[BlueMoon6]

Ftt talked to me some today about grounding. To look around the room, sort of orient myself and get "grounded" to where I am. That I should do it when I feel triggered in the way that it sends me "underwater" and I cant feel attached to my surroundings, or if I feel dissoc in some way. She said that posting here and journaling can do this to me and I should periodically ground myself (maybe to get better at it?) as we go through trauma stuff.

How does everyone else "ground" themselves? What does grounding mean to you?
I must be pretty lousy at it because it doesnt take much for me to mentally "leave" and not want to come back.

[sw628]

((Blue))
I'm still working on grounding myself. I had a PtSD episode last night and am still recovering from that. I was so scared and alone. T did give me some mindfulness CD's a while back and I listen to those periodically.
I'm so happy you are looking for ways to ground yourself and stay present.

I found this post from Sky that will give you info on grounding
Also, Wednesday at 7 PM is grounding chat lead by Tha Crew.

From sky's post:
Grounding Skills are interventions that assist in keeping a person in the present. They help to reorient a person to reality and the immediate here-and-now. Grounding skills are useful in many ways. They are particularly helpful with symptoms of dissociation. They can help a person prevent dissociating. However, they can be used to help re-orient oneself when experiencing intense and overwhelming feelings and intense anxiety. They help to regain one's mental focus.

These skills usually occur within two specific modalities:
1.) Sensory Awareness
2.) Cognitive Awareness

SENSORY AWARENESS GROUNDING SKILLS

Keep your eyes open, look around the room, notice your surroundings, notice details.
Hold a pillow, stuffed animal or a ball.
Place a cool cloth on your face, or hold something cool such as a can of soda.
Listen to soothing music.
Put your feet firmly on the ground.
FOCUS on someone's voice or a neutral conversation.
COGNITIVE GROUNDING SKILLS

Reorient yourself in place and time by asking yourself some or all of these questions:
1.) Where am I?
2.) What is today?
3.) What is the date?
4.) What is the month?
5.) What is the year?
6.) How old am I?
7.) What season is it?
8.) Who is the President?
List as many Grounding skills as you can.
Practice several grounding skills every day.
Construct a list of those which are most helpful and effective.
GOALS WHEN USING GROUNDING TECHNIQUES
1.) To keep myself safe and free from injury
2.) To reorient myself to reality and the here and now.
3.) To identify what I attempted to do to prevent the dissociative experience.
4.) To identify skills that I can use in the future to help myself remain grounded.

GOALS PRIOR TO USING GROUNDING TECHNIQUES

1.) Learn as much as I can about dissociation, grounding techniques and triggers.
(What are the triggers that usually signal that I am about to dissociate?)
2.) PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, my grounding skills when I am in a stable, comfortable space so that I am prepared when I need them.
3.) Make a list of the grounding techniques that work best for me and put it where I can easily refer to it when necessary.
Women's Treatment Network, McLean Hospital M. Brody, L. Frey, psyD, Edelson 1994
An important part of effectively learning, practicing and utilizing grounding techniques successfully is learning to master the intrusive symptoms.
Mastering Intrusive Symptoms

1.) Flashbacks and other intrusive symptoms are automatic reactions in which a survivor temporarily associates some trigger in the present with an aspect of their past abuse.
2.) This results in dissociation from the comfort and security of the present and a re-experiencing of the past abuse.
3.) The automatic reactions may be thoughts, feelings, or somatic sensations that disrupt current functioning.
4.) Automatic reactions are extremely common, insidious and often operate below conscious awareness, making the survivor feel confused, upset and out of control.
5.) Common emotional reactions are: fear, panic, terror, anger, sadness, shame, disgust, paranoia, anxiety, confusion, suspicion and emotional numbness. Common physical sensations are: nausea, pain, headache, tight stomach, rapid heart beat, chest pain, adrenaline rush, sweat, chills, cold, genital pain, flushed, euphoric, inappropriate sexual excitement, spontaneous orgasm, sleepy, faint, or physical numbness.
Common intrusive thoughts include: abusive sexual fantasies, thinking partner is an offender, thinking the past is the present, thinking you are a child, thinking you are bad, thinking you are inadequate, thinking you are unworthy of being loved for yourself, wishing you were someplace else.
6.) Some automatic reactions last for seconds, some for hours. Automatic reactions usually occur in a series, linked up so that one triggers another. A chain of automatic reactions can trigger compulsive sexual behavior.
7.) Your triggers may be known to you, dormant for years or difficult to identify. Identifying and analyzing your triggers gives you power. The triggers lose their secrecy and mysteriousness once you understand them.
8.) Reducing the number of triggers in your life may make it easier to deal with your automatic reactions. Also, eliminating stimulants may help. Counseling and support groups are essential.
9.) Questions to ask yourself in discovering your triggers:
a) Where were you at the time of the abuse?
b) What were you like at the time?
c) What was the offender like?
d) What was your relationship to the offender like?
e) What touch and sexual experiences did you have during the abuse?
f) What was happening inside your body?
g) What were your emotional experiences?
h) Other sensations, feelings or thoughts you experienced at the time of the abuse.
10.) The key to handling automatic reactions is to bring them into your awareness, understand them, and find ways to cope.
11.) The following steps provide a format for you to analyze and master your intrusive symptoms:
A) Stop and become aware: Acknowledge what's happening. Say to yourself, "I'm having an automatic reaction." Assume you have hit a trigger.
B) Calm yourself: Tune into your body. What are you feeling? Tell yourself something reassuring. "I'm safe, no one can hurt me." Take slow, deep breaths. Relax your muscles. Go to your "safe place".
C) Identify past situation: When have you felt this way before? What situation were you in the last time you felt this way? Try to identify the trigger.
D) Identify similarities: In what ways are this current situation and your past situation similar? For example, is the setting, time of year, or the sights, sounds, sensations in anyway similar to the past situation when you felt this way? If there is a person involved, how is she or he similar to a person from the past who elicited similar feelings?
E) Affirm your current reality: How is your current situation different from the situation in the past in which you felt similar feelings? What is different about you, your sensory experience, you current life circumstances and personal resources? What is different about the setting? If another person or persons is involved, how are they different from the person(s) in the past situation? Affirm your rights: "The abuse was then. This is now."
F) Choose a new response: What action, if any, do you want to take to feel better in the present? For example, a flashback may indicate that a person is once again in a situation that is in some way unsafe. If this is the case, self-protective actions should be taken to alter the current situation. On the other hand, a flashback may simply mean that an old memory has been triggered by an inconsequential resemblance to the past such as a certain color or smell. In such cases, corrective messages of reassurance and comfort need to be given to the self to counteract the old traumatic memories.
Adapted from "Resolving Traumatic Memories" (p. 107) by Y.M. Dolan, 1991, New York: W.W. Norton and from Wendy Maltz's "The Sexual Healing Journey", Harper Collins Publishers, 1991, Chapter 5. Copyright Michael J. Sturm 5/95
"Safe Place" Visualization for Containment and Grounding
Like other techniques for containment and grounding, "safe scene" visualization enables an individual to nurture and soothe him or herself and to practice effective control over their feelings and thoughts.
"Safe scene" work utilizes an individual's natural talent for dissociation. When doing "safe scene" work and individual chooses to experience internal stimuli which is safe, soothing and nurturing over internal stimuli which is unsafe, traumatic and re-victimizing. With practice an individual can soothe him or herself at will and exercise control over the spontaneous dissociation and flashbacks that survivors of trauma often experience.
To create an effective safe scene, it is important to incorporate all of the senses. The more senses involved, the more functional the scene will be.
Examples include:
Visual - seeing colors, distances, details, features of the safe place.
Hearing - soothing sounds with varying volumes.
Smell - a variety of pleasant scents.
Touch - a variety of safe and pleasant textures.
Kinesthetic - standing, walking, sitting, lying down.
Focusing inwards and internally visualizing a safe scene can help an individual to quickly relax. There are no limits to the creativity or imagination an individual may employ in the safe scene work. A safe place can be an actual place, an imaginary place, or a combination of the two. Safe scenes can be inside or outside, on this planet or another, and include beaches, islands, meadows, forests, or any other setting that an individual would find safe and soothing.
Safe scenes include items within which can contribute to an even greater feeling of safety and security, such as walls, moats, containment images, and safe animals. It is best to not include other real people in an individual's safe scene image because the security and soothing derived from the safe scene should not be dependent on others and should not reinforce a dependency for safety and soothing on others. Rather, safe scene work reinforces an individual's ability to take responsibility for their own soothing.
Once an individual has developed a safe scene, there are many things he or she can do to reinforce their safe scene and increase its effectiveness. The first step in this process is to write out a detailed description of the safe place, including the experience of all of the senses in the safe place as described earlier. This should then be shared and processed with others (i.e., therapist, or group therapy) in order to receive feedback, comments and suggestions. Then it is often helpful to make a picture which represents in some way the safe place. This, of course, is not to be an artist's rendering of the safe scene, but rather a representation of it through colors, images, etc. Most importantly, the safe scene should be practiced at least three times daily, when a person is in a calm and relaxed state. Safe scenes increase in their effectiveness the more they are practiced.
Here are just some Ideas To Facilitate Grounding:
1.) Visualize internal safe place.
2.) Visualize setting aside overwhelming /memory/emotion/experience
3.) Change sensory experience/input: Sight: allow yourself to see through your eyes, look at a picture, read a book
Touch: allow yourself to feel the chair you are sitting on, touch ice, hold a smooth stone Sound: talk to someone, listen to music, TV Taste: eat something Smell: perfume, favorite scent
4.) Concentrate, become absorbed in activity.
5.) Express something verbally -- go to an empty room and yell, if necessary
6.) Write in your journal.
7.) Do safe anger work with you therapist.
8.) Breathing exercises.
9.) Relaxation exercises.
10.) Self-hypnosis
11.) Connect with internal support/resources
12.) Visualize a "STOP" sign
13.) Use positive affirmations.
14.) Connect with the here and now
15.) Look into a mirror and talk to yourself
16.) Transfer your feeling/memory into a safe "container" either through visualization or by creating an actual box where you can write the feeling/memory on a piece of paper and slip it into the box leaving it to be dealt with together with your therapist.
17.) Monitor self-talk, change negative to positive.
18.) Identify cognitive distortions and replace with counter statements
19.) Dance
20.) Repeat a grounding phrase: "I'm here right now."
21.) Give yourself permission to address one thing at a time ("Rome wasn't built in a day.")
22.) Identify (in writing) all problems you're facing. Then divide them into two groups:
a.) Those you have control over, and
b.) Those you cannot control Concentrate on only one of those issues that CAN be controlled.
23.) Decide what is important and what is not.
24.) Keep It Simple
25.) Hold a safe object (smooth stone, stuffed animal, watch, ring, cup or mug, etc.)
26.) Pray (e.g. Serenity Prayer)
27.) Exercise
28.) Draw
29.) Find a safe person
30.) Listen to a tape of your therapist
31.) Listen to a tape of self-affirmations
32.) Most importantly... Identify the Trigger

When I am having bad flashbacks, T has taught me to get grounded by touching five things in the room, smelling five things, naming five things, listening for five sounds, etc.

He also used to have me run water over my hands or hold a cool glass of water and sip it and pay attention to how the cup feels in my hand, etc.

My friend's T has her feel the texture of the fabric on her clothes, name the things around her, etc.

I was having a hard time last night and I was driving and I made myself think about the song on the radio, the feel of the steering wheel, the feel of my foot pushing down on the gas pedal, and I was able to ground myself.

Oh - in session T has worked a lot helping me get grounded, and he will tell me to feel the couch against my back and the back of my legs, etc.

It's just an awareness of "I am here, now, and everything is okay". I think it's a really useful and important skill

[sittingatwatersedge]

(((((((((((((((((((( sw628 )))))))))))))))))))))

[jexa]

Yes, mindfulness is grounding. My T says, just notice something! If you are outside notice the sky, or the direction of the wind, the feel of it on your skin. Take in all five senses.

[sw628]

Originally Posted by sittingatwatersedge

(((((((((((((((((((( sw628 )))))))))))))))))))))

(((SWA)))

I do relaxation exercises. I focus on something else. Clean the house. Read a book. Watch a tv program. Look around the room and take inventory of every concrete thing I see.

You have to learn to catch yourself before you zone out.

[BlueMoon6]

You all CANNOT imagine how helpful your responses to me are. I will do all these things.

SW- Can I ask you what happens to you when you have a ptsd episode? The grounding stuff seems like it will take a lot of practice for me. And I have to WANT to not dissociate. Or catch it early enough to know I want to not go there. If that makes any sense.

Thanks Calista for the article- there is so much info there
Jexa- I think your suggesitons to feel the wind or look at the sky is a very good idea. Often I begin to spin or feel far away while driving or outdoors. I can do these things to stay present.

Tree- Ftt said the saame thing! To feel the couch and look around. ANd I can tell myself, "Im here now and Im OK, Im safe." That is SO helpful. It strikes a chord with me. She told me to take a sip of my drink I had with me (decaf) so I leaned forward and the act of leaning forward to get the cup from the floor was very grouning and by the time I was sipping, I was present. I can become present in a flash.

Does that happen with other people? Im feeling underwater and far away, and then a moment later when I move or look around, I feel more present.

I think like farmergirl said, if I can catch it early on, then its better. I am so used to zoning out that it takes a lot of effort to catch it when I start to "go" or to recognize what the trigger might have been.

[zooropa]

I have a lot of problems w/dissociating, especially when I have intense nightmares or flashbacks, the usual ptsd crap. I have been dissociating a lot in session lately as we get closer to talking about trauma from my past.

That's actually been good because it's been an opportunity for T to help me learn how to stay present or bring myself back & ground myself. A lot of times I go numb or can't feel my body at all & that's when she'll hand me some putty or something to hold in my hands and manipulate, that helps a lot with bringing me back into my body.

Even typing that ^ has given me the feeling of numbness throughout my legs but I just keep breathing through it. The mindfulness skills I have learned in DBT are excellent for grounding, especially the things about following the breath, because no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I always have my breath & can focus on that without anyone knowing what I'm doing.

[zooropa]

Originally Posted by BlueMoon6

You all CANNOT imagine how helpful your responses to me are. I will do all these things.

And I have to WANT to not dissociate.

I just wanted to say I can really relate to that, in my session w/T yesterday I really struggled b/c I WANTED to dissociate, I didn't want to talk about or more importantly FEEL the things I was feeling, so it was hard. But she does recognize my beginning to dissociate & kept gently telling me how important it was to keep my eyes open & stay present, to not "go away".

I told her I wanted to let go of how I was feeling, she said "let it go, or push it away?" and I said "just get away from it" And that exchange, taking that moment to think about it, brought me back quite a bit.

it's so hard, and it does help to know other people struggle with the same things, although I wish none of us did

[sw628]

(Blue)
When i have a PTSD episode, it's usually triggered by something. Like if im alone and feel very lonely, a familiar smell, or maybe watching something on TV. When that happens i start to have flash backs of a particular traumatic event. I start to cry mostly and it it feels as if i am there once again. I feel the pain and anxiety of being there..yet I'm not. Growing up when this would happen, i would normally comfort myself with food. If this happens at night, I would sleep with the TV on. That was comforting to me and still is. It's such a scary place and everything around me seems unfamiliar. AND.. this is why I'm learning to ground myself with mindfulness techniques. Hope this is helpful

Originally Posted by BlueMoon6

You all CANNOT imagine how helpful your responses to me are. I will do all these things.

SW- Can I ask you what happens to you when you have a ptsd episode? The grounding stuff seems like it will take a lot of practice for me. And I have to WANT to not dissociate. Or catch it early enough to know I want to not go there. If that makes any sense.

Thanks Calista for the article- there is so much info there
Jexa- I think your suggesitons to feel the wind or look at the sky is a very good idea. Often I begin to spin or feel far away while driving or outdoors. I can do these things to stay present.

Tree- Ftt said the saame thing! To feel the couch and look around. ANd I can tell myself, "Im here now and Im OK, Im safe." That is SO helpful. It strikes a chord with me. She told me to take a sip of my drink I had with me (decaf) so I leaned forward and the act of leaning forward to get the cup from the floor was very grouning and by the time I was sipping, I was present. I can become present in a flash.

Does that happen with other people? Im feeling underwater and far away, and then a moment later when I move or look around, I feel more present.

I think like farmergirl said, if I can catch it early on, then its better. I am so used to zoning out that it takes a lot of effort to catch it when I start to "go" or to recognize what the trigger might have been.

[Thimble]

Originally Posted by treehouse

When I am having bad flashbacks, T has taught me to get grounded by touching five things in the room, smelling five things, naming five things, listening for five sounds, etc.

I was taught this technique as well - with the added step of do five things for each, then repeat and do 4 things for each, then repeat and do 3 things for each, then 2, then 1. ....just kind of extends the procedure in case the first round isn't enough to bring you back to the here and now.

[moonrise]

I always bring water or tea into session, and drinking it really helps me get grounded. Also, focusing on what I see, hear, smell, and taste.

[emilyjeanne]

I eat altoids. Several at a time. It helps me become focussed on the mints not elsewhere.

[zooropa]

also sour patch kids or any other super sour candy. Altoids are too hot for my mouth but T suggest something really sour and it does help.

[BlueMoon6]

Originally Posted by zooropa

I have a lot of problems w/dissociating, especially when I have intense nightmares or flashbacks, the usual ptsd crap. I have been dissociating a lot in session lately as we get closer to talking about trauma from my past.

This is exactly what has been happening to me. Ftt talks to me about PTSD in each session, but I seem to be blocking it out/not listening, but since posting and reading this, I am realizing that she is talking about that. I dont remember what I was doing that she called ptsd. Or what I have been saying these past few sessions that she referred to as "typical ptsd" reactions I am having. If I think enough I might remember. I just dont want to go there. I want to forget it all and go about my evening.

That's actually been good because it's been an opportunity for T to help me learn how to stay present or bring myself back & ground myself. A lot of times I go numb or can't feel my body at all & that's when she'll hand me some putty or something to hold in my hands and manipulate, that helps a lot with bringing me back into my body.

Yes- I sort of can go numb, too. This past session was the first one where I told her I couldnt listen to what she was saying because I felt far away and underwater. She had me move around and drink my decaf.

Even typing that ^ has given me the feeling of numbness throughout my legs but I just keep breathing through it. The mindfulness skills I have learned in DBT are excellent for grounding, especially the things about following the breath, because no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I always have my breath & can focus on that without anyone knowing what I'm doing.

You sound good at this. These are good ideas. I need ideas of things to do to ground myself when no one knows what I am doing.

[BlueMoon6]

Originally Posted by Thimble

I was taught this technique as well - with the added step of do five things for each, then repeat and do 4 things for each, then repeat and do 3 things for each, then 2, then 1. ....just kind of extends the procedure in case the first round isn't enough to bring you back to the here and now.

Thanks, Thimble I am going to try this.

[zooropa]

Originally Posted by BlueMoon6

This is exactly what has been happening to me. Ftt talks to me about PTSD in each session, but I seem to be blocking it out/not listening, but since posting and reading this, I am realizing that she is talking about that. I dont remember what I was doing that she called ptsd. Or what I have been saying these past few sessions that she referred to as "typical ptsd" reactions I am having. If I think enough I might remember. I just dont want to go there. I want to forget it all and go about my evening.

Yes- I sort of can go numb, too. This past session was the first one where I told her I couldnt listen to what she was saying because I felt far away and underwater. She had me move around and drink my decaf.

You sound good at this. These are good ideas. I need ideas of things to do to ground myself when no one knows what I am doing.

thanks. I *sound* good at this, maybe, but it's actually BEING good at it that would help me more. I have to figure out how to move what I know in my head into something I can remember & use when I'm in crisis. Not so easy.

My T has never used the terms "dissociating" or "grounding" with me, so it's been hard for me to sort out what's going on, that's why coming here has been so amazing for me. I am seeing that I'm not alone & there are other people who have the same reactions & thoughts & behaviors, that there are actual NAMES for these things, it's just been incredibly validating.

[BlueMoon6]

Originally Posted by sw628

(Blue)
When i have a PTSD episode, it's usually triggered by something. Like if im alone and feel very lonely, a familiar smell, or maybe watching something on TV. When that happens i start to have flash backs of a particular traumatic event. I start to cry mostly and it it feels as if i am there once again. I feel the pain and anxiety of being there..yet I'm not. Growing up when this would happen, i would normally comfort myself with food. If this happens at night, I would sleep with the TV on. That was comforting to me and still is. It's such a scary place and everything around me seems unfamiliar. AND.. this is why I'm learning to ground myself with mindfulness techniques. Hope this is helpful

Im sorry that this happens to you, SW I know how scary and strange it feels. This sounds like what happens to me, too. I just posted that ftt talks to me about ptsd reactions, but it hasnt really registered with me until now. I get triggered, like you said, and then everything feels like I am looking through a window. As if the things around me are made of plastic, if that makes any sense and I cannot come back from this plastic place. If I comforted myself with food as a child or teen, I could stay there and didnt have to come back. I was in this food-haze. It looks a little different now (what I do with food) but it does still have a simliar effect.

I know that scary place where everything seems unfamiliar. Id like to learn mindfulness techniques.