- 1920 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd #211, West Palm Beach, FL 33409
- Telehealth: Serving clients throughout Florida
Skip to content Do you find yourself reliving a traumatic experience as though it is happening all over again? Are you haunted by nightmares, flashbacks, or intrusive memories that appear without warning and leave you shaken and exhausted? Do you feel constantly on edge — scanning your environment for danger, startling easily, or struggling to feel safe even when there is no obvious threat?
Perhaps you have withdrawn from people and activities you once loved, feeling emotionally numb or disconnected from your own life. Maybe you find yourself avoiding anything that reminds you of what happened — certain places, people, sounds, or situations — because the reminder alone is overwhelming. Or perhaps you are struggling with intense shame, guilt, or the persistent belief that what happened was somehow your fault.
If any of this sounds familiar, you may be experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder — and you are not alone.
PTSD is not a sign of weakness. It is not a character flaw. It is the mind and body’s response to an experience that was genuinely overwhelming — an experience that the nervous system has not yet been able to fully process and integrate. With the right support and the right treatment, healing is possible.
At Whole Health Psychological Center, our team of licensed therapists provides compassionate, evidence-based PTSD treatment in West Palm Beach and throughout Florida. We offer in-person sessions at our West Palm Beach office and telehealth sessions for clients throughout Florida.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental health condition that can develop after a person experiences or witnesses a traumatic event. While it is commonly associated with combat veterans, PTSD can affect anyone who has experienced any kind of overwhelming trauma — regardless of age, background, or the nature of the traumatic event.
Traumatic events that can lead to PTSD include physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, assault or violent crime, serious accidents or natural disasters, medical trauma or life-threatening illness, the sudden loss of a loved one, childhood neglect or adverse childhood experiences, domestic violence, combat or military service, and witnessing violence or a traumatic event involving others.
PTSD develops when the brain’s normal memory processing system becomes overwhelmed and the traumatic memory becomes “stuck” — stored in a raw, unprocessed form that continues to intrude on daily life rather than being integrated as a past event. Understanding this neurological basis of PTSD helps explain why willpower alone is rarely sufficient to resolve it — and why targeted, trauma-informed therapy is so effective.
PTSD symptoms typically fall into four main categories. Not everyone with PTSD experiences all of these symptoms, and the severity and pattern of symptoms varies from person to person.
Re-experiencing symptoms including flashbacks where you feel as though the traumatic event is happening again, intrusive memories or images that appear unexpectedly, nightmares about the trauma, and intense emotional or physical reactions when reminded of what happened.
Avoidance symptoms including avoiding thoughts, feelings, or reminders connected to the trauma, withdrawing from people and activities, emotional numbing or feeling detached from your own life, and losing interest in things that once brought you joy.
Negative changes in thinking and mood including persistent negative beliefs about yourself or the world, feelings of shame, guilt, or self-blame, difficulty experiencing positive emotions, and feeling estranged or disconnected from others.
Hyperarousal symptoms including being constantly on alert for danger, being easily startled, difficulty sleeping, irritability or angry outbursts, difficulty concentrating, and engaging in reckless or self-destructive behavior.
It is also common for PTSD to co-occur with depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. Our therapists are experienced in working with the full complexity of trauma and its often far-reaching effects.
Effective PTSD treatment requires approaches that work not just at the cognitive level but at the level of the nervous system — addressing the way the traumatic memory is stored and processed in the body and brain. Our therapists use the most evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches available.
EMDR is one of the most powerful and extensively researched treatments for PTSD available. It uses bilateral stimulation — typically guided eye movements — to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories so they lose their overwhelming emotional charge. EMDR is endorsed by the World Health Organization, the American Psychological Association, and the Department of Veterans Affairs as a first-line treatment for PTSD. Many clients experience profound relief from PTSD symptoms through EMDR in a relatively short timeframe. You do not need to describe your trauma in detail for EMDR to be effective.
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
Trauma-Focused CBT addresses the distorted thinking patterns that trauma often creates — beliefs like “I am permanently damaged,” “the world is completely unsafe,” or “it was my fault.” By gently examining and challenging these beliefs in a safe therapeutic context, clients are able to develop a more accurate and compassionate understanding of what happened and its impact on their lives.
Somatic and Body-Based Approaches
Trauma is stored not only in the mind but in the body. Somatic approaches help clients develop awareness of how trauma manifests physically — in tension, pain, numbness, or hyperactivation — and work directly with the body’s responses to promote nervous system regulation and healing.
Prolonged Exposure Therapy
Prolonged Exposure is a structured approach that helps clients gradually and safely confront trauma-related memories, situations, and emotions that they have been avoiding. Through repeated, controlled exposure in the safety of the therapeutic relationship, the trauma’s emotional power gradually diminishes.
For some individuals with PTSD, medication can play an important role in reducing symptom severity and supporting the therapeutic process. Our licensed psychiatric nurse practitioner offers comprehensive evaluations and medication management for PTSD at our West Palm Beach office, allowing us to coordinate therapy and psychiatric care together when appropriate.
Trauma in Palm Beach County takes many forms. The veteran who served overseas and came home to a county with one of Florida’s largest veteran populations, carrying experiences they have never fully spoken about. The survivor of domestic violence who left another state and came here for a fresh start, and then found that geography alone did not resolve what was still happening inside. The person who lived through a serious hurricane — the loss of a home, the evacuation, the weeks without power, the slow realization afterward that they still flinch when the wind picks up. The adult who grew up in an abusive household and has spent decades high-functioning enough that no one knew, until something recent cracked the surface open. The victim of a violent crime or serious accident whose life has been divided into before and after.
Our PTSD therapists work with clients from throughout West Palm Beach — including Northwood, Flamingo Park, El Cid, Southend, Grandview Heights, and Downtown — as well as from Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Wellington, Boynton Beach, Boca Raton, and Delray Beach. We accept Tricare East, which makes our services accessible to many military families throughout Palm Beach County. Whatever happened, however long you have been carrying it, we will meet you with skill, patience, and the expectation that healing is genuinely possible.
Your First Session
Your first session is focused on getting to know you — your history, your current symptoms, and what has brought you to therapy. Your therapist will take a careful, sensitive approach to gathering your history and will never push you to share more than you feel ready to share. Safety and trust are established before any trauma processing begins.
Stabilization Before Processing
Before diving into trauma processing work, your therapist will ensure that you have a strong foundation of coping skills and emotional regulation tools. This stabilization phase is essential — it ensures that trauma processing happens safely and that you have the resources to manage anything that comes up between sessions.
Trauma Processing
Once you feel ready and your therapist determines that the time is right, trauma processing begins. The specific approach will depend on your needs, preferences, and the nature of your trauma. Throughout this phase your therapist will monitor your window of tolerance carefully — ensuring that the work remains challenging but manageable rather than overwhelming.
Integration and Recovery
As trauma processing progresses, clients typically experience a significant reduction in PTSD symptoms and a growing sense of freedom, safety, and reconnection with their lives. The final phase of treatment focuses on consolidating these gains, building resilience, and preparing for life after therapy.
We offer in-person PTSD therapy sessions at our West Palm Beach office at 1920 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd #211, West Palm Beach, FL 33409. Telehealth sessions are available for clients throughout Florida via secure, HIPAA-compliant video. Research supports the effectiveness of telehealth for PTSD treatment.
We accept most major insurance plans for PTSD therapy, including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield / Florida Blue, Cigna / Evernorth, United Health Care, Tricare East, and Medicare Part B.
Not sure if your plan covers PTSD treatment? Call our office at (561) 721-6400 and our team will verify your benefits before your first appointment.
How do I know if I have PTSD or just normal stress after a traumatic event?
It is normal to experience distress, anxiety, and emotional upheaval in the weeks following a traumatic event. Most people gradually recover on their own over time. PTSD is diagnosed when symptoms persist beyond one month, are severe enough to significantly interfere with daily functioning, and meet specific clinical criteria. If you are unsure whether what you are experiencing is PTSD, reaching out for a professional evaluation is always the right step.
Do I have to talk about my trauma in detail to get better?
No. Some trauma treatments — particularly EMDR — do not require you to describe your traumatic experience in detail to be effective. Your therapist will discuss the available approaches with you and help you choose the one that feels most manageable and appropriate for your situation. You are always in control of how much you share and at what pace.
I have had PTSD for many years. Is it too late for treatment to help?
It is never too late. Research consistently shows that PTSD treatment is effective regardless of how long the condition has been present. Many clients who have lived with PTSD for decades experience profound and lasting relief through evidence-based treatment.
Can PTSD be cured?
While PTSD may not be “cured” in the traditional sense, it can be treated so effectively that symptoms no longer significantly interfere with daily life. Many people who complete PTSD treatment experience a dramatic reduction in symptoms and go on to live full, connected, and meaningful lives.
I was told my trauma was not serious enough to cause PTSD. Can I still benefit from therapy?
Absolutely. There is no hierarchy of trauma — what matters is not the objective severity of an event but how it was experienced by the person who went through it. If an experience left you feeling overwhelmed, unsafe, or fundamentally changed, it deserves to be taken seriously and treated with care. You do not need to minimize or justify your experience to deserve support.
Do you treat veterans and military personnel with PTSD?
Yes. We work with veterans and active military personnel and their families and understand the unique nature of combat trauma and military service. We accept Tricare East, making our services accessible to many military families.
PTSD can make it feel as though you are permanently trapped in the past — forever at the mercy of memories and reactions you cannot control. But trauma does not have to define the rest of your life. With the right treatment and the right support, it is possible to process what happened, reclaim your sense of safety, and move forward into a life that feels fully yours again.
Our team of licensed therapists at Whole Health Psychological Center is here to walk that path with you. We serve clients in person in West Palm Beach and via telehealth throughout Florida.
Call us today at (561) 721-6400 or schedule online to take the first step. New client appointments are typically available within one week. Evening and weekend sessions are available.
Call us at (561) 721-6400, email us at info@wholehealthpsych.com, or visit us in person at 1920 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd #211, West Palm Beach, FL 33409. Telehealth is available throughout Florida.
We provide PTSD therapy and treatment in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Jupiter, Delray Beach, and throughout Florida via telehealth.
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