Understand trauma as an experience that overwhelms coping skills and fundamentally changes brain function, leading to observable shifts in mood, anxiety, behavior, sleep, and physical health, rather than just any negative event.
To identify if you have trauma, look for persistent changes in brain function, mood, anxiety, behavior, sleep, or physical health following an overwhelming event, especially if accompanied by feelings of guilt, shame, and avoidance.
Actively communicate and verbalize internal experiences related to potential trauma, as burying or avoiding these feelings due to guilt and shame is counterproductive and prevents healing.
Instead of repeating maladaptive patterns (repetition compulsion), identify and directly confront the original ‘seed incident’ or core trauma to resolve it.
Approach self-reflection and trauma exploration with genuine curiosity, asking ‘why’ and ‘when did this start’ to gain new perspectives rather than passively repeating old thought patterns.
Prioritize fundamental self-care practices—adequate sleep, healthy eating, natural light exposure, positive social interactions, managing negative interactions, and living in supportive circumstances—as these are essential building blocks for overall well-being, regardless of other luxuries.
Introspect and question underlying beliefs that might link poor self-care to functionality or success, recognizing that these beliefs can be maladaptive and hinder true well-being.
Address underlying trauma directly, even if you’ve been ‘sublimating’ its energy into productive work, as resolving trauma leads to equal or greater functionality and increased happiness, without the limitations imposed by the trauma’s lens.
Engage in journaling to put words to internal thoughts and feelings related to trauma. Reading your own words can create distance, foster self-compassion, and help integrate logic with emotion to uncover the roots of negative self-talk and shift perspectives.
If professional therapy isn’t accessible, talk to a trusted friend, family member, or clergy member, or write down your thoughts. These zero-cost methods can help process trauma by engaging different brain mechanisms and providing external perspective.
Limit news consumption to essential information, avoiding excessive exposure to frightening or traumatic content, as vicarious trauma can also alter brain function and contribute to distress.
Recognize that short-term coping mechanisms like negative thoughts or anger provide temporary soothing but hinder long-term change; prioritize addressing underlying issues for lasting resolution.
If experiencing suicidal thoughts, thoughts of death, or feelings of undeserving to be alive, immediately seek professional help and do not attempt to manage these severe symptoms on your own.
When choosing a therapist, prioritize strong rapport and a sense of trust, as this is the most crucial factor for effective therapy, more so than specific therapeutic modalities.
Seek therapists who are versatile and adaptable, willing to shift their approach to meet your individual needs rather than being rigidly confined to a single therapeutic modality.
Treat the process of finding a therapist like interviewing for a job; don’t settle for the first one assigned, but actively seek someone who is a good fit.
Approach therapy with the understanding that it will involve difficult, hard work and may not always be pleasant; seek a therapist who is willing to guide you through challenging emotions and introspection.
Before therapy sessions, engage in practices (e.g., arriving early to meditate, or simply walking in ready) that help you be fully present and focused on the therapeutic work.
After therapy, find a method that helps you consolidate and retain insights, whether it’s taking notes, going for a reflective walk, or setting the material aside to process later, as individual needs vary.
For effective therapeutic progress beyond just maintenance, aim for at least once-a-week, hour-long sessions, recognizing that more intensive work can yield exponential gains.
Take ownership of your therapeutic journey by regularly assessing if your needs are being met and communicating openly with your therapist if you feel therapy isn’t helping enough or if you need more intensive support.
Use language carefully and with specificity, especially when discussing sensitive topics like trauma, to ensure clear communication and avoid diluting the meaning or severity of terms.
Consider medication for specific diagnoses like Bipolar Disorder, OCD, or ADD, as these conditions often warrant pharmaceutical intervention to stabilize brain function, ideally in conjunction with therapy.
Consider using certain medications, like antidepressants, not just to treat symptoms, but to increase distress tolerance, which can help you engage more productively in therapy and confront difficult traumas or stressors.
If prescribed multiple medications, question whether they are all necessary and if some might be counterproductive or treating side effects of other drugs, advocating for a more streamlined approach focused on underlying issues.
Understand that medications can be used as short-term tools to achieve specific therapeutic goals, such as increasing distress tolerance during initial trauma work, with the intention of tapering off when appropriate, rather than assuming indefinite use.
If experiencing attention deficits, seek a thorough diagnosis to differentiate between true ADHD and other causes like anxiety, depression, poor sleep, diet, stress, or trauma, as medication for ADHD is only truly helpful when ADHD is the underlying condition.
Avoid using stimulants (e.g., Adderall, Ritalin) without a proper ADHD diagnosis, as long-term non-prescribed use carries significant risks including addiction, impaired judgment, heightened anxiety, impulsivity, and even psychosis.
Do not use alcohol as a coping mechanism for stress or trauma, as it is generally ineffective and carries significant risks.
Use cannabis cautiously and for specific, limited purposes like aiding sleep by narrowing attentional focus and gating out intrusive thoughts, but do not consider it a treatment for depression, anxiety, or trauma, as it can also intensify negative focus in high-distress states.
Approach powerful therapeutic modalities like psychedelics and MDMA with immense respect and under strict clinical guidance, acknowledging their potential for both profound benefit and significant risk if misused.
Take Athletic Greens once or twice a day to cover basic nutritional needs, address deficiencies, and support microbiome health.
Supplement with Vitamin D3 and K2, as D3 is essential for brain/body health (many are deficient even with sun) and K2 regulates cardiovascular function and calcium.
Dissolve one packet of Element in 16-32 ounces of water and drink it first thing in the morning, and also during physical exercise, for proper hydration and electrolyte balance.
Use the Waking Up app for meditation, mindfulness training, yoga nidra, or NSDR sessions of varying durations (e.g., 10 minutes) to restore cognitive and physical energy and explore different mental states.
Be aware that low doses of certain antipsychotics can be used to intervene in negative pathways related to distress, hypervigilance, and avoidance, even without psychosis, to aid in therapeutic work.