10 Steps in Recovering from a Traumatic Event
By: Michele Crawford, M.Ed. RCC

When a critical incident occurs, such as crime, violence, fire, or an accident, the human body reacts with the fight or flight response that all animals share. It’s called arousal: either hyper-arousal (the equivalent to anger and anxiety) or hypo-arousal (the equivalent to numbing, depression and shutting down). Unfortunately, many of us do not know how to “let go” again. So, we then try to cope with on-going elevated arousal. In this state, symptoms set in and over time, progressively get worse. Examples are sleeplessness, body pain, addictions, moodiness, lethargy, poor concentration, intrusive thoughts, a heightened startle response and many more,

Here are proven ways that will alleviate your symptoms and help get you on the path to recovery.

1. Breathing! Anxiety-breathing takes place in the chest, not the diaphragm. Practice breathing deliberately from your belly, expanding the diaphragm in small stages, filling your lungs slowly. Then just as slowly, breathe out a little at a time, saying to yourself “letting go.” Remember to breathe while pushing out your belly and let this way of breathing become a habit. This is a very powerful way to normalize an arousal state.
   
   
2. Meditation. Ample research supports this method of mind-body healing. For 15 to 20 minutes each day, while reciting out-loud a vibrational ‘mmmm’ sound, (you can use words like Amen or Shalom), try to blank out all other thoughts. With perseverance, you will eventually notice positive changes and a sense of peace and even euphoria.
   
   
3. Physical movement. Walking (and other bi-lateral movement like swimming, cycling, and jogging), is a proven way to alleviate stress reactions and especially, soothe depression. Also, when a person is in a chronic state of arousal, his or her leg muscles tighten, causing back, neck, shoulder and head pain. Sit in a chair and rotate your pelvis in big circles and you will notice your leg muscles relax. This starts a chain reaction of relaxing other muscles, like back, neck and shoulders. Yawn in an exaggerated way to relax jaw muscles. Purchase a rebounder and try to bounce a few moments throughout the day. Rolling your eyes in huge circles reduces stress levels as well.
   
   
4. Diet. Moods are directly linked to food intake. When stressed, adrenaline in the stomach creates nausea and people tend to eat poorly. Unfortunately, a poor diet negatively affects emotions and around the cycle continues. Research has linked certain foods and additives with interfering in the body’s natural healing mechanisms. Examples include sugar, caffeine, aspartame and MSG.
   
   
5. Mindfulness. Paying detailed attention to every task, such as tapping into all sensations of watering a plant, is called mindfulness. Throughout your day, remind yourself to focus on your 5 senses (smell, sound, sight, taste and touch). Ask yourself: “Am I in my body now?” (e.g.: What am I smelling? Can I feel the breeze on my face? Am I actually looking at that tree? Can I feel the ground under my feet? Am I hearing that bird’s song or the wind in the trees?) Continually run your mind’s focus from your feet up to your head, noticing all sensations in your body as you do so. Again, the more you work at this, the more you will notice its relaxing and energizing power. Another aspect of mindfulness is to stay in the moment versus stewing about the past, worrying about the future, or fretting about what other people think. Being in the moment allows you to always notice something wonderful and with practice, your happiness levels will grow.
   
   
6. Normalizing. Don’t under-estimate the power of habit and familiarity. It’s important to try to return to your daily routines, including taking care of your health. Allow yourself to laugh out loud. Surround yourself with people you love, things that are meaningful to you and beloved pets. Decide each day on one small effort that will help you to recuperate. On the other hand, allow a period of time to absolutely wallow in your pain. During this specified time only focus on your grief and challenge yourself to diminish the allotted time as the days go by.
   
   
7. Optimism. No matter what happens, your inner dialogue can be pessimistic, idealistic or optimistic. Pessimistic beliefs are grounded in negativity. Idealistic beliefs are based of how things should be and generate anger and depression when reality doesn’t reflect these expectations. Optimism is always embedded in reality. People frequently reflect on the worst things that ever happened bringing the greatest gifts to their lives. Acknowledging what has happened and then focusing on the good that could come from it always promotes adaptation to life’s stressors. Optimistic people are generally healthier, live longer, have more satisfying relationships and appreciate life more.
   
   
8. Challenging self-defeating thoughts. Since most emotions, physical stress and behaviours are the direct result of interpretations and beliefs, an irrational thought will significantly worsen any event. Ask yourself if the belief is a fact?, is getting you what you want?, is in your best interests?, or is helping your health? If not, modify the thought to better reflect reality and test it with the same questions. Once the belief matches the questions, practice it until it feels second nature.
   
   
9. Reality. Avoid using the word SHOULD. Whenever you say this word, not only are you denying reality, you stay STUCK in the incident instead of focusing on your recovery. Using the language of ‘should’ keeps your concentration on what you cannot control - the event, rather than on what you can control - your reaction. Try replacing the word with “would be better” or “given the reality this happened, how do I want to feel” or “What do I want to be doing?”
   
   
10. Journalling. Again, research supports the healing properties of keeping a journal. Physical illnesses have improved in people who record their thoughts. An example of journalling is writing letters to a personal hero, (someone who inspires you: either alive or deceased, a friend or family member, or even a famous person). Under the influence of feeling championed, you record your thoughts so with time and effort, they can be transformed in a nurturing way.

A final word: Recovering from a traumatic episode is a process, not an event. Recovery requires diligence and knowing what steps to take. With perseverance, traumatic moments can be transformed into meaningfulness that promotes personal development and growth.

If you are still struggling from a traumatic event or experiencing symptoms that interfere with your wellness, seeing a therapist with training in this area can definitely help expedite your recovery…often to a better level than pre-trauma!

Michele Crawford has well over twenty years experience as a therapist, with most of those being in private practice. In British Columbia, she is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and in Saskatchewan, she is a Registered Psychologist and Social Worker. Michele is also a Canadian Certified Counsellor.

Michele usually works with an adult population. Although trained and experienced in working with a broad spectrum of issues, her specialization is working with adults who are suffering from trauma, depression and anxiety.

Her passion for her work remains embedded in being able to connect with someone who is suffering, knowing that she can offer real solutions no matter how complex the issue may be. “Common sense” would best describe her counselling application.