How To Treat PTSD By Yourself

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.

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.