For Nikki Barlia it was Parkland.
“It was devastating for the entire community,” she recalled.
For Randy Levine it was a childhood trauma.
“Self-confidence, shame those type of things. A little bit of abuse early on,” said Levine.
These people have experienced and faced trauma. Now, they are trying to help others do the same.
“To reduce that stress and tension that’s out there,” Myrna Molinari said.
It’s called Accelerated Resolution Therapy also known as “ART”, a psychotherapy that helps treat people with PTSD.
“Southwestern and southeastern Florida is very lacking, so I wanted to get that more prevalent in this area because we do have such a high population of veterans, and they really need to have the relief,” Molinari said.
On Memorial Day, Molinari helped train other mental health professionals on ART, which doesn’t rely on medication. She believes it can save lives.
“When I look at the problems that we are having with rates of suicide and lack of trained professionals who have accelerated resolution therapy in their toolbox, I felt very compelled to get that training pushed out,” she said.
Currently neither the American Psychiatric Association nor the American Psychological Association track the amount of people trained to treat PTSD.
However, a 2014 study by RAND Corporation found that nationwide only about a third of psychotherapists have that kind of training. Molinari says she’s working with the Florida VA to change that statistic.
“I know I can get them to a better place,” said Molinari.
