Transcript
There's two main facets to the program of Prolonged Exposure.
One of them is helping Veterans to re-engage
with their life slowly, getting back in the pool slowly
so that they can get used to the things
that they've maybe been avoiding since being back from combat
or since having some traumatic experience.
So for example, a lot of Veterans come in and they complain
about not being able to hangout in Walmart,
not being able to run errands for their wives,
or not being able to accompany their husbands
out to see a band play because they feel a little closed in
by the crowds, a little paranoid, maybe,
and a little worried for their safety.
So we would sort of look at that situation and say, "Well,
why don't we start slowly with it and start getting you used
to situations that you might feel more comfortable going in."
And then, what people find is that when they actually go
in a situation and approach it from a different perspective
and stay in the situation, their heart rate calms down,
their anxiety lowers, their paranoia lessens a little bit.
And all these feelings are absolutely natural for people
that have posttraumatic stress disorder.
Undoing them can be difficult to go through
because it requires people to face their fears.
However, it's not rocket science, and that's lucky for us
because we're not rocket scientists.
But what we do do really well is we do partner with Veterans
to help them face their fears bit, by bit, by bit
until their fears are much smaller
or, in a lot of cases, completely gone.