After a traumatic event such as an earthquake, fire, flood, school-shooting, death of a loved one or pet, some people will want to speak about what happened and some will not. Here are some different questions to help people not to become further traumatized. Body-centered resources are developed by tracking the person’s changes in demeanor. These questions are relevant to survival:
– Who helped you the most in the beginning?
– Can you remember the moment when help first arrived?
– Can you remember the moment that you knew you were going to survive?
– Who else made it through?
– What gives you the strength to get through now?
– When you have experienced other difficult times in your life, what or who helped get you through?
– What is helping you the most now?
– Who is helping you most to get through now?
If the person, neighbor or person in trouble seems to get more disturbed or are unable to answer these questions, another effective way to help them is to do a grounding exercise.
A grounding exercise is the direct contact of the body with the ground or with something that provides support to the body. You can ground by sitting in a chair, standing against a wall, walking and paying attention to how your feet make contact to the ground, lying down on the floor or on a bed. Some individuals ground by floating in a pool. When you are grounded, you are aware of your body in the present moment. When you are in the present moment, you are not worried about the past or the future.
Guide the person through the following directions:
- Find a comfortable position, sitting, lying down, or standing, take your time.
- Notice how your back is making contact with the chair, sofa, floor, wall, bed, earth, etc.
- Notice your feet, back of legs, back neck and head making contact with the surface.
- Notice the sensations that are more pleasant to you or neutral within your body, take your time , notice your breathing, heart rate, and muscle relaxation.
- If you become uncomfortable bring your attention to places that are more comfortable.
- Spend some moments, noticing sensations that are pleasant or neutral.
- As we end, slowly scan your body and bring your attention to all sensations that are pleasant and neutral.
These questions that direct a person’s attention to a more present experience, as well as the body scan, can help communities, first responders, police, fire fighters, teachers, families and anyone who has just been exposed to a traumatic event.
-Barbara Allyn Barry, M.S.Ed.,LMFT