Now that you have some tools for regulating the body and understand some of your specific negative core beliefs and triggers, we will work together on fully integrating these tools into your everyday life. Many people who have experienced trauma have learned not to trust their emotions. You will begin to notice body responses and sensations more readily as you practice slowing down and tuning into your physical body. You will notice them and attune to them without the same thoughts and judgements as before. This practice of tuning in is called mindfulness. Mindfulness can look many different ways: going for a walk and noticing the sights, smells, sounds around you; listening to a guided meditation; or practicing a simple body scan to observe the different sensations and movements of your body as you breathe.
Your body and mind begin to learn new responses as you continue to apply new tools and strategies. You will be able to recognize the subtle shifts and signs in your body of when you are feeling calm and when you are starting to feel distressed. These old distressing feelings won’t trigger the same alarms as before because it does not feel as uncontrolled. You will have learned tools to help the body regulate as you sense the shift into fight/flight. You will also have learned the tools to challenge and respond with new adaptive thoughts before the uncomfortable feelings intensify. The overall goal of therapy is to be able to bring all these tools we’ve explored from calming the body, to stilling the mind, to the regulating release you can start to experience on a regular basis.
These initial 3 blog posts have focused on orienting you to an overview of the therapy process. There is no one set path for therapy, as each person journey is different. I want to allow space to meet you where you are. I intend to write more in detail about several of these approaches and discuss further ways in which they can benefit you.
