PTSD Therapy (DIY)

[NOTE: This is the second of a two part transcript of a video about PTSD. Please excuse the conversational grammar.]

So in a nutshell here's what you'll do. And again, this may not be right for every person and situation - so you might want to start by experimenting with some less traumatic memories from your past.. Perhaps start by choosing an event that makes you feel somewhat guilty, or upset, or hurt... then after practicing with that for maybe a week or so, you'll probably have a better idea of whether the technique is right for you, and/or for more intense feelings.

Okay, here's what to do. First you should be comfortably seated in a chair (definitely not driving). Perhaps you'll sit in a room or somewhere where you won't be disturbed for maybe 15 minutes or so. Then close your eyes and imagine yourself in the situation or at the event that's still causing you emotional distress. Recreate whatever it was that happened. I mean really visualize yourself in that situation. Project yourself into it, as if its happening all around you right now in this moment... The sights, sounds, smells, people. It's all there happening around you right now like it's real.

Now if you do this correctly, you'll quickly notice an emotional reaction arise somewhere in your body. And that's what you want. So I know your initial reaction will be to suppress or avoid the feeling, BUT this time that's NOT what you're going to do. Instead, stop visualizing and turn your full mental focus into that feeling and just observe it. LET IT BE THERE.

Now I know this next step might sound odd, and it may be extremely difficult for some people, it's a means to an end, so just do your best... In order to promote an attitude of accepting awareness, I want you to greet the sensation. Just keep your concentration on it and then say something like "hello energy" or "hello feeling, you are OK to be there". And then after greeting it just spend another minute or two purely listening to that energy. And by "listening", I mean keeping your full mental awareness, pure thought-free awareness, on the feeling. Put the process of visualizing the event aside and just focus on observing and being with that feeling that has arisen. Don't try to analyze it, don't try to understand it, don't judge it, don't try to stop it. Just listen to it fully... Without thinking as best you can. And do this for as long as you can, hopefully 3-5 minutes at least.

Now what you're doing here is most likely the exact opposite of what you've been doing up until now. Most people when they encounter an uncomfortable feeling, they will either try to push it back down inside themselves, or they try to avoid the situation that elicits it. And that's usually a normal, natural survival tendency - people who have a healthy sense of fear, and the intuition to avoid situations that remind us in any way of previous trauma, will most likely survive longer. But at this point, given that you're watching this video [reading this transcript], you're most likely dealing with a feeling that's having more of a negative impact than a beneficial one on your well being. And this process of becoming comfortable with the sensation is really the way to put that behind you. Because once you can handle it, you'll stop thinking about it. And it will stop affecting your life so deeply.

So let's move to the next step. After you've greeted the energy or feeling (and when I say "energy" I'm referring to any body sensation, feeling or emotion), the next step is to spend maybe 3-5 minutes just describing that sensation in your body. By this I mean use some adjectives to physically describe the energy. Then verbally repeat your observations to the energy, almost like you're speaking to it. Again, I know this may sound odd, but it's a means to an end. You can say things like "energy, you are intense and solid or feeling" or "you are heavy and round"... Or "you extend from my head down into my stomach". And remember, you are no longer necessarily visualizing the event, but rather primarily working with the energy that has arisen from the visualization.

In describing your internal sensations like this, you're keeping your thought-free attention on them. Just listening to and getting more comfortable with their presence. But also, at any point, if you need to, you can re-visualize yourself in the original situation or event in order to get the feelings back if you lose track of them. Then just go through the process again... Re-greet the energies or feelings, then spend time listening to and observing them again. Try to practice this exercise at least once per day, or even more often if possible. Each time you do this, if done correctly as described, the ability of the uncomfortable feelings to emotionally/mentally overwhelm you will diminish. And actually, not only will the intensity of those energies diminish, but at the same time you'll become stronger and stronger emotionally. Its really a double benefit.

I could spend another 10 pages or more describing why this process works, but in the end what matters most is that you simply experience the process for yourself and see that IT DOES WORK - experience how beneficial it is, and don't get caught up in how it works, or why it works. The goal here is for you, to as quickly as possible, get back in control of your life and feeling better. The experience that affected you will always be there, you're not going to make it disappear... But it doesn't need to continue affecting your present moment and coloring your perceptions. It will be part of you, but it won't be overwhelming you. You won't be thinking about it all the time. It will be in your past.

You may never consciously make sense of what happened, but the main thing now is for your subconscious mind to sort it out so that you don't get stuck on it. I think you'll find this exercise here to be a really great way to free up your mind's own healing capacity to do just that.

So I hope this perspective has helped some of you out there. Like I said, I'm not a professional, so please take it only as a personal story and perspective. But I do have a lot of experience with anxiety disorders, and my techniques have helped a lot of people. If this video [transcript] helps one person out there, it will be worthwhile.

Also, although much of what I discuss in my anxiety audio program is geared toward panic attacks and other anxiety disorders, listening may very well be worthwhile for PTSD sufferers as well.

Thank you for reading, and good luck with your efforts.

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