Handling Emotional Triggers

Handling Emotional Triggers with Jacilyn Bondy LPC-S, LCDC

In recent years, “trigger” has become a more commonly used term. As our understanding of this term deepens, it’s also important to understand your unique experience of triggers and how to best handle them when they occur.

I’m Jacilyn Bondy, a Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in trauma work and addiction. Each of these issues is often accompanied by what we refer to as “triggers” but can look different for each individual.

Simply put, a “trigger” is anything that elicits a strong emotional and/or physiological response from you that is often linked to a past experience. This can be an object, a person, place, sound, smell, a specific holiday or anniversary—anything that reminds you of that particular experience. Responses to the trigger (often what people refer to as “being triggered”) vary greatly from person to person. This can look like an emotional outburst, a panic attack, mental and emotional shut down, impulsive behaviors, and more.

It’s important to be able to identify your specific triggers and to be aware of how they impact you. Here are some strategies for handling a trigger when it arises:

1.     Avoid when possible. It’s not often that you’ll hear a therapist encourage you to avoid something. However, if you know that a particular situation will undoubtedly cause great emotional distress for you, it is sometimes wise to avoid that situation, or at least until you’re in a better headspace to deal with it.

2.     Communicate with others. Enlist the help of trusted individuals by communicating with them about what you’re experiencing. Ask for help such as sitting with you until you feel calm again or talking through what happened.

3.     Know your go-to recovery strategies. When your body and mind become dysregulated by a trigger, know the skills you can use to calm your nervous system. This can include leaving the situation if possible, grounding techniques, emotion regulation skills, or low-intensity body movement such as going for a walk.

It can be alarming and disorienting when an external trigger hijacks our emotions, but we don’t have to stay in that place. Contact us to get scheduled with a trauma-informed clinician who can help you learn more about triggers and the strategies you can use to work through them.

Jacilyn Bondy, LPC-S, LCDC

Click here to schedule an initial visit with Jacilyn.

To learn more about Jacilyn and her. approach to healing, visit her Bio Here.