For adults, teens, and families
Trauma and PTSD Counseling in Tulsa
Trauma changes how you live. It does not have to stay that way.
Trauma is not only what happened to you. It is what your mind and body kept carrying long after it ended. Our counselors use EMDR and other evidence-based trauma therapies to help you process what you went through, so the past stops deciding how you feel today.
When the past still feels present
Why does it still feel like it is happening?
Trauma can happen when a distressing event, or a series of events, causes intense fear, emotional pain, intrusive thoughts, hypervigilance, or a sense of helplessness that overwhelms your ability to cope. It looks different for everyone, because your mind, body, history, and support system all shape how an experience gets processed.
Many people recover gradually on their own. Others keep living with symptoms that interfere with daily life, and may develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD is not a sign of weakness. It is a survival response that stayed switched on after the danger passed.
Start With A Free ConsultationHow it shows up
Symptoms In The Mind And The Body
PTSD does not only live in your thoughts. The nervous system stays braced for danger, so it shows up in the body too.
Open any area below to see what it can look like.
Mind and Memory
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Traumatic memories can feel present instead of past.
Flashbacks
Nightmares
Intrusive thoughts
Unwanted memories
Triggers
Difficulty concentrating
Feeling like it is happening again
Body and Nervous System
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The body stays braced for danger that has already passed.
Hypervigilance
Exaggerated startle response
Muscle tension
Rapid heartbeat
Difficulty sleeping
Fatigue
Headaches
Digestive problems
Chronic pain
Hard to calm down
Emotions and Mood
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Feelings can swing hard, or go flat altogether.
Constant anxiety or fear
Emotional numbness
Irritability
Anger
Guilt
Shame
Negative changes in mood
Difficulty feeling positive emotions
Relationships and Self
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Trauma can reshape how you see yourself and other people.
Isolation or withdrawal
Difficulty trusting people
Feeling detached
Avoiding reminders
Loss of interest in things you loved
More conflict than usual
Negative beliefs about yourself
Symptoms and their severity vary from person to person. A qualified mental health professional can help
determine whether what you are experiencing meets the criteria for PTSD or another trauma related condition.
When it was not just once
Complex PTSD Explained
Complex PTSD is a trauma related condition that can develop after prolonged, repeated, or difficult to escape trauma. That may include ongoing childhood abuse, domestic violence, severe neglect, trafficking, captivity, or repeated interpersonal trauma.
PTSD is often tied to a single traumatic event, such as a serious car accident, a sudden loss, an assault, or a natural disaster. Complex PTSD is more often tied to trauma that continued over a long stretch of time, especially when it happened inside an important relationship or during childhood.
Complex PTSD carries the core symptoms of PTSD plus three additional areas of difficulty, known as Disturbances in Self Organization.
01
Severe emotional dysregulation
Difficulty managing intense emotions, calming the nervous system, or recovering after becoming overwhelmed.
02
Persistent negative self perception
Ongoing shame, low self worth, self blame, or the belief that something is fundamentally wrong with you.
03
Chronic relationship difficulties
Struggles with trust, emotional closeness, boundaries, conflict, or keeping relationships healthy and secure.
Complex PTSD is recognized as a separate diagnosis in the World Health Organization's ICD-11. In the United States, clinicians using the DSM-5-TR may describe these symptoms using PTSD and other related diagnoses.
Take the First Step Toward
Counseling in Tulsa
How we treat it
Trauma Focused Treatment Approaches
Every person's story and healing journey are unique. We walk alongside each client and tailor treatment to their experiences, needs, values, and counseling goals, whether that means reducing distressing symptoms, processing traumatic memories, strengthening emotional regulation, or rebuilding a sense of safety.
CPT
Cognitive Processing Therapy
Helps you recognize and challenge unhelpful beliefs related to the trauma, including beliefs about safety, trust, control, self worth, and responsibility.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
Helps the brain process distressing memories so they feel more connected to the past and become less emotionally overwhelming in the present.
PE
Prolonged Exposure Therapy
Helps you gradually and safely approach trauma related memories, emotions, and situations you have been avoiding, so fear and distress can decrease over time.
Treatment recommendations are based on each client's needs, readiness, symptoms, and goals.
Your counselor will work with you to determine the most appropriate approach.
When the past still feels present
Could EMDR be helpful?
Past experiences can keep influencing your emotions, beliefs, relationships, or physical reactions, even when you know you are safe in the present. EMDR may be worth considering when distressing experiences still affect the way you feel or respond today.
Reduce emotional intensity
Helps reduce the emotional intensity connected to distressing memories.
Keep you in control
You remain awake, aware, and in control throughout the process.
Share what you want
Processing a memory does not require you to share every detail aloud.
Develop healthier perspective
EMDR can help shift negative beliefs into positive, preferred beliefs about yourself.
Who you will work with
Meet Your Trauma Counselors
Our licensed Oklahoma counselors understand the complexities of trauma, PTSD, and Complex PTSD. We provide experienced, trauma informed care grounded in empathy, compassion, and respect.
Before you book, we spend fifteen minutes learning what you are working through, then point you to the counselor whose training and manner fit. You are never assigned to whoever happens to be open.
Kristi Patovisti
Licensed Counselor and Founder
EMDR trained. Works with trauma, PTSD, and Complex PTSD alongside anxiety, grief, and family work.
Read full bio →Julia Sullivan
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
EMDR trained. Brings a trauma informed approach to individuals working through what they are still carrying.
Read full bio →