Support and professional guidance
Choose the situation that fits. Explore 36 practices and open the steps you want to try.
Prepare or review a support plan
- Make a present-day support menuYou want an easy-to-find list of options for difficult moments.
- Organize the practical details of a support planYou already have, or want help creating, an individualized support plan.
- Choose a present-day goal that fits your capacityYou want a manageable step related to daily life or support.
- Explore your reasons for seeking supportYou feel uncertain about a possible next support step.
- Prepare a review of an existing anxiety-support planYou are already following an individualized plan and something needs reviewing.
- Prepare a focused relational support discussionA recurring difficult interaction is something you want help understanding.
- Record a present-day observation for a professional discussionYou want help understanding a recurring physical experience.
Ask about a treatment or specialist exercise
- Prepare questions about muscle relaxationYou are considering a muscle-relaxation exercise and want suitable instructions.
- Ask questions before trusting a proposed approachSomeone suggests a practice or support arrangement you are uncertain about.
- Prepare for a professional conversation about distressing memoriesYou want information about help for memories that affect your life.
- Prepare questions about an exposure-based treatment planYou want to understand a proposed approach to a fear or anxiety problem.
- Ask about exercises that deliberately create body sensationsA proposed practice involves inducing unfamiliar or uncomfortable sensations.
- Ask about memory-focused treatment optionsYou encountered a recommendation for EMDR or another memory-focused approach.
- Clarify your choice about a proposed treatment stepYou feel ambivalent about a step someone has recommended.
- Clarify a relaxation instruction before trying itAn exercise asks you to tense and release muscles, but the instructions do not fit clearly.
- Ask what a body-focused trauma treatment involvesYou are considering a proposed professional approach.
- Clarify a proposed reprocessing exerciseSomeone recommends a practice described as reprocessing an experience.
- Prepare questions about a feared situationYou want to discuss whether and how to work on a fear with a qualified professional.
- Prepare questions about a distress-management techniqueYou encountered a named technique and want to know whether it is suitable for you.
Clarify movement, relaxation or equipment suitability
- Check whether a comfort tool actually suits youYou are considering using an object or product for comfort.
- Check a movement plan before adding stretchesYou are considering stretching because a task feels physically uncomfortable.
- Preview a guided relaxation recordingYou want to know what a recording asks before deciding to use it.
- Ask for consent before guiding someone's movementYou are considering a shared movement or body-focused activity.
- Ask for suitable guidance before combining physical exercisesA routine combines stretching and breathing instructions.
Choose the scope of a sensitive conversation
- Name what matters now without retelling a painful eventYou want to consider present priorities after a difficult experience, at a pace you choose.
- Agree on a stop signal before a sensitive topicA conversation may involve material either person wants control over.
- Choose the scope of a support conversationYou want assistance without being pushed to process an experience.
- State what would help you consider a difficult questionA topic is hard to approach and you want more control over the discussion.
State needs and agree on helpful support
- Tell a support person what you need nowYou want help without having to explain the full background.
- Choose qualities you need in a support relationshipYou are deciding whom to approach for support.
- Review how a support interaction workedYou want to know whether a particular kind of support suited you.
- Agree on a helpful prompt from a support personYou would like someone to remind you of a practical option during a difficult task.
- Identify a present demand and a useful responseYou feel under pressure and need a practical next step.
- Describe your current capacity in usable wordsYou want to communicate whether a task or conversation is manageable.
Keep physical concerns and memory claims clear
- Keep physical observations separate from anxiety explanationsA physical sensation and worry about it are occurring together.
- Keep a memory and a movement interpretation separateA body-focused exercise invites you to link a sensation to a past event.