@TraumaTherapySD

  • Grounding Skills

    Grounding skills help reorient a person to the present to the here-and-now. They are vitals tools to have when you deal with anxiety, flashbacks and dissociation. There are endless varieties of grounding skills and in coming posts I will be reviewing different categories of grounding skills (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, cognitive).

    When people struggle with these symptoms, they lose touch with the present and so any skills that can help re-orient them are vital. And if you are a friend or a loved one of someone who struggles with these issues it can be incredibly helpful to remind them of these skills when they are lost in their symptoms.

    It is important to play around with the different grounding skills to find what works best for you. When working with people I offer a little card with reminders of these various skills because when some is struggling with these types of symptoms if can interfere with rational thought and things, they would typically remember may not be accessible. There is no shame in that, that’s a natural result of the fight or flight system that’s been activated. Since we know this can happen, we plan for it and build in the supports ahead of time whenever possible.

    Leave a reply:

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked*