These treatments can restore a sense of control and diminish the power of past events over current experience. The sooner people are treated, the more likely they are to recover from a traumatizing experience.
Appropriate therapy can help with other chronic trauma-related disorders, too.
It is important to re-establish a sense of safety and control in the PTSD sufferer's life. This helps him or her to feel strong and secure enough to confront the reality of what has happened. In people who have been badly traumatized, the support and safety provided by loved ones is critical. Being able to talk about what happened and getting help with feelings of guilt, self-blame, and rage about the trauma usually is very effective in helping people put the event behind them. If treatment is to be effective it is important, too, that the traumatized person feel that he or she is a part of this planning process.