Making the Shift: PowerLESS to powerFUL in PTSD recovery
Monday, April 26th, 2010 • PTSD Recovery Tips •
Welcome to the all new, even more self-empowered Monday series, “Making the Shift”! These posts will be geared toward directly helping you shift from powerless to powerful so that you can access, utilize and increase your PTSD healing potential. Let’s dive right in!
The Premise
I’ve been looking back over the past five years, taking a good look to assess two things: 1) what most helped me to overcome symptoms of post-traumatic stress, 2) what has helped the hundreds of survivors I’ve met, talked to, heard from all around the world who moved forward in their PTSD recovery. What I’ve noticed is no surprise: the one thing we all seem to have in common is…. drum roll, please ….. a strong, self-empowered attitude.
We all know how difficult it is to achieve anything if we have a negative perspective. If we approach a task with a multitude of limiting beliefs, false interpretations, assumptions, or a pesky inner critic the project feels overwhelming, heavy and there seem to be a multitude of insurmountable objects. Conversely, when we have high hopes for something, when we expect that we will be successful and are aware of the skills, tools, resources and talents we possess to achieve our goal(s), then we feel energized, ready to work and confident of success. That’s a big difference.
The Question
My first question to all of you: How do you feel about the PTSD recovery process? Do you feel overwhelmed, heavy and as if you’re facing insurmountable objects? Or are you energized, ready to work and confident one day you will triumph?
Okay, I hear the collective groan. Of course, you don’t always feel energized and full of confidence every day. You’re dealing with some very heavy stuff and that would make anyone bow with the burden some days, while soaring with hope on others. That having been said, there are ways to empower your thoughts and recovery process so that you benefit from the strength you naturally possess. Even if that strength has been buried by some trauma junk, it’s possible to access it.
The Plan
I deeply believe that at the base of PTSD healing is a committed, self-empowered mindset. As a matter of fact, I don’t think you can heal without it. Your ability to achieve freedom begins with your belief in your ability to achieve freedom. Not to worry — if you’re feeling powerless in your mindset (or any other part of your PTSD recovery) that’s all about to change.
At the base of creating a self-empowered healing mind is making the shift from powerless to powerful. As you do that, you will be amazed to watch how your healing journey becomes infused with your own deep internal power which is, let’s be serious, the reason you’ve come as far as you have anyway.
The first step in this process is being clear about what you want. I’ll go into this more next week. For now, I’ll ask you to mull this question (feel free to leave your answer in the comments, or shoot me a private email):
In all of this recovery work, what is your ultimate goal?
(Photo acknowledgement on Flickr.)
Tags: post-traumatic stress, ptsd, symptoms
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One must understand that I have been consistantly fighting PTSD for over 20 years. I have been through so many programs, treatments, therapies and Medications that I can’t remember most. The one thing I see overall is that someone with burned in combat PTSD trying to seek effective treatment needs a consistant, relyable, caring program in order to succeed. I have found methods for example, meditation and an attempt at controled thinking. I have found the most effective method of therapy is commuication, sharing and caring. Where ever one finds this it only last for a short time until it changes or is discontinued. For me it is like riding a swelling sea, up one minute and down the next never truely finding calm water. I have backslid, not sure why but. My alternating mindset is Euphoria and Destitution.
don’t mean to intrude Wayne, but I couldnt agree more about what you feel your most effective treatment is. I’ve found it to be true that a caring and supportive network is priority and must be consistent.
My experience with Meditation has definitely quietened my mind and I use it multiple times daily.
When i think of that Mindset Michele discusses, I understand that my emotions are not permanent ~ like a wave violently crashing upon a rocky shoreline, then calming as it rolls back out to sea gives a good visual of how our emotions change but it’s important to note them, accept them then let them go (it’s really making room for the next wave but it’s nice to have a break) Hang in there Wayne, after most storms are rainbows
Thanks Michele!
@Wayne — Backsliding is a natural occurrence in PTSD. When you feel yourself backsliding try this: when you felt euphoria, what was the cause of it? How can you feel that way again? What would it take to shift yourself into that state? What would you have to do to be able to access that euphoric feeling? When you have an answer: put the plan into motion!
Wayne, I just want to let you know that I hear what you are saying. So many techniques, groups, therapies and approaches are short-term and fail to address PTSD as a process that occurs over an extended period of time. I want to echo your need for ongoing, long-term assistance, contact, and support, for healing aids which are holistic.
THANK YOU Michelle for this very thought-full, insightful shift. I love it!
I’ve been very pensive regarding the whole issue of power recently.
And I catch myself pushing my own boundaries and challenging my own beliefs and thoughts to behave as someone that is power-full more and more as a result.
Today, for example, I gave blood. Something so simple. Yet, for me, something akin to climbing toward the summit of Everest because the trauma I experienced involved nearly hemorrhaging to death and the need for a blood transfusion to survive. Before I could even walk to the desk or sign the sign in sheet, I had to calm raging internal alarms and mounting physiological and psychological panic. This became more of a challenge when the staff did little to interact with me in any way, and really caused difficulty when I entered the room (and saw, of course, guerneys, needles, blood, and individuals in lab coats and gloves). And I did it! I gave blood. I have always wanted to, because someone saved my life by doing so, and I did. I reclaimed some of my power today.
I’ve been working to do this in other small ways as well, because, for me, the answer to the question about my ultimate goal in this journey involves continuing my climb, focusing not on how far I have left before I reach the top, but on how far I have come, and on be-ing during the climb.
My ULTIMATE goal is to free my mind.
I will never give up the fight!!
I have to say I agree with Michele about the positive mindset. At times I when I feel myself getting into the slump, or fighting a trigger, I meditate on the now. I remind myself of how far I have come, not only in my healing, but in my life since. I know I am safe, my kids are safe, and how precious life is – too precious to be wasted. I focus on the lil miracles around me – the hidden treasures in everyday life. It helps bring me back to the now and my goals. And the more I heal, the less it occurs, and when it does, I seem to be that lil bit better at handling it:-)
Having a supportive home environment and friends has been essential to my recovery too.
Kris – that’s awesome. I would like to see more information about how confronting your fears, gently, in a safe setting, can help you. Recently my man and I have been playing lil games with things that cause triggers for me – very very gently. And it’s working. It takes three or four different triggers to make me cry n start shutting down now, not one:-) And even that’s become easier to deal with. I hear about confronting issues alot from different people, and one day I would like to even go back to my sensei and start training again as I do miss it and fear of confrontation was one of the reasons I started martial arts in the first place. Well that and street fighter 2 (manga version) where Kami White makes her entrance (I thought, wow, that chicki kicks butt and I want to be able to do that if the need arose). And now that is a major issue for me again.
@ All of you — This is exactly the kind of conversation I’d like to develop here! Your thoughts, ideas and experiences are so full of learning, trying and making the shift from one strategy to another. Really fabulous, thank you for sharing.
I’m making notes of all your suggestions. We’ll cover everything you can think of. This way we all partner in creating a conversation that has to do with what’s happening in real time. There are so many proactive ways to wrangle the PTSD beast. I’m looking forward to exploring what to try, what works and what we can tweak together so that everyone’s inidividual process becomes more and more self-empowered.
Keep your suggestions coming!
Since my last post Ive been thinking more about that shift between powerless to powerful. I still can’t say exactly what caused my shift as I’ve tried so many different things to heal. I’m still on my healing path, not 100% yet but I am totally confident(most days) I will get there.
I think I was just sick and tired of the state and condition of my life.
Maybe another way I can look at my shift to being powerful is that human desire to feel good. Some self medicate ie drugs or alcohol, I began with meditation. I’ve always known the mind to be very powerful and one can achieve that ‘natural’ high.
I was a mess; bankrupted both mentally and physically, except for that traumatic event I vigorously fed while it replayed in my brain over and over and over. I lived hypervigilantly in that one moment for over 3 years with almost no outside support.
I can describe what it meant to live and thrive, I’ve travelled the world, knew success and experienced great joy and happiness prior to the trauma.
From my mountain top I spiraled downward to the deep pits of hell at almost the blink of an eye. My days/nights can be described as the movie Groundhog day, expect horror rated.
Meditation – Once I could get to a more quiet place in my mind I was able to understand more about what was happening to me.
When I think back, there were so many variables contributing to me being in that disabling place. Not only was I having flashbacks, night terrors, paranoia, agoraphobia, sleep deprivation, I was also living in isolation (emtionally and physically).
Isolation is brutally challenging on it’s own. I recently became aware of how isolation affects a person after reading about a young woman who rowed across the Atlantic alone. As she prepared for this trip, she described how she got ready for isolation by doing 100 hours of meditation.
I also read another story about a young mans experience in prison and how he had to mentally prepare for isolation to survive.
We aren’t prepared for PTSD and we surely aren’t prepared for all the ‘after effects’ of it either.
Our medical systems arent designed to help heal from mental illness. Most patients are introduced to the mental health system after an episode. They are hospitalised, medicated and sent home with very little guidance or education being stigmatized by the labelling of disease with no cure.
I am truly grateful to Michele and her team for providing the education and platform for healing.
)
Thank you.
(sorry for spelling
If I had known back then when I had PTSD after a carcrash 11 years ago what I know today about the best ways to master my mind so many things would have been so much better so much faster.
On the other hand; by experiencing all the struggeling it’s much easier to place myself in the shoes of others when they are struggeling and to speak with authority about the healing process. What you write about is to me not only a theory but an experience. By growing awareness about what we do INSIDE and by focusing upon what we want every recovery process – PTSD or anything else for that matter – will speed up.
Here are my goals:
1: Growing my awareness all the time and by that develop a rock solid self-confidence, self-respect and self-esteem in order to increase my ability to radiate love no matter what happens around me.
2: Help as many people as I can in their self-development process.
3: Earn LOTS of money so that I can help even more people… people with few material resources to buy expencive self-development programs.