Ptsd Therapy - One Page, As Simple As It Gets

[anthony]

As stated in another thread a month or two ago, I stated I would be releasing a one page document, short, sharp, to the point, on how to perform your own PTSD therapy using known, tested and proven effective methods. So here it is.

I would like to thank both Iron Angel and Becvan for their assistance and proofing with the document.

I will answer your questions on this thread, directly related to the process. Any responses that get to far off track and onto your own actual trauma, will be moved / deleted. Please keep questions relevant to the process, and I acknowledge the best experience is your own, though please keep that limited and focused to the process as much as possible, so others reading this thread don't need to read lots of peoples personal trauma, and instead can just stick with the facts related with the process itself.

 

[J.C.]

Hi Anthony,

Please clarify with what "smashing" is. It is noted early on within the document here.

I live in the U.S. not familiar with this word in the context it is used.

Thanks,
JC

 

[anthony]

As per the full context of the sentence, "You can do this without support, but you must commit yourself to not do stupid things, ie. suicide, fighting, smashing."

Don't go and start smashing up your house, car, people, etc. Literal tense, "smashing" something.

 

[PerfectEmpire]

This is great! Thank you for creating it! It will help me get more out of therapy, and help me survive between sessions!

 

[angel2write]

I like this chart very much- printed it out for my binder. I'm a little confused by steps 7 & 8, though. Could I give a quick example & get some feed back on this?

Let's say I identify a fear of dark window glass. When I see dark window glass, I feel afraid and sometimes become frozen.

I know this is because looking out dark window glass was a large part of my major trauma.

I assign a rating to this fear. I'd say it is moderate- a 50 out of 100.

Then what? This is where I get stuck. I look at window glass... and I freeze. The next step is "thought identification" and I'm having trouble with this. When I see the glass, I remember the streetlight I stared at through the car window while being abused. I get a visual picture, but there is no thought I'm aware of.

If I can't find a thought, how can I provide evidence for or against it? I think I understand the evidence step. If I was dealing with a feeling that I was ugly, I could ask people how I looked, or look in a mirror and try to accurately assess my appearance. I could collect evidence that my feeling about my appearance is skewed. But several of the emotions I'm trying to deal with don't seem to work that way.

Are there some feelings that can't be dealt with this way, or am I going about this wrong? Or am I confusing emotions with triggers?

 

[jewel]

Then, you need to LOOK at your trigger. Do something that makes you feel uncomfortable but not something that will bring on a full blown panic episode so you can reduce the 50 to a 45 then write about how that felt and how proud you are that you made it thru that.
Keep exposing yourself to your triggers until they are no longer triggers.

 

[anthony]

Let's say I identify a fear of dark window glass. When I see dark window glass, I feel afraid and sometimes become frozen.

I know this is because looking out dark window glass was a large part of my major trauma.

I assign a rating to this fear. I'd say it is moderate- a 50 out of 100.

Well, this isn't it actually, because you identified one feeling, then a reaction, "become frozen". Reactions have little to do with cognitive processing. You listed one emotion felt... is that all you feel when you look out dark glass? I would expose yourself to dark glass and try to write down as much as you can about what you feel, ie.

• I feel afraid because....
• I feel powerless because....

Thought identification is about listing all your thoughts that come to mind about each emotion, which you tend to do if you complete the above, being first you list the emotion, and then you continue with the thought. You actually did complete the thought, you just did it without really knowing it, being:

• I feel afraid when looking out dark glass because I remember the streetlight I stared at through the car window while being abused.

So that is #7 and #8 all in one point.

Then you have to assign your evidence for and against your thought, ie. are you being abused when looking out this dark glass now, etc etc. Pro's and con's. Continue the points.

Does that help?

 

[angel2write]

Yeah, actually that helps a whole lot. Thanks!

 

[Babablacksheep]

Anthony, is a trauma therapist supposed to recommend writing exercises like these?

Also, would you agree that learning healthy boundaries is essential prior to doing any PTSD work (with or without a therapist)?

 

[anthony]

Anthony, is a trauma therapist supposed to recommend writing exercises like these?

It depends on what type of trauma therapy they are using. If CBT, then maybe... they could use talk or writing, both achieve the same thing. If EMDR, then they often don't use the writing component, though may use it later after the cognitive processing aspects that is EMDR, for desensitization exercises.

Also, would you agree that learning healthy boundaries is essential prior to doing any PTSD work (with or without a therapist)?

Yes and No. The severity of trauma and symptoms often dictate this. The more severe the trauma, often the more severe the symptoms, and therefor the more likely the starting point is emotional grounding, relaxation exercises, stress management, etc. Saying that... all of those can also be mixed directly into the process, starting small and going deeper. Normally, a therapist will start with the worse trauma, as that gets the worst out of the way first, often knocking out most of the other issues all in one swoop... so then relaxation exercises and such are often first taught, grounding techniques, etc. It just really depends on the person, how prone they are to suicidal tendencies, aggression, etc.

There are lots and lots of recommended procedures and guides for treating trauma, but unfortunately every single one also comes with the loophole of, adjust as required on a per individual basis. So it kind of tends to make the procedures irrelevant in the first place, and makes them all guides only.

 

[CraftyCath]

This is very helpful Anthony, thank you. I have printed it off to read as I seem to have difficulty reading from a screen.

 

[intothelight]

I have been working on this, but it is taking a different turn that I expected. When I focused on the worst trauma I could remember and the most troublesome emotion associated with it, focusing on putting the emotion into its proper perspective led to a flood of memories tied to that emotion.

In essence I find myself processing that emotion through many events, rather than multiple emotions associated with one event. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this a "wrong" approach? The result has been an increase in stability with that emotion and less involuntary or "over the top" response. (trigger elimination) I just feel like I am doing it backwards in some way.