Feeling anxious about returning to business as usual? You aren’t alone. As life begins to return to some semblance of normal, re-entry anxiety (also known as reopening anxiety) is becoming increasingly common. Tune in to this episode to learn about what re-entry anxiety is, why so many of us are experiencing it at this stage of the pandemic, and how you can use evidence-based tools to cope with it.

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Lori Zoellner about prolonged exposure (PE) therapy, which is a highly effective, evidence-based treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr. Zoellner is a world-renowned expert in trauma and PTSD. Her research and clinical work focus on the development, maintenance, and treatment of PTSD and she came on the show to share her expertise in treating PTSD with PE. Specifically, we talk about the rationale for PE, what changes people can expect to see with treatment, who can benefit from PE, and efforts to optimize PE treatment outcomes.

In honor of National PTSD Awareness Month, this episode is all about posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Specifically, in this episode I cover what PTSD is (and isn’t) and why it is that some people develop PTSD following a trauma while others don’t. If you find this episode helpful, please join me in spreading hope for those who are struggling in the wake of a trauma and be sure to check out the next episode to learn about evidence-based treatment for PTSD.

In this first episode I discuss what inspired this podcast, who this podcast is for, and what you can expect from it. I also talk a bit about what anxiety is and how we can intervene when it becomes problematic.