Trauma-Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques

Presenter: Dr. Donnelly Snipes

Overview

• Focus on 35 techniques to help people feel safer and more empowered.
• Emphasis on using people's strengths and helping them be the experts in their own lives.
• Address secondary effects of trauma (e.g., depression, anxiety, poor communication).
• Promote self-care and development of tools for a rich, meaningful life.

Key Principles

• Safety: Create physical, emotional, cognitive, and environmental safety.
• Empowerment: Help individuals feel empowered to create safe environments and manage emotions.

Techniques Overview

Behavioral Techniques

• Create Safety: Reduce hypervigilance and startle response by ensuring physical and emotional safety.
• Rescue Pack: Include distress-tolerance mantras, grounding activities, and tools like essential oils or anchoring objects.

Cognitive Techniques

• Distress Tolerance: Use thoughts, activities, and sensory tools to down-regulate the stress response.
• Symptom Logs: Track emotional and physical reactions to identify triggers and assess improvement.
• Guided Imagery: Use to manage pain, anxiety, or enhance relaxation.
• Mindfulness: Be aware of thoughts, feelings, and surroundings without judgment.

Empowerment Techniques

• Authenticity: Encourage being true to oneself and separating actions from approval.
• Thought Stopping: Redirect unproductive thoughts with mantras or scheduled worry time.
• Systematic Desensitization: Gradually reduce the power of triggers through controlled exposure.

Evaluation and Reflection

• ABCD Model: Analyze activating events, beliefs, consequences, and dispute irrational beliefs.
• Cognitive Distortions: Identify and reframe all-or-nothing thinking, personalization, and other distortions.
• Perspective Taking: Understand the broader context and underlying factors influencing behavior.

Additional Tools

• Radical Acceptance: Accept the present moment fully to reduce stress and energy waste.
• Successive Approximations and Scaffolding: Encourage gradual improvement and support learning.
• Commitment, Control, and Challenge (Hardiness): Focus on commitments and challenges as opportunities for growth.

Creative Exercises

• Autobiographies and Letter Writing: Explore personal history through different perspectives.
• Journaling: Use to track progress, express emotions, and understand internal states.

Health Literacy

• Educate on the mind-body connection, cognitive development, and trauma's impact on perceptions.

Conclusion

• CBT can provide practical tools for trauma survivors to manage thoughts and feelings effectively.
• Empowering individuals to choose their tools and evaluate their beliefs is crucial.

These notes summarize key concepts and techniques from the presentation, aimed at enhancing personal empowerment and safety through trauma-informed cognitive behavioral approaches.