Counseling Services of Brandon offers counseling to couples, adolescents, adults, and individuals. However, Toni Brown has recently started an offer for free Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to retired or active military veterans.
By Mariah Jones
As a way to give back to people who have fought for our country, Toni Brown, the president of Counseling Services of Brandon, is offering free Post Traumatic Stress Disorder treatment (PTSD) for active and retired military veterans. “It makes me sad to see military people suffering from PTSD for years when I know that it’s not necessary,” Brown said. “I decided it was a way to give back to people who have already given the country so much.”
The treatment involves the use of Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR). TIR allows the client to “view” the incident that is causing them anxiety and gives them a chance to review and change the perception they have on the incident. Brown has been successfully using this treatment for traumas such as rape, assault, car accidents, abuse and more for more than 18 years. She has faith that the treatment will have the same, positive effect on military-related traumas.
TIR consists of three parts. First, the client will schedule an introductory session where he or she will be able to ask questions about what to expect, and are given a full description of exactly what the treatment will include. This session is expected to last about a half hour. Next, the client will schedule the treatment session, which will last about an hour and a half to two hours. Furthermore, the client will then schedule a thirty-minute follow-up session a couple of weeks later to make sure that the treatment worked, and to check on how the treatment affected the client. “I was in a constant state of hyper vigilance, always looking for the next attack,” a former client of Brown’s said. “After one TIR session, my life quickly began to return to ‘pre-attack’, normal way of living.”
Brown has had an interest in this career field for more than 30 years, and opened Counseling Services of Brandon 25-years ago. “I always wanted to be in private practice because I think it’s an environment where you can focus completely on the needs of your individual clients,” Brown said. She works with individuals and couples, as well as adolescents and adults. She has years and years of experience dealing with PTSD. When Brown found out about TIR, she was very excited to learn about it because the difference in treating a client without the training and with it was very drastic. “I think my favorite part is the moment when people go, ‘Oh I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off me,’ at the end of the treatment,” she said.
Although the cost for this treatment is normally $350, it is free for military veterans. For more information on the offer or the treatment itself, please call 654-0166.
