Therapy for PTSD -- How Long?

I've been wondering how long it normally takes for a person with Complex PTSD to heal? I've been in therapy for 6 years, but still know I have alot of work to do on my issues. Have others with PTSD or Complex PTSD been in therapy as long as I have or longer?

I can personally tell you that ive been in therapy on and off yet consistant for 11 yrs. therapy i have come to think is much like ptsd you deal with a part of it your better so you take a break then itpops up again and you enter therapy more intensley. Like me i thought i was done with this but only come to realize that i was doing something else to cope something that wasn/t healthy for me and now 2yrs later im seeing my T everyday and callling him for the past almost 2 months b/c its started again. I'm told the need for therapy and then one day you realize you don't need it as much. good luck in recovery.

emergingtoo

How long is a piece of string?

I have been in the mental health system for many years and been in therapy for 4 years so far (every week!) I'm guessing that I'm maybe half way through it.

As you probably know, if you have been through severe trauma, it takes a long time to recover.

Let the therapy process take as long as is needed.( I know it is really frustrating - I often feel, this is taking forever!)

emergingtoo, you are not alone with this.

That depends on the person in therapy, why they have PTSD (panic attacks, flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, depression), and what they are willing to do to take care of it (therapy is only as good as what the client puts into it. A therapist cannot fix a person. Sometimes it takes time for the client to realize this and that 98% of therapy is the person doing things on their own like therapy "homework", journal writing, sometimes a workbook or two, and so on. Someone who is not willing to answer questions and talk about what is wrong and do suggested activities and homework is not going to get anywhere and may need more possibly years of therapy then someone who goes into it with the attitude of I don't like what is happening and I want it gone and I will do anything to get rid of it who will need less amount of therapy time. Sometimes people go into therapy and everything gets taken care of and ends therapy sessions and then something in their life sends the PTSD symptoms back out of control so the person needs to enter therapy again.

If the person is court mandated into therapy they must attend therapy until the court releases them from therapy based on the therapists reports.

People in therapy on their own - Some only need a few sessions and others need years worth of sessions. Some go for a while and then take a break and then go back.

Basically the criteria for not needing any more therapy is set by the person in therapy and the therapist that they are seeing. Therapy ends when one or both feel that the PTSD symptoms are in control. They no longer have frlashbacks, nightmares, panic attacks or they can handle them without needing their therapists helpby using their new coping tools learned in therapy.

I have been in and out of therapy for 23 years.

<font color="blue"> Hi emerging! I was disabled in an industrial accident over 19 years ago. Because of the severity of the trauma, the delay in receiving medical attention, and the attitude of those working the system "against" me... it has been a constant process for me.

I am in psychotherapy for all of those years, going from 1x a week to 2x to 3x now for many, many years.

How quickly someone gets help for a trauma has been shown to have better results for regaining normalcy in life. There is no "cure" for PTSD, though.
You can heal to where it no longer intrudes into your daily life.

The process cannot be rushed. The mind/brain requires whatever time it requires to properly refile the trauma memories. You can learn all the right things to think, the things to say, but until the brain clicks... you know what I mean?

It's a path of healing where the question "how long" has no place. As my T's partner told me, what difference does it make how long it takes, as long as (you know) you are on the right path?

TC. PTSD is quite a beast, for sure.

In the book about PTSD, "I Can't Get Over It," it says that it's possible to get rid of PTSD, but only if you remove yourself from the traumatic situation and then have deep therapy for a long time. It doesn't say how long, though (depends on the person, I'm sure).

Wish I could be of more help. I'd like the answer to your question, myself...

Good point Oh. (and welcome) If you are still in a fearful life situation, you really can't begin to heal because you are still reacting to an ongoing event.

It takes as long as it takes.

The injury itself is timeless. It comes to us, across time, as if time didn't intervene at all.

Time is not a valid concept, with respect to traumatic injury, and healing therefrom.

I've been at it for eight years. More than that, if you count the times that I started and stopped again. Half my life?

Up until the time of my healing event (that's how it was for me), I saw many signs of progress, but no sign of healing. Now, it is different.

I had to get ready. And when I was ready, it happened. I figured it out. Before I figured it out, I didn't have it figured out. Ya know?

The light bulb was off. Now it is on.

Lar

I was in intensive therapy for 5 years and had only just hit the surface!

I think it all depends on the person.

you have to define what it means to heal . . . what would be healing for you?

i think healing is a process. there's no specific formula or timetable.

for me, i have a few goals to meet for me to consider myself as healed. #1 goal for recovery would be having no more panic attacks. the list goes on for me . . . .