Most of us have experienced stress at one time or another in our lives. For trauma survivors it seems that the “stress button” is stuck in the on position, and it doesn’t take much to elicit a strong reaction through thought, feelings, or behavior patterns. So many things seem to increase stress in the survivors life including treatment.

Disruption of functioning is often referred to by clinicians as "patient quality of Life". It doesn’t matter what it is called by clinicians, for the survivor, all the survivor knows is that they want to improve their quality of life or improve their ability to function .

For some, the ability to function has deteriorated so much that they end up being hospitalized. In most hospitals, trauma is not addressed, therefore the trauma survivor leaves the hospital after the “symptoms” are treated, only to find that their ability to function is still disrupted once they get back into “life”.

Quality of Life seems to change drastically; especially for the service member who struggles with symptoms they may not understand fully.  Family members are often hurt because of the symptoms that their loved ones are now starting to experience.  Service members (active duty and non-active duty) that have gone through our program find that they can control their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; and return to a normal happy life

Many who suffer from trauma, whose problems with functioning are severe, have very little hope that they can regain it back. We believe that it is important when treating trauma survivors, that the patient's treatment plans address functional ability. This gives them hope, and motivation to address some of the deeper pathologies underlying their inability to function.