When is it time to get help?

If you are struggling with the above symptoms and feeling like life itself is hard, it’s time to seek help.

Trauma and PTSD in military personnel is a serious condition and should be treated as soon as possible. “In 2017, the VSMS measured the magnitude of suicide in the CAF Veteran population. Both males and females were significantly more likely to die by suicide than the Canadian general population over the approximately four decades examined.”^[1]

If you, or someone you know is considering suicide, and is in a dangerous or life-threatening situation, please call 911 or proceed to your nearest emergency room.

For immediate help outside of our office hours, throughout Alberta, please call 211 or one of the following distress lines:

• Edmonton:  The Crisis Centre call 780 482 HELP (4357)
• Greater Edmonton region: Rural Distress Line at 1-800-232-7288.
• Calgary: 403 266 HELP (4357)

Military related trauma treatment methods

You and your therapist will find one that’s right for you and your unique circumstances. There are several treatment methods that have been shown to be effective in treating trauma and PTSD.

• Eye movement desensitization reprocessing therapy (EMDR) is defined by EMDR Canada as an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma and many other mental health problems that utilized bilateral eye stimulation or somatic responding.
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based approach to treatment that focuses on how people’s thoughts, emotions, and beliefs influence their behaviour and how they perceive themselves.
• Virtual reality assisted therapy (VRAT) is a computer-based system that allows a user to experience a sense of presence in a computer-generated or video presented three-dimensional environment. It’s a form of therapy that utilizes the immersive experience that VR technology provides to support individuals who experience anxiety related to common fears or phobias.
• Hypnosis and hypnotherapy can allow clients to travel deeper into the unconscious or subconscious to look at and work with issues and ideas perhaps inaccessible otherwise. It’s like guided daydreaming: a form of relaxed concentration.
• Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) is an effective, research-backed, non-invasive process in which a focused magnetic field stimulates under-active brain cells, activates them to work more efficiently and transforms lives through symptom reduction. rTMS can be particularly effective when used to treat severe depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, OCD, chronic pain, migraines, post concussion symptoms, and burnout that has not fully responded to conventional treatments (medication/therapy).