Is what you are feeling PTSD?
After something frightening, it is normal to feel shaken for a while. PTSD is what happens when the alarm does not switch off. Weeks, months or even years later, your body and mind still react as if the danger is present.
Common signs include:
- Re-experiencing: intrusive memories, nightmares or flashbacks that feel like the event is happening again.
- Avoidance: steering clear of places, people, conversations or even thoughts connected to what happened.
- Changes in mood and thinking: guilt, shame, numbness, or a belief that the world is unsafe or that you are to blame.
- Feeling on edge: startling easily, trouble sleeping, irritability, or scanning every room for threats.
The National Institute of Mental Health and the American Psychiatric Association both publish clear overviews of PTSD symptoms. If several of these sound familiar, PTSD therapy can help, whether the trauma was recent or long ago.
If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or 911. Dr. Audrey's practice is not a crisis service.
PTSD therapy in Tenafly, delivered online
Tenafly is a Bergen County borough a short drive from the George Washington Bridge, with tree-lined streets, strong schools and many residents who work in Manhattan. It is the kind of town where people are expected to look composed. That expectation can make it harder to admit that you are struggling, and harder still to be seen walking into a therapist's office on a familiar street.
Dr. Audrey Kteily treats PTSD and complex PTSD for Tenafly residents entirely online, through secure, HIPAA-compliant video. You meet from home or another private place in New Jersey. There is no office visit, no traffic on Route 9W or Route 4, and no waiting room where you might see a neighbor.
Online sessions also help on days when symptoms make leaving the house feel impossible. Being in your own space can make it easier to stay grounded while you work on difficult material.
What PTSD treatment with Dr. Audrey involves
Stabilization comes first
Before talking through the trauma itself, you build a foundation. Dr. Audrey teaches grounding techniques, breathing and body-based skills for flashbacks, and practical plans for sleep and triggers. Her C-DBT certification in Dialectical Behavior Therapy gives this stage structure, with specific skills for tolerating distress without making things worse.
Making sense of the memory
Traumatic memories are often stored as fragments: images, sounds and body sensations without a clear story. When you are ready, therapy helps you put those pieces into a narrative with a beginning, middle and end. This tends to reduce how often the memory intrudes and how strongly it hits.
Challenging what trauma taught you
Trauma leaves behind beliefs like “it was my fault” or “I can never let my guard down.” Part of the work is examining those beliefs and testing them against what you know now.
Reconnecting with people
PTSD strains relationships. Partners feel shut out, and children may sense tension without understanding it. Dr. Audrey's background in family studies means she can include loved ones when helpful, so the people around you understand what you are going through.
Research on trauma-focused therapy, indexed in databases such as PubMed, consistently supports structured approaches like these. No therapist can promise a specific outcome, but most people with PTSD can expect meaningful improvement with consistent work.
Common myths about PTSD therapy
“PTSD is only for veterans.” Combat is one cause, but PTSD also follows car accidents, assaults, medical emergencies, sudden losses, domestic violence and childhood abuse.
“Therapy means reliving the worst moment over and over.” Good trauma therapy is paced. You learn to stay steady first, and you control how much you share.
“It happened too long ago to matter now.” Old trauma often shows up as present-day anxiety, anger or numbness. It is never too late to address it.
“If I were stronger, I would be over it by now.” PTSD is not a character flaw. It reflects how the nervous system responds to overwhelming threat, and it affects capable, accomplished people all the time. Needing help to recover says nothing about your strength.
“Talking about it will only make it worse.” Avoidance often feels protective in the short term, but it tends to keep symptoms going. Careful, well-timed processing usually brings relief rather than more distress, and you will have skills ready for any difficult moments along the way.
Who PTSD therapy can help in Tenafly
Dr. Audrey works with adults whose trauma affects their careers, parenting or relationships; teens ages 12 to 18 who have experienced bullying, assault, accidents or family upheaval; and young adults who notice old experiences resurfacing as they build independent lives.
She also helps families when one member has PTSD. A parent may need guidance on supporting a teen after a frightening event, or a couple may need help understanding how one partner's trauma shapes their arguments. Family members can join from different locations, including a college dorm or a second home.
Complex PTSD deserves a separate mention. If your trauma was repeated over time, especially in childhood or in a close relationship, you may struggle with shame, emotional swings and trust in ways that go beyond classic PTSD. Treatment for complex PTSD and related concerns takes longer, and Dr. Audrey is experienced with that slower, steadier work.
How online therapy works for New Jersey residents
Dr. Audrey is a New Jersey Licensed Professional Counselor and can see you any time you are physically located in New Jersey during the session. She is also licensed in New York, which helps if you work in Manhattan and occasionally need to join from there, and in Texas.
Sessions are on Eastern Time and scheduled flexibly. You receive a secure link that opens in your browser; no download is required. A phone, tablet or laptop with a camera works. For step-by-step details, visit how online therapy works in New Jersey or the New Jersey therapy overview.
Dr. Audrey is an out-of-network provider. She provides a superbill that you can submit for possible out-of-network reimbursement.
Dr. Audrey's background in trauma care
Dr. Audrey Kteily has more than 20 years of clinical experience. She 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. Her licenses include New Jersey LPC, New York LMHC and Texas LPC-S, with Texas licensure since 2001 and supervisor status since 2004.
She is a Certified Family Life Educator through the National Council on Family Relations, holds C-DBT certification and is a published author on family dynamics. The American Psychological Association encourages people seeking trauma care to ask about a clinician's training and approach, and Dr. Audrey is glad to answer those questions in a first conversation. Her practice is LGBTQ+-owned and affirming.
How to get started
Taking the first step can be the hardest part of PTSD treatment. You can keep it simple: send a brief note through the New Jersey appointment request or the secure form on this page, and Dr. Audrey will respond within one business day.
Prefer to text? Text or call (917) 905-3183. Texting is the easiest way to reach her; keep health details out of texts. You can also learn more on the practice home page.