When you have PTSD, it is very common to have flashbacks. PTSD flashbacks can be very distressing. So, many people want to know how to stop those flashbacks. This article will focus on how dual awareness training can help you to stop PTSD flashbacks.

How Dual Awareness Training Helps To Stop PTSD Flashbacks? Dual awareness is being aware of the past and present at the same time. Because PTSD flashbacks are past traumatic memories experienced as happening in the present, it tackles PTSD flashbacks from their roots and is a highly effective technique for stopping PTSD flashbacks.

What is a PTSD flashback?

During a flashback, the individual is only aware of the past events and is totally unaware of the present environment.

So, instead of being aware of both the past and the present, during a flashback, the individual experience the trauma as if it was occurring all over again.

What is dual awareness?

Dual awareness is being aware of both the past and the present. It is a natural skill that we develop as we grow. However, with extreme traumas, this vital skill can be lost.

Why is dual awareness important in PTSD recovery?

A significant part of PTSD recovery is to reorganise our traumatic memories and looking at them in the way that is less distressing. However, if the slightest reminder of the events trigger a full blown PTSD flashback, the individual would be to distressed to do the work.

The good news is, once trained, there is a whole host of traumatic memory management techniques and tricks that are available to aid recovery.

In fact, there are so many of them that Prof Ainslie Roberts (D.Psych) once said, “The greater challenge is distinguishing between the past and present. Once that’s dealt with, there are so many ways to deal with memories that there is bound to be one that will work”.

What is dual awareness training?

Dual awareness training is a routine exercise that helps you to regain the lost skill. Like a programme of exercise to build muscles or to achieve weight loss, dual awareness training needs to be carefully designed so that you can start with easier activities and then move on to the more challenging goals.

Ultimately, dual awareness training is about getting the brain muscles going so that it can tell the difference between the pass and the future once again.

How much does dual awareness training cost?

Dual awareness training for PTSD can be absolutely free. There is nothing stopping you from doing relevant exercises at home, and therefore it should not cost you anything at all.

If you have a therapist, he or she may practice this with you without using the technical terms, and the charges will depend on whether it is funded by private means or other health schemes.

How do I do dual awareness training at home?

You can do dual awareness training any time anywhere you like. The basic concept is to train your brain to:

1. Remember a mildly stressful event from the past
   • How does remembering the stressful event feel?
   • Do your muscles tense up?
   • Does your stomach feel like it’s in knots?
   • Are you breathing more rapidly?
   • Is your heart rate increasing or decreasing?
   • Is your body temperature increasing or decreasing?
2. Then focus in the present surrounding environment
   • Can you name five colors that you can see?
   • Can you find five objects with four corners on them?
   • What is the temperature like? Is it hot, cold, or comfortable?
   • What sounds can you hear in your environment?
   • Has your breathing rate change as you now focus on your present environment?
   • Is your heart rate increasing or decreasing as you refocus on the present?
3. Then to remember the event while still focusing on the present surrounding.

How do I plan my own dual awareness training?

Trying to do your own dual awareness training without first having a plan is like going to a gym not having a clue what to do with the machines.

The easiest way to plan your deal awareness training for PTSD is to make a list of challenges that you are going to do very soon, and set some intermediate and long-term goals.

Starting from simpler challenges, you may want to write down a list of embarrassing events, such as forgetting to take your keys and locked yourself out.

The key in this first stage is not about how challenging it is to remember those events, but more about getting your brain used to going back-and-forth between the past and present, as well as being able to focus on both at the same time.

Another key focus during this first stage is to develop an exercise routine so that you can go through the exercise without instructions in front of you.

Once you have mastered the skill of going back-and-forth, and have developed a good exercise routine to train your dual awareness, you are ready to move on to the next stage.

During the second stage, you may want to revisit your trauma history and choose the mildest events in the lists as your training material. If this is getting to distressing, pick events and that were leading up to the trauma but not the trauma itself.

When you are comfortable with this, you can then start to challenge yourself with the more distressing parts of your trauma memory as training material.

Notice the deliberate change of wording here. Instead of traumatic events, I used the word memory in the last paragraph. This is because by now you should have developed a very clear boundary between what are things happening in the past and what is present no matter how stressful those events were.

Is dual awareness training safe to practice without a therapist?

The practice of dual awareness training for PTSD does not require the supervision of a trained therapist for it to be safe. However, like many things in life, it is assumed that the correct procedures and appropriate precautions are followed.

The highest risk of practising dual awareness without a therapist is it may trigger a mega PTSD flashback. If and when this happens, a trained therapist will be in a far better position to come to your rescue than if you were on your own.

Nonetheless, as long as you are not overly ambitious with your progress in this training programme, you should not be at any risk of PTSD flashbacks.

If you have no access to a therapist, and are worried about this, share this article with a training buddy or companion. This person can then keep an eye over you, and may attempt to call you back into the present if he or she is observing early signs of distress while recalling events of past.

Related Questions

Can you have PTSD from multiple events? Complex PTSD is a form of PTSD resulting from multiple events. It is closely related to, but not limited to, individuals with prolonged sexual abuse during childhood.

Can you have PTSD without a traumatic event? Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder following one or more traumatic events, therefore it is impossible to have PTSD without a traumatic event.