Prolonged exposure (PE) is a therapy used to address symptoms of trauma and anxiety. PE works by gradually exposing you to trauma related memories, emotions and situations that have resulted in avoidance of following the original traumatic event.

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In prolonged exposure you will learn methods to get your body to return to it’s baseline, engage in exposures during counseling and complete homework of listening to your session exposures. When participating in an exposure, you will tell your story of your experience with your counselor pausing you at times and asking you to gradually to share your story in more and more detail. The more times you ‘rehearse’ this, the less distress and discomfort you will experience.

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What does this look like in practice? If you experienced a life changing car accident you would start by telling your story in as much or little detail as you want. You and your counselor will make note of the points where you are experiencing the most distress and avoidance. You will then tell your counselor the story again, with the counselor asking you for more detail in the areas of the story you had been avoiding. They will encourage you to notice changes you are experiencing each time you tell the story. This will continue until you reach the goal for reducing the discomfort level.

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Please reach out to schedule an appointment if you are experiencing avoidance following trauma and would like to explore counseling using prolonged exposure.