PTSD Self-help
Relief from PTSD Symptoms
If you are suffering from PTSD, you may experience anxiety and distressing flashbacks to traumatic events. Grounding techniques can help you to bring yourself back into the present moment and reduce the intensity of your symptoms.
Print off these mindful breathing cards (up to 9 on an A4 sheet of paper) and carry them around with you as a helpful reminder of breathing techniques to help you calm down when you are experiencing stress or anxiety.
When you accidentally remember a distressing experience, your brain instinctively and involuntarily engages the "fight or flight" response. In a genuinely dangerous situation, this response keeps you safe by preparing you to escape from danger or to fight it. Grounding and breathing exercises help to bring online your parasympathetic (rest and digest) system so that …
Any feelings you choose not to experience (perhaps because you have to focus on getting through the day) don't just disappear, but are held in your body and can manifest in unpleasant physical symptoms. Releasing suppressed emotions, can alleviate these symptoms. This 15 minute meditation written by Mollie Raymond and read by Sara Raymond, allows …
Grounding techniques help you to distance yourself from an emotional experience. When you accidentally remember a distressing experience, your brain instinctively and involuntarily engages the "fight or flight" response. In a genuinely dangerous situation, this response keeps you safe by preparing you to escape from danger or to fight it; however, sometimes, as with upsetting …
Bilateral music has a beat which pans between the left and right ears. It has successfully been used to relieve anxiety, stress, PTSD, and insomnia. Remember to wear headphones or earphones while listening to get the full bilateral effect.
If you are suffering from bad dreams, whether they result from traumatic experiences, stress, anxiety or medication, Justin Havens' Dream Completion Technique should help.
In this video, Emma McAdam teaches a grounding exercise for managing anxiety and triggering the parasympathetic (rest and digest) response. This simple activity can help you feel calm by giving you a practical way to use your five senses to remind your brain that you are actually safe here and now.
Square breathing helps you to manage stress, PTSD, anxiety disorders, and panic attacks. Square breathing recruits our body to tell our brain to calm down. When used regularly, it increases your distress tolerance and retrains your nervous system to be dominated by the parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system.
The 4-7-8 breathing technique is a core part of many meditation and yoga practices. It promotes relaxation by calming the sympathetic nervous system, which controls the fight-or-flight response. If you are generally a shallow breather, you may initially feel a little lightheaded when you start taking deeper breaths. This sensation will pass as your body …
This exercise uses specific, strategic positioning of the eyes and head to send body messages of safety to the brain. Once the brain receives and believes that you are truly safe, it will relax in the form of a yawn, sigh or swallow - leaving you feeling more calm, centred and grounded.
In this video, Susan Watson from Perfect Solutions Coaching guides you through the Four Elements Technique for stress reduction.
Dr. Jarero created this short video (7 mins) to teach a self care technique that you can use at home when you're feeling anxious or stressed.
A Guided audio meditation from EMDR Wizard To help with feelings of distress or discomfort or physical pain, also useful to help promote a more peaceful sleep
