Time Orientation – Distance

I’ve spent a lot of time recently talking about grounding as a coping strategy for trauma and dissociation. Now I want to focus on the strategy of time orientation.

Trauma time refers to the experience of feeling like you are still in the trauma (there-and-then), instead of the here-and-now.

One way to cope with trauma time is by utilizing time orientation skills, which involves reminding yourself of how the here-and-now is different from the there-and-then.

There are several different categories of time orientation skills: time, distance, power, choice, & comfort.

The category of distance refers to the physical distance between where you are now and where you were during the time of the trauma (the trauma that is currently bothering you).

In using distance to help orient yourself to the present time, think of all the ways in which you are physically distant from area you were in at the time of the trauma.

If you live in a different state, how many states are between you & where you lived then, or how many miles between, or how many hours away it is.