Tips/Resources

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Dr. Barbara Harris, MSW, RSW

EMDRIA Certified EMDR Therapist, and EMDR Consultant

Specialist in Trauma, Anxiety and Depression

EMDR Therapy Since 2000

Tips and Resources

Counselling Vancouver

Helpful strategies for managing/coping with symptoms include:

Educate yourself (and where possible, those close to you) about the challenges you are facing.
Exercise, and/or yoga
Avoid excessive use of caffeine, or self-medicating with alcohol or drugs.
Diet is an important factor in mental health (more to come on this topic soon)
Consult your family physician, and get a medical exam to rule out underlying physical causes.
Talk to supportive friends and family about how you are feeling.
Get a journal and write down your feelings as they come up.
Be gentle and patient with yourself.
Get a meditation CD or attend meditation classes regularly – this will go a long way in helping to regulate your emotions.
Some specific interventions that can help with symptom management at home include:
Mindfulness and guided mindfulness meditations are available on Youtube.
Also have a look at:
  • Cognitive Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation
  • Mindfulness (with Jon Kabat-Zinn)

Emotional freedom technique is also a good strategy to assist with symptoms.

  • Emotional Freedom Technique (Brad Yates has hundreds of EFT videos on Youtube that can help to get through rough moments)
  • Tapping.com also has helpful free EFT  videos.
I also recommend a wide array of books; just a few important books include:
Getting past your past by Francine Shapiro
Get out of your mind and into your life by Steve Hayes
The anxiety and phobia workbook by Edmund Bourne
Trauma and recovery by Judith Herman
Waking the tiger: healing trauma by Peter Levine
The brain that changes itself by Norman Doidge
Why zebras don’t get ulcers by Robert Sapolsky
Some other great books:
The tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
The four agreements by Miguel Ruiz
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki; Weatherhill, 1973.
The Miracle of Mindfulness by Nhat Hanh
How to meditate by Chodron
The presence process by Michael Brown
Spark by John Ratey
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Autobiography of a yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

Mini-Meditations

Instrumental Mini Meditations by Lanita Gaul

Instrumental Mini Meditations by Lanita Gaul

HELPFUL LINKS:

For a good online resource for meditation:

Mental Help Net
This website provides extensive information, articles, videos, and other resources on mental health.
www.mentalhelp.net
 
Canadian Mental Health Association
This national website also provides extensive information on mental health issues, servives. support, policy, and media and events
www.cmha.ca
 
www.trauma-pages.com/pg2.htm
This popular non-commercial site by David Baldwin does a thorough job of defining and describing PTSD.
 
Managing Traumatic Stress – A factsheet provided by from the American Psychological Association.