Triggers

We all have triggers - those items that cause us to react a specific way before we can even think about an alternate response. 

 At HOPE we are about helping you experience a diminishing of the impact of symptoms like triggers on your life, an expansion of your capacity to do and enjoy the things you choose by responding differently.

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How to Use Triggers

rather than Fight Triggers

The first step to stop being triggered is to recognize that there is unlikely to ever be enough time to respond rather than react when the trigger occurs. It doesn't matter how "good" I am, I can't stop once triggered . . . so

I schedule a time when I am relaxed and my brain is working well (usually the morning) to come up with my solution. 

I start by exploring the upstream thoughts and events in the path to my trigger.  Example: If I get triggered into arguing politicks with crazy uncle Fred after Holiday Dinners. I can explore that this generally happens after dinner. It starts with a reasonable discussion of current events by others, then Uncle Fred makes an controversial remark and we are off to the races.

Where do I have control here? Pretty much all the way up til the remark but in reality when dinner is over and we sit down in the living room, I know where others will start the conversation and where that will lead. My real point of choice is not going into the living room.

Here I can choose instead to join the kids going outside or playing a board game in another room. These are positive family behaviors that remove me early from the sequence of events that lead me to the trigger. This is where I have control and choices.

I find it very useful/ manditory to develop several alternate choices so I can effectively manage in multiple situations.

Example: I may need to go into the kitchen and help if I see people starting to congregate in the living room before Thanksgiving dinner. Or I may want to know who is playing football that day and have a compelling reason to catch the game in another room - it may be that several others will find that a convenient way to excuse themselves also. I can also just happen to have a frisbee in my trunk and see if the kids want to play frisbee football if the weather is good or have a favorite board game when it's not.

My point is to have several detours (positive triggers)  I can put in the path early so I separate myself from the undesirable trigger.

Clients Report Relief Symptoms

• Autism Spectrum
• Concussive Head injuries
• PTSD