Trauma and Grief: Strategies

Trauma and grief are normal responses, but even if they are normal, these responses can cause impairment to our daily lives and mental health. We especially should take action and implement coping strategies when these reponses exist over long periods of time. 

As you may have noticed, many strategies we have already learned for other things like anxiety, boredom, etc. can be applied to many other situations in our lives. Same goes for grief and trauma.

Recall thought distortions. We can definitely practice balanced thinking by identifying any thinking traps, putting our thoughts on trial, and creating thought records. We can also focus on what we can control. When we do this, we take away our focus on things we cannot control or change, such as a loss of a loved one or feeling unsafe to the threat of the virus. Refocus and make plans for activities and engage yourself on things that you can control. We can also practice self-compassion. Evaluate the situation you're in and identify any emotions that you feel in response to it. Justify those feelings and really piece together your emotions to your experiences while offering yourself words of encouragement and motivation. We are often hard on ourselves and overwhelm ourselves with negative thoughts. When we practice self-compassion, we can say "I understand you and others would feel this way too" and then "May I learn to be strong and resilent." Remember to say "may I" instead of "I should" as we don't want to feel like yet again there is something we should be doing or feeling, but more something we would like to work toward. We can also use relaxation techniques, such as mindfulness or breathing exercises, to calm our bodies and our minds.

You can also always ask for help from others. Find someone to listen and hear you out. Sometimes, even just having a listening ear and letting your thoughts and feelings out can be a huge relief and weight off of your chest in these difficult situations. For example, log in as a member and connect to a listener on 7Cups or you can talk to friends and family that may be experiencing similar situations.