Iraq War Veteran PTSD TAT Treatment

Over the weeks Bob and I continued working on what was distressing him at the time.  At one point he came in late, after getting lost because the sound of a truck and the weather reminded him of a particularly distressing event during a firefight in Iraq.  Although it was unpleasant for Bob, having been triggered on the way to my office was a fortunate event.  It made working on that particular image much easier because it was right at the surface.  Bob had basically had a full blown flash back (that is when it feels like you are reliving the old traumatic event).  Bob was able to stay in the present enough to get to my office and he was aware of himself enough to know that what was happening.  This is not always the case with people when they experiencing PTSD symptoms.

 

So with very little talking, we immediately began using TAT.  Bob responds extremely well to TAT and within a few minutes he was visibly calmer.  Bob reported that his vision had been foggy (indicating disassociation) and hid body had felt numb.  Now Bob was reporting that he felt centered, clear and grounded in his body.  We checked back on the image of the event that had triggered Bob and although he felt sad that a pregnant woman died in the fire fight, he was no longer haunted by it.  Unfortunately, since the fire fight was at night there was no way to know she was there.  Bob explained that even if they knew she was there she may have been part of the group that had fired on our marines.  When doing trauma work I know that an event is processed when there is the appropriate amount of emotion left and not an eraser of memories or emotions.

 

Be Well,

Lori

When Bob returned the following session the image that we targeted was still clear. He had been sleeping much but continued with some symptoms of PTSD. So we began working on another disturbing memory. As far as planning treatment, it was fairly easy at this point because Bob would come in with what was disturbing him the most and we would work on that so that each step made Bob’s burden a little lighter.
The next target was the MAMs (Military Age Men with dark skin as Bob explained). It was particularly disturbing if they were in as Bob described a man dress. Bob does not hold any bigotry but in Iraq he did not know who to trust or who would be the next person that could cause harm. Remember Iraq’s are fighting Iraq’s. So Bob want to be more comfortable with the MAMs.
After talking for awhile, and defining what we needed to work on we began using TAT again. Bob had encountered a MAM in a man dress recently in a convienence store and that became our starting off point for his distress. We used approximately 4 steps of TAT and Bob was relaxed and feeling more centered. Again Bob got that look on his face (look of focus and calm) and he said good much better. Each session with Bob last 60 minutes and in future sessions we include other therapies beside talking and TAT.
Be well until next week,
Lori