Ascend Mind and Body provides PTSD therapy in Tampa, FL using evidence-based therapy approaches for post-traumatic stress. Our clinicians are trained in EMDR and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, with access to Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Prolonged Exposure concepts within the broader CBT-for-trauma framework. Sessions are offered in-person at our Tampa office and via telehealth across Florida. Call (813) 670-3005 or book online.
PTSD is treatable. That sentence matters because a lot of people living with it have either been told or concluded on their own that it isn't. What the last twenty years of research have made clear is that specific therapy protocols - EMDR, CPT, and Prolonged Exposure - produce meaningful reduction in symptoms for most clients who complete a full course. The common thread across the protocols is structure: a defined arc, clear phases, and a specific mechanism for helping the nervous system re-categorize the memory.
Our Tampa PTSD therapy providers
Ashley Huston is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) - the 8-phase protocol endorsed by the American Psychological Association, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the World Health Organization as a first-line treatment for PTSD. Ashley's framework integrates EMDR with mind-body techniques, which matters specifically for PTSD clients whose symptoms live as much in the body as in the cognition. Bookings available at her supervised-intern rate of $75 per session via telehealth for Tampa clients. [NEEDED: Kasey - confirm telehealth scheduling for Tampa patients with Ashley from her Lakeland base.]
Ashley M. Spring, LCSW is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker whose focus areas include trauma, anxiety, and PTSD presentations. Bilingual English/Spanish. Direct, goal-oriented, and uses evidence-based modalities. Practices across all three Ascend locations. [NEEDED: Kasey - Tampa office day availability and current PTSD caseload status.]
Skyler Anderson, RMHCI is a registered mental health counselor intern whose clinical focus includes trauma, PTSD, and anxiety. Supervised-intern rate at $75 per session. Based at our Lakeland office and available for Tampa-area clients via telehealth. [NEEDED: Kasey - confirm Skyler's current PTSD caseload and telehealth scheduling for Tampa.]
Conditions we treat
PTSD sits at the center of a cluster of related presentations. Our Tampa trauma team works across the full cluster:
- PTSD - the core diagnosis, with hypervigilance, intrusive memories, avoidance, and changes in mood and cognition lasting more than a month.
- Acute stress disorder - the same symptom cluster but within the first month after an event. Treating it early often prevents the transition to full PTSD.
- Complex PTSD - symptoms from prolonged or repeated trauma, often childhood. Longer treatment arc, more stabilization work before reprocessing.
- Trauma-linked anxiety - panic, phobias, and hypervigilance patterns rooted in a specific event rather than generalized.
- Depression following trauma - common enough that screening for depression in any PTSD evaluation is standard.
- Traumatic grief - sudden, violent, or ambiguous loss where the grief process itself becomes stuck.
What to expect at your first session
Before the visit. Fill out the intake packet online. It includes a brief PTSD screening questionnaire. Fill it out as accurately as you can; your clinician will clarify anything that needs clarifying during the first visit.
The first session. About 50 minutes. Your therapist takes a history - what happened, how long ago, what you've tried, how PTSD currently interferes with sleep, work, relationships, and daily function. Nobody is going to ask you to relive the event on the first day. For EMDR specifically, sessions one through three are history, stabilization, and resource-building. For CPT, the first session orients you to the model and what the treatment arc will look like.
After the session. Weekly cadence is typical during the active phase of treatment. Reprocessing sessions in EMDR often run 60 to 90 minutes and are scheduled for days you can take it easy afterward. CPT is structured around 12 sessions with written assignments between visits.
Evidence-based therapy approaches for PTSD
The PTSD-specific modalities Ascend clinicians use:
- EMDR - structured 8-phase reprocessing protocol. Strong research base. Best for single-incident trauma and discrete memory targets. Does not require detailed narration of the event.
- Trauma-focused CBT - cognitive framework for clients who respond well to skills-based, homework-driven work. Often paired with exposure components within the CBT model for PTSD.
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) concepts - a 12-session structured protocol focused on how trauma distorted beliefs about safety, trust, power, esteem, and intimacy. Ascend clinicians integrate CPT concepts within trauma-focused CBT. [NEEDED: Kasey - confirm whether any Tampa-area clinicians hold formal CPT certification. If not, we state "CPT concepts within trauma-focused CBT" - not "CPT" as a pure claim.]
- Somatic awareness and mind-body integration - breathwork, grounding, and body-based techniques as adjuncts to reprocessing work. Particularly useful for PTSD clients whose arousal symptoms dominate the clinical picture.
- DBT-informed skills - distress tolerance and emotion regulation for clients whose PTSD co-occurs with borderline features, self-harm history, or intense mood shifts that need stabilization before reprocessing can begin.
If your situation requires a protocol we don't provide in a certified form - Prolonged Exposure with a PE-certified provider, for example - we will tell you and refer where possible.