Who can be affected by trauma?
Everyone
How does relaxation help trauma survivors?
It reduces anxiety and distress related to trauma
Why is it important to know what we are feeling?
Increased awareness of our emotions allows us to be more in tuned with our emotional needs and can help remind us to use our coping skills when we experience challenging emotions.
What is a thought?
An image or sentence that you experience mentally. No one else can hear or see them.
True or False: Bottling up our emotions is a helpful way to force ourselves to stop feeling something?
False.
What are some common forms of trauma?
Traumatic grief, abuse, neglect, war/terrorism, natural disaster, witness to community violence
Name/describe a common breathing activity
Square breathing, belly breathing, hot cocoa breaths, etc.
Why is it important to communicate our feelings to other people?
Sharing our feelings with others can help us feel less alone and can help let people in our support system know when we need their support.
What's one strategy for noticing our thoughts?
Mindfulness, meditation, journaling, talking about our thoughts with others, etc.
True or false: Repeatedly telling ourselves that we are not good enough is a helpful way to inspire us to be better.
False. Negative thinking and negative self-talk is discouraging and leads to feelings of hopelessness.
What is a trauma reminder/traumatic reaction trigger?
Something that reminds someone of their traumatic experience and/or causes their trauma related symptoms to appear.
What does mindfulness mean?
Mindfulness is a kind of meditation that involves non-judgmentally noticing our physical sensations, thoughts, and feelings
Name 7 emotions
Happy, angry, sad, nervous, excited, surprised, frustrated, melancholy, worried, anxious, joy, etc.
What are some examples of "unhelpful" thoughts?
Mind reading, jumping to conclusions, black and white thinking, negative self-talk, etc.
True or False: Chickens can count.
True. Chickens can count up to six.
What are some common emotional/behavioral traumatic reactions?
Isolating, intrusive thoughts, numbness, trouble focusing, spacing out, jumpiness, large scale emotional breakdowns (anxiety, sadness, anger).
What is grounding or the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 activity?
Grounding is when you use your 5 senses to be present in the moment, in your body. Used to escape a cognitive loop (overthinking).
Name a coping skill that can help us be aware of our emotions
Mindfulness, grounding, journaling, talking about emotions with our support system, check-ins, etc.
What are some examples of "helpful" thoughts
Encouraging thoughts, positive self-talk, considering all of the possible reasons for other people's behavior instead of mind-reading or jumping to conclusions.
True or False: we absorb more oxygen breathing through our nose than through our mouths.
True. That's why most breathing exercises encourage people to breathe in through your nose!
What are some common physical traumatic reactions?
What is visualization? Give an example.
Visualization is when you create a relaxing image or scene in your mind to relax. Can incorporate other senses like touch, smell, hearing to create a more vivid experience.
How are our emotions related to our thoughts and the way we see ourselves, others, and the world?
Our thoughts and feelings influence one another. Our feelings color the way we see things. For example, if we feel nervous we might see the world as dangerous, or we might see people as judgemental.
How are our thoughts related to our behaviors? Provide an example.
Our thoughts and behaviors affect each other. For example, if we believe think other people are not to be trusted, we will isolate ourselves. Conversely, if we isolate ourselves, we may feel like no one understands us.
True or false: stressed out people are healthier because they take health and safety seriously.
False. High levels of distress cause a decreased immune response, making it easier to get sick and make illnesses last longer.