For when the past still has a foothold in the present.
Board-certified medication management for adults navigating PTSD symptoms, trauma-related anxiety and depression, and the kind of nervous-system patterns that don’t resolve on their own. Online visits across Ohio. Care that doesn’t require you to retell what hurts.
It often shows up sideways.
Trauma doesn’t always look like flashbacks. More often it shows up as patterns — in your nervous system, your sleep, your reactions, your relationships — that don’t fit the present situation. If any of this sounds familiar, what you’re experiencing has a name and a treatment.
The hypervigilance you can’t turn off
Always scanning, always braced, always one half-step ahead. A nervous system that hasn’t been told the threat is over.
The startle that hits too hard
A loud noise, an unexpected touch, a familiar smell — and you’re flooded out of proportion to what just happened.
The sleep that betrays you
Nightmares, broken sleep, waking braced. Or the opposite — sleeping too much because waking feels harder than it should.
The avoidance that’s grown
Places, people, conversations, sometimes whole categories of life rerouted around. A smaller life that feels safer for now.
The numb spells
Hours, days, sometimes longer where everything feels far away. Going through motions, watching yourself from outside.
The reactions that surprise you
Anger that’s bigger than the moment, tears that come without warning, shutdowns that take you by surprise. The body remembering something the mind isn’t talking about.
The forms trauma can take.
Trauma isn’t a single condition with a single treatment. The right approach depends on what kind of trauma you’re carrying, how long it’s been there, and what the symptoms look like in your specific life. At Open Chair, the conditions most commonly treated through medication management include:
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) — symptoms that develop after exposure to a threatening or terrifying event: combat, accident, assault, sudden loss, medical events, or other acute trauma. Includes intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in mood and cognition, and hyperarousal.
Complex trauma — the cumulative effect of repeated or prolonged trauma, often beginning in childhood or in long-term relationships. May not look like classic PTSD but produces real, treatable patterns.
Trauma-related anxiety and depression — trauma frequently shows up as anxiety, depression, or both, sometimes years after the original event. Treating those symptoms can be a first step even if the trauma itself stays unaddressed for now.
Trauma-related sleep issues — nightmares, insomnia, and disrupted sleep are some of the most treatable trauma symptoms. Sometimes addressing sleep is what makes other work possible.
Acute stress reactions — in the weeks after a traumatic event, before symptoms have crystallized into PTSD. Early support can sometimes change the trajectory.
Medication management, thoughtfully done.
Medication for trauma symptoms isn’t about erasing memories or numbing experience. It’s about giving your nervous system enough relief that the rest of the work — therapy, sleep, daily life — becomes possible. The deeper trauma processing happens in therapy; medication often makes that therapy more accessible.
Listen first
Your first visit is a 60-minute psychiatric evaluation. We talk through symptoms and patterns — not the trauma itself in detail unless you choose to. You set the pace and the depth.
Build a plan together
If medication is appropriate, we discuss the realistic options — for sleep, for hyperarousal, for the depression and anxiety that often come with trauma. We talk through what each one does, what to expect, and what we’ll watch for.
Adjust as we go
Trauma treatment is patient work. Follow-up visits track how the plan is actually working in your daily life and adjust as needed. Particularly with trauma symptoms, the right plan often emerges over months, not weeks.
Before you book, the things people usually want to know.
- Will I have to talk about what happened?
- No, not in detail unless you want to. The first visit asks about symptoms, patterns, and history broadly — not the specifics of what you’ve been through. You set the depth. If you ever want to share more, you can; if you don’t, that’s entirely fine and doesn’t change the quality of care.
- Can medication help if I’m not in therapy?
- Sometimes — particularly for sleep, hyperarousal, and trauma-related depression or anxiety. That said, the deepest trauma work usually happens in therapy, especially trauma-specialized therapy like EMDR, CPT, or somatic approaches. Medication often makes that therapy more accessible. We can offer recommendations for trauma-trained therapists if you’re looking.
- I’ve heard certain medications can make trauma worse. Is that true?
- Some medications — particularly benzodiazepines used long-term — have a complicated relationship with trauma symptoms. Others, like certain antidepressants and specific medications for sleep and nightmares, have good evidence for trauma. We talk through the trade-offs honestly so you understand what you’re considering.
- What if telehealth doesn’t feel safe enough for this?
- That’s a fair concern, and you know your nervous system better than anyone. For some people, the privacy of being in their own space makes telehealth easier, not harder. For others, in-person care fits better. We can talk about it, and if telehealth isn’t the right fit for you, we’ll help you find what is.
- Will medication change how I feel about what happened?
- The goal isn’t to erase the experience or your feelings about it. The goal is to reduce the symptoms that are interfering with your life right now — sleep, hyperarousal, depression, anxiety — so you have more capacity for whatever comes next. Most people on the right plan describe feeling more like themselves, not less.
- What if my trauma is recent and I’m struggling to function?
- Reach out. Acute trauma responses can sometimes be helped most when treatment starts early. If you’re in active crisis, having thoughts of harming yourself, or in immediate danger, please call or text 988 or go to your nearest emergency room. For everything short of crisis, an evaluation is a reasonable next step.
Ready when you are.
Booking takes about two minutes. No referral needed. Most major Ohio insurance accepted.
Book Appointment →Educational only. The information on this page describes general approaches to trauma symptom treatment and is not medical advice. Treatment recommendations are individualized and made during a clinical evaluation. If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, please call or text 988 or go to your nearest emergency room.