Treating PTSD: Who Do You Want To Be?

A post-trauma identity doesn’t just appear overnight. It takes time. You need to be deliberate. For many weeks or months or years you’ve lived with a trauma identity. You’ve seen yourself as powerless, hopeless, a victim destined to live with PTSD symptoms from now until some far off date in the future, possibly forever.

All that’s about to change – but not too fast. Reinventing yourself should be approached slowly and done with deliberate care. After all, we’re talking about who you will be as you recreate your life! Important stuff, not to be done sloppily or without thinking things through.

Undoing the current image you have of yourself will be very important in changing your prespective, how you live, think, feel, act and relate to the world around you. It’s time to be very precise in your language, thoughts and ideas.

Your post-trauma identity challenge today is to answer this question: Who do I want to be?

Somewhere deep inside of you your untraumatized self waits to be released. Who is it? You can liberate your future self. The first step is deliberately choosing who you want that person to be.

BRIDGE THE GAP Exercise

[Note: You will need pen and paper for this exercise.]

Find a quiet place. Sit or lie in a very comfortable position. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it when your lungs are full; release it slowly. As the air expels from your lips feel the tension in your body relax. Take another deep breath in, hold it, release. As the air slips from your mouth feel your body loosen as every muscle lets go of the tension it’s been holding.

Hear the sounds in the room. Maybe it’s silent. Maybe there’s a bird or car or powerdrill outside your window. Maybe you hear the clock ticking. Allow these sounds to exist as white noise.

Once you’ve become aware of the sounds around you, set them aside. Let them become white noise. Do this by going further into yourself. Find the silence that exists in your mind. Become aware of it. Drift in it.

The more the silence in your mind engulfs you the more you relax. The more you relax the more your internal voice begins to come to the surface of your thoughts.

Listen for the voice in your head. As it comes from deep inside you wait for it to reach the surface of your consciousness. The voice may be a whisper, it may be chatting at normal volume — it may even scream.

When the voice arrives ask it this question: Who do I want to be?

Sit quietly and wait for the answers to come. There may be silence at first. Wait it out. Soon, a small voice will begin. The more you listen to it the more bold it will become.

Listen for what it says about what personality traits and characteristics it desires. Does it want to be strong and courageous? Does it want to be powerful….? What does the voice want?

Listen for suggestions of what it desires in terms of careers, relationships and future achievements.

Your future self will always voice its opinion when it feels you are listening. Be still. Focus your intention on hearing what the voice has to say. Allow the voice to get comfortable enough to begin speaking fluidly. Ask it to be specific in its words. When it is open your eyes, pick up a pen and write down all it says.

 (Photo: Jighen)

Tags: Constructing Post-Trauma Identity, Identity, post-trauma, ptsd, symptoms