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How To Treat PTSD By Yourself

May 7, 2015 Michele Rosenthal

How to treat PTSD by yourself is a tough process to discover. In fact, as someone who struggled with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for over 25 years, I can tell you from personal experience that you won't discover how to treat PTSD by yourself and reach 100% success. You will need the insight and training of professionals who have deep knowledge in processes that can ease the pain, soothe the memories, and release the fear. That having been said, there are many things you can do on your own to supplement the work you do with a professional, or to tide you over until you find the support you need.

How To Treat PTSD By Yourself: Using Intention

You can’t heal if your focus is scattered. Flashbacks and the fear of relapse along with other PTSD symptoms can make you feel like you're spinning in a million directions. Reclaiming control means developing your self-empowered healing skills. If you want to know how to treat PTSD by yourself then you'll like processes that help your brain seek and reach for change.

Not sure how to treat PTSD by yourself? Learning how to create a healing intention will help put learn to treat PTSD yourself.

Creating a healing intention is the first and most important act you can take to get your healing on track. Think about any of the things you’ve accomplished in your life. From the most mundane task to the most extraordinary achievement, they have all had one common foundational element: You deliberately intended the end result. That is, you were able to visualize what you wanted, figure out the steps it took to get there, and then put that plan into action.

What does this mean? You already possess and are familiar with the necessary skills to figure out how to treat PTSD by yourself as much as possible. Overcoming PTSD requires the same deliberate plan, action, regroup, and follow through as anything else you’ve done in your life.

What To Do When You Don't Know How To Treat PTSD By Yourself

Taking an action is always the first step. Here's a simple plan to build your healing intention:

  1. Be clear about what you want as the end result. Answer the question: What will I (or my life) look like, feel like and sound like when I have achieved my healing goal?
  2. Be focused in your attention on who will help you achieve it. Answer the question: Who can help me do the work that needs to be done?
  3. Be deliberate in how you plan to get there. Answer the question: What are the next five things I need to do in order to move forward? (This answer will be revised as you move through the healing process.)
  4. Be action-oriented about when you will put the plan into action. Answer the question: When will I begin to put the plan into effect?
  5. Be respectful of where your intuition guides you. Answer the question: What do I need to do in order to ensure I accept guidance from my inner self?
  6. Be honest in why you want to get well. Answer the question: What will be the benefit(s) of recovery?
  7. Take your answers and craft them into a single sentence. For example, your healing intention might look like this: In order to become completely free of the past I will connect with those people who can help me resolve my trauma feelings so that my authentic self can lead me to a life that is productive, healthy and joyful.

Creating a healing intention is not so tough a project, is it? As with everything in learning how to treat PTSD by yourself, each step is about slowing down, gaining clarity, being deliberate and committing to the next decision.

Michele is the author of Your Life After Trauma: Powerful Practices to Reclaim Your Identity and Heal Your PTSD: Dynamic Strategies that Work. Connect with her on Google+, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and her website, HealMyPTSD.com.

APA Reference
Rosenthal, M. (2015, May 7). How To Treat PTSD By Yourself, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, March 28 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/traumaptsdblog/2015/05/how-to-treat-ptsd-by-yourself



Author: Michele Rosenthal

Bud
October, 16 2017 at 12:53 pm

"I can tell you from personal experience that you won’t discover how to treat PTSD by yourself and reach 100% success."
What's to stop someone from self-healing? That's a completely unsupportable assertion. Mental health professionals are often glorified babysitters and wannabe-gurus charging exorbitant fees to desperate people, and in return giving them a bizarre and ambiguous pseudo-intimate relationship that can cause more trouble than it solves. Healing relationships are to be found in real life... with people, animals, nature, yourself.

kay
October, 3 2017 at 11:36 am

my sister has bullied me my whole life and it is still going on, although i dont speak to her anymore , she still bullys me at facebook, publicly,,,i need some tips on how to cope with bullying

Rondwin
August, 23 2017 at 8:37 pm

My boyfriend has PTSD from a brain surgery he had without anesthesia (he is not receptive to anesthesia). The surgeons said horrible things to him during the operation and that is a big part of the trauma, as well as being ties down by the restraints. He suffers from severe nightmares every night and he says he has to relive the surgery every night. We are not willing to go for treatment because visiting hospitals and meeting doctors or therapists make his nightmares worse.
We are desperate for a cure or at least a way for him to sleep more peacefully without nightmares
Any suggestions will be helpful

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Laura
October, 9 2017 at 10:18 am

Hello, try a regular schedule with an approach of " what would be easy, normal, today. He needs repetitive comfort rituals before bed each night, calm down before sleep and do not fear sleep. He needs to stretch and breathe hourly awake, and accept, yes there will be nightmares, so I will wake up, look around breathe stretch and get back in bed and try again to sleep. Counting forward and backward repaterns the brain. He should look at beautiful pictures , memorize them right before going to bed every night. Many people say image in your brain, but I get so PSTD I actually cannot visualize and the computer helps. IMPORTANT. Try GABA and DLPA for their effect on brain, I use those in powder form. Cleanse and detox the body. Start reading on alternative natural treatments for the body, he has been thru a biochemical nightmare awake. Also Rondwin take care of yourself too !

Rosemarie Robbins
July, 3 2017 at 6:41 pm

I don't want have to live in a program forever

Rosemarie Robbins
July, 3 2017 at 6:39 pm

I want to know how to deal with ptsd by your self

Gigi
May, 14 2015 at 12:07 pm

I have had ptsd most of my life and have had a lot of trauma. which of your books is better for me?

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Michele Rosenthal
May, 15 2015 at 12:09 pm

@Gigi -- All three of my books would be useful:
Before the World Intruded shows my story covering almost 30 years of PTSD -- and then how I reached 100% healing. If you're looking for inspiration and ideas for recovery this is a 5-star reviewed and multiple award-nominated book.
http://www.BeforeTheWorldIntruded.com
Your Life After Trauma (my newest book just released in March) looks specifically at the theory of constructing a post-trauma identity, which is at the core of every recovery.
http://YourLifeAfterTraumaBook.com
Heal Your PTSD (set to release this September) is a book of healing thoughts and excercises to help with daily coping.
http://www.HealYourPTSD.com
They work very well when read in order or, you can choose which one seems to most offer what you need at this time.

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