{"id":7973,"date":"2024-12-22T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-22T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7973"},"modified":"2024-12-22T21:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-22T21:30:00","slug":"veteran-looks-to-the-future-after-prolonged-exposure-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7973","title":{"rendered":"Veteran looks to the future after prolonged exposure therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 2024-12-22T21:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n

Ren\u00e8 Toney\u2019s situation was bad. She lost her job, her wife and almost her home and her life. That was before her prolonged exposure (PE) therapy.<\/p>\n

Toney hadn\u2019t slept for three days and doesn\u2019t remember much about her experience, but she knows she owes her life to the Veterans Crisis Line<\/a> responder who is the reason she woke up in the hospital.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was then that Toney (pictured above) agreed to stop saying no and said yes to a residential rehabilitation and treatment program<\/a> at Coatesville VA<\/a> to treat the post-traumatic stress disorder<\/a> (PTSD) she had been experiencing for more than 20 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, just two days before going home, this combat Veteran stands on the edge of tomorrow and reflects on the treatment program while looking forward to doing the work in front of her to repair the relationships in her life.<\/p>\n

Chaos and crisis<\/h2>\n

By the time Toney arrived at Coatesville VA, there was one thing she was sure of.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I realized when I got here was that I was going to have to get really brutally honest and accept whatever treatment was coming my way,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n

The traumatic events that fueled her PTSD happened in the 1990s. Toney spent more than 20 years in and out of counseling, detox and rehab programs in the private sector. The medication-only treatment they offered fell short, and she continued to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. She wasn\u2019t always able to suppress memories and would relive moments over and over in her head.<\/p>\n

The chaos and crises in her life grew more frequent and intense. Eventually her wife left and she was fired from her job. Toney was on the verge of losing her house as well. The only things she hadn\u2019t lost on the day she called the Crisis Line were a few friends, her therapy dog, Jackson, who remains by her side 24\/7, and her life.<\/p>\n

Prolonged exposure therapy<\/h2>\n

When Toney\u2019s psychologist challenged her to go back to the moments she was constantly reliving and talk about them using a process called prolonged exposure therapy<\/a>, she wasn\u2019t comfortable with the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t. You don\u2019t understand. I\u2019ve been trying to push \u2018these demons\u2019 down and now you want me to not only talk about it but talk about it in first person? I don\u2019t know how that\u2019s going to work,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n

Prolonged exposure therapy, or talk therapy, is psychotherapy for PTSD. It is just one type of exposure treatment that assists patients in gradually approaching difficult memories, feelings and thoughts related to their trauma. By repeatedly recalling and processing avoided memories, individuals can decrease or eliminate many or most of their symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n

Nightfall was a trigger for Toney, causing her to \u201cget ready for the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I don\u2019t have the fear of the nighttime. That anxiety doesn\u2019t start around dusk because the fight is over. For the first time in my life, I don\u2019t hear chatter or voices. I can go to bed at nighttime. Not only am I getting to sleep, staying asleep, I feel rested,\u201d she said of her experience with PET.<\/p>\n

Toney is now looking forward to the days in front of her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real world isn\u2019t going to be this kind and nice and gentle and understanding about where you\u2019ve been and where you are. But I\u2019ve never been more equipped to deal with those issues. As anxiety provoking as it is, as uncertain as it is, I\u2019m looking forward to it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

If you are a Veteran who is finding it hard to manage your PTSD, talk to your care provider about your PTSD treatment options. Are you a Veteran in crisis or concerned about one? You don\u2019t have to be enrolled in VA benefits or health care to call the Veterans Crisis Line<\/a>. Simply Dial 988 then press 1.<\/p>\n

\n

Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Combat Veteran faces the traumatic events of her PTSD during prolonged exposure therapy and looks forward to the days to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-news"],"yoast_head":"\nVeteran looks to the future after prolonged exposure therapy - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Combat Veteran faces the traumatic events of her PTSD during prolonged exposure therapy and looks forward to the days to come.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7973\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Veteran looks to the future after prolonged exposure therapy - 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