Window of Tolerance -An Essential Skill for PTSD, Trauma and Nervous System Regulation

Therapy in a Nutshell

Therapy in a Nutshell -Emma McAdam

Mental Health, Education, Health & Fitness:mental Health, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 658 Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2024

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Talking about trauma can make things worse. I’m a therapist, and I know how valuable it CAN be to talk about trauma, but when you don’t understand your “Window of Tolerance” talking about trauma can backfire. In this podcast, we’ll talk about the three states of your nervous system, the two common pitfalls of trying to talk about trauma, and the practical skills you can use to widen your window of tolerance so that you’re more resilient in the face of stressors or trauma. Looking for affordable online counseling? My sponsor, BetterHelp, connects you to a licensed professional from the comfort of your own home. Try it now for 10% off your first month: https://betterhelp.com/therapyinanutshell Learn more in one of my in-depth mental health courses: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com Support my mission on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therapyinanutshell Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.therapyinanutshell.com Check out my favorite self-help books: https://kit.co/TherapyinaNutshell/best-self-help-books Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health. In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger Institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction. And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC

Transcript

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0:00.0	Understanding mental health struggles can be tough. That's why I created therapy in a nutshell
0:05.4	to help make complicated therapeutic topics easy to understand and learn. I'm Emma McAdam, a licensed
0:11.7	marriage and family therapist, and this is the Therapy in a nutshell podcast. These episodes
0:16.8	don't replace the need for mental health professionals or the advice given by doctors,
0:21.1	but they provide options, resources, and skills that can help you in your journey to better your own mental health or help those around you who may be struggling.
0:31.6	If you want to find more resources or if you want to learn about courses I offer on specific mental health topics,
0:36.6	please stop by my website at TherapyInanen-N-Hel.com.
0:40.7	Now, let's jump in to this week's skill.
0:43.2	Talking about trauma can make things worse.
0:45.7	I'm a therapist, and I know how valuable it can be to talk about trauma,
0:50.0	but when you don't understand your window of tolerance,
0:53.2	talking about trauma can backfire.
0:55.5	So it's super common for people to get stuck in a trauma state, but literally not even realize it.
1:01.3	And that's why understanding the window of tolerance is absolutely essential to doing trauma work.
1:06.7	It's probably one of the first things your therapist assesses without you even realizing
1:11.8	it.
1:12.8	And when you do, when you can stay in your window, it makes it possible to talk about trauma,
1:18.5	process through it, and move forward instead of getting stuck, overwhelmed, flooded, or dissociated.
1:25.4	So in this video, we'll talk about the three states of your nervous system.
1:29.0	One of them looks like high functioning dissociation. We're going to talk about two common
1:32.8	pitfalls of trying to talk about trauma and the practical skills you can use to widen your
1:38.9	window of tolerance so that you're more resilient in the face of stressors or trauma. Okay, so first, one of the really interesting paradoxical things about doing trauma work is that sometimes,
	...

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