High performance, hidden stress
Las Colinas, the master-planned district of Irving, is home to corporate campuses, high-rise apartments along Lake Carolyn and the Mandalay Canal, and quick routes to DFW Airport via SH 114 and the President George Bush Turnpike. Many residents carry heavy workloads, frequent travel and a professional image they work hard to protect.
That combination can make PTSD easy to hide and hard to live with. You might deliver a flawless presentation and then sit in your car shaking. You might avoid certain roads, certain people or certain memories so carefully that it has become routine. You might notice that you are always braced for something to go wrong, even on a good day.
Post-traumatic stress is not a sign of weakness. It is the brain's alarm system staying switched on after a threat has passed. With the right therapy, that alarm can learn to quiet down.
What causes PTSD and complex PTSD?
PTSD can follow any experience that overwhelmed your ability to cope, such as a serious car accident on a busy highway, a violent crime, a medical emergency, a natural disaster, combat or the sudden death of someone close. Complex PTSD tends to develop after repeated or long-term trauma, especially in childhood or in relationships marked by abuse, domestic violence or control.
Common symptoms include:
- Intrusive memories, nightmares or flashbacks.
- Avoiding reminders, conversations or places linked to the trauma.
- Feeling on edge, irritable, easily startled or unable to concentrate.
- Negative beliefs about yourself or the world, guilt or numbness.
- With complex PTSD: deep shame, emotional swings and trouble trusting others.
The National Institute of Mental Health offers a clear overview of PTSD symptoms and treatment, and the American Psychological Association maintains an accessible library of trauma topics. Published clinical research is searchable through the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
How Dr. Audrey treats PTSD
Dr. Audrey's approach is paced and collaborative. She does not ask anyone to relive their worst moments before they have the tools to stay grounded.
1. Stabilize
The early phase focuses on safety and symptom relief. You learn what trauma does to the body, how to recognize your early warning signs and how to bring your system back down. As a C-DBT certified clinician, she often teaches Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills for distress tolerance and emotion regulation, which many professionals find immediately useful at work.
2. Process
When you feel ready, you work through the memories and beliefs that keep trauma active, in small, manageable steps. You decide how much to share and when. The aim is for the past to feel like the past rather than something that is still happening.
3. Reconnect
Later sessions focus on relationships, boundaries, purpose and rebuilding trust in yourself. Dr. Audrey's doctorate in family systems helps here, especially when trauma has affected a marriage, a parenting relationship or connections with extended family.
When trauma shows up at work
Many Las Colinas clients first notice PTSD not at home but on the job. Trauma affects concentration, memory and the ability to tolerate uncertainty, which are exactly the skills demanding roles require. You may find yourself rereading the same email, snapping at a colleague over something minor or dreading open-plan offices and crowded elevators.
Some people respond by overworking. Long hours keep painful feelings at bay, and success becomes proof that everything is fine. Others start calling in sick, avoiding travel or turning down opportunities that once excited them. Both patterns make sense as ways of coping, and both tend to cost more over time.
Therapy can help you understand your triggers in a workplace context and build strategies that fit real days: a grounding routine before high-stakes meetings, a plan for business travel, a way to step out and reset without anyone noticing. As symptoms ease, focus and confidence usually return too. You do not have to choose between your career and your recovery.
Who Dr. Audrey works with in Las Colinas
Trauma affects people at every stage of life. Dr. Audrey works with:
- Adults and professionals whose trauma surfaces as burnout, panic, insomnia or relationship conflict.
- Teens ages 12 to 18 coping with assault, bullying, loss or family upheaval, often alongside self-harm or depression. Learn more about her work with adolescent issues and teen counseling in the Coppell and Irving area.
- Young adults ages 18 to 29 starting careers in the area's corporate offices while carrying unresolved history.
- Couples and families where one person's trauma is reshaping how everyone communicates. Her article on what a family counselor does explains how family sessions can support recovery.
- Parents who want to respond to a child's trauma with calm and confidence. See how parent counseling improves parenting skills.
Her practice is LGBTQ+-owned and affirming, aligned with GLSEN and the Human Rights Campaign. She also treats related concerns such as addictions, grief and mood disorders, listed on her other specialties page.
How online PTSD therapy works
All sessions with Dr. Audrey are held over secure, HIPAA-compliant video that opens in your web browser. There is no app to download, no waiting room and no office to reach. She is a Texas Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor, so she can work with you whenever you are physically in Texas at the time of your session. Texas sessions are scheduled in Central Time, and scheduling is flexible.
For many Las Colinas clients, online therapy removes the biggest obstacle: time. You can meet from a home office, a quiet conference room or a parked car between meetings. For trauma work, being in your own space can also make it easier to settle your nervous system before and after a session.
If you travel outside Texas often, let Dr. Audrey know. She is also licensed in New Jersey and New York, and sessions can continue whenever you are physically in one of those three states.
Dr. Audrey's training
Dr. Audrey Kteily holds a PhD in Family Studies and a bachelor's in Psychology from Texas Woman's University and a master's in Counseling from Dallas Baptist University. She has been a Texas Licensed Professional Counselor since 2001 and a Supervisor since 2004, and she holds a New Jersey LPC and a New York LMHC.
She is a Certified Family Life Educator through the National Council on Family Relations, C-DBT certified through Evergreen Certifications, and a published author on family dynamics, with more than two decades of clinical experience. Read her full biography, meet Dr. Audrey on the practice page, or see her answers to reader questions in Ask Dr. Audrey. Directories such as Psychology Today can also help you compare therapists' training and approaches.
If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or 911. Dr. Audrey's practice is not a crisis service.
Getting started with PTSD therapy
Dr. Audrey is an out-of-network provider. She provides a superbill after sessions that you can submit to your insurer for possible out-of-network reimbursement. Ask your plan about out-of-network mental health benefits before you begin.
To request a first session, use the appointment request form on the home page or the form on this page. She responds within one business day.
Request an appointment, or text or call (917) 905-3183. Texting is the easiest way to reach her; please keep health details out of texts.