People reach this page two ways. Either you know trauma is affecting your life and you want real treatment for it, or you have noticed that drinking or using tracks with trauma symptoms. Both come down to one question: what actually helps trauma heal, and how is it treated safely?
After 37 years of clinical work in Houston, here is my honest answer. Trauma is not a character flaw or something to push through. It is a nervous system that learned to protect you and never got the signal that the danger passed. Good trauma treatment helps deliver that signal, at a pace that keeps you safe. This guide explains the main approaches and how care works here.
Recognizing Trauma and PTSD
- Re-experiencing. Flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive memories that pull you back into the event.
- Avoidance. Steering clear of people, places, or feelings that are reminders.
- Hyperarousal. Feeling on edge, easily startled, irritable, or unable to relax.
- Mood and thinking changes. Numbness, guilt, shame, or a bleak view of yourself and the world.
- Self-medication. Using alcohol or drugs to quiet the symptoms, a common link to dual diagnosis.
Evidence-Based Trauma Therapies
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). Uses guided bilateral stimulation to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories so they lose their charge.
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). Helps you identify and shift the stuck beliefs trauma installs, such as pervasive guilt or mistrust.
- Somatic Experiencing. Works with the body’s stored stress responses to release them safely, useful when trauma lives more in the body than in words.
- Skills and stabilization first. Before deep processing, treatment builds grounding and coping skills so the work stays tolerable.
Why Trauma and Substance Use Are Treated Together
When people use substances to manage trauma symptoms, treating the substance use alone tends to fail, because the trauma keeps generating the symptoms that drive use. We treat both together. Trauma work is coordinated with substance use care in the same plan, at the level of care that fits, from IOP to our flagship Individualized Intensive Programming, where trauma is paced carefully rather than rushed.
How Payment Works at Heights Behavioral Health
Heights Behavioral Health is a private-pay, out-of-network provider. We are not in network with insurance plans. Some clients have out-of-network benefits that can offset part of the cost of care, and we are glad to explain how that works. We are always clear and upfront about pricing before you commit to anything.
Getting Started Safely
Trauma treatment should never feel like being thrown back into the worst moment. Good care builds safety and skills first, then processes at a pace you can handle. A clinical assessment determines the right starting point. If a loved one needs non-clinical support rather than treatment, our sister practice Heights Mentoring may help as a first step.
