Mindfulness Skills for Trauma and PTSD: Practices for Recovery and Resilience
Mindfulness Skills for Trauma and PTSD: Practices for Recovery and Resilience

Author: Rachel Goldsmith Turow

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2017-02-28

Total Pages: 413

ISBN-13: 0393711277

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How mindfulness can help trauma survivors move to places of healing. Trauma touches every life, but the way that we hold our pain makes a difference. Mindfulness Skills for Trauma and PTSD provides user-friendly descriptions of the many facets of traumatic stress alongside evidence-based strategies to manage trauma symptoms and build new strengths. This book is a valuable resource for trauma survivors, health professionals, researchers, mindfulness practitioners, and others seeking new pathways to recovery and resilience. It is normal to feel anxious or depressed after trauma, and to have upsetting thoughts and memories. Instead of fighting our feelings and blaming ourselves for what are actually common responses to trauma, mindfulness practices can help us tolerate and decrease distress, cultivate kindness towards ourselves and others, make wise choices, navigate attention, improve relationships, and relax—capacities that reduce trauma symptoms and advance our overall well-being. Practicing the small stuff can help us with the big stuff. As we learn to notice our breathing, walking, minor frustrations or daily activities with curiosity and care, we build inner resources to skillfully handle past trauma, as well as current and future challenges. Mindfulness practices can transform self-blame into self-respect and self-compassion. We can also match specific mindfulness skills to particular trauma symptoms. For example, “grounding” with the five senses can help us when we feel overwhelmed or spaced out, and loving-kindness meditation can alleviate self-criticism. With this book, you will explore scientifically supported mindfulness practices, plus “In their own words” sections that illustrate the skills with personal stories demonstrating how mindfulness practices have helped others recover from trauma. “Research highlight” sections showcase fascinating scientific studies that form the basis for the book's approaches. As we practice effective strategies to handle a full range of experiences, we can each find new sources of hope, connection, and peace.

Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness: Practices for Safe and Transformative Healing
Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness: Practices for Safe and Transformative Healing

Author: David A. Treleaven

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2018-02-13

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 0393709795

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"[A] rare combination of solid scholarship, clinically useful methods, and passionate advocacy for those who have suffered trauma." —Rick Hanson, PhD, author of Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom From elementary schools to psychotherapy offices, mindfulness meditation is an increasingly mainstream practice. At the same time, trauma remains a fact of life: the majority of us will experience a traumatic event in our lifetime, and up to 20% of us will develop posttraumatic stress. This means that anywhere mindfulness is being practiced, someone in the room is likely to be struggling with trauma. At first glance, this appears to be a good thing: trauma creates stress, and mindfulness is a proven tool for reducing it. But the reality is not so simple. Drawing on a decade of research and clinical experience, psychotherapist and educator David Treleaven shows that mindfulness meditation—practiced without an awareness of trauma—can exacerbate symptoms of traumatic stress. Instructed to pay close, sustained attention to their inner world, survivors can experience flashbacks, dissociation, and even retraumatization. This raises a crucial question for mindfulness teachers, trauma professionals, and survivors everywhere: How can we minimize the potential dangers of mindfulness for survivors while leveraging its powerful benefits? Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness offers answers to this question. Part I provides an insightful and concise review of the histories of mindfulness and trauma, including the way modern neuroscience is shaping our understanding of both. Through grounded scholarship and wide-ranging case examples, Treleaven illustrates the ways mindfulness can help—or hinder—trauma recovery. Part II distills these insights into five key principles for trauma-sensitive mindfulness. Covering the role of attention, arousal, relationship, dissociation, and social context within trauma-informed practice, Treleaven offers 36 specific modifications designed to support survivors’ safety and stability. The result is a groundbreaking and practical approach that empowers those looking to practice mindfulness in a safe, transformative way.

The PTSD Workbook
The PTSD Workbook

Author: Mary Beth Williams

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Published: 2013-04-01

Total Pages: 398

ISBN-13: 1608827054

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an extremely debilitating anxiety condition that can occur after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal. Although many know that this mental health issue affects veterans of war, many may not know that it also affects victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, natural disasters, crime, car accidents and accidents in the workplace. No matter the cause of their illness, people with PTSD will often relive their traumatic experience in the form of flashbacks, memories, nightmares, and frightening thoughts. This is especially true when they are exposed to events or objects that remind them of their trauma. Left untreated, PTSD can lead to emotional numbness, insomnia, addiction, anxiety, depression, and even suicide. In The PTSD Workbook, Second Edition, psychologists and trauma experts Mary Beth Williams and Soili Poijula outline techniques and interventions used by PTSD experts from around the world to offer trauma survivors the most effective tools available to conquer their most distressing trauma-related symptoms, whether they are a veteran, a rape survivor, or a crime victim. Based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the book is extremely accessible and easy-to-use, offering evidence-based therapy at a low cost. This new edition features chapters focusing on veterans with PTSD, the link between cortisol and adrenaline and its role in PTSD and overall mental health, and the mind-body component of PTSD. This book is designed to arm PTSD survivors with the emotional resilience they need to get their lives back together after a traumatic event.

Overcoming Trauma and PTSD
Overcoming Trauma and PTSD

Author: Sheela Raja

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Published: 2012-12-01

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1608822885

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

If you’ve experienced a traumatic event, you may feel a wide range of emotions, such as anxiety, anger, fear, and depression. The truth is that there is no right or wrong way to react to trauma; but there are ways that you can heal from your experience, and uncover your own capacity for resilience, growth, and recovery. Overcoming Trauma and PTSD offers proven-effective treatments based in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you overcome both the physical and emotional symptoms of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This book will help you find relief from painful flashbacks, insomnia, or other symptoms you might be experiencing. Also included are worksheets, checklists, and exercises to help you start feeling better and begin your journey on the road to recovery. This book will help you manage your anxiety and stop avoiding certain situations, cope with painful memories and nightmares, and determine if you need to see a therapist. Perhaps most importantly, it will help you to develop a support system so that you can you heal and move forward.

The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety
The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety

Author: John P. Forsyth

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Published: 2016-04-01

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 1626253366

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Is anxiety and fear a problem for you? Have you tried to win the war with your anxious mind and body, only to end up feeling frustrated, powerless, and stuck? If so, you’re not alone. But there is a way forward, a path into genuine happiness, and a way back into living the kind of life you so desperately want. This workbook will help you get started on this new journey today! Now in its second edition, The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety offers a new approach to your anxiety, fears, and your life. Within its pages, you’ll find a powerful and tested set of tools and strategies to help you gain freedom from fear, trauma, worry, and all the many manifestations of anxiety and fear. The book offers an empowering approach to help you create the kind of life you so desperately want to live. Based on a revolutionary approach to psychological health and wellness called acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), this fully revised and updated second edition offers compelling new exercises to help you create the conditions for your own genuine happiness and peace of mind. You’ll learn how your mind can trap you, keeping you stuck and struggling in anxiety and fear. You’ll also discover ways to nurture your capacity for acceptance, mindfulness, kindness, and compassion, and use these qualities to weaken the power of anxiety and fear so that you can gain the space do what truly matters to you. Now is the time. Nobody chooses anxiety. And there is no healthy way to “turn off” anxious thoughts and feelings like a light switch. But you can learn to break free from the shackles of anxiety and fear and take back your life. The purpose of this workbook is to help you do just that. Your life is calling on you to make that choice, and the skills in this workbook can help you make it happen. You can live better, more fully, and more richly with or without anxiety and fear. This book will show you the way. -- Recent studies support for the effectiveness of ACT-based self-help workbooks as a low-cost treatment for people experiencing anxiety. (Ritzert, T., Forsyth, J. P., Berghoff, C. R., Boswell, J., & Eifert, G. H. (2016). Evaluating the effectiveness of ACT for anxiety disorders in a self-help context: Outcomes from a randomized wait-list controlled trial. Behavior Therapy, 47, 431-572.)

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for PTSD
The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for PTSD

Author: Kirby Reutter

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Published: 2019-06-01

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 1684032660

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This pragmatic workbook offers evidence-based skills grounded in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to help you find lasting relief from trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If you’ve experienced trauma, you should know that there is nothing wrong with you. Trauma is a normal reaction to an abnormal event. Sometimes, the symptoms of trauma persist long after the traumatic situation has ceased. This is what we call PTSD—in other words, the “trauma after the trauma.” This happens when the aftereffects of trauma—such anxiety, depression, anger, fear, insomnia, and even addiction—end up causing more ongoing harm than the trauma itself. So, how can you start healing? With this powerful and proven-effective workbook, you’ll find practical exercises for overcoming trauma using mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance. You’ll learn how to be present in the moment and identity the things that trigger your trauma. You’ll also find activities and exercises to help you cope with stress, manage intense emotions, navigate conflict with others, and change unhealthy thought patterns that keep you stuck. Finally, you’ll find practical materials for review and closure, so you can take what you’ve learned out into the world with you. If you’re ready to move past your trauma and start living your life again, this workbook will help guide you, one step at a time. The practical interventions in this guide can be used on their own or in conjunction with therapy.

Meditations for Healing Trauma
Meditations for Healing Trauma

Author: Louanne Davis

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Published: 2017-01-02

Total Pages: 123

ISBN-13: 1626255040

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Post-traumatic stress isn’t your fault. Many people suffer traumatic events, which can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and debilitating symptoms. This evidence-based book delivers easy-to-use mindfulness skills that can be used as needed to alleviate symptoms and promote healing. Some people heal naturally after they experience a traumatic event, but some trauma lasts and can develop into PTSD, with symptoms like depression, anxiety, panic, flashbacks, difficulty sleeping, or losing interest in life. You may find yourself on the sidelines, disengaged from your own life, with little sense of who you are and how to relate to others. The body, heart, and mind are all profoundly affected by trauma; in this way it can live on, causing a serious disconnect and a state of imbalance in which you’re always in survival mode. How do you move on? This book is designed to target the most common symptoms of post-traumatic stress and PTSD, providing mindfulness-based practices to help relieve your symptoms and increase self-compassion. Offering meditations for reconnection with your body, heart, mind, and life, this guide presents a unique, evidence-based way to heal the disconnects and help you re-engage. Instead of getting stuck reliving your trauma or worrying about it happening again, these mindful meditations will ground you in the present moment and enable you to better cope with unpleasant thoughts and feelings as they arise—and then let them go. With Meditations for Healing Trauma, you’ll explore your experience of post-traumatic stress and learn how the healing power of mindfulness can free you from suffering and bring back connection and balance to your life every day. This book will help you cultivate a wise mind and heart for regaining peace and well-being in the present moment—anytime, anyplace.

The Cognitive Behavioral Coping Skills Workbook for PTSD
The Cognitive Behavioral Coping Skills Workbook for PTSD

Author: Matthew T Tull

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Published: 2017-01-02

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 1626252262

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Written by a team of experts in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this workbook offers powerful, symptom-specific skills from a variety of empirically supported cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatments, including acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and—for the first time—cognitive processing therapy (CPT). PTSD is a debilitating condition that can leave you feeling numb, irritable, on guard, and distant. You may experience flashbacks and traumatic memories, suffer with sleep difficulties and nightmares, and struggle to manage intense emotions, impulses, and the desire to avoid closeness. But there has been rapid growth in the research and treatment of PTSD. This book combines the very best in proven-effective treatments to address specific symptoms, from the least disruptive to the most severe. Presenting tools drawn from a number of approaches and treatment models—such as ACT, DBT, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), exposure treatment, behavioral activation, imagery rehearsal therapy, and a highly effective, twelve-session cognitive processing therapy (CPT) program, The Cognitive Behavioral Coping Skills Workbook for PTSD can help you overcome the most common and most difficult challenges people with PTSD face. This practical guide is loaded with research-based skills from the most effective PTSD treatments available to help you manage your symptoms, reclaim your well-being, and maintain your recovery.

The Complex PTSD Workbook
The Complex PTSD Workbook

Author: Arielle Schwartz PhD

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Published: 2017-01-10

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 1623158257

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A mind-body workbook for healing and overcoming Complex PTSD Those affected by complex PTSD, or C-PTSD, commonly feel as though there is something fundamentally wrong with them—that somewhere inside there is a part of them that needs to be fixed. Facing one's PTSD is a brave, courageous act—and with the right guidance, recovery is possible. In The Complex PTSD Workbook, you'll learn all about C-PTSD and gain valuable insight into the types of symptoms associated with unresolved childhood trauma. Take healing into your own hands while applying strategies to help integrate positive beliefs and behaviors. Discover your path to recovery with: Examples and exercises—Uncover your own instances of trauma with PTSD activities designed to teach you positive strategies. Expert guidance—Explore common PTSD diagnoses and common methods of PTSD therapy including somatic therapy, CBT, and mind-body perspectives. Prompts and reflections—Apply the strategies you've learned and identify PTSD symptoms with insightful writing prompts. Find the tools you need to work through C-PTSD and regain emotional control with this mind-body workbook.

Healing from Clinical Trauma Using Creative Mindfulness Techniques
Healing from Clinical Trauma Using Creative Mindfulness Techniques

Author: Corinna M. Costello

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-09-09

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 1000442055

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This workbook offers diverse strengths-based tools to incorporate the Creative Mindfulness Technique (CMT) into clinical practice. It provides an essential understanding of the ethical scope of practice, ensuring that clinicians consider the depth of their own training in the implementation of the CMT art directives. Chapters explore aspects such as attachment and art therapy, multicultural considerations when using art with clients, mindfulness, the eight dimensions of wellness, and the application of CMT techniques with clients affected by PTSD, anxiety, and low self-esteem. The creative activities, mindfulness approaches, and arts-based exercises provided support the healing process of clients in ways that are accessible, practical, and easy to execute. Examples of activities include guided imageries with art-making, art journaling directives, and mixed media prompts. Through these exercises, clients will learn to draw upon their strengths and feel empowered in their daily lives. People with PTSD/clinical trauma, stress, addiction, and anxiety, and clinicians and mental health practitioners working with them will find this book to be an essential tool. Readers may also be interested in Creative Mindfulness Techniques for Clinical Trauma Work: Insights and Applications for Mental Health Practitioners, which can be used on its own or as a companion to this book.