PTSD & Seniors
Over the 3 decades of practicing as a psychotherapist specializing in PTSD I have learned something new every day. Currently as I am moving more into being an elder clinician I am meeting many other elders from all walks of life who have never understood that they were suffering from symptoms of PTSD, or if they did know, had not found effective treatment for their symptoms. It really surprised me at first to find so many people reach their senior years carrying an undiagnosed condition that has quietly taken the wind out from under their wings for decades. And it has been one of my greatest pleasures to share the modalities of healing from my "collection" with people who have been waiting for so long to feel better.
They’ve managed to tend to their duties and responsibilities under great stress. They’ve been holding jobs, raising families, companies and pets. While meeting responsibilities they have carried a heavy load of stress. Energies taxed all the while with feeling a weight they couldn’t quite name. These are the working worried: the ones who push through anxiety, sadness, or chronic pain because they’ve never known life any other way.
For some, the root cause was suspected but never confirmed. For others, it was never even imagined. The hidden culprit? Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
PTSD doesn’t always look like the movies. I have treated it clinically for decades and it is always somewhat unique in the life of each person coping with it. It can wear the face of exhaustion, irritability, over-functioning, chronic pain, avoidance, a constant sense of impending trouble, or no sense of having a future. Many people have sought help along the way — and were sometimes labeled with depression, anxiety, or conditions. Some have even been diagnosed — but never quite received the care that allowed them to understand and reduce their suffering.
Recognizing this hidden thread late in life can bring a strange mix of grief and relief. Yet it’s never too late to find clarity, healing, and peace. In fact many people feel drawn toward that seeking of the light of understanding and healing as they reach the time of being an elder. We have been told that these would be golden years to seek contentment. The mind and body want to heal — they simply need the right kind of understanding and support. In fact, human development, healing and maturation is a part of our human nature. We do not need to create healing, as it is a force of nature. Our work in this time is to understand the nature of our obstacles to healing and growth, and soften or shift them. The beauty and integrity of nature then can continue it’s path, taking us each to the inner and outer experiences we need to experience contentment, integrity authenticity and a sense of peace. These are the ingredients that make an older person a true elder.
PTSD healing in later life is not only possible — it can become one of the most meaningful chapters of a person’s development. With an effective blend of education about the causes and effects of PTSD, training in relaxation skills, cognitive and emotional healing and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) so much changes. The same life experience that once weighed upon us with pain and confusion often carries within it the seeds of wisdom and compassion. The numbness of coping in the dark opens up into a renewed vividness of the present moment. Complications tame into the simplicity of deep contact with the here and now.
When trauma begins to loosen its grip, what emerges is not the person we were before the trauma, but the person we were always meant to become: grounded, discerning, and kind. Healing from trauma is less about erasing the past and more about integrating it, allowing the nervous system to find safety again, and the heart to trust its own rhythm. Over time, this integration ripens into a kind of quiet integrity — a natural contentment that comes from knowing one’s truth, one’s limits, and one’s place in the flow of life.
If you suspect you may be dealing with PTSD that has not yet had effective treatment please reach out to me today. I am able to accept Medicare and several forms of Medicare Advantage, and some commercial health plans. You don't have to try to figure this out alone anymore. Email : vickivanwinkle@gmail.com
