Anxiety Flashbacks and Grounding Techniques PDF
Anxiety Flashbacks and Grounding Techniques PDF
Anxiety Flashbacks and Grounding Techniques PDF
Relaxation Techniques
Part 2:
1. Lack of control over your thoughts strengthens your anxiety. As negative thoughts get
stronger and stronger, your anxiety gets stronger. You need to learn to control your thoughts.
2. Feelings and emotions fuel and strengthen anxiety. You need to learn some self discipline
and control over your feelings, and you also need to develop emotional and mental
detachment.
3.When you go to bed at night, and first thing when you wake up in the morning, think about
the good things that are happening to you. There are always some good things happening,
4. Start the day with several minutes of positive affirmations. Tell yourself how would like your
5. Be busy, do something. By doing something you keep your mind off your anxiety. When
you wake up in the morning start doing something right away, and keep busy all day. Cleaning
the house, washing the dishes or working in your garden, reading, studying, meditating or
exercising your body can help you keep your mind away from anxiety. Just sitting around and
thinking about your problems and worries wont make them go away.
6. Set a goal and work everyday to achieve it. This action will direct your thoughts and feelings
7. Talk about your anxieties to someone you trust. Talking about your anxieties and feelings
often alleviate them and put them in the right proportions, provided you talk objectively,
8. Exercising is a good way to keep from letting your fears overwhelm you. You can walk,
9. Find reasons to laugh. This will bring light and happiness into your life and drive anxiety
away. Watch comedies, be with happy and amusing friends or read something that makes
you laugh.
10. Use positive words in your conversation and in your inner talk.
11. Affirm and visualize positive situations and events. Visualize a happy and positive solution
to your problems.
12. If watching the news fills you with anxiety - turn off the TV! Limit the time you watch
the news, and dont watch anything that may upset you before you go to bed.
Dealing with Flashbacks
What are flashbacks?
Anyone who has experienced sexual abuse, rape or any other traumatic event can experience
flashbacks. Flashbacks are a memory of a frightening or painful experience, which occurred
either in childhood or adult life. It tends not to be like an ordinary memory, but more a sudden
and unexpected intrusion.
Flashbacks can be experienced as a single slide from a slide show, a snapshot or photograph
that flashes repeatedly or like a video clip. A flashback can feel almost as real as when it
originally happened and can also be as frightening.
Not everyones flashbacks are visual. Some take the form of words and phrases or sounds
that were heard in the past. They can be accompanied by intense feelings, e.g. shame,
sadness, anger, or physical sensations known as body memories, which may have been felt
at the time
of the original abuse.
Flashbacks can happen at any time, anywhere and often occur without warning.
They can be triggered by, the time of year or day, TV programmes, films, smells, words,
phrases, songs, places, someone who reminds you in some way of your abuser, pictures,
tastes, a particular feeling such as fear or anxiety, having sex or being intimate with your
partner. These can occur instantly or sometime later.
Sometimes a flashback can occur in response to hearing voices that tell you to do things,
e.g. harm yourself or someone else. Hearing voices can be very frightening.
(www.mind.org.uk have good resources for those who hear voices.)
Ideas on how to cope with flashbacks
Let yourself know that what you are experiencing is a flashback and that this is a normal
reaction to the abuse you experienced. It may be useful to look around you and take note of
what is happening in the here and now.
Use objects and activities associated with being an independent adult to ground yourself
during flashbacks. Most useful are things that you have or can do now which werent available
to you as a child, or when the abuse took place, e.g. holding car or house keys, typing
on a computer keyboard, listening to music on headphones. Also useful is a first aid kit
(where a person collects a number of items that have good here and now associations to safe
people, good memories and calming sensations).
Try to associate to your immediate surroundings by feeling where your body makes
a boundary with the chair and floor (feel the arms of the chair against your arms and your
feet on the floor) name things with your senses (what can you hear that tells you are in the
present? name 5 things in this room that are green?). A useful question for you to consider
is Think of something that you know is real now that helps you to know that (event) is in the
past, that you survived it and are safe now.
You may find it reassuring or grounding to carry a stone or something familiar and comforting
in your pocket that you can stroke, hold or rub when a flashback occurs. Some people keep
an elastic band around their wrist and ping it to try and bring them back to the here and now.
Try to breathe from your diaphragm (put your hand just above your navel and breathe so your
hand is pushed up and down). This can help prevent a panic attack.
If the flashback occurs whilst you are out and about try to get yourself to somewhere that you
feel safe and secure.
If you are wakened by a flashback, also known as a night terror, try to write it down,
then go and have something warm to drink, watch some TV, listen to music or do something
else that you find relaxing. Its often best not to try and sleep until you have been able to relax
for a while.
Ideas on how to cope with flashbacks
Keep a list of people you can contact in the event of experiencing a flashback.
It may be useful to write the flashback down or tell it to someone you trust - though it can be
very painful to speak about, talking it over with someone can help your healing.
It may be useful to try and identify if there is anything in particular that triggers your
flashbacks. It may be useful in the short-term to avoid your triggers, although you cant always
control when they occur.
If you start experiencing a flashback while having sex with your partner you can stop and
take time to relax. Its OK to take time out from the sexual side of your relationship to work
through these memories if you need to. Your partner should respect your choice
and support you.
Do something that helps you relax, e.g. have a bath, listen to your favourite music
after you have had a flashback.
(describe your current bodily sensations, e.g. pounding heart, tight chest, shaky legs)
Because I am remembering
(name the trauma by title only- no details, e.g. being hurt by my mother)
(the actual current year), here (name the place where you are)
(describe some of the things that you see right now, in this place),
And so I know
(name the trauma by title only again, e.g. being hurt by my mother)
Flashback Halting Protocol Adapted from: Rothschild, B. (2000) The Body Remembers:
Finding Oases
Oases are activities that give a break from the trauma. They are activities that demand
concentration and attention. Watching TV and reading do not usually work well as it is
easy to wander into ones own thoughts.
Procedures that have not become automatic work best. These might include: gardening;
following a pattern in embroidery or knitting; playing chess, solitaire or braintraining
games; learning a language; doing crosswords or jigsaws; creative writing; playing the
piano. The value of an oasis will be recognised by a reduction in hyper-arousal and
a quieting of internal dialogue.
It is helpful to imagine the safe place/activity during times of stress and anxiety, or it can
be used as an anchor, to reduce hyper-arousal during a therapy session.
Body Awareness
Employing our own awareness of the state of our body - our perceptions of the precise,
co-existing sensations that arise from internal and external stimuli - is a very useful tool
in trauma work. This is because consciousness of current sensory stimuli is our primary
link to the here and now; it is also a direct link to our emotions.
Body awareness is about awareness of cues from the central nervous system. Body
awareness (sensations) from exteroceptors originates from stimuli that have their origin
outside of the body (touch, taste, smell, sounds, sights). Body awareness from
interoceptors consists of sensations that originate on the inside of the body
(connective tissue, muscles and viscera).
Moving
Separating past from present can be accomplished on a body level. During a flashback
or trauma work getting up and moving (e.g. walking around or moving from one room
to another) will help to reinforce the here-and-now reality that the trauma is no longer
occurring. I could not move then, but I can move now. Moving can also help
to complete a sequence of impulses that were blocked at the time of the trauma
(e.g. the impulse to run or push away).
Thighs: Sitting in a chair, place both feet flat on the floor. Press weight onto your
feet just until you feel tension build in your thighs, then slowly release.
Leg lifts in many directions also need no special equipment. Simple weights such
as milk cartons, books, water bottles can be used for strengthening the front of
the upper arms.
Calming breathing
Calming self-talk
accessing calming sensations: e.g. warm baths and showers, warm drinks, soft textiles
(blankets, bedsocks, soft toys, hot water bottles), calming music, soft lighting walking,
gardening or swimming
things that anchor a safe connection to the therapist, e,g. being encouraged to choose
a stone or shell from the therapists room to look after and bring back to symbolise
the continuing relationship
Grounding and Safety Techniques
Imaginary Containers
It can be useful to devise containers for difficult feelings and experiences between sessions.
Safes, vaults, trunks, locked libraries are useful images. It can also be useful to find an image
for the material they wish to lock away. This helps to create some distance from the material
so that it can be thought about and moved around, rather than feeling it is overwhelming
or stuck inside.
On day 1 spend a set amount of time (an hour maximum - usually less) writing or drawing
the distressing or disturbing material and then put it away and move to another activity.
On day 2 (preferably in the same place, at the same time of day) read over or look at what
you have produced and then destroy it.
On day 3 start the procedure again as for day 1. You may produce new material or it may be
a repeat of previous drawing or writing.
Write/Draw, Read, Destroy Task
If you start to go into traumatic material during the day remind yourself that you can stop
this because there will be a prescribed time later when you can allowyourself to attend to
and express what is encroaching. This is a helpful exercise for establishing boundaries
and distance between you and the experience. You will hopefully gain experience of
processing, controlling and ending the effects of trauma as you move through the
sequence of returning to what you have produced in order to think about it and then
destroy it.
Many people try to get rid of intrusive traumatic material because it feels intolerable or
overwhelming. This exercise provides an alternative approach where space and time is
allowed for the trauma and in a way that the person is able to limit and control. It also
provides the experience of returning to the trauma in small doses in order to allow it to
dissipate and integrate - which mirrors the therapeutic process.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that can develop following a traumatic
event that threatens your safety or makes you feel helpless. Most people associate PTSD
with battle-scarred soldiers and military combat is the most common cause in men
but any overwhelming life experience can trigger PTSD, especially if the event is perceived
as unpredictable and uncontrollable.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can affect those who personally experience
the catastrophe, those who witness it, and those who pick up the pieces afterwards,
including emergency workers and law enforcement officers. It can even occur in the friends
or family members of those who went through the actual trauma.
Traumatic events that can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) include:
War
Rape
Natural disasters
Kidnapping
Violent assault
Try to anticipate and prepare for PTSD triggers. Common triggers include anniversary dates;
people or places associated with the trauma; and certain sights, sounds, or smells. If you are
aware of what triggers may cause an upsetting reaction, youll be in a better position to offer
your support and help your loved one calm down.
Dont take the symptoms of PTSD personally. Common symptoms of post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) include emotional numbness, anger, and withdrawal. If your loved one seems
distant, irritable, or closed off, remember that this may not have anything to do with you
or your relationship.
Dont pressure your loved one into talking. It is very difficult for people with PTSD to talk
about
their traumatic experiences. For some, it can even make things worse. Never try to force
your loved one to open up. Let the person know, however, that youre there when and if
he or she wants to talk.
Psychological and Emotional Trauma
If youve gone through a traumatic experience, you may be struggling with upsetting emotions,
frightening memories, or a sense of constant danger that you just cant kick. Or you may feel
numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people.
When bad things happen, it can take awhile to get over the pain and feel safe again.
But treatment and support from family and friends can speed your recovery from emotional
and psychological trauma. Whether the traumatic event happened years ago or yesterday, you
can heal and move on.
Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter
your sense of security, making you feel helpless and vulnerable in a dangerous world.
Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety, but any situation that leaves you
feeling overwhelmed and alone can be traumatic, even if it doesnt involve physical harm.
Have a go on a swing
Draw a picture
Lie in the sun and feel the warmth on your face and body
Dance and sing to music (get that hairbrush out and sing your heart out!)
Buy a comic
Using relaxation techniques can bring your system back into balance.
Relaxation techniques help you to deepen your breathing, reduce the stress hormones,
slow down your heart and blood pressure rates and relax your muscles.
Research shows that relaxation can also increase energy and focus, help the body combat
illness, relieve aches and pains, heighten problem-solving abilities, and boost motivation
and productivity. Best of all- with a little practice - it is something we can all do for ourselves.
Take a few moments to relax and take some deep, slow, cleansing breaths, breathing in
through the nose and out through the mouth.
When you feel ready to begin, focus your attention on your right foot, feel how it feels to you,
slowly tense up all the
muscles in your right foot, hold for a count of 10, or less if you can't manage to hold it to 10.
Now relax your right
foot, feel the tension flowing away and feel how your foot now feels more relaxed and loose.
Repeat this sequence for all the muscle groups in your body in an order similar to the
example below:
Right foot When you have gone through every muscle group,
Left foot you will have an idea of where you were most tense,
Right calf and where you felt the most relief.
Left calf
Right thigh Complete the muscle relaxation by taking a few more deep
Left thigh breaths, and finish by ensuring you sit for a moment with
Hips and buttocks your feet placed firmly flat on the floor to ground yourself.
Stomach
Chest
Back
Right Hand
Right Arm
Left Hand
Left Arm
Shoulders
Neck
Face