How to Help Your Client Manage Their Emotional Triggers with Practical Skills They Can Use in Real Time
When clients get triggered, it can set off a chain reaction of emotional overwhelm and reactivity.
So how do we help clients shift out of this difficult cycle when their nervous system starts to rev up (or shut down)?
First, we have to look at specific ways to keep a triggered emotion from overwhelming the client.
Then we have to focus on breaking powerful behavior-trigger-reward loops.
From there, we have to undo the hidden traps left behind on their nervous system from trauma and attachment breakdowns.
Most importantly, we have to help the client carry this work out into the real world so that they become empowered.
That’s why we got together with 26 top experts and asked for their best strategies for working with clients’ emotional triggers. For the first time ever, all their expert insights have been gathered in one place . . .
How to Work with a Client’s Emotional Triggers
The Neurobiology of an Emotional Trigger
Ron Siegel, PsyD Dan Siegel, MD
How the brain primes us for emotional triggers
Two ways the brain processes emotion that can fuel emotional sensitivity
The trigger pipeline that connects unprocessed feelings to impulsivity
How to Keep a Triggered Emotion from Overwhelming the Client
Shelly Harrell, PhD Lynn Lyons, LICSW
Kelly McGonigal, PhD Joan Borysenko, PhD
Rick Hanson, PhD
Get immediately download nicabm - Work with Clients Emotional Triggers
The “Band-Aid” strategy to prevent an emotional wound from getting triggered
The trigger-resistant mindset that can help clients escape a reactivity cycle
How to keep the nervous system regulated when an emotional trigger gets tripped
How to Prevent Vulnerabilities from Turning into Painful Triggers
Michael Yapko, PHD Deany Laliotis, LICSW
Joan Borysenko, PhD Ron Siegel, PsyD
One question that can hit the “pause button” on a client’s trigger response
A simple reframe that can unravel an emotional trigger’s grip on the client
How to connect clients with trigger-resistant resources to keep them from being emotionally flooded
How to Break Habit-Trigger-Reward Loops
Donald Meichenbaum, PhD Kelly McGonigal, PhD
Judson Brewer, MD, PhD
One simple strategy that can shift a blamer out of their deeply-ingrained justifications
How to help clients reduce the shame they attach to their reactivity
Why shame can glue clients to their triggers
Why guilt makes an emotional trigger so much more powerful (and how to undo this)
How to help clients visualize their trigger sequence to find their pain points
How to Work with a Highly-Triggered Nervous System
Stephen Porges, PhD Deb Dana, LCSW
Kelly McGonigal, PhD
How Polyvagal Theory can spark powerful new interventions for healing triggers
How a trigger response can block a client’s nervous system from processing safety cues
How a triggered physiology can spark a downward spiral of negative experience
How to Help Triggered Clients Who Dissociate from Their Bodies
Christine Padesky, PhD Pat Ogden PhD
Rick Hanson, PhD
The vital first step before working with a dissociated client
How to strengthen a client’s emotional tolerance when they dissociate
A simple strategy to neutralize emotional overwhelm and prevent dissociation
How To Work with Emotional Triggers Connected to Trauma
Resmaa Menakem, MSW, LICSW Peter Levine, PhD
Kelly McGonigal, PhD Ron Siegel, PsyD
Rick Hanson, PhD
How traumatic memory can lead to unpredictable triggers
How to safely foster new sensations in traumatized clients who are shut off from their body
How to avoid getting triggered by a client’s high-octane reactivity
How to Help Clients Build Powerful Self-Regulation Skills
Ron Siegel, PsyD Terry Real, MSW, LICSW
David Wallin, PhD Kelly McGonigal, PhD
Rick Hanson, PhD
One critical skill that can prevent triggered emotions from escalating
How to work with clients who have become attached to their reactive response
A 3-step approach to help clients take back control from their trigger
How to Work with Triggers Fueled by Negative Attachment
Richard Schwartz, PhD Pat Ogden, PhD
Rick Hanson, PhD
Why it’s crucial to discriminate whether a trigger’s origin is trauma or attachment
How to work with the 3 main fears that can undermine the treatment of triggers
How to Neutralize a Reactivity Pattern
Kelly Wilson, PhD Zindel Segal, PhD
The first two steps in treating a trigger response that can profoundly affect outcome
How to help diminish a client’s road rage that’s leaving them tired and angry
How to expand a client’s capacity to choose a better response to their trigger
One way to help a war veteran shift a core belief that’s fueling their trigger
How to Help Clients Shift from Reactivity to Healing
Bill O’Hanlon, LMFT Kelly McGonigal, PhD
Steven Hayes, PhD
Get immediately download nicabm - Work with Clients Emotional Triggers
A strong coping strategy for the unmet needs that drive reactivity
How to deepen a client’s context sensitivity to increase the space between trigger and reaction
