Given the high risk of experiencing a traumatic event at some point in your lifetime, HLCC established the Trauma Recovery Clinic. We are well aware of the emotional and physical cost a traumatic stressor can cause in a person’s life. As a result, HLCC developed the Trauma Recovery Clinic to help improve the lives of children, adults and families who have experienced a traumatic event by providing access to a range of mental health services to help provide healing in the wake of trauma.

We offer children, adults, families and military and emergency service personnel the ability to meet with a highly trained trauma clinician.

What is trauma?

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration trauma is an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically and emotionally harmful or threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.

Trauma may result from a wide range of events/stressors, such as:

Sexual assault/childhood sexual abuse
Sudden death of a loved one
Discovery of a life-threatening illness or disabling condition
Serious fall or sports injury
Surgery/Invasive medical procedures
Car accident
Natural disasters (e.g., tornadoes, earthquakes or floods)
Military involvement/Military Sexual Trauma
First responder trauma
Domestic Violence/Interpersonal Violence
Physical attack
Miscarriage
Bullying

What therapies are available to help trauma?

Whatever the event that has created your traumatic experience there are a range of treatment therapies available to help provide relief from your emotional and physical distress. Here at HLCC we are committed to providing evidenced based interventions in addition to alternative and innovative methods as well. Highlighting our specialized trauma training, Dr. Kukla is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional and Certified Traumatic Stress Consultant thus ensuring the highest standards of trauma care are being delivered in our Trauma Recovery Program. We are committed to compassionate trauma care. We stay focused on not overwhelming the survivor in an effort to make the healing journey as gentle and painless as possible. You do not have to fear getting help anymore.

Trauma disrupts the body’s natural equilibrium, freezing you in a state of hyperarousal and fear. In essence, your nervous system gets stuck in overdrive. Successful trauma treatment must address this imbalance and reestablish your physical sense of safety. The following therapies are commonly used in the treatment of emotional and psychological trauma:

Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps you process and evaluate your thoughts and feelings about a trauma. Many times a trauma changes the way you see the world, your sense of safety, trust and control have been compromised. In cognitive therapy, you will learn about the common changes in beliefs that occur after going through a trauma. In cognitive therapy you will learn to have a better balance between the beliefs before and after trauma.

All HLCC clinicians provide cognitive behavioral therapy for traumatic events.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a highly evidenced based treatment that educates individuals about the symptoms of PTSD. Additionally, through CPT individuals are able to explore the traumatic event sometimes using a written account of the trauma to discover the connections between the way the event was processed and their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Sometimes unhelpful thinking patterns regarding the traumatic event are identified and challenged in an effort to substitute them with more constructive views. There is also an emphasis on helping survivors of trauma restore a sense of safety, trust, control/power, self-esteem and intimacy. These core areas in one’s life are often greatly impacted by a traumatic event. For more information on this technique, please see this video Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD.

All HLCC clinicians provide cognitive processing therapy for traumatic events.

Rapid Resolution Therapy (RRT) developed by Dr. Jon Connelly eliminates the negative emotional or behavioral influence of traumatic events, whether these experiences are remembered, repressed or forgotten. It is not necessary to relive past events or experience any pain. The mind is cleared, organized and optimized. There are dramatic improvements in thoughts, feelings and behavior. Unconscious conflicts blocking desired change are pinpointed and resolved. As the root cause of problems is cleared, positive change endures. Some people experience significant changes within a couple of appointments. HLCC therapist Lorie Jendryka is one of only eighteen certified Rapid Resolution Therapy practitioners in Illinois. For more information on Rapid Resolution Therapy® and it’s founder Dr. Jon Connelly, LCSW, Ph.D please visit his website at www.rapidresolutiontherapy.com.

Please call Lorie Jendryka, LCPC for rapid resolution therapy for traumatic events.
Phone: ( 847 ) 794 – 8836

HeartMath biofeedback (Heart rate variability biofeedback training) is an excellent way for survivors of trauma to learn to regulate their autonomic nervous system and reduce the arousal systems that are part of PTSD and help regulate mood, too. See this video by world renowned trauma expert Dr. Bessel van der Kolk discussing how HRV training can help with trauma: Engaging the Natural Healing Systems of the Brain for Self-Regulation, Heart Rate Variability and Beyond.

Please call Lorie Jendryka, LCPC for heart rate variability biofeedback training.
Phone: ( 847 ) 794 – 8836

Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro is a well evidenced based treatment intervention for PTSD. In fact, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense have included EMDR as an “A” category treatment in their Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of PTSD. This means that this treatment approach is strongly recommended as a method for decreasing symptoms of PTSD. Often times people with PTSD become frozen in their trauma and the past impacts their present, keeping them stuck in states of distress. EMDR is a psychotherapy approach that uses bilateral stimulation to help individuals process disturbing material in a new and less upsetting light thereby freeing them from the darkness of the traumatic past. You may also visit the EMDR Institute’s website for further information or watch these video segments: EMDR in the news: EMDR & PTSD, EMDR documentary segment: EMDR therapists talk EMDR, another news segment: Inner World: EMDR Therapy and ABC news interview: EMDR: The unconventional therapy treating PTSD with the wave of a finger.

Please call Dr. Michelle Kukla at ( 847 ) 701 – 4452 for EMDR.

iRest (Integrative Restoration) Meditation is an ancient meditation practice incorporating somatic processes that produce deep relaxation that allow for healing. This guided deep relaxation and mindfulness meditation helps you to release negative emotions and thought patterns, calm your nervous system, develop an inner sense of ease and well-being and help respond appropriately to each life circumstance. Through iRest meditation practices you will learn processes from the iRest toolbox to help you build resiliency skills that are easy to integrate into your everyday life. In 2010 the Surgeon General of the United States Army endorsed iRest Yoga Nidra as a Complementary and Alternative Medicine modality. Research has shown iRest to effectively alleviate anxiety, sleep disorders , chronic pain, depression and PTSD.

For more information or to request an appointment, please contact Jacqui Neurauter a certified iRest instructor at ( 847 ) 359 – 6391 or email at Jacqui@HarmoniousPathways.com or visit her website at www.HarmoniousPathways.com

Kathi is committed to giving back and helping individuals that have battled PTSD. Thus, she is providing on Saturdays a free acupuncture trauma clinic for HLCC clients only. Please email her or talk with your HLCC clinician to see if space is available for a free PTSD acupuncture treatment series.

Free Acupuncture Clinic Hours: 3:00 – 4:00 pm on Saturdays at HLCC

Acupuncture is an all natural method for treating PTSD which has proven to be very effective at relieving the symptoms of PTSD. So effective that the U.S. military uses it for combat veterans, and the Pentagon has been funding research into the beneficial effects of acupuncture treatment for PTSD. Acupuncture for PTSD is done using points on each ear. These points are responsible for controlling particular brain areas that help control nervous functioning as well as mitigate stress levels. These points can also reduce depression, anxiety, flashbacks, anger, apathy, and resolve sleep issues that can result from PTSD. The results are often felt within a few sessions and the healing effects can last for several months. Treatments typically are done weekly for several weeks, until the patient is feeling consistent relief. Each client is different and the way each patient experiences PTSD symptoms different, so some patients will feel results sooner than others. Clients need only discuss the symptoms they are experiencing as a result of PTSD. Discussing details about the traumatic incident that was the cause is not necessary.

Please email Kathi Wotal, L.Ac., MSOM, OM Diplomate for acupuncture services.

Email: kwotal@prairiespringacupuncture.com to schedule a possible appointment

** Some of Kathi’s services our on site at HLCC and some are offered at another nearby location in Palatine **

If you have survived a Traumatic Event and would like to work with one of our experienced Trauma Clinicians or a couple of our trauma team members, please give us a call. Many individuals will utilize multiple therapy practices to help their recovery.

We are here for you and to help you move forward through the emotional pain!