Challenging and Overcoming 'Stuck Trauma Thinking Points'

[SteveRothy]

In talking with others affected by CPTSD, I came to see that many of us are haunted by 'Stuck Points' – those distressing feelings, thoughts and ideas that seem impossible to move on from. So I decided to map out my own stuck points, as shown below. The first thing you will notice is that I was not struggling under the weight of one stuck point. My whole timeline of thoughts and views had been affected.



I then went on to list all the feelings, thoughts, ideas that contributed to each stuck point, and pretty soon I not only listed the demons I knew about but also the Devils I Didn't Know. I managed to write down those damaging thoughts that come into consciousness, do harm, and go away again. I nailed them down.

It was only once I knew what I was dealing with that I could start to reframe my thoughts and thus set about challenging and overcoming those stuck points. The whole exercise, while emotionally draining at times, allowed me to move on from my most distressing stuck point, which was heavy-duty 'coulda shoulda woulda' rumination.

I could enlarge on all this if there is interest.
 

[Kizzie]

We do talk a lot here about acknowledging and challenging our intrusive thoughts Steve, either on our own or undertaking therapies like CBT. It's so true that we must be able to see what we are thinking first, especially those negative thoughts that are murky, running in the background so to speak. That's when we can go on to doing something about them, to "reframe" or change them as you say. 

Glad to  hear it's working for you! 

[SteveRothy]

Thanks for that Kizzie. Could I ask please if there are any visual models you can point me to on the forum that guide the eye through the process of seeing the thoughts, so to speak, and then going on to challenge and reframe them? That would be ever so handy. 

[Kizzie]

There aren't any visual graphics Steve, mainly because it used to be you couldn't insert an image in a post and had to attach it instead with the limit being 500 mb which gets quite unwieldy. I'm happy that SMF (our platform) has apparently changed this and we can add more infographics if we so choose now. I do like visuals as sometimes words don't quite capture what the poster is trying to get at or convey it better.

Note to members: We have to be careful about copyright if we post an image someone else has made.  If you want to include images like this please be sure to include a link to where you got it. Tks.