Vitals & Voices
Welcome to Vitals and Voices, brought to you by Lexington Regional Health Center — your community, your health, your care. This is your trusted source for health-related content that matters to you.
Each episode, we bring you real conversations with the voices behind the care — from medical experts and wellness champions to community leaders and patients — sharing insights, stories, and tips to help you live your healthiest life.
Whether you're tuning in from Lexington or beyond, we're here to inform, inspire, and connect. Because at LRHC, your health is our priority — and your voice matters.
Vitals & Voices
Healing After Trauma: Understanding PTSD and the Path Forward
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In this episode of Vitals & Voices, we sit down with Karina Lupercio, Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner at Lexington Regional Health Center, to talk about a topic that quietly impacts many people in our community: trauma and PTSD. Karina breaks down what trauma really is, how PTSD is different, and why there’s no “right” or “wrong” way the body responds after overwhelming experiences.
Together, we explore common myths—like the idea that PTSD only affects veterans or that time alone will heal everything—and replace them with clear, compassionate truth. Karina also shares practical coping tools, grounding techniques, and an overview of trauma‑focused therapies that help people heal without reliving pain over and over again.
Whether you’re navigating a past experience, supporting a loved one, or simply want to better understand mental health, this episode offers reassurance, education, and hope.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- What trauma is—and why it looks different for everyone
- How PTSD develops and when symptoms may signal it’s time for support
- Common misconceptions about trauma and PTSD
- Healthy ways to cope and care for yourself after a traumatic experience
- Grounding techniques that calm the nervous system
- Trauma‑focused treatment options, including EMDR and exposure‑based therapies
- How Lexington Regional Health Center’s mental health team works together to support patients
Why This Episode Matters:
Trauma doesn’t have to come from a single “extreme” event, and PTSD doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. These experiences affect the brain, body, and emotions—and help is available. With the right support, people can feel safer, more grounded, and more like themselves again.
If something in this conversation resonates with you, know this: you don’t have to carry it alone—and healing is possible. This episode is a meaningful first step toward understanding trauma, reducing stigma around mental health care, and finding the support that works for you.
Vitals & Voices is a podcast powered by Lexington Regional Health Center, offering meaningful health conversations that matter to you. Each episode features authentic stories and expert insights from the people behind the care — including healthcare professionals, wellness advocates, community leaders, and patients — all aimed at helping you live your healthiest, most informed life.
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Welcome to Vitals and Voices, brought to you by Lexington Regional Health Center. Your community, your health, your care. This is your trusted source for health-related content that matters to you. Each episode, we will bring you real conversations with the voices behind the care, from medical experts and wellness champions to community leaders and patients, sharing insights, stories, and tips to help you live your healthiest life. Whether you're tuning in from Lexington or beyond, we're here to inform, inspire, and connect because at LRHC, your health is our priority and your voice matters. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Vitals and Voices. Today we are talking about a topic that comes up more often than people realize trauma and PTSD, what they are, how they're different, and what support can actually help. Before we start, we would just want to make sure that our community knows this episode is for education only. We cannot diagnose you through a podcast, but we can help you better understand what you or a loved one might be experiencing and what options are out there. I am joined by Karina. She is a licensed independent mental health practitioner here at Lexington Regional Health Center. Karina has a strong focus in trauma-related care and is also bilingual in Spanish. Karina, thank you so much for being here. Of course. So one more note, this might be sensitive. If you notice you're feeling activated while listening, it's okay to pause. It's okay to take a breath. It's okay to come back when you're ready. Karina, let's just start simple. What is trauma? I think when people often hear it, they think it only means something super, super extreme.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Trauma is anything that overwhelms your ability to cope at the moment. So anything that affects your everyday life. It can be from a single intense event like an accident, an assault, a sudden loss, um, or it could come from ongoing stress, such as abuse, violence in the home, um, or seeing violence outside, or a chronic instability. Um when something is traumatic, it affects your mind, um, your emotions, and your body. Um, you might notice you being a little more fidgety, jumpy, scared, um, not sleeping at night, probably not at eating as well. And that's some people overeat also. Okay. Um, the disconnect in feeling, um, numbness, detachment, um, avoiding situations, things that remind you of that trauma, um, strong emotion reactions to feeling like with little things that we usually wouldn't overreact about. That's kind of what the normal response is when it comes to trauma.
SPEAKER_02But it doesn't necessarily just have to be one instance, right?
SPEAKER_01No, a lot of people feel like trauma has to be like a huge thing. Um a huge car accident, a huge, like even a smaller car accident, um, everybody says it's has to be huge. No, not not for everybody. It just depends how your body reacts to it. So, like, let's say me and you are in a car accident together, fender bender, and we go get checked out at the hospital, and then I can't get in the vehicle anymore because I'm just like, I'm afraid that it's gonna happen again. And obviously the car is where it happened, so I avoid the vehicle. So then it's like, hey, she's walking around now everywhere. Um, and she even if they ask her for a ride, she's like, no, that's okay, because I'm terrified already compared to you that probably was able to walk out, get in the vehicle, and go home. Um, it's that small, and I think people don't understand that the our body reacts sometimes to the smallest things. Okay. And um everybody's so different. Like mom could go through a situation and daughter could go through the same situation. That me doesn't mean they're gonna react the same.
SPEAKER_02Right. Oh, that's just I mean, it's just so interesting and no right or wrong on on how your body, you know, takes that. Yeah. It just is how you're how you're built, right? Yeah, just and what that situation did to you. Wow. So we talked about trauma. Educate us on PTSD and maybe how that's a little bit different, because I think those get those lines kind of get mixed sometimes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So post-traumatic um stress disorder um is a set of symptoms that sometimes develop after trauma. Okay. Not everybody who experiences trauma obviously develops PTSD. Um, when it is diagnosed, it's usually because the symptoms have gone on for like a month or so. Um, it starts to be distressful in life, um, and then interfering with you, like, I'm not going to work, I'm not able to get up, like I'm not doing what I'm usually doing, like if I'm cooking or like doing laundry, things like that.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um, intrusive um thoughts sometimes come in, flashbacks, nightmares at night that we're not able to sleep, unwanted memories, um, avoidance, like going to that place that caused the trauma, people that remind you, um negative changes in thoughts and mood, obviously feeling guilty, shame, fearful, losing interest in things, um, negative beliefs like I'm not safe, it's all my fault. Um and also feeling like guarded, easily like irritated, um, and obviously trouble concentrating and sleeping is more of a sign of the PTSD.
SPEAKER_02So if you have trauma, do you think you're going to have PTSD or vice versa?
SPEAKER_01Or it depends on the person. Okay. And PTSD doesn't mean you're broken. It means your brain and your body are still trying to make sense of what happened.
SPEAKER_02Okay. You're probably just on overload, right? Just they keep the situations keep going.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. It's like present and it feels like you're still in that same time and day, and it's still happening. So that's kind of where you start to um people start to notice the difference.
SPEAKER_02Karina, a couple myths for you. Um often I hear the term PTSD is only related to those who maybe were in a war.
SPEAKER_01No, it is not like we talked about earlier. PTSD could come from anything.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Time heals it. I should just get over it. No. I love some of these myths that people hear, but people, I mean, people think them, right? It's just it's very easy.
SPEAKER_01Oh, don't think about it and you'll get over it. And if it was that easy.
SPEAKER_02If it was that easy. Um, and I know we're gonna go into this a little bit more too, but another myth, talking about it just makes it worse. No. So kind of segueing into our next topic, how does someone know maybe they resonated with one of those terms? When it's when is it time to get support when or versus it's just a rough patch?
SPEAKER_01Well, you deserve support anytime, sometimes feeling overwhelmed even. Um, but when it often comes to PTSD or trauma, um, since that lasts for weeks, um, daily life, work, relationships are being affected at this point. You feel stuck, unable to move forward. Um, you're having frequent nightmares, intrusive memories, um, avoiding um situations, avoiding places, um, starting to use substance abuse for coping is one of the biggest signs. Um, feeling hopeless, irritable, emotionally overwhelmed is probably the time to come in and try to get the help that you need.
SPEAKER_02Krina, maybe a note too, for anyone with those thoughts of self-harm or if a situation feels unsafe, get in immediately. I mean, or yes, I always say 911.
SPEAKER_01Um, if you're feeling really unsafe, the emergency room, um, there is a crisis line, 988, that you're able to text now, because a lot of kids know it's texting, emailing, whatever it is. Um, but yes, once those suicidal thoughts come in, it is important for you to come in because the brain is just working and working and working. And sometimes to help it stop, you have to feel safe somewhere. And if you go into an emergency room, you start to feel safe because doctors are around. Um, the dot the thoughts won't go away, um, but they'll start start to slow down so you're able to think, okay, hey, okay, I do need a help. I need to go in and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02And taking that first step of just getting in the building, getting to somewhere safe, admitting that out loud, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02Sure is huge.
SPEAKER_01And that is probably the hardest thing for a lot of people. It's like, what are they gonna think if I say this? Or what if my family finds out? And a lot of it is you have to kind of stop and not think about everybody else but yourself at that time.
SPEAKER_02Oh, and I'm sure you talk about that with patients every single day. How hard that can be.
SPEAKER_01Yes, it is. It's something that um comes up actually, I would say at least every week. Um, recently, I just had a patient tell me um that she was having suicidal thoughts and she did have a plan. Um, but right after we talked, she was able to kind of break it down and be like, okay, no, I'm here for a reason. No, I do not need to take my life. And um getting her the help also with the proper um people that have the experience for mental health is important too. Wow.
SPEAKER_02Wow. So let's talk practical. After something traumatic, what are the healthy ways to help yourself in you know those days, those weeks after?
SPEAKER_01Um, there's ways to support your mind and the body between. Um, it's grounding skills, focusing on your breathing, on your senses, keeping a regular routine like your sleep, food, movement, spending time with loved ones, um, people that you feel supported by, um, being active, um, journaling, art, sketching, walks, anything that's gonna keep your mind off it is gonna help and help the mind also be relaxed and calm. And that's gonna help the body also relax.
SPEAKER_02Do you say that's part of your practice or in what you talk about with patients is just everyone's different. What does that look like for you? What are those things that you would enjoy to get outside or get moving?
SPEAKER_01Or it is our everyday thing sometimes that we have to talk to patients. Sometimes they're limited. And it's like, okay, we have to think outside the box, like they're injured, and that's what caused them to go into the trauma. And it's like they can't move like they used to. So it's like, okay, what are we still able to do? Like with moms, usually it's like, I have to do laundry, I have to wash the dishes, I have to cook. And then when all of that's taken away, it's another trauma because it's like they're not able to. But sometimes we have to think about and sit down and be like, can husband bring the clothes to you? And you could do the laundry? Can we put cooking stuff a little lower so that you could still do that as your normal routine? Um, make you feel as normal as you can, because the more we kind of and family does this, it's because they love us and care that they want to do everything for us because they're like, gee, you just need to take care of yourself. But at the end of the day, it still makes us feel like we're being a burden and depression, burden, it all comes together and it's just like and so then those negative thoughts start to come in like am I worth being here? You know, um, am I being a burden to my family now? Things like that. So a lot of it is coming back and sitting down with yourself and you know, trying to control those thoughts. And I always say, sometimes it is really hard because the mind is a very powerful thing. And sometimes we kind of have to like give it like a little zap. So I always tell my patients, like put cold um ice, like ice in your mouth, um, in your hands, um, somewhere sensitive on your body. So like your body reacts um gum, like really that really manty, nasty gum, yeah, it's gonna make you react. Sour candy, okay, um, spicy candy. It's gonna let your brain concentrate on your senses. And then the brain starts to slow down a little and you're kind of like, and then it's like, okay, now I could do like my breathing exercises and I could keep on moving forward.
SPEAKER_02Talk to us a little bit. You mentioned the term grounding, is and I I've personally tried this. Get your shoes, socks off, put your feet on that cold grass, and man, it is it is wild.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, anything that has to do with our senses will distract our brain and concentrate on what's going on. It's like if we accidentally touch a hot stove, it's our hands gonna, you know, we're gonna react to it. So our brain is gonna concentrate on that. It's not gonna concentrate on, you know, oh, I just dropped water on the floor or something like that. Um, so a lot of those things where they say, like, yeah, put it, close your eyes, or like even um imaginary a place like, you know, that makes you feel calm. Um, try to think of the breeze and how that felt, you know, a taste of something that you like to eat. Um, so those are all grounding um techniques that you could use. Um, there's also one that I use with little kids that is like, okay, what are five things that you see around the room? What are four things that you could hear around the room? What are three things you could things like that? Okay. Um, something that simple. Um, and I always say sometimes it is just getting up and being like, okay, I have to do something, I have to do something. Um, I suffer from um depression and anxiety, and there is times that the brain was just at it, and it's just like I would have to get up and be like, oh my gosh, I would start jumping Jackson, ABC. Yeah. And it's like it starts to kind of slow that brain down, and it's like gives you that time to breathe to be able to concentrate to do what so then you know what to do next.
SPEAKER_02Wow. I just love, and I think we're gonna go into this next, but just when someone comes to see you, there are a lot of different therapies specifically designed for trauma. Can you walk us through some of those options?
SPEAKER_01Yes, there is a lot of um trauma focused um therapies. There's conflict and behavior therapy, um, exposure therapy. I kind of like exposure therapy and I do it a lot with um my main trauma focused therapy, which is EMDR, um, which I'll talk about a little um about in a bit. Um, but when we do exposed therapy, it's basically facing our fear little by little. So if let's say you're scared of dogs, yeah, like at first I will probably bring out a picture of my dog. And then um, once we start regulating that sense of fear, then we move on to the next step. It's like then we'll have like the dog outside the door. And then we start regulating that. Then we bring in the dog, but he's on the corner or he's on someone's lap, someone's holding him, and then we'll put it on the floor, and then we'll get it close to you. So it's exposing you to that. Um it's not an immediate here's the dog, especially, yeah. No. Um, and so I like doing it with EMDR. And EMDR is an eye movement dissentation and reprocessing therapy that I I actually did it right before I graduated. Okay. Um, so I was like, uh, I want to be, you know, um, I want to specialize in this. And the reason is it's an evidence-based therapy that helps the brain heal from traumatic um or highly stressful experiences. And it's a bilateral stimulator. So basically it could be, it was thought of like it started with the eye movement. So it would literally you would be following my fingers. Okay. And well, with trauma, sometimes people don't like people up front or next to them, or sure things like that. Well, we have tappers now, or we have a light that you could follow, which is the one I did because it was during COVID time. Okay. And so on the computer, you would just follow the line going back and forth. So basically, what's happening is when we're thinking about our trauma, it's being processed on both sides of our brain.
SPEAKER_02Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_01Because we're so used to only focusing on one side. Okay. And when something overwhelming happens, the brain doesn't always store those memories correctly. And I always bring up the movie Inside Out. Um, where joy is putting your memories where they're supposed to go, and then they kind of get all over the place and it kind of starts to give um the little girl anxiety because it's like, oh my gosh, this one's not in the right place. This one. So basically, what we want to do is make sure that that memory of that trauma is in the past, it's not happening now because it's just floating around. And anything could trigger it. Like if a car comes up and stops right in front of you because you were in a car accident and was almost ready to, your body's gonna automatically go back to that trauma. Um, a smell, even a smell, could bring back um a traumatic event. Um, you know, a voice, someone saying something, um, it's gonna bring it back because that memory is just floating around. And so what we want to do to be able to help is disconnect those emotions to that memory and have joy put them where it belonged in the past.
SPEAKER_02That's, I mean, that's amazing. That's a super good visual. Um for anyone who's seen that or just of yeah, sometimes your brain just does not put it where it needs to be. And it's there's no shame in admitting that that it's hey, let somebody help you to get that, get that kind of out of here. And I love what you're saying too about we're just trying to make you feel safe, especially in your own body, especially if you've had someone with these really awful or traumatic instances that that you don't have to feel like this forever. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And with EMDR, um, it helps the memory get processed and move um it to the like move that memory to the past and the part of the brain where it needs to be. And often a lot of my clients, what they start experiencing is that the memory feels like far away. Um, it's there because it never goes away. You always know something happened, but those emotions are not connected to it. So um, so there's less emotional activation. Um, it's more clear thinking, improved sleeping, um, more confidence and uh self-compassion for yourself.
SPEAKER_02I've heard the term too, like it just feels less. Like it just was here, it was a heavy boulder on my shoulder for how long? And now it's still a little bit there. You can still see it, but it's not, it's not gone forever. Yeah. It's there, it's not here. Yes. Wow. That's a lot of different options, Karina. And I'm sure, you know, for our listeners, you and your team are gonna help them find the right path for them, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes. We do. We have a great um team, mental health team over at the clinic. Um, and there's three of us mental health therapists um and two mental health nurse practitioners that are amazing. And we work hand in hand, and it's amazing because it's like if we therapists tend to see the patients more often. Um, and we see them on a weekly basis, especially if there's trauma. And so we're able to keep up um with the nurse practitioners, like, hey, this is what's happening, or they were doing good and they're heading a slope. What can we do? And we're able to catch that patient faster than if, like, you know, they weren't in therapy, or they didn't have a nurse practitioner, they're at the clinic. That's the great thing about Lexington Regional, is that we have the nurse practitioners for mental health and then our therapists right there and they're working hand in hand. And usually it's like they get to go home and be like, okay, my my doctor got what I'm feeling. And instead of feeling like, oh, I left the message or I'm trying to get through. Because our our nurse practitioners and our doctors are super busy. So We give them that peace of mind of being like, okay, I will email them or I will let them know. I will go talk to them that this is going on. And usually it's either more symptoms and it's just a little up on the dosage or a change of medication sometimes. And it's nice because they're able to make that decision and be like, have their nurse call them and be like, hey, this is what's going to happen now.
SPEAKER_02I just love that team approach. Like you said, I mean, you just said it all right. We have amazing therapists. We have the nurse practitioners that are able to help prescribe those medications, should you need for mental health needs, which there is absolutely no shame in that. That is life-changing for people and does wonders that just we're here for you. And like you said, I just hope people understand that we have a team approach backing you. And this is not something you have to suffer alone because mental health affects everyone, right? Of just different variances. Yes. Karina, for some people too, who maybe they don't want to come in, maybe they think, oh, it's not that bad, or others have had it worse and I know they're not seeking care. Maybe just talk to us about kind of like you did in the beginning. Everyone's different.
SPEAKER_01Yes. We are all different. We all carry things differently. We all need different treatments. Um, we all need different therapies. Um, just because we feel like one shoe fits all, that's not how it works with mental health, unfortunately. It's not like you get the cold and you know something. I wish it was that easy. But it isn't. Sometimes we have to try different medications, different therapies, different approaches. Um, because it's just the mind of that person isn't working with what we're trying to give. And sometimes we have to think outside the box and, you know, um put more than one therapy together. Um, so then it's like, okay, now we're seeing a difference. But one of the most important things I think um to mention is you are coming to a clinic. So there's you could come in and people are not going to be like, they're going to do some mental health. Um it's just like, I'm gonna go see my doctor because my hand hurts, or you know, I'm sick.
SPEAKER_02I have a really is like any other sickness, right? It's it is basically another illness. But I understand that that stigma around it though.
SPEAKER_01It is, and it's still there, and it's just that's why I was like, if people knew the difference, um, and how it also is so relatable to illnesses, and it's um that there's that area where they could help and there's medication. And I know sometimes the medication could be really scary and there's side effects and people don't feel the way they're supposed to. It's like keep communication. Communication is our number one thing, especially in mental health. If you're not feeling good, if you feel side effects, talk to us and we're able to talk to our nurse practitioners and be like, hey, this is what's happening. It's usually like, oh no, let's get off that medication. Um, but it's giving it a try, you know? And sometimes I do have to convince patients that it's like you need to be on medication. Sure. As much as they don't want to, and I have to put myself in their place. And I'm just like, I was there too, I didn't want the medication. But once I started it, I thought to myself, I'd rather feel normal than not at all because mental ill, mental health is a scary illness.
SPEAKER_02It is, and like you said, it's just not a one size fits all. Not everyone will need medication, not maybe not everyone will need talk therapy all the time. It just you just need to come in and see, I mean, what's best for you to take take care of yourself.
SPEAKER_01I do have patients that do come in once, once a month, maybe two times a month. Um and and it's okay. It's just they just have to talk to someone that doesn't judge or doesn't tell them what to do. It's a lot more of I'm guiding you, I'm here for you.
SPEAKER_02I'm listening, I'm a safe place. Oh, I think that's amazing. And I think everyone could benefit from a visit with someone from our team just to just to feel better and maybe feel a little bit lighter. Talk to us about that process. I mean, do you need a referral? Am I able to just get in and call and schedule with you? What does that look like?
SPEAKER_01Um, no, there is no referral process. Um, but some doctors do referral. Okay. Um, but otherwise, you could just call um our number, 308-324-8308, and the front office will answer. And you could be like, hey, I was wondering if I could make a visit with Karina or Tracy, um, Jamie. And those are our therapists that we have in the clinic. Um, or you could ask for our expertise or us to talk to us to be like, okay, this is what's happening to me. So they better understand. Oh, sure, okay, maybe I'm not the one that'd be able to help, but Tracy will. Right. So um I think it's just a lot of just picking up that phone.
SPEAKER_02Right. Of just doing it. I like what you said too. If someone, hopefully everyone's getting in for their annual well visits or things like that, too. Something to talk to their primary care provider about, too, to say, you know, hey, maybe I listened to this or I I've been having these feelings, and and they could help get that scheduled with our team too, right? Yes. Okay. And no matter where you seek care, no matter where your primary care provider doctor is, you're able to do to do speak with one of our therapists as well, too. Well, Karina, what didn't we hit on? I know I learned a lot, and I'm sure our listeners did today too.
SPEAKER_01I think we hit on odd topics. I think we were really good at getting around, especially the area of not everybody's a same.
SPEAKER_02And it's okay. And it's it's okay. Oh, I think that just resonates with me. Well, Karina, thank you so much for, I mean, just educating on all of these. I think it was very clear. I mean, it just shows your compassion that you have for our community and for our patients. Um, to our listeners, if you take one thing from today, make sure that you understand you do not have to carry this alone, and healing is possible. While we know that this isn't a diagnosing podcast, if you know this resonated with you or maybe someone in your family, we encourage you to share this with someone. Um, and thank you so much for listening. And until next time, stay well.