Well said Pandora.

I will add; you work through it simply by facing it. A person can talk about their trauma day in, day out, and still be no wiser or better for it. Its not about just talking about ones trauma, but instead get it out onto paper where it can be analyzed, then once out, pull it apart piece by piece, expand issues and areas with actual feelings, thoughts and issues, work through each one at a time trying to toss ideas around, different angles, other possibilities, who truly owns what, etc.

It is a detailed process depending on the extent of trauma. If a person only had one trauma, then you could nearly do it all within a couple of weeks, its more just a time thing to absorb it all and nut out any smaller issues. Multiple trauma is where it takes greater time due to the size and typically the complexity of the trauma itself. It can take a couple of weeks to a couple of years just to get through the trauma alone, let alone then working on how to manage PTSD itself. Typically you can say it is a total period around 3 years, a little longer or shorter depending on complexity.