Safety And Stabilization Essay

Safety and Stabilization

The effects of trauma reverberate through time and across a wide spectrum of life activities. Depending on the circumstances, these effects result in debilitating behaviors meant to alleviate anxiety that are often less than healthy and less than useful to that purpose. They may withdraw from life, use alcohol or drugs, or develop personality habits that are self-defeating. They may actually continue to place themselves in situations that are chaotic and anxiety provoking because they lack the skills and emotional stability to make better choices. They may show up on the doorstep of a therapist with every diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) other than PTSD. In fact, many experienced therapists believe that almost all the symptoms they see in their practice are related to trauma in one way or another. It is important to understand that to accomplish the task of trauma symptom reduction the client must be able to create a state of relaxation. When their life is in chaos or they continue to self-soothe in less-than-useful ways, creating this state is next to impossible. Section 2 defines safety and provides techniques by which the practitioner can assist their clients in creating the environment of safety necessary for

This is a survival system that releases chemicals into the body and prepares it to fight, flee, or freeze. Although this is a normal sequence, it is an unpleasant experience characterized by fear, anxiety, and very high arousal. Remembering traumatic events can also trigger this cascade of chemicals, creating the same experience. Left unmanaged, this survival/fear response is counterproductive to the therapeutic process. There are a variety of ways to manage this sequence. This section provides body-based techniques that are useful in the management of the fear