How To Become (Even More) Functional Today

This week on YOUR LIFE AFTER TRAUMA we’re covering how to become (even more) functional today, so I invited a guest I thought would be very helpful with that, Jude Bijou. (You might remember her from this fantastic guest post about five steps to deal with loss.)

I’m always reading up on what, how, who, when, and where we can learn new ways to take back control and empower the PTSD recovery process. Last weekend I read ATTITUDE RECONSTRUCTION, by Jude, which she calls a ‘blueprint for building a better life.’ I have to tell you, this is a great book if you’re looking for specific, hands-on, how-to processes for reclaiming control over your thoughts, emotions and feelings.

Things I liked about the book:

Easy to read. With PTSD it’s tough to concentrate – reading especially was always problematic for me as I couldn’t remember what I read. Jude’s book is laid out in such a way that you always know where you are. The sections are short (immediate bottom-line and focused) so you don’t get lost in a lot of extraneous material and each chapter contains illustrations from real life people, so you get to see just how, exactly, these ideas work.

Simple tips you can use today. Jude outlines five tools you already own, and how you can use them more effectively. The tools include emotions, thoughts, intuition, speech and actions.

Shows you how to shift from one feeling to another. The book also offers step-by-step processes for how to move from:

• Sadness to joy
• Anger to love
• Fear to peace

With terrific worksheets that make everything easy to absorb, work with and come back to later, plus a bibliography with suggestions for further reading, Jude’s really thought of everything you need and put it together in a sort of handbook that you can use at your own pace.

To hear all of this brought to life in a conversation between me and Jude, tune in today at 2pm EST, or check out the YOUR LIFE AFTER TRAUMA archives on Friday for the download.