Mental Health Monday

Shares Grounding Techniques

Were you lucky enough to be a client of mine in the past few months? If so, you received this tool box as a gift. I hope you have continued to build upon those initial strategies we determined work for you and you find the tool box helpful.

The intention of the tool box is two-fold.

• First, to have a physical reminder of your coping strategies. Over the past 12+ months, I have seen most people I know, personally and professionally, have been forgetting they have available strategies to help manage their difficult emotions in the moment. When strong emotions are triggered, it is difficult to think and remember; therefore, the physicality of the tool box serves as a grounding technique and reminder to look inside.
• Second, we need reminders to bring joy into our lives. It can become easy to focus on the tasks and stressors in our daily lives, which means we forget to do or bring joy into our lives.

There is only one box because what we recognize as coping strategies in the moment are also ways to bring joy preventively.

I’ve created a handout of Grounding Techniques you can add to your tool box. These are particularly helpful for dealing with distressing thoughts and feelings. In particular, they are helpful for folks who have PTSD, self-harm urges, traumatic memories, and who might dissociate. Grounding techniques have also been found to help anxiety and substance use disorders.

If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you. Also, if you were not a client of mine, don’t worry. You can contact me about purchasing a tool box.

Have a great day!