Being human means that there will be times when we are triggered. Triggering can make us feel unwell, or respond to situations in ways that we never had intended to. This can lead to worsening of situations, or to us being less able to do our work well. Excessing triggering can also damage our relationships with peers, patients, clients, partners, and may even harm our children's mental health.
1. We can seek therapy to resolve our triggers. This is best done by seeking therapists who have training in complex trauma, dissociation, attachment, including skill in techniques such as Dissociation/complex PTSD-Aware EMDR, Sand-tray, and Art therapy. If you seek therapy, be sure to discuss with your therapist if there are upcoming events in your life where any temporary increase in negative emotions might jeopardize important outcomes for you. For example, starting therapy a few months before a critical written examination may be excessively destabilizing, or it may be helpful, depending upon many factors.
2. Whether or not we choose to have therapy, understanding approaches to mitigate the effects of our own triggering is an important skill for delivering effective trauma-informed care, and for healing past the cycle of trauma. Techniques are reviewed and practiced in our courses. They are also demonstrated and explained in our films "This is Me Now" and "Here/Hear to Heal" (see "EVENTS" or "STORE" pages). The ABSees of Dis-Ease is a mnemonic one can use in this process