Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Archives ⋆ Chana Pfeifer

What does emotional manipulation look like?

Manipulation is when they blame you for your reaction to their toxic behavior, but never discuss their disrespect that triggered you.

When someone uses your emotions to get what they want, steer your behavior, or influence your ideals, it’s known as emotional manipulation.

Emotional manipulation can wear many faces. It can come in anger, disappointment, ridicule, or guilt. Gaslighting and love bombing are also forms of emotional manipulation.

Here’s emotional abuse tactics and what they may sound like:

Guilt: “If you loved me, you wouldn’t do that.”
Criticism: “You never do anything right.”
Isolation: “You’re picking your friends and family over me.”
Humiliation: “I’ll take you out to eat when you lose some weight.”
Threatening: “If you ever do that again, you’ll be sorry.”
Blaming: “Look what you made me do.”
Accusing: “I know you’re being unfaithful.”
Infidelity: “I could do better than you anytime I want.”

Emotional abuse leads to conditions such as:

low self-esteem
depression
anxiety
substance abuse
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

If you feel as though someone is manipulating your emotions, it’s OK to step away from the situation to gather your thoughts. Practice stating your own needs, desires, and boundaries clearly and without apology. The more comfortable you are with direct communication, the easier it is to spot manipulation from others.

Dealing with emotional manipulation is difficult because it can lead you to question yourself and your judgment.

When emotional abuse negatively impacts your life, consider seeking support & guidance from a MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL. Contact us.

Counseling to Help Deal with Emotional Triggers

Emotional triggers can be defined as memories, thoughts, situations or experiences that cause significant distress.

Although they can be a component of trauma-related conditions such as PTSD, they also play a role in anxiety and depression. Whether associated with a traumatic experience of the past or amplified by anxiety, emotional triggers can have negative effects in your life.

The reactivity you may feel to certain events or memories can manifest in a variety of ways.

Emotional outbursts may be directed at others or turned inwards, resulting in immense discomfort. The continued cycle of triggers, distress and avoidance can be exhausting in itself, leaving little space to understand or reduce their frequency and severity.

Common reactions to emotional triggers may include fear, sadness, anger or any number of intense emotions. It may manifest in a physical sense similar to anxiety, with reactions such as a racing heart, nausea, sweating, shaking and/or shortness of breath. When triggered, it may be easy to lash out at others, provoking even more tension and emotional turmoil.

Although one’s immediate reaction to such unpleasant experiences may be to limit exposure to such stressors, avoidance can lead to additional anxiety. It’s important to understand and develop strategies that can help mitigate the stress and fear associated with such situations. Rather than letting such apprehension disrupt your daily activities, learning healthy coping mechanisms can bring immense healing.

A fresh perspective can make a difference in your perception of emotional triggers. Although some triggers may not have a clear origin, taking the time to explore them in a calm, safe environment can be the key to unlocking their mystery.

The guidance of a counselor can help you decode, process and heal from emotional triggers.

In addition to providing a comfortable space to heal from past traumas, therapy can help you develop a holistic plan for the future. Through therapy, one can begin to recognize and take control over situations and memories that trigger emotional discomfort.

Chana Pfeifer can help you begin healing from the effects of triggers and emotional stressors. Together, you can develop a robust plan to experience relief and learn strategies to cope with potential emotional triggers.

Chana offers virtual and in-person, socially-distanced counseling services with a therapeutic plan customized to your individual needs. If you are struggling with the effects of emotional triggers, don’t hesitate to contact Chana today to begin your journey of healing.

For more info. on counseling, call (516) 592-1107 or email Chana Pfeifer, LCSW today.

Social Worker Booking Information:

Accepted Insurance Plans: Aetna

Payments can be made via: Cash, Check, Zelle, Chase QuickPay, American Express, Discover, Mastercard, Visa, Health Savings Account

Counseling for PTSD

Traumatic events can have a resonating and painful impact on your life, and the effects can span over months and even years following the event. Reacting to a traumatic or threatening circumstance can be a normal response. If high levels of stress are not resolved, further problems can arise. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop after exposure to actual or threatened death, serious harm, or sexual assault/violence. Even if you did not directly experience the trauma, you can develop PTSD from witnessing the event or its aftermath.

PTSD can have a highly disruptive effect on survivors’ mental health, daily functioning, and relationships.

Symptoms can be classified by a few main categories:

Re-experiencing

Flashbacks or intensely vivid memories/re-living of the event
Nightmares
Intrusive memories, thoughts, feelings
Significant emotional/physiological reactions to event-related stimuli

Heightened arousal

Insomnia
Hyper vigilance (overly aware of one’s surroundings and possible threats or danger)
Sensitive startle response, jumpy
Easy to anger

Avoidance

Avoiding memories, thoughts, feelings, people, situations that can be possible reminders of the trauma
Loss of interest in certain activities
Feeling emotionally numb

Changes in cognition

Distortion of self-perception (lowered self-esteem, excessive guilt, shame, anger)
Feeling detached or isolated from others
Gaps in memory, trouble remembering the event or memories surrounding it
Negative beliefs about others & the world

Dissociation

De-personalization (feeling detached from one’s mind or body, perceiving oneself as unreal)
De-realization (feeling isolated from others or the world, feeling as if the world is not real)

Following a trauma, it is often difficult to talk about the event including emotions and thoughts surrounding it. Years can pass and you still may feel a strong, visceral response to the memories.

These thoughts and feelings should not continue being repressed, as this can cause chronic damage to your mental, emotional, and physical well-being over time.

Some common routes of therapy to treat PTSD include talk therapy, variations of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), cognitive processing, prolonged exposure, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).

During therapy, you can work on resolving cognitive distortions and learning healthy coping skills and techniques for symptom relief. A therapist can help you re-associate negative feelings and beliefs so you can regain control of stress and fear responses. You can also address possible co-occurring issues such as anxiety, depression, or substance abuse.

Therapy can provide a grounded, secure space in which you can begin to heal from your traumatic experience(s) without feeling judgement or criticism.

A holistic approach to PTSD treatment will enhance your sense of well-being, solidify your inner fortitude and help you to regain positive self-confidence.

For more info. on counseling, call (516) 592-1107 or email Chana Pfeifer at TheHappierMe.LCSW@gmail.com.

Anxiety Counseling Long Island

All humans experience anxiety to some degree in certain situations. Feeling anxious about important upcoming events, grief, stressors, or potentially dangerous situations is considered normal and a beneficial defense mechanism.

A healthy amount of anxiety can be helpful to increase motivation and drive healthy competition and success. However, it can become problematic when it comes with unhealthy apprehension, uncontrollable worry, and intense, irrational fears that interfere with daily life, self-confidence, and relationships.

Some cases of anxiety can be due to a stressful or grief-inducing event, substance use, or a medical condition. Symptoms can also be long-term and chronic and may not improve without treatment.

If you feel that symptoms of anxiety are causing you distress, seeking therapy is recommended.

Many people associate anxiety exclusively with panic attacks, however this is not always the case. In those with generalized anxiety disorder, the pernicious symptoms are present without recurring panic attacks.

Some of the symptoms of general anxiety can be as follows:

Mind racing with thoughts or going blank, making it hard to concentrate
Excessive worry, apprehension, fear that seems impossible to control
Restlessness, insomnia
Muscle aches / tension
Frequent fatigue
Irritability, agitation

Panic attacks are induced quickly and can last for minutes, with recovery and post-attack fatigue possibly lingering for hours. These events can be rare and transient, or chronic and frequently recurrent.

Panic attacks generally manifest with symptoms such as:

Increased heart rate, palpitations, chest pain
Shaking, restless movement
Chills or hot flashes, sweating
Feeling short of breath, heavy respiration, tightness in the throat
Lightheadedness, dizziness
Nausea, abdominal discomfort
Feelings of spiraling out of control, impending death or harm
Disconnection from reality or time

Anxiety can also manifest itself within other conditions including depression, social anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress, and specific phobias.

A therapist can help you distinguish what type(s) of anxiety you are dealing with. From a cognitive perspective, the licensed provider can help you identify the thoughts that cause it while working through methods to control the anxious behaviors that come as a result.

Regardless of the intensity of your anxiety, symptoms can be managed and fears overcome through reformulating thought patterns in counseling. Being present in a neutral, non-judgmental space where you can express your fears and concerns is helpful in the journey to attain physical, psychological, and emotional relaxation. A holistic approach to counseling can teach you how to approach and handle anxiety-inducing situations without having to deal with the constant stress of fear, worry, and panic. Reaching out for help is the first important step in giving yourself the freedom of a clear, calm mind in the face of anxiety.