Trauma Survival Toolkit: 4 Coping Skills for PTSD & C-PTSD
Trauma Survival Toolkit: 4 Coping Skills for PTSD & C-PTSD
I want to share a few of my favorite coping skills for PTSD & C-PTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder.) These are from my zine, Surviving to Thriving: A Trauma Survival Toolkit, which you can purchase as a color print zine or a digital PDF through my Etsy!
Grounding
Grounding is a coping skill that helps “ground” you in, or connect you with, the present moment & yourself. Grounding techniques tend to involve the five senses. Some ways I ground myself include:
Holding something cold (I keep a frozen orange in my freezer!)
Drinking a glass of cold water or a warm drink, like hot chocolate
Touching the fabric of my clothing
Feeling the weight of my body / gravity connecting me to the earth or pressing my feet against the ground
Counting seven things I see of a certain color (I always choose pink!)
There are SO many ways to practice grounding - these are only a few examples!
Dialing down
Dialing down is a strategy to help reduce how overwhelming your feelings can be. it involves visualization. How I dial down is by imagining my emotions as a set of rainbow stairs, with each color & step associated with a different level of emotional intensity. I imagine myself slowly taking a step down these stairs, taking deep breaths & grounding myself as I do so. With each step i take, I reduce the intensity of the emotions i’m experiencing. Some people also visualize - or create! - a literal dial! Do whatever works best for you.
Mental health apps I love
Some mental health apps I love & recommend include:
Daylio: An emotion tracker app where I can log my feelings, any triggers, & what i'm doing at that moment, throughout the day. I can also set reminders to log what's going on for me.
PTSDCoach: Includes information about PTSD & professional support, self-assessment & tracking for your PTSD symptoms over time, tools to find support & care, as well as resources to help manage daily life with PTSD, such as relaxation techniques, positive self-talk, anger management skills, & other self-care strategies. This app also allows you to customize your tools based on your own preferences & can integrate your contacts, photos, & music!
Shine: Shine was developed by people of color, for people of color, to help with anxiety & stress. They offer daily meditations created by people with a range of lived experiences, community support, as well as daily articles. There are both free & paid memberships available!
Positive self-talk
This skill can be simple to explain but hard to practice. It gets easier over time! I talk to myself as I would a child or friend, reframing negative self-statements into more gentle, empathic, & compassionate ones. It's an excellent way to practice self-car & reparenting.
For example, if I tell myself “I'm a failure”, I can interrupt that statement & instead tell myself, “I’m constantly learning & growing from my experiences. Trying new things is so brave of me!”
