[Nike007]

I’ve been told that I need to do exposure therapy because I have been avoiding many things since my trauma and I am worried about dealing with the flashbacks and panic attacks and dissociation that will come with it. I would like to work on it, and I’m assuming everyone gets scared doing it but how do you cope? I have been asked to talk to a few people to see if they can accompany the first few things with me. I don’t have a person. But anyways, any tips on coping during exposure? I went to one of the places that triggers me today for 7 minutes before leaving. Had a panic attack the entire time.

[SorryShaped]

I've posted about my ex being in my home. She triggers me so frequently, but more the thoughts of her than actually her. Though I don't trust her in the least, i do see the positive changes she's made since being freed of her awful friends which I contend were a big part of the problem. I got really physically ill last time she was in my home.
But peep this, I drove over an hour and a half with her in the car, and only her and I. I didn't freak out, partly because I had control. I was the driver, in control of the vehicle, in control of something. That was the tiniest bit of soothing to me. I was also wired on caffeine and am currently a bit manic (I have PTSD plus ADHD plus bipolar type one and experienced SA as a young child and she was abusive in almost every possible way). She jabbered the whole way, mostly about herself, and I said a lot of "uh-huh" and "ok" and "oh." Eventually I started to loosen up a little. We had a little of ok conversation. Ok conversation is something I wanted with her for so long but got none.
Find something you're in control of, and use it to center you. I do things to the extreme because I want to be better, because I'm tired of avoiding what hurts me. It's rarely done that "full on" of a way, but that bit of control I had made such a huge difference.

[MtnTime2896]

I agree with SorryShaped, have something you can control.

I actually (unintentionally) went to one of my most triggering places I could go to today in a fit of rage. While I was there, I did nothing but shout and talk angrily at the air. I left when voices in my head began to panic (meaning I was sure to follow suit). I might've been there for a grand total of four minutes but I managed three minutes and fifty-five seconds more than I ever have before. Afterwards I stared at the new water cooler for a while and made myself think about the story behind it and how it got there, more specifically when it got there. When is key because it was there way after everything that happened and that fact kept me grounded.

Honestly, I'm still feeling anxious over it and I feel as though I've been awake for a whole week doing hard labor. It's exhausting to say the least and it's definitely hard (understatement of the year), but it is possible. I hope it helps. And, hey, even if you're only there for a minute, that's better than zero.

[Nike007]

Thank you. I feel a bit better. My T suggested to me about asking a coworker to come with me, since my work environment, everyone is close to each other due to a small staff. So I did that. And she agreed. It was good. We are going to do one of my triggers together. I am nervous but feel safer that she’ll be with me.