Post Traumatic Growth | Post Traumatic Thriving | Recovering from Trauma

CEUs are available for this presentation at AllCEUs.com/Trauma-CEU hey there everybody and welcome to this  presentation on post-traumatic thriving   recovering from traumatic injuries  I'm your host Dr Donnelly Snipes in this video we're going to Define Big  T and Little T traumas we'll explore   the impact of trauma regardless of size  and finish by exploring some strategies   for post-traumatic thriving or  recovering from traumatic injury traumas and Little T traumas are terms that have  been thrown around a lot recently but what do   they really mean a big T trauma represents  often a singular event in which there was a   threat of serious injury or death and a sense of  helplessness and horror this could have been a car   accident a heart attack a robbery a tornado  something that was super duper intense and   there was a threat of serious injury or loss  of life just because there is not a threat   of serious injury or loss of life or a sense  of hopelessness and helplessness and horror   doesn't mean that it's not traumatic doesn't  mean that it's not going to have a impact on   the individual so people started using the term  Little T trauma these are highly stressed highly   distressing events that don't fall into the Big  T category so non-life-threatening injuries being   bullied neglect emotional abuse the death  of a pet or even the death of a loved one   to cancer that can be extremely traumatic  and a lot of times Little T traumas aren't short in nature they can go on for a long  time for example a loved one who has cancer   May struggle with that cancer and chemotherapy  for months or even years emotional abuse and   bullying can go on for months or even  years and it's important to recognize   that little T traumas do do damage and I really  struggle with the term Little T traumas or what   some other people call Micro traumas because I  think it minimizes the impact of these traumas   on people's Psyche on people's lives think  about a stone or a rock that's in a river   now if you take a rock and you hit it with  a hammer hard enough you're going to break   it you're going to change its shape that's true  just like a big T trauma you know that's that one   big hit and it is going to significantly alter the  individual's perception of things but if you take   that same Rock and you put it in a river where the  water washes over it day in and day out changes   that rock it erodes that rock but it's a lot  slower in what happens so does the little stressor   of the river is that less impactful does that make  less of a change on the Rock no but it may take   more time so it's important to recognize that we  should not minimize the impact of little T traumas steps in post-traumatic thriving now I'm  going through these in this video which   is an hour or less depending on how long I  talk but it's important to recognize that   recovering from trauma takes time so I'm just  kind of giving you a really high level overview   so the first step is to create safety after a  trauma a person is stripped of their sense of   personal empowerment and safety that's what trauma  does to people and if a person receives adequate   support right after that trauma it may not develop  into traumatic injury but if they don't then or if   they don't process what happened then it can  develop into what we call traumatic injury   so the person there's a part of that person that  still feels disempowered or unsafe in order to   move forward it's important to first create safety  we all need to feel safe and then acknowledge the   reality of the traumas this happened it is what  it is not it shouldn't have happened or maybe I'm   misremembering or it wasn't as bad as I remember  it is what it is acknowledge the reality of what   happened and this again comes after you create  safety you don't want to do this if you don't   have resources if you don't have support when  you are addressing this trauma again because   then you're going to feel more vulnerable and  potentially re-traumatize yourself so create   safety acknowledge the reality of the traumas  assess the impact the trauma is having on you   what are your symptoms not everybody responds to  trauma in the same way not everybody responds to   a particular trauma in the same way so you  may respond to a tornado in one way and to   a robbery in another way well one is a natural  disaster one is a event that is perpetrated by   another human being so it makes sense that in  the first one you may not lose your faith in   humanity but in the second one you may question  the goodness of humanity so your reaction to   different traumas May differ and that's okay  but it's important to assess the impact that   the trauma or the traumas you've experienced  are having on you take an inventory then accept   where you are stop shooting yourself I should  be over this by now or I shouldn't feel this   way about this you feel how you feel and getting  to that point of acceptance is really important   getting to that point of saying okay this is  what we're dealing with now how do I dress it the next step is defining a rich  and meaningful life this is where I   am these are my symptoms where do I want to  be what is a rich and meaningful life to me   increase your motivation for change then identify  ways to to address the symptoms that you have that   help you move toward that rich and meaningful  life and this may mean experimenting you may not   know exactly what's going to help you address  a particular symptom but you may have some   inklings you may have some ideas and Now's the  Time to start experimenting to see what works   once you've identified some strategies that  you might want to use take the first step   so let's look at these a little bit more in detail  post-traumatic thriving and I have on this you   are here symptoms and all that is that mindful  acceptance of the trauma and how it's impacting   you this is these are your symptoms this is what  happened it is what it is now how are you going   to address it how are you going to use your energy  are you going to use your energy to struggle with   your symptoms in a way that moves you away from  your rich and meaningful life are you simply   going to struggle with your symptoms and not move  forward or backward you just kind of stay stuck   or are you going to evaluate how you're using  your energy in response to your symptoms and   identify strategies that help you move closer  to your rich and meaningful life that help you   feel happier that help you  nurture important relationships as I mentioned once you define your rich and  meaningful life that's all well and good so   you have this Vision you have this light at the  end of the tunnel so to speak where you want   to go that's wonderful but it takes more than  that now you've got to increase your motivation   ask yourself if I were better able to manage the  symptoms that I have it would help me move toward   my rich and meaningful Life by physically  how is it going to help you move toward   the physical aspects of your rich and meaningful  life is it going to help you improve your health   well probably if you're stressed then that is  taking its toll on your blood pressure on your   blood sugar on your health it's keeping your  cortisol levels high it's making you age faster   is it going to improve your energy probably if  you're not stressed and if you start sleeping   better and are in less pain then you're  probably going to have more energy and   that energy can be used to move towards your rich  and meaningful life likewise if you start freeing   up some energy from resentments and anger and  other stuff that you may be having tying your   energy up in right now then you're going  to have all this extra energy that suddenly   is there that you can put toward your rich  and meaningful life so how awesome is that   affectively if you were to better able to  manage your symptoms how would it impact your   mood hopefully it would help you feel better  more motivated more Curious more enthusiastic   cognitively if you are better able to manage  your symptoms if you were able to get better   sleep have more energy be in a better mood  how would it improve your attitude would you   still be as negative and pessimistic or would  you be more optimistic how would it help your   concentration if you weren't hyper Vigilant  or exhausted all the time would you be able   to concentrate better make better decisions  or even tap into that long lost creativity   environmentally if you got your symptoms  under control so you weren't feeling hyper   Vigilant so you were so you were feeling  safer and you were feeling more empowered   how would that impact the stress level in your  environment and I know that's sort of intangible   but we've all walked into environments rooms  places where the energy has been very good and   we've all walked into places where the energy  has been oppressive it's been very stressful   so how will it improve your environment if you  address all of this stress will you feel more   liberated and more positive in your environment  will you feel safer and your relationships if   you get your symptoms under control you have  more energy you're in a better mood you can   concentrate more you're not as hyper Vigilant  how is that going to impact the quality of your   relationships your energy that you have to invest  in relationships probably gonna have more of that   and how are you going to enjoy your relationships  more if you're able to actually tap into feelings   like enjoyment and engage in activities that  bring you happiness and joy and contentment once you've increased your motivation   you've figured out where you want to go  what your rich and meaningful life looks at   you've increased your motivation you've said okay  these are all the reasons that I really want to   do the hard work to get over there all right now  it's time to figure out how do we get from point   A which is where you where you are it is what  it is to your rich and meaningful life point B   I mentioned earlier you're going to take an  inventory of each of your symptoms and for each   symptom ask yourself what is causing it because  it may not be your trauma it could be but it may   not be is it related to my trauma and if so how  so that goes to understanding if you're hyper   Vigilant is it related to your trauma yes you're  on edge because you don't feel safe so that helps   helps you understand where that feeling is coming  from how it's related to the trauma and then you   can start identifying strategies to help you feel  safer so what strategies can I use to address it   then keep a log of how often how  Intense or how long the symptoms last   hyper vigilance Panic whatever symptom we're  talking about it's good to try to focus on One   symptom at a time or maybe two if you feel  really froggy and keep a log that way you   can see incremental progress you're not going  to go from having flashbacks every single day   to no flashbacks at all you want to have fewer  flashbacks or flashbacks that don't last as long   or flashbacks that are less intense or all of  the above regardless you know even if you are   still having one every day if they are less  intense that's progress then you know if they   are shorter in duration that become less intense  than become shorter in duration that's even better exploring with one strategy at a time  how you're going to address these issues now normally I start out with physical  interventions but with trauma it is so   important to create safety that I feel like it's  important to start there so environmentally when   you experience trauma whether it is ongoing  Trauma from abuse or neglect or bullying   there can be a lack of a sense of  safety even a loved one who had cancer   you may develop a lack of a sense of safety  a fear that every time you have you get sick   or you have a pain that you've got cancer so that  lack of a sense of control and safety is Paramount   triggers for your sense of unsafeness in your  environment abound so things that are related   to your trauma may serve as triggers things  people places smells and sounds so you want   to take an inventory of those things  and figure out all right what things   are triggering my stress response what things  are keeping me feeling unsafe and disempowered once you've identified your trauma triggers  in your environments and this includes your   home your car your work ideally restaurants  in general and places you like to recreate   what it whatever that looks like whether  you like to go hiking or roller skating   the environment that you frequent try to figure  out how can I feel safe in these environments and   develop a plan to eliminate eliminate or mitigate  any of your trauma triggers in those environments   now eliminate means get rid of them if there  is something in your home environment that   triggers your trauma that you can get rid of like  a picture or a particular smell or maybe you want   to add another deadbolt to your door whatever it  is do that that way you feel safer but sometimes   you can't completely eliminate something for  example being in a restaurant where there's   a lot of activity you can't tell everybody to be  quiet and don't move and only go to the restaurant   when there's nobody else there like likely the  restaurant's not open then what can you do and   a lot of people who feel unsafe in restaurants  sit with their back towards a wall so they can   see all the entrances and exits that mitigates the  situation so they feel safer in that environment   if there's a particular smell in that particular  environment bring with you either personal air   purifiers or another smell to counter it  and you can even rub something like Vicks   Vapor Rub right underneath your nose so you  smell that instead of the triggering smell identify triggers sights smells sounds and  Sensations for safety as well triggers are   not only things for bad stuff triggers can  also promote a feeling of relaxation and   happiness and safety and identify ways to  add those to each of your environments on   your mobile device maybe you have the lock  screen as a picture of your significant   other or your kids or your dog or something  that makes you feel safe happy and content   what else can you do what other sites  smells sounds or Sensations can you add a rescue pack to have with you you're not always  going to be in an environment that you can control   and it would be overwhelming to try to plan for  every single environment but if you have a rescue   pack then you have tools that you can use in  the event that you start feeling triggered   create a thought list that has distress tolerant  mantras on them things that you tell yourself like   I can get through this this will end pretty  soon this too shall pass I'm strong enough   um I'm safe in this context develop four or five  distress tolerant mantras these are things that   you tell yourself that remind yourself that  you are safe and you are empowered activities   breathing is one way to stimulate your vagus nerve  your relaxation response so you can just engage   in slow diaphragmatic breathing breathe through  your belly inhale for four hold for four exhale   for four then hold for four and repeat that is the  easiest way to do it you can do that when you're   driving you can do that when you're in line at the  DMV wherever you don't need any particular tools   if you have bubbles you can go to the store and  get those little tiny containers of bubble stuff   that they use at weddings and parties and you can  keep those in your backpack or in your Rescue Pack   because again when you take a deep breath and then  you blow out slowly in order to either make a big   bubble or make as many bubbles as possible that  does a similar thing to the breathing exercise   that I just talked about balloons are the same  way if you've ever tried to blow up a balloon   you take a big breath in you hold it and then  you exhale as long as you can to try to blow   up that balloon that too will start triggering  that vagus nerve bubble gum is another technique   in to stimulate that relaxation breathing because  you're chewing it you're also noticing the texture   and The Taste which is a bonus but then when you  get ready to blow the bubble you take in that big   breath you hold it for a second and then you  blow until you can slowly so you don't pop the   bubble you want to see how big that bubble gets  all of those are breathing oriented activities   have a phone with you most of us always have  our phone with us so that's not a big deal   but having a phone with you then you can call  a friend you can call somebody and talk to them   most of us have somebody that we can call and talk  to if you have nobody that you can call and talk   to then make sure that you have programmed in  the crisis hotline for your local area because   there's going to be somebody that can answer the  phone and talk with you help you get grounded   and narration is a final activity that  I encourage people to have in their   rescue pack and this isn't something that  you're actually going to have in your pack   narration is an activity start feeling triggered  just start talking to yourself and you can do it   in your head you don't have to actually talk  out loud but narrating everything you're doing   I'm walking into I'm walking down the hall I'm  looking for the bathroom I'm turning right and   going into the bathroom I'm looking for a stall  that's empty whatever it is that you're doing   that helps you stay grounded and in the  present moment so you you're not as likely   to dissociate or be overcome by flashbacks  and Sensations essential oils are great you   can put a couple drops of essential oils on a  cotton ball and put it in a little tiny baggie   and keep it with you or you can get some of the  little tiny bottles of essential oils and just   keep that with you they even have little roll-on  things that you can use diluted essential oils   and keep those with you so there are a lot of ways  that you can have essential oils if you want to   use those but you don't have to get that fancy you  can also just use wax Tarts I keep wax Tarts in a   little baggie in my purse I keep one of those I  also keep whack a wax tart in a little cup in my   car so when it gets hot during the day it melts  the wax tart and makes my car smell really good   but that smell is a smell that triggers feelings  of happiness and contentment so I am not being   triggered by other smells an anchoring object can  be helpful grabbing something and ideally it's   an object like a worry stone or prayer beads  or even a a little stuffed animal or something   that helps you feel safe and content  but holding it and then describing it   to yourself what does it feel like is it  cold is it warm is it smooth is it rough   that can help you stay anchored in the moment an  instant ice pack is one that I really encourage   people to keep with them because holding ice cubes  can really distract you from whatever else is   going on if you've if you're starting to ruminate  or if you're feeling like you're starting to   emotionally dysregulate holding ice cubes because  it's unpleasant because you you know it doesn't   feel great it distracts your body's attention it  distracts your attention to that cold sensation   not everywhere you go are you going to be  able to get your hands on really cold water   or ice but if you have an instant ice pack  with you then if you really need to you can   open that thing up and as it gets cold you can  put it on your wrist or some people will put   it on the back of your neck but be careful doing  that so you don't trigger a migraine or something   but that ice cold sensation is going to draw your  attention to it and away from anything else that   you might be thinking about music some people have  playlists songs that they like to listen to that   help them feel safe and empowered and on the other  end of the spectrum noise canceling headphones if   the noise is overwhelming or if there are sounds  that are triggering to you for example the sounds   of sirens can be triggering to some people  then noise canceling headphones can be helpful   so those are things that you can include in your   rescue pack that you want to keep  with you pretty much wherever you go additionally when creating safety so we've  talked about mitigating or eliminating any   trauma triggers we've talked about adding triggers  that remind you that you're safe and empowered   we've talked about creating a rescue  pack so you can deal with triggers in   less controlled environments and finally develop  mindfulness it's really important to be aware of   how you're feeling so those Sensations don't  overcome you and feel like they come from out   of the blue if you become more mindful then  you're going to notice when you start getting   that feeling or start that thought starts to  creep into your conscious awareness and you can   address it before it becomes a full out anxiety  provoking situation as you become more mindful   you'll also become more aware of triggers  in your environment and potentially able   to decouple them you'll be able to say okay  I'm noticing that this smell is triggering   a trauma reaction in me and in this context  at this time I'm safe that smell reminds me of   something from the past that was unsafe but in the  present that smell does not mean that I'm unsafe physically trauma affects us in a lot of different  ways when people experience traumatic injury their   HPA Axis or their stress response is always on  now it may only be on a little bit or it may be   wide open but it's almost always on they may feel  like they want to fight they may feel angry and   irritable they may feel like they want to flee  they feel worried or anxious or stressed out   they may feel like they're just gonna freeze like  they don't know what to do and they feel hopeless   hopeless powerless they may feel like they need to  Fawn they need to try to find whatever's causing   that perception of threat whatever's triggering  that threat and try to figure out how to make   it better they're going to try to fawn over it to  make make it go away or reduce the threat from it   or number five is the forget about it and when  people are stressed out for too long the HPA axis   turns down its sensitivity instead of getting  excited about things that would normally get   excited about it only gets excited about the  most intense things so forget about it is that   feeling of being flat or even depressed noticing  this once you are aware of this then you can   start addressing your HPA axis you can  start figuring out okay I'm feeling   like I want to fight I'm feeling angry  what steps can I take to address that   sleep disturbance remember I said we're going  to ask is this symptom caused by my trauma or   something else sleep disturbance can be caused by  a not good sleep environment it may be too hot too   noisy too crowded and that may not have anything  to do with your trauma but a sleep disturbance   is going to throw your neurotransmitters out  of whack and make your trauma reaction worse   hyper vigilance and Nightmares are both often  associated with trauma okay so that makes it   harder to sleep because it's harder to relax  to get good sleep and you may be afraid to   go to sleep because you're afraid you're going  to have nightmares and when you do go to sleep   you wake up with nightmares okay so those are two  symptoms that are related to your trauma that it   will be important to figure out strategies that  are helpful for you to address those particular   symptoms alcohol may or may not be directly  related to your trauma some people drink in   order to help them feel like they can get to  sleep easier because they're hyper Vigilant   because they're stressed out all the time so  it's kind of tangentially related to the trauma   but alcohol also disrupts Sleep Quality circadian rhythm disruption and poor sleep  hygiene also can contribute to sleep disturbance   and this again could be tangentially related  to the trauma because you don't want to go to   sleep or maybe you're tired all the time because  you're not getting good sleep so you nap a lot   But ultimately poor sleep is associated with  poor mood is associated with increased anxiety   is associated with increased stress and increased  activation of the HPA Axis or the stress response   so it's something that needs to be addressed hyper  vigilance or always scanning always feeling unsafe   always being hyper alert to anything that's going  on is exhausting and if that's a symptom you have   then recognizing okay this is here because  my brain's trying to protect me from future   threats now how can I feel safer so I don't  feel like I have to be on guard all the time   restlessness is your body's way of staying primed   just like in tennis if you are standing on  the Baseline and you're standing flat-footed   it takes more time to get to that ball than it  does if you're bouncing on your toes if you're   bouncing on your toes you're already primed  and you're ready to go if you are in a car   you know getting that engine revved ahead of time  gets you prepared to get off that starting line so with restlessness recognizing that's your  body's way again it's a response your HPA axis   your stress response is active and saying hey  we need to be ready to jump at a moment's notice   how can you handle this what can you do to cope  with your restlessness maybe you can't make it   completely go away right now that's okay how  can you cope with it can you get some sort   of fidget item that you can use can you um stand  up instead of sitting down what is it that might   help you cope in that particular situation  you know sitting through a staff meeting   I find you know I have difficulty sitting  through long meetings and I find that if I   have paper with me that I can just sketch or  color and I'm not an artist by any means but   if I can be doing something with my hands  it helps channel that energy a little bit   exhaustion now again this could be caused  by poor nutrition it could be caused by   thyroid dysfunction it could be caused by  poor sleep there's a lot of things hyper   vigilance restlessness theoretically if you  start feeling safer and you start getting   better sleep you'll be less hyper Vigilant  less restless and less exhausted so you see   how these things are going to start folding in  on themselves and an improvement in one area is   likely going to improve others if you improve your  restlessness then you might feel less exhausted are also common effects of trauma some people eat  to self-soothe some people lose their appetite   some people are stressed out so they're eating  but is going straight through them and your   their body can't even use the nutrients because  it slides through so fast being aware of that   and working with a nutritionist working with  your doctor to modify your diet to make sure   that you're getting adequate nutrients so your  body can make the neurotransmitters it needs to   help you feel more relaxed pain and inflammation  also increase because of muscle tension because   of sleep disturbances because of neurotransmitter  changes so it's important to look at that people   can also experience increased pain after a trauma  especially a trauma that involved actual physical   injury they may continue to have ongoing pain  that is caused by memories of that trauma   recognizing where the Pain's coming from  and identifying strategies to address it is what we need to do in order to  promote post-traumatic thriving   instead of saying I shouldn't have this or this  doesn't make any sense get curious say how does   it make sense and okay what can I do about it  how can I make it a little bit better maybe I   can't get rid of it completely but how can I make  it a little bit better and then after that how can   I make it a little bit more better Sensations  are another effect of trauma Big T or Little T   a lot of times our traumatic memories  are encoded or stored in our body as   Sensations maybe not even memories with words  attached to them and when we experience those   Sensations when those Sensations are triggered  it can trigger a Cascade of stress reactions   becoming aware of those Sensations noticing those  recognizing what causes those Sensations and then   either desensitizing that or avoiding that  particular sensation can help you thrive in the   post-trauma world and Association I already  mentioned that on another slide but dissociation   is feeling like you are checking out of your  body feeling like you are like a fly on the   wall observing yourself or maybe just kind of  blanking out and then coming to some point later   not necessarily dissociative Fugue where you  go anywhere but you lose time you're sitting   there cooking eggs and the next thing you know the  eggs are burned to a crisp and you don't remember   them even starting to burn that would be  dissociation recognizing the early warning   signs of dissociation and triggers for  dissociation and then using some of those   grounding techniques like narrating or getting  safe or calling a friend can help you stay   grounded and anchored so you don't  dissociate when people start feeling more empowered to control some of these reactions  or they at least start understanding where   these reactions are coming from and feel more  capable of managing them then anxiety starts   to go down that stress response that  HPA axis starts to relax a little bit unhooking from your feelings is a tool that can be  really helpful instead of saying I am depressed I   am terrified saying I am having the feeling that  I'm terrified okay I'm having this feeling I'm   holding it in my hands what am I going to do with  it what's it telling me to do what's its purpose   and how can I best respond it's not me it's  this feeling how am I responding to this feeling   purposeful action is looking at what's going on  I'm having the feeling that I'm terrified okay   so I've unhooked from it now purposeful action  is saying all right how can I use my energy to   address this situation in a way that is going  to move me toward my rich and meaningful life   I could just sit on it and dwell on it  is that a good use of my energy to move   me toward my rich and meaningful life  I could use my energy to call a friend   is that going to help me address this feeling  of being terrified in a way that can help me   move toward my rich and meaningful life  well possibly if I call a friend it might   help me de-escalate and get a different  perspective so I can address it differently   forgiveness is also an important aspect of  post-traumatic thriving not only forgiving others   but forgiving yourself remember forgiveness  doesn't mean saying that's okay no problem   forgiveness is saying it's over I've learned from  it but I am not going to continue to steal energy   from my present and tie it up in my past it's not  worth my energy to continue to dwell on this I've   learned from it so I've used my energy to learn  and I'm going to move forward now and I'm going   to leave that in the past hardiness is the  concept of commitment control and Challenge   and that kind of goes along with that whole rich  and meaningful life in your rich and meaningful   life you've identified the people places things  and experiences that are important to you with   hardiness those are the things to which you're  committed so you have all of those things out here   looking at all of those things to which  you're committed which ones are going well   and then which one's over here not going so  well for most of us there's always something   over here in the not going so great  category and that's okay but hardiness   encourages us to broaden our perspective instead  of focusing on the one thing that's going crappy   notice everything and the one thing that's  going crappy so notice what you're committed to   and which of those things are going  well and that you already have   control of the situations that are going  on what aspects do you have control over   in what way do you have control over the  things that are going well in what way   do you have control over the things  that aren't going so well right now   and challenge once you've identified  something like a trauma traumatic injury   seeing that instead of as a barrier or an obstacle  to keep that's going to keep you from living your   rich and meaningful life looking at it at it  as a challenge and saying okay well how can I   solve this this is a challenge How can I get over  it get around it get under it in order to get   continue to move forward towards  my rich and meaningful life when we experience trauma a lot of times  we may experience what's called emotional   dysregulation and that is the result in part of  the HPA axis the stress response system becoming   dysregulated once it turns down its sensitivity  then you may feel flat a lot of the time but   when it finally does get triggered it just has  a tsunami of stress hormones so you feel Furious   and it could be you know anxious Furious or  angry Furious but you go from Flat to Furious   and it's important to recognize that this is not  just all in your head it's not you just being   quote overly emotional this is a neurological  neurochemical um reaction to ongoing unrement   unremitting stress and recognizing that as  your HPA axis gets back in balance as you   start feeling safer and more empowered so you're  not feeling like you're are always in danger   the tsunami of chemicals the emotional  dysregulation may start to improve because   you're not going to uh because that HPA axis  is going to be getting re-regulated basically   when people experience trauma big or little  there's anger and anxiety both of these are   emotions that are designed to protect you  fight or flee your body is dumping energy   that says hey there might be a threat just  like a smoke alarm there might be a threat   so I'm going to give you a whole bunch of  energy so you can get up off the couch and   look figure out if there is a threat and if  there is deal with it if there's not then give   me the energy back you know no problem no harm  no foul anger and anxiety are not designed to   keep you stewing on that they're not designed to   um influence your perception of the entire world  they are neurochemical emotional reactions in the   moment that are designed to give you energy to  figure out if you're safe and help you stay safe   the end depression is exists when you feel  hopeless and hopeless to change a situation   to get safe A lot of people after trauma start  feeling depressed because their HPA axis is   dysregulated they're feeling flat unmotivated a  lot of the time and they don't know how to feel   any better so they start feeling resigned to  depression identifying what's motivating your   depression what's causing it what things  can you do to address your depression   guilt and shame also need to be processed guilt  and shame are variations of anger but their anger   at yourself I feel guilty or I feel ashamed that I  did this or I didn't do this or that this happened   and it's important to evaluate those things  by unhooking you know I'm having this feeling   of guilt now can I forgive myself for it  do I even need to forgive myself for it   grief is another effect of trauma because when we  lose our sense of safety when we feel disempowered   it often Alters our perception of the world it  changes what we think about people we may lose   some dreams or have to change some of our dreams  and expectations and if it involved loss then we   may also have to grieve that loss whether it was  a pet or a relationship or you know a traumatic   death of some sort grief is still important and  until you move through that grieving process   it's going to be hard to completely come to terms  with that trauma and feel safe and empowered again   and low motivation kind of goes along with  depression kind of goes along with HPA axis   dysregulation when your energy is low when you're  not sleeping when your dopamine is low when your   norepinephrine is low then motivation is likely  going to be low if you feel hopeless and hopeless   if you feel disempowered then motivation is  likely to be low so it's important to explore   what is causing me to feel unmotivated at this  time and what are some strategies I might be   able to to use to improve my motivation even  if just for five minutes you know don't look to   feel motivated to clean the whole house figure  out how can I get motivated to take a shower   how can I get motivated to call a friend  you know motivated to do a specific task cognitively there's an old story about two wolves  there are two wolves living inside us one is   anger and anxiety and grief and stress and all  those dysphoric emotions and one is happiness   and optimism and empowerment which one survives  they're they're going to battle to the death which   one survives and ultimately it's the one that  you feed and so I use the mnemonic you feed for   to remember cognitive strategies to address trauma  again unhooking unhooking from your thoughts I'm   having the thought that people are untrustworthy  okay what am I going to do with this thought   FCP in context so I have this thought that  people are untrustworthy what are the facts   for and against that belief in context not all  the time because in certain situations people   are untrustworthy but in this particular  context at this particular point in time   do the what are the facts for and against my  belief what control do I have in this particular   situation so maybe at this point in time are  people trustworthy I'm not really sure so   maybe I can trust them a little bit but not trust  them with my bank account and a key to my house   and what is the probability based on the  facts in the current situation and if I take   the steps within my control  what is the probability that   I'm going to get hurt or there's  going to be a catastrophic result   this can help us update our schema many times  after a trauma our schema becomes generalized   and we may feel like everybody is untrustworthy by  using facts control and probability in the current   context we can update our schema and start seeing  that okay sometimes people are untrustworthy   but other times people are trustworthy and we can  start seeing the variations instead of glumping   everybody into one category explanations alternate  explanations is another tool that we can use a lot   of times when we have experienced trauma we  may project the past what people did in the   past onto people in the present or what happened  in the past to our expectations of the present   by looking for alternate explanations why did this  happen What are three alternate explanations for   why I didn't get this job what are three alternate  explanations for why my friend didn't call me back   what are three alternate explanations besides  the one that is making me feel disempowered and   unsafe you know it could have absolutely nothing  to do with you it could have something to do with   them or something completely different  exceptions is another cognitive tool for   post-trauma thriving looking for exceptions to  beliefs like it is never safe to do this or this   always happens every time there's a thunderstorm  there's a tornado well no you know there are   exceptions to that and it's important to identify  the exceptions to your trauma-based cognitions to   your thoughts to your beliefs that you are unsafe  what are the exceptions in this situation that   you've been safe and dialectics means embracing  the good with the bad instead of viewing people or   things or situations or places as all good or all  bad embracing the dialectics and recognizing that   okay in certain situations at certain times things  are not good things are things are dangerous   things are whatever but there are also times when  people places things are good are helpful are   empowering and embracing those dialectics can  help us feel safer when we start to recognize   that we can differentiate when we start to learn  to differentiate between the unsafe and the safe   so trauma can lead to pessimism and  negativity suspiciousness feelings   of disempowerment difficulty concentrating  or flashbacks and it's important to figure   out for each of those what triggers that  symptom for you what strategies might help   you address it in a way that helps you  feel guess what safer and more empowered relationally after a trauma a lot of times we  have a reduced sense of self-awareness we kind   of go numb because our our body and our brain  and everything else is just sort of in chaos   a lot of times after trauma we lose a particular  sense of self-awareness and it's important to   regain that to become more mindful of how you're  feeling what you're thinking in the moment   in order to re-establish a  relationship with yourself   why is that because in order to keep yourself  safe in order to take steps to empower yourself   to stay safe you have to be aware of when  you feel unsafe so becoming aware of your   particular triggers becoming aware of  your early warning signs can help you learn to manage your symptoms so you  feel safer in the present environment sometimes because of the environment that it  happened in or because of the trauma you may   develop an obnoxious inner critic that wants  to criticize how you handle the trauma that   wants to criticize you for not being over the  trauma yet or for being over the trauma too soon   and it's important to address that  obnoxious inner critic evaluate okay   the inner critics say inner critic in me is saying  I got over this trauma too soon just take that one   what are the facts for and against that is this  something I believe I don't care what my inner   critic believes what is it that I believe and talk  back to the inner critic you can even tell him to   be quiet you know I'm not going to listen to that  I believe that I will process this in my own time after a trauma some people can develop overly  rigid or overly weak boundaries sometimes they   people will shut others out as a reaction to  trauma because they don't want to get hurt   again or on the other side they just let down all  of their boundaries because they're so afraid of   Abandonment that they feel like they need to  connect with other people they feel a need for   dependent connections neither one of them in their  extreme is healthy so it's important to evaluate   if you notice that you're either pushing people  away or letting people walk all over you that   may be a an effect of the trauma and what is the  function of that why is it that you're letting   people walk all over you for example and is it  actually helping you feel safer and more empowered   people may experience changes in activities  as a result of trauma maybe they used to   like to go to the mall and they used to  like to go hiking and they used to like   to do all these things out in public and  now they don't feel safe out in public   that can be certainly be an effect  of the trauma and working through   those fears recognizing okay what is it about  going to the mall that makes me feel unsafe   and is there a way I can mitigate that so  maybe not going on a Saturday afternoon where   it's packed to the brim but going first  thing on a Monday morning when there's   not many people there so you're still  being able to do something you enjoy   but it's in a much less threatening environment at  that point in time so you can start reclaiming and   regaining some of the activities that you enjoy  doing although you may at least temporarily have   to do them at different times similarly if for  example you got into a car crash on the interstate   maybe you're terrified now whenever you get on the  interstate you have all kinds of trauma triggers   okay well getting from point A to point B you may  not want to take the interstate for a while until   you've processed that trauma and worked through  those triggers but in the interim how can you   get from point A to point B without being on the  interstate yeah back rows take longer but it is   a a opportunity or it is a strategy  to use until you can fully process the   the trauma triggers so the trauma is not  controlling your life you're controlling   your life and you're still doing what you want  to do and in your rich and meaningful life   and hopefully processing some of the trauma  stuff so you can take back the totality sometimes after a trauma people shut others out  for fear of overwhelming them or thinking you   know if I told them what I was thinking  or feeling they just wouldn't understand   and that's totally normal when you went through  the trauma it was overwhelming to you and yeah   it may be a lot for people to hear or for  people to empathize with but you're making   a lot of assumptions that they wouldn't  understand or that it would overwhelm them   now obviously you've got to be careful in who  you reach out to you're not going to reach out to   your 11 year old niece or somebody you don't know  or somebody that you already know doesn't have a   lot of capacity for empathy but reaching out to a  significant other that wants to be there for you and beginning to share you don't have to dump  everything at once you can if you don't feel like   they would understand or if you're afraid they're  that you're going to overwhelm them you can give   them a high level of overview you know crack the  door open a little bit so they can kind of get a   peek inside and then if that's not overwhelming  you can invite them completely in so to speak   and finally emotional unavailability when people  experience trauma it is freaking overwhelming   it's exhausting we've already talked about this  it can make you not trust other people it can   make you pessimistic and make you suspicious it  can make it feel like you know your insides are   kind of spinning out of control which makes it  hard to be empathetic with others to respond to   other people's feelings and stuff because you're  barely keeping a lid on your own stuff recognizing   when you are overwhelmed when you are burnt out  when you are emotionally unavailable is important   it's not a bad thing I mean you don't want to stay  emotionally unavailable forever but everybody gets   to that point sometimes where they're like I just  can't take any more input I cannot take one more   thing recognizing that is huge because then you  are empowered to take steps to figure out okay   how do I deal with this I'm feeling  like my pressure cooker is completely   pressurized what can I do in order to let off some  of the steam so I can be emotionally available for   others that goes back to that purposeful action  I'm having the feeling that I'm overwhelmed and   I can't take one more thing what can I do how  can I use my energy in order to deal with that   so I can be emotionally available to those people  who are important in my rich and meaningful life trauma impacts every aspect of your being   if you didn't receive adequate support to help  you feel safe and empowered after the trauma then   it likely caused traumatic injury if you were  able to process what happened and process the   trauma and feel safe and empowered then yeah  it was a trauma it was exhausting it sucked   and you probably integrated it but if you didn't  then it was probably ended up hanging out there   in your amygdala not being filed not knowing what  to do bouncing around and causing traumatic injury   traumatic injuries can increase your  feelings of hopelessness helplessness   and being stuck or trapped because a lot of  times you know those symptoms we talked about   a lot of times people don't understand  how they connect to the trauma once they   start understanding how they connect  to the trauma and how it makes sense   then they start feeling more empowered once they  can put a name to it once they understand why it's   happening then they can start figuring out ways  to address it recovering from traumatic injury   takes time but most positive steps you take will  often decrease the intensity and or frequency of   most of your other symptoms so for example  we talked about sleep if you start getting   better quality sleep then it's likely going to  help your HPA axis your stress response system   start to rebalance which will help rebalance  your hormones and your neurotransmitters which   will help you have more energy and feel less  fatigued and be better able to concentrate   you know so there's just addressing one thing is  going to help other things is it going to improve   all of those other things completely no you  know you're still going to have to work on your   trauma-related cognitions but it's certainly going  to improve the landscape in which you're working

Channel: Doc Snipes

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Keywords: Dawn Elise Snipes, Cheap CEUs, NCMHCE, unlimited ceus, hpcsa, crcc, lcsw ceus, lcdc ceus, lmft ceus, lmhc ceus, ce broker, addiction ceus, LADC CEU, MAC CEU, counseling techniques, counseling skills, online counseling, yt:cc=on, donnelly snipes, doc snipes, counselor education, mental illness, allceus, all ceus, cognitive behavioral, certificate programs, counselor certification, online course, ptsd, cptsd, post traumatic thriving, traumatic injury, post traumatic stress

Id: wnmbF-mzhKI

Length: 62min 38sec (3758 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 19 2022