Key Terms
Learning how to manage trauma symptoms and how to cope without the use of substances.
A. Seeking Safety
B. Searching for Wellness
C. Hunting for Security
D. Finding Nemo
What is "seeking safety?"
This form of grounding means "to focus your mind."
A. Mental grounding
B. Physical grounding
C. Soothing grounding
D. Landing a plane
What is "mental grounding?"
Examples: Playing a category game, imagining, counting to 10, saying the alphabet, describing an activity in great detail.
This is a typical indicator that substance use has become problematic.
A. You're able to quit when you want to quit using.
B. Your substance use interferes with other responsibilities.
C. You don't spend any time using.
What is "use that interferes with other responsibilities?
A pattern of harmful use of drugs and alcohol that impacts one's ability to stay safe.
A. Recreational Drinking
B. Legal Use of Substances
C. Substance Abuse
D. Substance Misuse
What is "substance abuse?"
This form of grounding means "focusing your senses."
A. Mental grounding
B. Physical grounding
C. Soothing grounding
D. Landing a jet
What is "physical grounding?"
Examples: running water over your hands, digging your heels into the floor, jumping up and down, stretching, noticing your body.
The best way to stop using substances.
A. Cold turkey / giving everything up all at once
B. Warm turkey / giving everything up for x amount of weeks
C. Harm reduction / cutting down gradually
D. There is no "best way" to stop using.
D
A response in which one can experience trauma flashbacks, negative emotional states, nightmares, and hypervigilance.
A. Adjustment Disorder
B. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
C. Acute Stress Disorder
D. Reactive Attachment Disorder
What is "posttraumatic stress disorder" or PTSD?
This form of grounding means "talking to yourself in a very kind way."
A. Mental grounding
B. Physical grounding
C. Soothing grounding
D. Landing a rocket
What is "soothing grounding?"
Examples: Say kind things, think of favorites, remember a safe place, say a coping statement.
What the journey of recovery looks like over time.
A. A hill
B. The ocean
C. A mountain
D. Quicksand
What is "a mountain?"
A term for healthy detachment or distraction techniques.
A. Doing absolutely nothing
B. Mindfulness meditation
C. Grounding
D. Relaxation techniques
What is "grounding?"
This is where your focus should be when you are practicing grounding.
A. In the past
B. In the present
C. In the future
D. The goal is to not pay any attention at all
What is "in the present?"
A. Self-help groups
B. Church sermons
C. A college course
D. A block party
What are "self help groups?"
A stimulus that prompts the recollection of a previously traumatic incident, or a stimulus that prompts a type of substance craving.
A. Enkindling
B. Sudden Prompt
C. Intrusive Memory
D. Trigger
What is a "trigger?"
This is how grounding is meant to work:
A. By focusing on the inner self
B. By focusing on the external world
C. By focusing on the problem
D. By focusing on literally nothing at all
What is "by focusing on the external world?"