This is a general comment to all therapists doing trauma work. Sometimes clients don’t want or need to ground. We need to be angry and resentful and hyperaroused and accepted as we are in that state in the therapeutic environment. It took me ten years to find an appropriate practitioner who understood that. As soon as that happened, I could stop doing the labour of explaining why hyperarousal was necessary for healing and I began making incredible progress. One size does not fit all and sometimes we have to feel the intensity in order to do the deep healing work.

This is why I quit therapy. I don’t want to rehash over and over what happened in my childhood. It is like living it all over again.

This is really helpful, I was finding it hard to accept my doctor wanting me to stop diving in deep with my trauma and problems so much. To me it was working on my issues and bettering myself but I see clearer now that I was constantly triggering myself and making my anxiety so much worse 😅

My husband left earlier this year. People have been shocked and want to hear about my marriage. I tell them that the best thing about him finally leaving is that I never have to go over just how crappy we were together again. Most seem relieved.

My mother was diagnosed with alzheimers about 6 years ago... come to find out few weeks ago, that she was misdiagnosed and in fact she has very complex PTSD... she lost her reading and writing skills, memory was disrupted and her speech was compromised d/t the extensive amount of clutter of her thoughts....I am now training myself to help her with this diagnosis...it's tough.. and also looking for a trauma therapist..it's hard...so I appreciate very much all your lessons...I have learned a lot so far and pray mom's neurological system heals deeply

This is the first time I've heard about being in a prolonged state of hypoarousal. You always hear about hyper, and I don't have that response, but I've been in that hypo state for a couple of years, I go to work but that's about all I can make myself do. I'm totally numb, I don't feel anything except anger, my brain doesn't work for the simplest things, I forget conversations and details that I shouldn't, but I'm really good at masking. I was in a DV relationship years ago, got better for awhile, and thought I still was because I wasn't having the visceral reactions like elevated heart rate and feeling shaky. No therapist ever talked about the shutting down and numbing out part. The only thing that causes that hyper reaction is anything that makes me feel vulnerable, like crying even in a very appropriate situation, it makes me feel like I'm actually going to die if I break down, even though I know I won't. The thought of feeling anything painful or distressing is terrifying

1. Find a therapist that understands you. 2. Be honest. Tell them everything. 3. Not all methods work for everyone. 4. It can take years, before it gets better.

I tried to work through my trauma and the world shut me down because no one can be uncomfortable. This is the power of stigma and it is stigma that is killing people.

Lady you're saving my life

Most mental health and therapists tell you don't give much thought to it, you are staying in the past, you have to give it up and move on, but most of them don't teach the methods to overcome it. Thank you very much for all that wisdom. I was always wondering how to do it.

I was relieved to hear that "stuck somewhere between hyper- and hypo-arousal" 9:40 is a thing others experience too. When reacting to stress I can feel simultaneously profoundly dismal and keyed-up to the point of nearly vibrating. A confusion of sensations that creates its own stress!

Thank you so much! Really solidified all the things I've been going through all my life, . I started trying to figure out what was "wrong" with me when I was 26. Diagnosed with PTSD and DID at 50. Now 77, all the advances in science and mental health, I am much better. This info is helping me so much!

00:00 🧠 Understanding the "Window of Tolerance" is crucial for effective trauma work. 01:19 🚨 Recalling traumatic events can reinforce trauma responses, hindering progress. 03:02 💥 Trauma responses like fight/flight/freeze hinder emotional and cognitive processing. 05:44 🛑 Trauma survivors often get stuck in hyperarousal or hypoarousal states, impeding healing. 08:25 🛌 Hypoarousal is a protective numbness state triggered by perceived threats. 10:41 📉 Hypoarousal may lead to feeling burnt out, numb, and disconnected. 12:02 🔄 Resilience-building activities can expandone's window of tolerance. 13:43 🔍 Therapists help individuals recognize and regulate their window of tolerance. 14:07 🧊 Grounding skills help soothe hyperarousal; gentle activation aids hypoarousal. 16:27 📝 Self-awareness, grounding, and activation skills aid in widening the window of tolerance.

Thank you for at least mentioning the faun response. It really doesn't get enough recognition, and for many people, it's the greatest barrier to improving mental health because the people around them enjoy it so much, support gets really hard to get. Would love a video addressing that alone. Maybe you already have one. Will look. Edited to correct confusing autocorrect typo

Wow, you really understand the traumatic stages the human brain goes through in the moment, from immediately reducing access to the prefrontal cortex right down to collapse and submit, and after the fact. Impressive. My only hope, for you, is that you didn't have to learn this first hand like so many of us. Thank you for becoming trauma-trained and for sharing that knowledge, for free, with the world.

I had a grievous experience and breakdown… to the point of continual headaches, migraines and depression: I didn’t trust anyone, and when I tried talking about it… it made my situation worse: I even considered suicide, but then my mind began to consider a different approach and direction… Though I needed healing.

Thank you for continuing to educate and help us out here in cyber space even while going through a medical crisis of your own. I hope your baby heals completely and is good as new very soon!

For many of my clients, I tell them that retraumatization can be just as harmful and I respectfully shift to grounding skills (like waking up the physical senses)

My whole life ive been shifting in between these states. So much so that i was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder. So so happy to find an explanation for my inability to be consistent.

Last two years I’ve been close to losing my home for shutting down avoiding work. Currently working my way back but I’m around 7 payments behind. I hope I’m able to keep fighting through this. This page along with other KZfaq channels have been of great help.

Sorry to hear about your baby. We are here to listen if you want to share more. Sending lots of love 💖 from sunny 🌞 Arizona 🌵. Take care of yourself and each other 😷.

I'll share something that happened today about the point at the end about the impact of your overall physical condition. I had an overnight flight this weekend with no sleep and then got sick. I've been coughing and running a fever all week (not COVID, thank goodness!). This afternoon I was in bed and started to fall into despair and flooding thinking about some of the bad things that trigger me. I managed to turn my attention to the sensation of my back on the bed, which gave me enough space to say "This isn't real, this isn't a good time for this. You're sick, think about something else." That was enough to get my head together so that I can process some of these emotions when I'm feeling better and better able to do it. Good old CBT to the rescue!

Hi Emma, so sorry your baby is having health issues...Best wishes, everything is going to work out, hang in there ❤️

I recently went through a traumatizing situation at my previous workplace and I’ve had to talk about it when meeting with potential employers. It’s shocking how difficult and triggering it has been to talk about it even a bit. I’m thankful for this video and these grounding techniques.

Please never apologize for such things as your shirts fit. No one I have listened to resonates with me as you do. What you do here and how you help is beautiful and kind. I have a hard time asking for help, but I find it quite easy to praise where it's deserved.

OMG, I get it finally! Don't know why this has been so hard to grasp, but this cleared it up for me. Best explanation I've seen! Thank you!

I'm so happy that you made this video. today I had my second session with my new therapist and I experienced this. after she asked me about something I ended up talking about something I had forgotten about but apparently I went into one of those modes because she stopped me and said we would touch on it later..I felt drained and still do and really depressed when I felt fine before I went ..this helps me sort of understand what happened to me.thank you

I’m a counselor, and have likely worked with over 12 counselors over the course of 30 years and exactly one of those counselors utilized “grounding exercises “.

Oh my, this was insanely helpful! I love that you're explaining what we can do independently without necessarily resorting to a therapist.

Well, I was curious about why I went from freeze into panic before I came back to groundedness again. I guess that really just is now it works.

For the first time, this week, a trauma was brought up to me and for the first time I experienced an incredibly anxious reaction. I was surprised because I’ve had a lot of trauma, but this one was just too much.

your work has been so valuable for me in my mental health journey. i appreciate that you relate your life experiences to the context of your videos, it helps feel connected to what you're saying and its very brave of you to share these things with us

What to do when Hypoarousal has become the default function? Years, nearly a decade, of being stuck in this state transforms a person into a shell of being inside a castle of isolation

This was so educational and helpful! What happens to me when I say, get a text that triggers me, I have a few seconds of feeling numb then it immediately goes to fear in my abdomen. My face is hot, my heart is racing. I'm all emotion. Then the physical reactions subside but then I cry. I'm still in the dissociated state, which is when I feel like a shamed child. I've just recently learned that dissociation is what's happening to me. I hadn't realized before that dissociation has different levels/degrees. But now I realize why I feel as if I intellectually know I'm emotionally flooded and thinking differently but emotionally I can't stop it, than I do once time has passed and I reflect on how I was in the episode happened. Thank you for all your efforts to help so many 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

This is so great and refreshing to find. Going through ptsd or any trauma is not easy, is not a straight line either. Even if you are getting therapy you come to a point that you are basically on your own working yourself through the ups and downs. Thank you very much for voicing it and explaining it so clear and simple !

A great gift you give to everyone watching is that you give people the tools to fix what's not working instead of going over the negative stuff and saying if you buy my therapy session I'll be able to help you. What you do shows you truly care about the people watching your videos. And your methods work. I truly appreciate finding such valuable information. And, ironically, I will be purchasing your therapy sessions. See how well that works.😉

Thank you for being aware enough & honest enough to discuss these issues.

I had a “therapy” session with myself and it involved facing the thoughts and feelings about a self-inflicted trauma that I experienced 7 years ago, and I was as gentle with myself as possible, let myself take breaks, soothed myself when I needed to bawl my eyes out, and still knew I needed to face it. It was a couple hours of literally just sitting there speaking to God and myself at 2am and I’m just realizing, now that I had dissociated for a time, derealization. I got through it, it only lasted for a couple minutes but it was so weird. The next day I had felt better than I’ve felt in years and years. I know it was hard but I followed my gut to face this, I kept the end goal in mind (peace with my past, after the storm comes the rainbow type thing) and I got through it. Follow what feels right.

This is really helpful. Ive been doing this for decades no wonder im exhausted. The system keeps you stuck in this loop.😢

Thank you for a brilliant video. It was new info for me that you cant go from hypo to the window straight away, that you end up in hyper first, before window. I have kinda noticed that already, so great to get it confirmed. And when it comes to hypoarousal, i personally dont think it just "looks like" depression. I think that IS depression, in general for people. Not everyone has the diagnosis PTSD, but the more i learn about the nervous system and stress and all of it the more i realize that almost all of us are carrying a lot of unprocessed stress within and that itself will make us go into both hyper and hypo.

This was very informative. I have been feeling like all the hardships I've had to go through has made me less resistant. I did not have a word for it or knew how to express it, but now I know that my window of tolerance had shrunk.

Golden! Your teaching gift for combining and simplifying complex issues with concepts, clarity, practical examples and illustration is fabulous. Identifying and showing how to deal in each three nervous system levels is new to me. Window of Tolerance is a great, easy idea to evaluate and improve. Thank you so much!

I have been working through my trauma from last one year. But I really feel different from last two months. I can sense my mood getting better day day. Grateful for your helpful videos on trauma. 🎉

Worst is if then a doctor gets impatient with you, when you are unable to listen, because you are so distressed, and they blame you for it or think you are weird. Makes you feel like something is wrong with you and people get mad at you or insult/threaten you on top of it, when you are already completely overwhelmed alone and highly anxious.

I find myself feeling indecisive about what videos to watch because you have so many helpful videos but I’m not sure which ones will be the most I can relate to and be able to use to my benefit based on my struggles and issues. My biggest struggle is dealing with very intense emotions around social interaction, and then when I’m not in social situations I think about past or previous ones and these feelings resurface. On top of this I would like to say your videos have been a great help and I’ve already learned so much but I find myself feeling anxious again about the same things every day even if for quite a few hours I’m able to be calm and have a parasympathetic response(I believe that’s what it’s called) I’ll be honest I also don’t really know what the names of the emotions are that I’m feeling and it makes me overthink on what skills to use to calm myself down and feel them. Even typing this right now is making me feel kind of sad thinking about it. I tend to feel this stuck feeling when trying to process my emotions sometimes because I’ll be overthinking what skill I should use because I don’t understand how to name what emotion I’m feeling. I don’t know what emotions I’m feeling. I also am having trouble feeling present and in my body so that I can take on my emotions because I am continuously overthinking and I also feel like I have to constantly process my emotions to be ok all the time. I’m not sure if I’m being obsessive or if this is normal either. Please help me. Thanks for all the free help online I couldn’t have made such a drastic change in My life without you.

So much good stuff in this video. Lately my window is a porthole of tolerance

Thank you so much Emma. I hope you baby gets better really soon. You are amazing and the world is a much better place for having you in it. Thank you ❤

This is so informative and helpful for me. I’ve been able to explain what was happening to me as an overactive nervous system due to trauma but didn’t know it was “known” experience… I thought it was just happening to me. Thank you for what you do, it’s such valuable information.

My trauma therapist also shared this with me and I found it super helpful self-awareness & self-help guide. It's great you're sharing this here with all.of us, Emma, thank you! 😊

in hypoarousal with the brain fog you gotta get in the habit of asking your therapist and doctors to write that down for you, so you can read it again later when you're in a better state

I had an aha moment during this video in thinking about the #1 life stressor I have that seems impossible to solve bc it is an old trigger-even tho the problem is complex. Its complexity mirrors “old business.” It was when you explained hypoarousal & activating methods. Thank you!

One thing I keep seeing in so many of the self help videos ,that I have watched,...... Heartfelt Laughter is very helpful in healing ❤❤❤

I skipped number 3 and went straight to number 4. I’m very fortunate to have a wonderful supportive partner, he is my rock

Thank you. First time hearing about the window of trauma. I needed this. Appreciate your relatability and manner of explaining.

This is the first time I've seen someone explain how to get out of hypoarousal and that it looks like going to hyperarousal and then back down. I get stuck in hypoarousal a lot and it's frustrating trying to come out of it, but now that I see it's usually going from hypo-to-hyper... It makes so much more sense and I can more clearly understand the goal for getting out of it.

After my breakdown I had to stop all social activities… completely confused and disappointed regarding the cause… and a five year deep depression. But then notice that my muscles were going into a state of atrophy and I needed to get out and exercise: Though the company I worked for had a gym, I thought it was boring and a television that was too loud… it was time to reach into my past and take up an activity that was enjoyable. I also found myself reminiscing on the “good times” of my childhood. But knowing that I needed to be in the present and be a responsible adult: The only positive side… I didn’t marry and no children: and employment wise, I was good with most jobs I did. But the one thing I had to learn was how to tolerate and adjust or adapt my emotions to meet the challenges of situations which became disagreeable.

In 1988 a month before my senior graduation, I was involved in an automobile accident. There were three of us in a pick up truck. I was sitting in the center and my other friend was to my right. The driver of the truck was my other friend . It was around 2am. As we drove down a non lit road in our small town after a friends birthday party the driver lost control of his high speed truck and we hit the guard rail of bridge and went over. I do not know how much time elapsed while we were upside down in that ravine but I was the first to awake . I was trapped under the dashboard console. I can remember panicking and kicking out the small window behind the cab. It was enough to allow me to position myself to get out from under the console and the gear shift that was sticking into the side of my head. I was able to get the door open enough to crawl outside. It was eerily quite and I can smell gas and evergreen. During this silence I heard my friend crying out in pain and I went back inside the cab to get him. I was able to pull him out and place him next to the truck on the incline. I then went back inside to see if I could hear the driver. I was able to hear gurgling breath. I told my friend outside to wait that I was going to try to make it up the hill to get help. I can remember the adrenaline rushing through me. I was dripping wet. It was not sweat. As I made it to the top I can remember there was no one on that road but some houses were across the way. Luckily someone was coming and I flagged them down and they got help. Myself and my friend were transported via ambulance to the county hospital. The driver was airlifted. I was in the hospital for one day. I had multiple contusions and lacerations on my head, face and arms. My fiend had broke his femur in four places and was in the hospital for two weeks. The driver remained in a coma for 2 months with severe brain trauma. Over the course of a month myself and my friend recovered enough to participate in graduation. The driver did not. Over the course of months my life changed dramatically. There were suddenly a lot questions about that night and the cause of events. There were statements made by myself and my friend in the hospital that night that pointed to the driver deliberately driving us off the bridge. We never told anyone in authority, we just told the person who's birthday party we were at. She came to us once she heard what had happened. She was devastated and felt horribly guilty about it. I told her when she came into the ER room, " Look what he did to my face, he did this on purpose!" as they picked glass out of my skull and face. She then went over to my friend who was completely out of it but he managed to tell her the same thing. After graduation and the insurance claim was settled I wanted to try to move on. Then I got a call. It was the driver. He had asked why I did not come to visit him while he was in the hospital. I couldn't answer but I agreed that I would go over to his house to see him. My intentions to go over was strictly guilt driven. I was angry and scared. I did not know what to expect. We lived within walking distance . As I arrived his parents were glad to see me and met me at the door. He was in his room. I walked to it and saw him on the bed. He looked like hell. His head was shaved and his eye was lower than it used to be. I had a brief conversation him. I did not want to be there. As I was getting ready to leave he asked me what happened that night. I froze for a moment and asked him what he thought happened. He proceeded to tell me his father told him he must have swerved so as to not hit a rabbit that was in the road. I stared at him and said " If it were up to me I would never give you a license to drive again" He looked at me like I was the devil and said to me " You're lucky you got a ride out there that night" I turned and left and never spoke to him again. The girl who's house we were at still felt horrible and blamed herself. She tried to reconcile all of us with a meeting at her house. I went along with it. At first it seemed like a good idea. 6 months had passed and I thought maybe I would have been in a better frame of mind to open up the vaults again. I was not. Nor was he. It ended in a fight and I drove away. I learned the girl who's house we were at became his quasi nurse and babysitter over that 6 month period while he tried to regain his ability to walk, talk ,smell and taste again. It was during that time that they became romantically involved. This was ironic seeing as he and I were gay and also romantically involved during high school. A secret we had to keep. A secret that he revealed to his family. This reveal backfired on him and during damage control I was blamed for his sexuality and for ruining his family. I was reminded of this when his brother approached me in car I was in and punched me in the face and said " This is for ruining my family". I left town after that. It was getting to the point where I could no longer handle it emotionally or physically. While the driver was under my friends care a revelation was made to her. Her and I had met one time at a restaurant while she was caring for him. He had found out about this and became enraged. He told her " They should have died that night, that's why I did it!" After this admission she left him and called to tell me this. I can remember feeling vindicated. I also felt betrayed, bewildered and scarred (literally). The events of that night and it's subsequent fallout changed my life forever. It ruined what was supposed to be a time of growth, and excitement for the future. Instead it has left me 36 years later with CPTSD. I have told this story to anyone who would listen. Every time the same. Every time opening that wound I can't seem to heal. I have been in therapy for 18 years and have been able to come to reconcile a lot of past family trauma. This one trauma I cannot. Two days ago after 34 years of not seeing the girl who was my friend and his nurse met me for drinks. I thought it was the right thing to do. After all this time, and lives moving on, I thought I could handle opening that vault again . I was wrong. I broke down in front of her as the 18 year old man whose life was almost taken and who's life changed forever. Her response to me was to not let that parasite ruin what I have accomplished. Like any parasite, it has lived off of me for 36 years. I have tried. From empathy to forgiveness. From victim to victor. It does not pass. Time did tell and does not heal all wounds. I told this story again to all of you on this channel because this channel has helped me understand and realize there is more work ahead for me.

Girlfriend is over here saving ppl's lives and sanity and still made a little blurb about her shirt. SO CUTE! Thanks Emma for what you do. Btw I have pushed myself to start conquering my driving anxiety and your latest series has become an invaluable resource.

Woah I will have to listen to this a few times. I’ve read so much about the window of tolerance and the nervous system, and yet this video tells me so much more and lays it out to where everything connects together. Thank you!!!!!

This 17 minutes was seriously more helpful to me than the last six months of therapy.

I have literally had trauma, stress and abuse my entire life. Literally since I was a toddler which is when my memories begin. I am 62 and don’t ever remember not living in either of these state however I have spent the majority in hyper arousal. I am wound so tight sometimes I cannot breathe.

I am working at these issues and it is so difficult. Your videos are so helpful! Thank you for sharing and in a way that makes sense. 🙏

!!!!! Your lessons are just so good!!! Thank you!! You helped me through the worst time of my life a few years ago, and you’re still teaching me about myself.

Dude, love the visuals in this presentation. When you stood on the chair and the camera panned up to hyperarousal -- transcendent. If you're interested in feedback -- although it makes sense to put Hypoarousal beneath the window, it also creates some awkwardness. When you say about your time in the hospital (9:22) that you were "stuck somewhere between hyper- and hypoarousal", this visualization frames The Window Of Tolerance as being the space between those two states. Since you say at the end that the path back to a regulated state from hypoarousal usually passes through hyperarousal, maybe experiment with some different orientations / visual metaphors. Really illuminating video in any case. Lately I've been contemplating how to discern "emotions" from various states of dysregulation, and your videos on the nervous system states have been very helpful. Thanks again.

❤❤ Another life changing video that is saving lives and healing souls. You and your team are honorable angels ❤❤ thank you 😊💐

How does trauma from a single incident (say a car accident or a rape) differ from trauma from months or years of multiple experiences (ex: an abusive relationship or a tour of duty in a war)? How does the approach to treating them differ? Is one more recoverable than the other?

Emma, you went with the imperfect recording with the cling that bothered you -- way to go!! 💪 Proud of you!

Thank you! I'm planning on talking about some trauma that was very intense and I've never spoken of before in therapy. This will help me be more careful and aware while attempting it. As yes I've been overwhelmed by trying to talk about trauma before. I think little bits at a time and journaling helps me be safe about it. ❤

❤ Thanks Emma, we pray for you and your family.

Excellent teaching skills and knowledge 🤗 thank you for giving 🙏

Nightmares and abject fear come forward when I talk about it but I've made up my mind that I'm not living like this; I am stronger than this, I have to be and this isn't life!

9:13 Thank you for sharing your experience with this kind of thing. It helps me feel more compassion for myself knowing that anyone and maybe everyone struggles like this. I wish you and your child the best possible health and peace. Take care.

Seems like this hypoarousal is just inevitable, been thinking a lot recently that no one can help me. I don't know where to even begin, I've been this way for my entire life. There has always been some sort of trauma going on in my life, abuse, neglect, isolation, detachment, death. I don't believe I have a window of tolerance anymore.

Exposure is not the same as analysis of the issue, skills to manage and process, and to accepting bad events happen and we do not have to remain in that event. We are not weak for having these issues or ridiculous for having triggers/inflexible boundaries.

I’m sorry about your baby and good luck to you and all your family.

I’m really glad you did this video. I just turned 50 and I’ve never heard this was the case before. Which means it’s likely not talked about much. Very beneficial information I intend to use!

Amazing Emma. This is communicated in a way that assist self ware folks but also folks who haven’t heard of these concepts. Excellent!

You and your videos are a , God send! I don't feel as hopeless! I can not thank you enough! A lot to practice, but, I am not alone. Thank you!!

I think I'm in hyperoarousal because derealisation has been chronic. I'm working with a therapist on creating safety in my body again.

I have C-PTSD and the way i have been going about life is to tell every new person i meet my traumatic experiences, in hope that they understand the pain i have gone through... obviously i clicked this video to see how bad of an idea it is for me to do this.... I don't want to hide my trauma because then the same exact traumas that have happened to me will happen again. For me, talking about it is a tool for others to treat me properly....

I've been having issues with another volunteer when volunteering at local foodbank. She gets annoyed if I get in her way. The other day she really upset me so kept out of her way for the remainder of the time she was there (she left before me) I left with a banging headache and wondering whether it was worth continuing. I went home feeling upset and still had the headache next day. I have decided not to make any rash decisions and decided to take a break for a couple of weeks and revisit it after Easter. I feel triggered around people who make me feel that I have no right being there and those who speak down to me because of previous ex-partners, a narcisstic brother and was bullied at school. Since I have been on my own I struggle to be around people who give off negative energy.

I am rocketing back and forth between hyper and hypo-arousal. I have been for years since I had an emergency quad bypass. It allowed me to leave a job that was so stressful it was killing me. I couldn’t help but be grateful that this happened. I spent my entire life in one traumatic situation after another. I pushed it all away with my brain telling me I could handle anything. After the bypass and years of complications I experienced the death of my only grandchild due to an overdose and more recently my soul puppy. My brain said “I’m done, had enough of all of it, ain’t doing it anymore.” I stopped opening my mail, stopped paying bills, stopped cleaning my house and shut down in every way possible. Now I’m reliving my whole life and feeling guilty about every failure and sin. Can I restart some remnant of my life? I do not know. I’m praying. I’m so disabled from lack of movement I can barely walk to the bathroom. The end seems very close.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the public. When you explain things, I can understand. My challenge is implementing the practices on a regular basis in order to see improvement. I was stuck in hyperarousal for about a year following my traumatic experience. I was a jittery mess but I was at least functional. Now sadly, I've been stuck in hypoarousal for nearly 3 years. I've stayed nearly completely shutdown. You described my experience in hypoarousal perfectly. Now, if only I could figure a way to change my habits to engage in life again and stop dissociating.

Super super helpful. Thank you Emma. I’m learning so much from your work. You have the best way of explaining things! Seeing you move above and below the window really visually helped me to understand this concept so much more easily 🙏🏻

Something I've found helpful is guided vipassana meditation. Vipassana includes being mindful of the body during meditation and it improves my awareness of how stress expresses itself in my body. It also taught me a way of handling being triggered that has been helpful. Deal with the emotion you're feeling, including the physical aspect, "without the story attached to it." Basically, you're grounding yourself in the present moment and focusing on identifying and re-regulating what's happening _right now_, which is emotion. It separates the past from the present so that you can re-regulate rather than re-traumatize. If I can sit with the emotion and work on re-regulating, which is difficult but not draining or arousing, it will pass. I struggle with it, but I'm a comparative newbie in terms of recognizing that I was abused and traumatized. It will come.

I have had this discussion about why since I have been in therapy at the VA why my nightmares have gotten worse my anxiety has gotten worse. They pick times for therapy when have to go back to work. So I put it all on the back burner. I finally just quit therapy and committed to avoidance and isolation when I don’t work.

Wow ! You are gifted. I learned this in class but your explanation gives me a much more wider view. Thank you !

Thank you so much for being here for all of us! ❤

Great and comprehensive video. Thanks for sharing 👍🙏

recently learned about this in therapy - your explanation is very helpful, thank you

Thank you the concept of hypoarousal was very helpful 🥰🙏 was the missing piece I needed so really appreciate the info.

The information you provided was really helpful! I took notes so I could work on this over time. Thank you for this video. I’m wishing you and your family all the best as you tackle your baby’s new diagnosis; I can’t even imagine how stressful that must be. You’re in my thoughts. I appreciate your willingness to open up and relate your own experiences to what you’re teaching - it makes the information that much easier to understand. Take care!

Out of all of the pysch-related programs provided to veterans that I've done so far, the most effective grounding skill for me has been Tai Chi. By focusing on my forms and my breathing, I become more centered and chill. I also like doing it and prefer it over many forms of meditation.

My thoughts are with you and your baby...I can relate😊. The way you dissect these topics make them so easy to understand. I always learn so much from you.

Congrats on your New Baby Girl Emma ! I'm keeping you ALL in Prayer ! GB

Thank you so much for all these information. I truly appreciate it

This is incredibly informative, and the framework you outline really helps me understand how to practice for these moments/periods. Thank you for sharing.

I don't watch you for your nice clothes, I watch you for your personality and your valuable information, so don't sweat the small stuff ❤

You’re an angel ❤ Bless you for all you’ve done for people

Good topic thank you for posting this video