the other and that has been achieved as well. 

The second time enlightened us that the traumas that affected me the first time were no longer influencing my brain processing. There weren't any old PTSD triggers. However, I was being treated for trauma that happened during the interim 14 years. That knowledge in itself showed us how effective this therapy is because I was able to handle those interim experiences with far more resilience than I had previously.

Dr. Tessler was easy to be with due to his professional comportment along with his innate kindness and humor. His assessments were conducted in a relaxed manner and were encouraging as well as informative. The equipment is easy to use and if you love color, a delight to experience. Fight or Flight Therapy has enriched my life immensely.
  

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