Grounding Techniques | PTSD
So I have 4 days to catch you up on. I normally post a little more regularly than this but I've been having a pretty rough time. Aren't I always though?
On Sunday I really didn't do much except for making a few plans for the week ahead which I started on Monday. I applied for a job. Ok, that sounds a lot more impressive than it really is. There is a magazine which gets distributed once a month to my local area, I have written a little bit about it before. I love it because it really gives some free/cheap ideas of things to do near me so that I don't have to travel far and it of course helps due to my low amount of benefits. I currently have roughly £20-25 I can spend a week once phone bills etc. have gone out so anything I can get for a bit cheaper makes it a lot easier. Anyway - long story short, they are looking for distributors once a month to deliver this magazine. It wouldn't affect my benefits due it just being a few hours a month but it will give me a little extra money that I have actually worked towards and that will be very rewarding for me. It also means that I will get out of the house and get a bit of exercise so it can only be a good thing right? Hopefully I will hear back from them.
My partner also had a meeting with the CEO of the company he may be working for and he thinks it went well so we are hoping to hear back from them sometime this week as to whether he got the job. I'm really excited for him.
Yesterday is a day I honestly don't want to write too much about. I'm sorry but it was extremely traumatic and I was very disoriented afterwards. I had not slept the night before so decided to take a nap in the afternoon and I had the worst nightmare I have ever had. All I will say is that it was like being in Groundhog Day except there was death all around me. That's probably more information than you need already but I guess you wouldn't be here if you didn't want to read it. I was very scared, confused and in a bubble for the rest of the day. My partner tried to snap me out of it and get through to me on several occasions but it just wasn't happening. I was a little better by the evening and hopefully I can use some grounding techniques that I learnt today for the next time.
(I also reached 1,000 followers on Pinterest so you know, it wasn't such a bad day!)
Today I was due to start my Trauma Focused CBT however, my therapist felt it would be more important to start that next session and focus on something called grounding techniques for now. This is for people with PTSD who either have a flashback or nightmare and feel like they are back in that situation. It focuses on your five senses and gives you techniques using those senses that can bring you back to the present moment. My therapist gave me this example today: She handed me a plastic cup. She told me to hold it and tell me everything I possibly could about it. I said it was cool because it has just had cold water in, it was bumpy, squishy and had a rim. It was a light blue colour. I felt a little silly doing this but I could understand the meaning behind it. We decided between us that the two I would try for the next couple of weeks were lighting scented candles and using water. The water is either to drink, splash on my face, run it over my hands, stand in the rain or go in the river. It may sound funny but water reminds me that I am alive. So, this is what I will try. I will also continue to write in my intrusive thoughts diary and also write down whether these ground techniques have helped me. The idea of trauma focused CBT is to relive your memories as if you were still there. It would be like having a flashback except you are controlling the thoughts. The idea is to record it and listen to it a few more times throughout the week. I am unsure why yet but it will be explained to me on the day, she didn't want to bombard me with too much at once. So I also have to make sure I have a recording device, study up on the model I have been taught as it is very complicated to me and of course fill in the weekly questionnaire. I feel like I'm back in school but if it helps, I'll do anything.
I was in a fairly bad way when I returned home this afternoon but then I found a very small package addressed to me. If you have been following my blogs at all, you may remember me writing about the folk festival. It is tradition for me now to buy some bracelet charms from a lovely lady to bring back home and that's exactly what I did. But I lost them. I got home and they were nowhere to be seen. I was so upset. My best friend is currently in Berlin but before she headed off, she told me she sent me something in the mail. She wouldn't tell me what and today I found out. She spoke to my partner and found out what the two charms were (a duck and a toucan), got in contact with the lady and ordered me some more. As well as a Winnie The Pooh charm which has a special meaning to us. She is the most thoughtful person I have ever met and I can't wait to see her again next year. She's truly incredible and it was just what I needed after a hard day. We had a little chat online tonight and we have a call scheduled for a few days time so it will be great to hear her voice. And finally, we had dinner tonight at my partners dads and it was another beautiful roast. I really do love them.
So I think I have babbled enough for today, what do you reckon? I hope everyones having a great week and I'll write more soon.
On Sunday I really didn't do much except for making a few plans for the week ahead which I started on Monday. I applied for a job. Ok, that sounds a lot more impressive than it really is. There is a magazine which gets distributed once a month to my local area, I have written a little bit about it before. I love it because it really gives some free/cheap ideas of things to do near me so that I don't have to travel far and it of course helps due to my low amount of benefits. I currently have roughly £20-25 I can spend a week once phone bills etc. have gone out so anything I can get for a bit cheaper makes it a lot easier. Anyway - long story short, they are looking for distributors once a month to deliver this magazine. It wouldn't affect my benefits due it just being a few hours a month but it will give me a little extra money that I have actually worked towards and that will be very rewarding for me. It also means that I will get out of the house and get a bit of exercise so it can only be a good thing right? Hopefully I will hear back from them.
My partner also had a meeting with the CEO of the company he may be working for and he thinks it went well so we are hoping to hear back from them sometime this week as to whether he got the job. I'm really excited for him.
Yesterday is a day I honestly don't want to write too much about. I'm sorry but it was extremely traumatic and I was very disoriented afterwards. I had not slept the night before so decided to take a nap in the afternoon and I had the worst nightmare I have ever had. All I will say is that it was like being in Groundhog Day except there was death all around me. That's probably more information than you need already but I guess you wouldn't be here if you didn't want to read it. I was very scared, confused and in a bubble for the rest of the day. My partner tried to snap me out of it and get through to me on several occasions but it just wasn't happening. I was a little better by the evening and hopefully I can use some grounding techniques that I learnt today for the next time.
(I also reached 1,000 followers on Pinterest so you know, it wasn't such a bad day!)
Today I was due to start my Trauma Focused CBT however, my therapist felt it would be more important to start that next session and focus on something called grounding techniques for now. This is for people with PTSD who either have a flashback or nightmare and feel like they are back in that situation. It focuses on your five senses and gives you techniques using those senses that can bring you back to the present moment. My therapist gave me this example today: She handed me a plastic cup. She told me to hold it and tell me everything I possibly could about it. I said it was cool because it has just had cold water in, it was bumpy, squishy and had a rim. It was a light blue colour. I felt a little silly doing this but I could understand the meaning behind it. We decided between us that the two I would try for the next couple of weeks were lighting scented candles and using water. The water is either to drink, splash on my face, run it over my hands, stand in the rain or go in the river. It may sound funny but water reminds me that I am alive. So, this is what I will try. I will also continue to write in my intrusive thoughts diary and also write down whether these ground techniques have helped me. The idea of trauma focused CBT is to relive your memories as if you were still there. It would be like having a flashback except you are controlling the thoughts. The idea is to record it and listen to it a few more times throughout the week. I am unsure why yet but it will be explained to me on the day, she didn't want to bombard me with too much at once. So I also have to make sure I have a recording device, study up on the model I have been taught as it is very complicated to me and of course fill in the weekly questionnaire. I feel like I'm back in school but if it helps, I'll do anything.
I was in a fairly bad way when I returned home this afternoon but then I found a very small package addressed to me. If you have been following my blogs at all, you may remember me writing about the folk festival. It is tradition for me now to buy some bracelet charms from a lovely lady to bring back home and that's exactly what I did. But I lost them. I got home and they were nowhere to be seen. I was so upset. My best friend is currently in Berlin but before she headed off, she told me she sent me something in the mail. She wouldn't tell me what and today I found out. She spoke to my partner and found out what the two charms were (a duck and a toucan), got in contact with the lady and ordered me some more. As well as a Winnie The Pooh charm which has a special meaning to us. She is the most thoughtful person I have ever met and I can't wait to see her again next year. She's truly incredible and it was just what I needed after a hard day. We had a little chat online tonight and we have a call scheduled for a few days time so it will be great to hear her voice. And finally, we had dinner tonight at my partners dads and it was another beautiful roast. I really do love them.
So I think I have babbled enough for today, what do you reckon? I hope everyones having a great week and I'll write more soon.
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