Mental Health First Aid Kit: Introduction
Depending on the kind of counselling you undertake, you might be offered a range of interventions or tools to help you regulate your emotions. As many of these can work for anyone, I thought it might be helpful to include some that I had found to be helpful both personally and professionally.
These tools aren’t a substitute for counselling relationships, that can support you in exploring the root causes of the things you’re finding difficult, but rather they’re little techniques you can call on in those moments you find yourself struggling.
Our threat response can be triggered by any number of different situations, and our bodies have evolved to give us the best chance of survival. But because our nervous systems can’t tell the difference between say, a marauding bear, and having to give a speech to some strangers, we often find ourselves activated in the same way.
Whether it’s walking into a crowded room, or getting ready to embark on a difficult conversation, we can find ourselves experiencing a racing heart, sweating palms, an uncomfortable stomach - all possible signs of our threat response being activated. The fight, flight, freeze response has been activated because of a perceived threat. This activation of the autonomic nervous system (the involuntary part of our system), can be very difficult to manage, especially when we have something we need to do. In the following posts I’ll offer some suggestions of what you could do in those moments to help you regain a sense of control. We’ll look at:
The physiological sigh: A simple breathing technique that’s very easy to learn and help you when you notice your anxiety and stress levels spiking.
The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique: Excellent for bringing yourself into the present moment and into your body. It can really help when you feel yourself spiralling into overwhelm, panic or even dissociation.
Box breathing: Often taught to those working in high-stress environments like the police or armed services. It’s great for slowing things down and self-regulation. If you suffer from high blood pressure or are pregnant, it’s best to check with a medical professional before incorporating it into your toolkit.
The STOP skill (Stop, Take a breath, Observe, Proceed: A handy acronym for giving yourself a moment when you’re feeling activated by the circumstances.
There are range of techniques you can draw upon in moments of overwhelm, these are just a few that many find useful. The trick is to be curious, and explore what works best for you. I hope the following posts provide some possibilities for you.
