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Title: Trauma Processing for Movements
Author: John H.
Date: 2018
Language: en
Topics: trauma, care, self-care, how-to, guides, and manuals, anarchist movement
Source: Retrieved from Symbiosis PDX zine library, 9/24/2021

John H.

Trauma Processing for Movements

What is “trauma”? Trauma is any experience that exceeds our individual

or collective ability to cope with it.

We can emerge stronger and wiser after being overwhelmed. Healthy

movements are built over time, dealing with trauma is a continuous

process.

We work together to deal with trauma so we can build collective power

and community.

Before a Potentially Traumatic Event

Designate a support person for the group or each person.

Tell the support person any risk factors for trauma such as:History of

mood disorders or personality disordersHistory of previous traumaHigher

than normal (>95bpm) resting heart rateLacking social / family support,

resources

Run through possible scenarios and try to “pre-plan” for po- tentially

traumatic outcomes

Cultivate a broad sense of optimism about life, the move- ment, the

action

NARRATIVE: People often need to “make it make sense”. Start this work

ahead of time.

Practice mindfulness. Mindfulness helps afterwards but must be

cultivated beforehand.

Have participants make lists of the things / people that sup- port

them, to refer to later.

During a Potentially Traumatic Event

Stick with the group, and buddy up.

Designated “chill space” for breaks.

Reminders of the narrative / meaning & solidarity.

If someone gets an acute attack of anxiety, try:

Get them to a place of relative safety.

If they don’t reciprocate eye contact, ask if eye contact would help.

Ask them to breathe with you. Try to match their breathing at first

and then slow down over time.

Ask if they would like a hug / touch.

Distract with something pleasant. Smells (orange peel, lavender, a

breath mint) can ground them in the physical world.

Ask what makes them feel calm. Have them describe it to you in detail.

After a Traumatic Event

Allow space for people to speak but don’t pressure anyone to talk.

Validate feelings / seek validation of feelings. Don’t minimize or

compare to someone who “has it worse”.

Work on the narrative. Help “make it make sense” by drawing

inspiration from past struggles or envisioning ways the event may have

long-term meaning for the world.

“Look for the helpers”. It may be easier to start by talking about

what helped during or after. Groups may start their debrief by

discussing who or what had protective or healing effects during or right

after the trauma.

Watch for subtle signs of aftershock or post-traumatic stress. Any combo

of these may appear:

Nightmares

Fear inappropriate to the situation or inappropriate lack of fear in

risky situation.

Inability to stop thinking about the event or being unable to think

about it at all

Disturbances in sleep cycle, getting either too much or too little

sleep

Disturbances in appetite, overeating or forgetting to eat

Unexplained irritability or anger

Inability to concentrate

Changes in sociability, such as fear of being alone, or isolating

oneself

People may need further therapy if:

They want it.

Symptoms are getting worse instead of better over time.

Symptoms interfere with normal activities for more than a few weeks.

People may need support in the days/weeks after a major trauma:

Reminders to eat, or food brought to them

Reminders to wear clean clothes, help with laundry

Reminders for other self-care things like showering, taking

medications, and drinking water

Opportunities to talk about what happened or to be with other people

without talking about it.

Physical exercise to discharge some of the pent-up tension

Various types of touch, ranging from cuddling to kickboxing

Herbs, supplements, or tea that can promote calming (al- ways consult

your medical professional before using herbs or supplements if you’re on

any medications or have any health concerns). Helpful ones can include:

Chamomile

Passionflower

Mint

Lemon balm

Lavender

Kava (avoid in individuals with liver concerns)

Magnesium supplements (avoid in individuals with clinically low blood

pressure)

Resources for body work

Acupuncture/acupressure, especially NADA (ear acupunc- ture)

Massage (Thai massage is especially useful)

Yoga

Grounding Skills

Grounding skills are important to have on hand for any group members who

are experiencing overwhelming emotions or experiencing trauma reactions,

but also are important tools to have on hand for yourself. This work is

hard, and we’re likely going to experience our own emotional responses.

Many people have techniques that work for them, and always ask them to

try to identify some skills which are effective for them.

Here’s a very brief list of some grounding skills you may find useful in

guiding a discussion around grounding techniques:

54321:

name 5 things you see, 4 things you hear, 3 things you can touch, 2

things you smell, and one thing you can taste.

Paced breathing:

this is a breathing technique in which you use a longer exhale than

inhale, e.g. inhale for a count of 3, exhale for a count of 4.

Use an object:

hold something, notice and describe the object’s features. A keyring can

be great since there’s different textures, colors, if you shake it, it

makes noise, etc.

Counting:

Count backwards from 100 by 7s, or any other number but seven is one

that most people have to put at least a little thought into.

Change up your body position:

This might seem silly, but sometimes moving and shifting can help to

ground us in the present moment.

Alphabet game:

Choose a category, and name things in the category following the letters

of the alphabet. This can also be used as a group grounding exercise.

Use a scent (eg essential oil, orange, breath mint, etc):

Scent is often one of the stronger sensory inputs we can use, and can be

really effective to get someone back to the present.

We encourage people to develop “coping cards” which they can carry with

them that include some supports/resources one one side, and a brief list

of techniques that they find useful on the other side, to carry on them.

In times of high emotional distress, people often have difficulty

remembering what works for them, and this is a concrete thing which you

can suggest people reference in a time of crisis/high stress, and which

you can ask if they would like help utilizing any of the techniques on

their card.

Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT) teaches a skill

called PROVE, for being assertive with an open mind. This is one model

you can use for setting boundaries, if you choose to use a model.

Provide a brief description of the situationdescribe the circumstances

causing you to make/turn down a request, without defending, justifying,

or rationalizing — eg ‘I’ve noticed that you contact me needing a high

level of support on a very frequent basis.’’Use qualifiers to signify

open-mindedness and humility and to leave room for the potential of

having misread a situation, such as ‘From what I can tell…’ ‘I’m not

sure if I’m correct but it seems like…’ ‘Is it possible that…?’

Reveal your emotions about the situation without blamingopenly and

directly express your emotions without assuming that they represent

facts. use I statements.e.g. ‘When you contact me for support so

frequently, I worry that I am unable to provide the support you need on

such a consistent basis. I’m aware of having the thought that you might

not have other people to talk to, which is leading to feelings of

concern, because I’m not always in a place where I can be a main

support.’

(acknowledge the) Other person’s needslet the other person know that

you want to take their thoughts and feelings into considerationdon’t

assume with certainty that you know the other person’s inner thoughts,

feelings, or intentionsask the person what they need in order to give

you what you need (e.g. do they need help identifying other resources

for support? Are you able to help them find additional resources in

exchange for them being less reliant on you?)For example ‘For me, being

able to ask for what I need and learn your internal experience, even if

it’s not how I imagined it, makes me feel that we value our

relationship.’

(use your) Valued goals to guide how you socially signal your needsfor

example using non-dominant, open posture, allowing grace to not come to

an immediate resolutionavoid using indirect assertions and disguised

demands, but don’t ignore personal attacks, instead, respond in a calm,

contained mannerbe polite, especially given that discussions like this

can be somewhat delicate. For example ‘So I thought I might check in

with you about this and ask you for a favor. Do you think that you could

reduce the frequency with which you contact me looking for support?’if

the situation is having an intense negative impact on you or your needs

are otherwise of the most importance, signal urgency and repeat your

request while signalling confidence with upright posture, maintained eye

contact, shoulders back, etc. Do not yell or whisper.

(practice self) Enquiry to determine if you need to repeat or increase

intensity of your assertionuse the desired closeness/intimacy of the

relationship to guide your level of intensity. If your needs being met

is of the utmost importance, repeat your assertion until your needs are

met.if you are challenged, questioned, or ignored during the

interaction, do not respond immediately. First, ask yourself if there’s

anything you can learn from the situation. Then respond.if this is a

close relationship, and one you wish to maintain as such, Do Not ask too

much. Repeating the same thing over in a close relationship can begin to

feel like coercion. Instead, ask for their help in resolving the

impasse.

DBT teaches a skill called DEARMAN, for achieving your objectives in an

interpersonal setting. This is another model which you can use for

setting boundaries.

Describe the situation without value judgement e.g.“I’ve told you that

I don’t want to go to a bar, but you’re trying to convince me that I

should go anyway.”

Express your feelings Work towards finding the happy medium of being

expressive while maintaining a sense of self-control.Do this by asking

yourself before each disclosure etc: “Will I like how I feel about

myself if I express this now, and in this way?”

AssertAvoid both passiveness and aggressiveness. (And

passive-aggressiveness)

ReinforceRemind yourself and other person of positive outcomes of

respecting your request

MindfulnessPractice radical acceptance, opposite action, and mindful

breathing. Use these skills if you become unsure or overwhelmed or feel

like you might succumb to pressure to allow your boundaries to be

violated.

Appear confident (ok this one is kind of a stretch to fit the

acronym.)Practice self-validation by reminding yourself that your

boundary is reasonable, and even if you feel unsure, push yourself a

little bit to assume a calm, confident stance.

NegotiateDecide in advance what kinds of compromise you are willing to

accept and what you’re not.Set your boundaries within yourself and

articulate the consequences of what will happen to you if they are

violated or compromised.Anticipate what concessions you’d be ok living

with and which you might regret.

Managing Emotions

There are three options we all have when dealing with emotions, but

humans are all so different and have different thresholds for what will

make them choose an option:

express/release them

contain/hold them

protect them

SO! Let’s look into these options!

Express/release them. This option is ideal! You know you’re having them,

but you don’t necessarily need to know what they are. So how do you go

about doing this?

Talking about it with a safe and receptive person is a great way to

express feelings, but this requires at least some awareness of what

exactly the feelings are

Crying is a natural way that the body releases emotions — it’s okay to

cry!!!

Moving your body can help to release some of the hard-to-name feelings

from your body — remember, feelings get stored in your body

Creating (eg art, creative writing, crafts, building things, etc) can

release unknown feelings and expand the ways you have to describe them

Contain/Hold them

This is great for when you have immediate demands that you need to focus

on, but this is not a permanent solution, you still need to

express/release them eventually! Sometimes other humans can help with

this via hugs. With consent.

Protect them

Sometimes when we’re having lots of feelings we protect them by lashing

out at others, but this just leaves us with more feelings to deal with.

Other times, we protect our feelings by withholding and isolating them

from others.

Neither of these options are super effective as feelings like to feed

off of feelings, so ideally finding a way to express them is the goal!

STOP 12345 for helping others deal with psychological trauma

1. I’m #1 - It’s not my emergency.

Should I help this person directly, or should I help them find another

person? Consider your mental/physical comfort, whether you need them to

come to you later, and if you need anything in order to be most

effective.

What’s going on with you?Ask open-ended, nonjudgmental questions,

WITHOUT asking specific details about the trauma. You only need a

general idea. Be aware of how much detail you can handle, and enforce

that, but otherwise let them set the level of detail in the

conversation. If they seem to be getting too upset or as though they are

disconnecting, refocus on the present.

Don’t get any on meMaintain and enforce your boundaries. Maintain

separation between the other person’s feelings and your own (eg, don’t

take on someone else’s emotional experience). Stay mindful of your own

internal experience, and if you’re getting overwhelmed, go back to

number one,

Are there any moreAre there other mental or physical conditions

exacerbating the current issue? Are there other people dealing with this

same issue who might need the same help, or be able to provide support

to each other?

Now we arriveOnce the situation is clear to you, it’s time for

interventions.You may ask whether they want to vent or if they’d like

practical help resolving a stressful situation.You may ask whether

they’d like some kind of soothing touch or you may offer them physical

sustenance like food, water, warm clothing, etc.Once the interventions

are complete or the person is no longer interested in your immediate

support, make a concrete plan to follow up with them.This can be as

simple as “I’ll text you tomorrow to see how you feel.”If you cannot

follow up with them, something like, “I’ll have someone from our group

check on you in a few days” can work.You can also ask them if they have

a friend or support person they’d like to follow-up with. Your check-up

with them can just be making sure they’ve contacted their other support.

Post Trauma Coping Skills

PROVE