The Safe Place is one of the standard exercises for trauma therapy. The idea is very simple. When you feel stressed and anxious you imagine to be in a safe place. It is just as easy as it is difficult. The exercise will give you a chance to withdraw from a difficult situation long enough […]
basics
The BASK-Safe (advanced containment)
Especially when you are in the middle of trauma work you might experience that your common containment safe or whatever imagery you use for containment might not work as long as you would like it to or small pieces escape your safe. That is when we use a “BASK”-safe to lock things away for good. The […]
Skills for Yellow area (6/7): Distraction
This post is based on The window of tolerance Because our main goal is to stay within the window of tolerance, we need to learn how to regulate ourselves within the yellow area. We distinguish between self-regulation and relational regulation. Most people favor one or the other, but it is important to be able to use […]
overcoming your death wish (bucket list)
Some days it can get hard to remember why you should be on this earth. We have tried all kinds of things to get away from suicidal thoughts. Believing God would shut us out of heaven. Thinking of family and friends and how hurt they would be. Imagining how painful dying would be. You name […]
Safety Plan (suicidal)
When struggling with suicidal thoughts, it is helpful to have a plan you can follow to keep yourself safe. This plan should be made in advance. Thinking isn’t very clear during a crisis and you won’t be able to come up with a good plan. This is a rough outline so you can write […]
Containment (imagery)
Because our main goal is to stay within the window of tolerance, we need to learn how to regulate ourselves within the yellow area. We distinguish between self-regulation and relational regulation. Most people favor one or the other, but it is important to be able to use both in order to react appropriately in different […]
The Distant Observer (Mindfulness)
With the distant observer we imitate something, that most of us experienced through dissociation. We will take an inner position that makes it possible to watch ourselves and what is going on inside of us from a distance. Not a detached, dissociated state, but the dispassionate ideal of mindfulness. Mindfulness is a form of guided […]
How to STOPP flashbacks (5 steps)
No matter how much you avoid, flashbacks will happen. And sometimes the effects can linger for hours or days. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We usually use the STOPP method to step out of flashbacks quickly and completely. “Stop!” out loud, when you notice what is going on. We like to […]
The window of tolerance
It might come as a surprise, but people don’t work best when they are absolutely calm. Studies have shown that we work, and learn, the best with medium levels of stress/arousal. When there is not enough or too much stress/arousal, performance will suffer. There is a certain “window of tolerance” where we are able […]
Early detection of dissociation without using emotion
To counter dissociation effectively it is necessary to notice it in time, that is: before you are frozen and unable to act. You can train yourself to do that and the easiest way is to be aware of your emotions and stay within the window of tolerance. But what if you are unable […]
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