trauma – Page 2 – Jennifer Lane Books

Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh for starting the Insecure Writers Support Group! Learn more HERE.

I’ve been focusing on the psycho part of my psycho author career lately. I just finished a professional conference in Big Sky, Montana, and head back down the mountain today. Right now it’s -17 F! Here’s the view from my hotel room:

I presented on treating trauma in a special population, and shared my “screen door” metaphor to explain flashbacks. Check out this POST if you’re interested in how to write PTSD more accurately. It was wonderful connecting with colleagues.

One excellent TED talk I learned about at the conference is about how stress can be good for us. So if your heart’s racing, your stomach full of butterflies, your muscles tingling…those are signs your body is preparing to rise to the challenge!

Progress is slow with my WIP, and sales aren’t great. But I continue to enjoy the opportunity to create characters and stories.

How’s your month going?

How have you felt since the Boston Marathon terrorist attack?

I’ve felt horror, disgust, rage, and sadness. Right now I feel numb.

And this is from miles away. I can’t imagine how I would feel if I’d been on ground zero, witnessing the carnage.

But I can imagine what it’s like to face trauma such as rape, abuse, accidents, and crime. I hear it from my psychotherapy clients all too often.

Survivors of trauma like bombings or abuse may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a clinical syndrome I detail HERE in my Psycho Author series. Quite a few of my characters have struggled to heal from PTSD.

What’s a simple tool to help anyone who’s endured a traumatic event? BREATHE.

When we get scared, our breathing changes, becoming quicker and shallower, or stopping for a moment. Such changes only serve to increase our panic and tension.

Simply paying attention to our breath can help calm us when we’re feeling stressed. But deep breathing, aka diaphragmatic breathing or belly breathing, is even more helpful.

1) Take a few moments to notice your breath. Breathe in through your nose and out your mouth. Let your body’s natural rhythm of breathing gently become slower and deeper, but still easy and relaxed.

2) Let that breath go deep into your belly. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly (below your belly button). Keep the hand on your chest still, while pushing out the hand on your belly with air.

3) The diaphragm is the muscle lining beneath your lungs. Feel the diaphragm push down as you inhale.

I hope that noticing your breath helps you deal with the multitude of feelings from the Boston Marathon or other traumatic events.