TRAUMATIC INCIDENT REDUCTION (TIR) COUNSELING

You Are Not Alone

Trauma is too common

Around 70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives, according to the National Council. That’s nearly 230 million people. Trauma can stem from:

  • Accidents
  • Natural Disasters
  • Crime
  • Grief and Loss
  • Physical, Sexual, and Emotional Abuse
  • Child Abuse and Neglect
  • Combat
  • Witnessing a Disturbing Event

If you’re unable to face your trauma head-on, you won’t be able to move beyond the incident, and as a result, it can continue to negatively affect your life. This is where TIR might be able to help.

CAPSEA is the first agency in the United States to provide all five levels of the Traumatic Incident Reduction method for free and the only certified TIR provider in PA.

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70% OF ADULTS IN THE U.S. HAVE EXPERIENCED SOME TYPE OF TRAUMATIC EVENT AT LEAST ONCE IN THEIR LIVES

THAT’S NEARLY

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MILLION PEOPLE

We can Help

Trauma Incident Reduction (TIR) Counseling

TIR is a proven method for encouraging relief and healing. This type of counseling allows a person to desensitize painful experiences and reduce the negative impact of traumatic, overwhelming events. It involves re-experiencing past traumas in a completely safe environment, free of distractions, judgments, or interpretations.

TIR therapy sessions involve a unique, but relatively simple procedure with the goal of helping you resolve painful incidents. Sessions are one-on-one with a trained TIR facilitator.

  • The first step is to identify a traumatic incident.
  • Next, we identify when it happened, how long it lasted, and where you were at the time.
  • Then you will be asked to imagine going to the start of that incident.
  • Once at the starting point you will close your eyes, report what you are aware of and then imagine moving through the incident until it is over.
  • At the end of the incident, you will open your eyes and report what happened as you moved through it.

    The facilitator will make notes about what you experienced and you will be asked to repeat this process of reviewing the incident multiple times. This method of reviewing the trauma encourages the mind to desensitize the pain and reprocess the event, enabling you to move toward recovery. By the end of the process, you should be able to talk about the incident and either feel completely comfortable or much improved.

TIR is highly effective in eliminating the negative effects of past traumatic incidents. It is especially useful when:

  • You have a specific trauma or set of traumas that you feel have adversely affected you, whether or not you have been given a formal diagnosis of PTSD.
  • You find yourself reacting inappropriately or overreacting in certain situations and you have the feeling or idea that some past trauma might have something to do with it.
  • You experience unaccountable or inappropriate negative emotions, either chronically or in response to certain experiential triggers.

If you feel you may benefit from Traumatic Incident Reduction counseling or would like to learn more about the technique, we encourage you to call CAPSEA today at 814-772-3838. We can provide additional information and schedule an appointment with one of our trained facilitators.

You can also visit the Traumatic Incident Reduction Association website: www.tira.org

Hear from a CAPSEA TIR Counseling Client

TIR Counseling Q & A

A: How I actually found this was an absolute and total fluke. I consider it a little miracle. It was just before New Years. I had participated in more traditional therapy sessions before, but when my counselor left, I knew that there were still events that I needed to work through.

I came across CAPSEA in my search for another counselor. Their page on TIR Counseling immediately caught my attention. I had never heard of anything like that before.

As someone who had experienced a significant amount of trauma throughout my life, I thought TIR could be a great way to become more desensitized to those events, which, at the time, were always lying right at the surface waiting to be triggered. I knew I needed to find a way to move past that. And so, thinking TIR could be the solution, I filled out the Contact Form on the website…and then completely forgot about it.

Shortly after submitting the form, I got a call from a number I didn’t recognize. I was working at the time, so I had no intention of answering the call. I put my phone down, but my Apple Watch must have bumped into something and accidentally answered the call. I could hear somebody saying, “Hello? Hello?” I picked up my phone and it was Tiffany from CAPSEA on the other line. It felt like fate. The rest is history.

A: She started off by telling me some of the differences between TIR and traditional therapy. She asked me, “Can we meet on a Saturday? Set aside a few hours?” I was shocked. There was no time limit or restrictions to typical Monday-Friday hours. This was not the counseling that I had experience with.

That flexible approach felt like it clicked with me. And now, I don’t think I could ever do traditional “Sorry, we’re out of time” counseling again. With TIR, there is an emphasis on creating a safe space for you to feel raw and emotional – ending the sessions only when you feel comfortable ending them. Learning about that structure was enough for me to try TIR Counseling.

A: In my experience, you can spend a year doing regular counseling and you might not make the same amount of progress you would make in a weekend with TIR. TIR is about being open and being willing to face something. I think the approach for traditional counseling is so different.

When I sit down with Tiffany at CAPSEA, I know we’re going to attempt to go through something or make some sort of progress or be able to move through or past an event, or even maybe sometimes just be able to face an event. TIR is event-driven. It’s so intentional and it’s so purposeful.

A: TIR is not going to be for everybody. But if you’re really serious about changing your life, growing as a person and not being held back by your past or things that have happened to you, I’d urge you to give it a chance.

If you are desperate to grow and to not repeat the same cycles for the rest of your life – TIR is for you. You have to have a need to change, because that’s what it takes in order to go deep into places you didn’t want to go in the first place and you never want to go again. You have to know that the juice is worth the squeeze. There is a quote that has always resonated with me and my TIR experience,

“We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing.”

A: Tiffany always starts off by making sure that I am completely prepared for the sessions. She lets me know exactly what type of questions that she’s going to ask me. I always know exactly what I’m walking into. At the beginning of every session, it is clear what issue or trauma we will be addressing. As I’ve said, it’s all very intentional. When someone can clearly define expectations and what you’re going to encounter, you get to take your mind off it. And then all you have to do is experience.

So, she talks through what we’re going to do. And then we work through the session with situational and purposeful exercises. I imagine that will look different for every client. Sometimes it involves being asked to walk through a trauma or being asked the same question many times to help yourself gain perspective. In that way, every session is different.

At the end of every session, Tiffany always checks with me to make sure I feel comfortable. If I say no and that I’m not comfortable ending the session, we don’t end it. Simple as that. I am always the one to say,”Yes, I’m good for today. I feel like I’m in a good place.” She always lets me make the choice.

A: TIR has made me a bit…fearless. I approach things in a different way. I’m not afraid of looking a problem in the face and working through it. There’s no sugar-coating it – talking about and reliving traumatic experiences is not fun – but when you can do that in a controlled, safe environment it’s life-changing. When you get those issues out into the light – when you’re not so afraid of naming them or just admitting to them – it’s freeing.

TIR has made me a better listener. It’s made me a more competent person in trying to be more authentic and sharing. I’m willing to share myself with people for fear of judgment. I’m much more open to that now and I refuse to let my past and the things that I have been through dictate who I am as a person.

People say that sometimes you don’t realize you’re in the dark until someone comes along and turns on a light. I was absolutely in the dark and CAPSEA was my light.

A: Without a doubt, finding CAPSEA’S website, Tiffany reaching out changed my life. Before CAPSEA, I felt like I was living an “almost” life. I was a shell of myself. Not anymore. I have hope. For the first time in my adult life, I know that I have a healthy future ahead of me. I know that I’m going to do great things. I know that I’m capable of having a healthy relationship where six months ago, before TIR, I could not say any of that.

I can’t recommend CAPSEA and TIR Counseling highly enough.

Think TIR Might Be Right For you?

Learn More or Schedule a Session

Interested in learning more about Trauma Incident Reduction (TIR) Counseling or want to schedule a session? Please fill out the contact form here and we will reach out as soon as possible or reach out to us directly using the information listed below.

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If you or someone you know needs help, call our 24-hour Hotline: 

Elk County Hotline: 814-772-1227

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