WARNING! This blog WILL trigger you.

WARNING! This blog WILL trigger you.

So if I haven’t bragged this out to you already, my daughter is on the swim team. And something happened that will trigger you.

She’s an AMAZING swimmer. Normally her RBT will attend practice with me, and can work with Julianna afterwards on any behaviors that pop up. Now with COVID, no one is allowed to watch the practice from the stands. In the past, her teacher would sit with me, and no one knew who she was. So now I have to have a conversation with the swim coach to see if they’ll allow the teacher to observe. Warning! This blog WILL trigger you.

​ ​I am now in full on TRIGGER MODE.

​We haven’t flown our flag (aka told this Coach Julianna is on the spectrum yet), and when I have to share this, even after how far we’ve come, I still face triggers – just like you.

​Triggers can happen anywhere and everywhere and we ALL have them.

Things that can represent a trigger could be:

​ -Events that remind us of a painful experience
-Someone giving us a disapproving look
-A scenario where you have to address an uncomfortable topic
-A comment
-A feeling
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A trigger is basically anything that makes us feel uncomfortable. They can vary in degree and affect. They might be small and wash over us quickly OR they might linger and just start our brain on some crazy tare of negative emotions – replaying all the aspects in our life we might feel frustrated or unsatisfied with – taking us to the point of immobility.
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Triggers are a part of the package called LIFE, but they become a huge problem when they get in the way of our goals. I could easily just pick another swim team that allows us to observe or we could just quit till the RBT could come to observe.
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The name of the game is to process the emotions that surface so it doesn’t halt your progress or the progress you want for your child. ​

This is what I do whenever something triggers me:

1. Relax – Breathe and release the tension in my body
2. Detach – I visualize myself disconnecting from the negative emotion
3. Focus on how I want to feel
4. Ask God to help me through this
5. Make the decision on how to respond to the trigger – I ask myself:

​ ​”Is this a decision being made for the love and growth of myself or my child or am I making a decision to just not feel uncomfortable?”
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AND the more you practice working through triggers, the easier it will be to push through them moving forward.
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Till next time!

xoxo,

Michelle

P.S. – Are you worried about your child with Autism? This is what I do, I help parents like you feel like they are doing everything they can to help their child live a life of independence. Book a Free Strategy Call so we can put you on a path towards progress you feel good about.

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