The Difference Between Stress, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and OCD
If you’ve ever wondered whether what you’re experiencing is stress, anxiety, panic attacks, or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), you’re not alone. These terms are often used interchangeably, but they represent different mental health experiences. Understanding the differences can help you seek the right support and begin effective treatment.
At Hope Counseling, pllc, we regularly help clients navigate these challenges with evidence-based care and compassion.
Stress: A Normal Response to Life’s Demands
Stress is the body’s natural response to pressure or demands. It is typically linked to an external situation and often resolves once the stressor is removed.
Common stress triggers include:
Work or school deadlines
Financial concerns
Major life changes
Relationship challenges
Stress symptoms may include:
Muscle tension or headaches
Irritability
Difficulty sleeping
Feeling overwhelmed
While stress is a normal part of life, chronic stress can negatively impact both mental and physical health if left unaddressed.
Anxiety: Persistent Worry and Fear
Anxiety goes beyond everyday stress. It involves ongoing fear or worry that may persist even when there is no immediate threat. Anxiety often focuses on future events or worst-case scenarios.
Signs of anxiety include:
Excessive or uncontrollable worry
Restlessness or feeling on edge
Racing thoughts
Difficulty concentrating
Physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat or fatigue
Anxiety disorders are diagnosed when symptoms are persistent, disproportionate, and interfere with daily functioning.
Panic Attacks: Sudden Waves of Intense Fear
A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear or discomfort that peaks within minutes. Panic attacks can feel frightening and may mimic serious medical conditions, such as heart attacks.
Common panic attack symptoms:
Shortness of breath
Chest pain or tightness
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Sweating or trembling
Fear of losing control or dying
Panic attacks are treatable, and therapy can help individuals understand triggers and reduce their frequency and intensity.
OCD: Obsessions and Compulsions
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition characterized by intrusive, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) performed to relieve anxiety.
Examples of OCD symptoms include:
Obsessions: Fear of contamination, harming others, or making mistakes
Compulsions: Excessive cleaning, checking, counting, or mental rituals
OCD can be time-consuming and distressing, but evidence-based treatments such as Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) are highly effective.
When to Seek Professional Help
You may benefit from therapy if:
Symptoms interfere with daily life or relationships
Worry or fear feels uncontrollable
Panic attacks occur repeatedly
Obsessive thoughts or compulsions consume significant time
Early support can prevent symptoms from worsening and help restore a sense of balance and control.
Therapy Support at Hope Counseling, pllc
At Hope Counseling, pllc we provide personalized therapy for stress, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, and OCD. Our approach is compassionate, collaborative, and grounded in evidence-based practices to help you feel supported and empowered.
If you’re ready to take the next step, we’re here to help.
Who Am I Without My Trauma Driving The Bus?
Rediscovering Identity, Healing, and the Self Beneath the Pain
Many people reach a pivotal point in their healing journey when they begin asking a powerful and deeply personal question: Who am I without my trauma driving the bus? This question is not just emotional—it’s transformational. For anyone navigating healing, self-discovery, or personal growth, understanding who you are beyond what hurt you becomes a vital part of reclaiming your life. And it’s a question more people are searching for online than ever before, as conversations around trauma, mental health, and emotional recovery become more open and normalized.
Trauma has a way of becoming intertwined with identity. It shapes how you see the world, how you trust, how you love, and how you protect yourself. Many individuals live for years believing their coping mechanisms are simply part of their personality. Hypervigilance seems like being “detail-oriented.” Emotional distance looks like independence. Perfectionism feels like ambition. Overthinking masquerades as intelligence. These behaviors don’t come from nowhere—they are survival strategies your mind and body developed in response to overwhelming experiences. But because trauma rewires belief systems, these responses can become ingrained and feel permanent.
The truth, however, is that trauma is something you lived through—not something you are. Healing does not erase what happened, but it does peel back the layers of defense that once kept you safe. Imagining who you are without your trauma is not about forgetting your past. It’s about recognizing that your identity is larger, richer, and more multidimensional than the wounds you had to endure. You carry strength, empathy, insight, resilience, and emotional intelligence that you earned through survival—but you are not limited to the version of yourself built around pain.
As you continue healing, you may begin discovering parts of yourself you haven’t met in years—if ever. You might notice you can respond thoughtfully instead of reacting automatically. You start trusting your intuition rather than your fear. Joy feels less like a risk and more like a possibility. You develop boundaries based on self-respect, not self-protection. This evolving version of you may feel unfamiliar at first, but it is not a stranger. It’s the real you—buried beneath the armor trauma forced you to wear.
The process of figuring out who you are without your trauma may feel uncomfortable, and that’s completely normal. When trauma becomes intertwined with identity, letting go of those coping mechanisms can feel like losing a piece of yourself. But you’re not losing anything—you’re gaining clarity. You’re gaining freedom. You’re learning the difference between survival and living. You’re discovering the self that trauma overshadowed, not destroyed.
Healing doesn’t eliminate the past, but it expands your future. It allows your story to grow beyond the painful chapters. While trauma may always be part of your narrative, it no longer has to be the dominant theme. You are allowed to evolve. You are allowed to change. You are allowed to step into a version of yourself shaped by intention, choice, and hope rather than fear.
So when you ask, “Who am I without my trauma driving the bus?” understand that the answer isn’t supposed to appear all at once. Identity after trauma is something you rediscover slowly, gently, and with curiosity. You are someone still becoming—someone worth meeting. And as you continue healing, you may find the question naturally shifts from Who am I without my trauma driving the bus? to Who can I become now that I’m healing?
Going Home for Thanksgiving: Finding Your Calm in the Chaos
The holidays can bring up a complicated mix of comfort and tension. Returning home might stir nostalgia—the familiar kitchen smells, the driveway you know by heart—but it can also resurface old family patterns, political debates, or versions of yourself you’ve outgrown.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Thanksgiving often magnifies both connection and conflict.
Before you pack a bag, take a moment to check in with yourself. What do you want this holiday to feel like? Maybe you’re hoping for more calm, fewer emotional landmines, or simply a visit that doesn’t leave you drained.
Grounding yourself in these intentions can make a huge difference.
Healthy boundaries aren’t walls—they’re compassionate guardrails. They help you stay present without getting pulled into chaos. This might look like deciding how long to stay, stepping away when things feel tense, or choosing to redirect conversations that lead nowhere good.
And when politics come up (because they probably will), you get to decide how to respond. You can bow out kindly, change the subject, or take a breather. Calm is not avoidance—it’s self-respect.
Throughout the visit, build in moments to reset: a short walk, a few quiet breaths, or a pause in the car before heading inside. These tiny anchors help you stay centered.
After the holiday, reflect gently. There’s no need to judge yourself—the win is that you showed up with intention and honored your needs as best you could.
You’re allowed to return home as who you are now: someone who deserves peace, clarity, and emotional safety.
If navigating family dynamics feels overwhelming, support is available. Schedule a session if you’d like help building boundaries, strengthening emotional regulation, and creating a holiday season that feels healthier for you.
Moving Through Grief: Finding Meaning in Loss
Learning to Live with Loss
Grief is something that every person will experience, yet it never looks or feels the same for any two people. Sometimes it’s the loss of someone we love deeply. Other times it’s the loss of a pet, a relationship, a sense of safety, or even a version of ourselves that no longer exists.
For me, grief arrived in the form of losing my dog, Twyla. She came into my life at a time when I needed her most—a quiet, loyal companion who offered me unconditional love and a kind of stability that I had never truly known. She wasn’t “just a dog.” She was my constant source of comfort, my steady presence, and ultimately, my greatest teacher in both love and loss.
This is Twyla & I on our drive home after I adopted her. The air was filled with a quiet excitement as she settled beside me, eyes wide and curious. In that moment, a new chapter began—one marked by trust, companionship, and the promise of many journeys ahead together.
The Lessons Twyla Left Behind
Twyla entered my life during one of its most difficult chapters. She followed me from room to room, sat by my side, and had a way of simply being there when I couldn’t find the words for what I was feeling. When she passed on January 21, 2025, the loss was overwhelming. The house felt quieter, and even the smallest routines carried an ache that was hard to describe.
As time has passed, I’ve come to see that her love continues to shape me. In her absence, I’ve learned to nurture myself with the same gentleness and consistency that she gave me. I’ve worked to care for my inner child, to show compassion to myself, and to create the kind of emotional safety that she so naturally embodied. Grief, I’ve learned, is not only about the person or being we lose—it is also about the parts of ourselves we rediscover in their absence.
You could almost always find Twyla curled up beside me during any quiet moment — she had a way of turning even the simplest downtime into a moment of comfort and connection.
When Grief Feels Bigger Than Words
Grief rarely arrives in a way that feels neat or understandable. Sometimes it feels sharp and consuming; other times it comes in quiet, unexpected waves. It can show up when you least expect it—in a familiar sound, an empty space, or a memory that catches you off guard.
It is also important to remember that grief is not limited to death. It can emerge after the end of a relationship, a major life transition, a change in identity or health, or the loss of a pet or a long-held dream. Whatever its source, grief changes us. It slows us down, softens parts of us, and invites us to find new ways to carry love and memory together.
Finding Meaning in the Pain
In his book Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief, David Kessler expands on Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s stages of grief to include a sixth—finding meaning. He writes, “Meaning is what we make after the loss, when we are ready to remember with more love than pain.”
That idea has stayed with me. Grief doesn’t disappear; it transforms. Over time, the pain softens, and we begin to remember with tenderness rather than despair. Meaning doesn’t erase the loss—it allows us to continue the relationship in a new way, one rooted in memory, love, and gratitude.
Through my work as a therapist, I have witnessed how grief, though profoundly painful, can become an opportunity for growth and deeper understanding. Many clients come to therapy feeling lost in their pain, unsure how to keep living without the person, pet, or identity they’ve lost. Together, we explore how to honor both the love and the absence, learning to hold them side by side.
A permanent reminder of a once-in-a-lifetime connection. Two matches—one for each of us—symbolize a love that continues to burn gently, even after loss. The number 443, etched below, marks the days we shared and the countless ways she changed my life.
You Don’t Have to Move Through Grief Alone
At Hope Counseling PLLC, we understand that grief is deeply personal. It does not follow a schedule, and it cannot be compared from one person to another. Whether your loss is recent or something you’ve carried for years, our therapists offer a safe, compassionate space to help you process, reflect, and heal at your own pace.
Our team provides trauma-informed, evidence-based therapy to support you through grief, loss, and life transitions. We offer care that honors your unique experience and recognizes that healing does not mean forgetting—it means finding ways to keep love alive in new and meaningful forms.
Hope Counseling PLLC offers virtual therapy throughout Colorado, accepts insurance, and provides inclusive, affirming care for all individuals and families. Grief may change your story, but it does not have to define it. Healing begins when we allow ourselves to feel, to remember, and to be supported in the process.
If You’re Ready to Begin
If you are struggling to make sense of a loss—whether it is the passing of a loved one, the loss of a pet, or a transition that has reshaped your life—we are here to help. You do not have to move through grief alone.
Reach out today to schedule a consultation or learn more about our services at hopecounselingpllc.org. You deserve care, support, and a space to rediscover meaning, no matter what form your grief takes.
Grief Counseling in Colorado | Virtual Therapy | Insurance Accepted
Feeling Like a Perpetual Child: Healing the Parts of Us That Never Got to Grow Up
Have you ever looked around and felt like everyone else somehow “got the memo” on how to be an adult — while you’re still stuck feeling like a lost kid inside?
That sense of being a perpetual child — uncertain, dependent, fearful, or yearning for someone to just “take care of it all” — can be one of the quietest yet most painful experiences for survivors of complex PTSD (C-PTSD) and childhood trauma.
This isn’t immaturity. It’s survival.
Why Trauma Keeps Us Young
When we grow up in environments that are unsafe, unpredictable, or emotionally neglectful, parts of us stop developing.
The nervous system becomes wired for survival, not growth. Instead of learning trust, autonomy, and self-soothing, we learn vigilance, compliance, or withdrawal.
In Complex PTSD, this often shows up as:
Feeling emotionally younger than your chronological age
Struggling to make decisions without reassurance
Difficulty with self-regulation or “meltdowns” that seem disproportionate
Craving safety and guidance while resenting authority figures
Feeling “behind” in life, no matter how much you achieve
These are not character flaws — they’re echoes of a child who didn’t get to feel safe enough to mature naturally.
The Perpetual Child and the Inner Family
Internal Family Systems (IFS) offers a compassionate lens for this.
In IFS, the psyche is seen as a system of “parts” — inner children, protectors, managers, exiles — all trying to keep us safe in their own ways.
The perpetual child might actually be:
A younger exile holding deep loneliness, fear, or shame.
A dependent part who learned to survive by clinging or pleasing.
Or a dreamer part, stuck waiting for rescue — for the parent that never came.
IFS invites us not to shame or suppress these parts, but to get curious about them.
When we turn inward with compassion, we start to differentiate between our wounded child and our Self — the calm, capable, loving core that trauma couldn’t destroy.
Reparenting: Becoming the Adult You Needed
Reparenting is the practice of meeting those unmet needs — as the adult you are now.
It’s learning to hold your inner child with the same patience, safety, and nurturing that you once longed for.
Some ways this might look:
Self-soothing instead of self-criticizing: “It’s okay that I feel scared. I’ve got you.”
Setting boundaries that a child couldn’t set.
Celebrating small wins instead of chasing impossible perfection.
Playing again — reclaiming joy, spontaneity, and creativity that trauma once froze.
Reparenting isn’t pretending you had a different childhood. It’s creating the safety now that you didn’t get then.
The Grief of Growing Up Late
Healing often comes with grief — for the years you spent surviving instead of living, for the milestones you missed, for the versions of yourself that never got to flourish.
But grief is also a sign of thawing. It means the frozen parts are melting, and life — messy, vibrant, unpredictable life — is returning.
You’re Not Broken. You’re Healing.
If you feel like a perpetual child, remember: that part of you is not evidence of failure.
It’s evidence of endurance.
It’s the part that kept you alive when life was too much for someone so small.
With compassion, therapy, and inner work — especially trauma-informed modalities like IFS, somatic work, and reparenting — those parts can finally begin to trust that it’s safe to grow.
You are not too late.
You are not too childish.
You are becoming whole.
Healing Relational Attachment Wounds: A Journey Back to Myself
One of the hardest lessons I had to learn in therapy was this: not everyone will be the person you need.
No one is coming to save you. You have to save yourself.
A couple of years ago, I went through one of the lowest points of my life. I spent a lot of time reaching out to close friends — for reassurance, validation, emotional regulation — hoping they could offer the support I couldn’t yet give myself.
Because I didn’t fully trust my own inner judgment, I relied on others to tell me I was okay.
But when I didn’t get the responses I needed, I remember staring at my phone, feeling that sting of disappointment.
Was I asking for too much? Was I too much? Not enough? Too heavy? Too sensitive? Too dark?
It took deep work in therapy to get to a place where I could learn to be the person I needed in those moments.
Yes, relationships are important — and sometimes we do need others to co-regulate with us — but they can’t stop the pain for us. Only we can.
By learning to offer myself the love, care, and guidance I didn’t get as a child, I began to rewrite that old story.
What I’ve learned since then is that people can love you deeply and still lack the emotional capacity to hold space for your pain.
Some people don’t know how to handle vulnerability because it reminds them of their own. Others are in their own battles — too drained to give more. Some are triggered by their own emotional wounds, trying to work through them, or maybe they aren’t even aware of them yet.
And that doesn’t mean they’re bad friends — it means they’re human.
Once I started seeing it that way, I stopped taking everything so personally. I began to separate my needs from their limitations, and that shift became a massive turning point in my healing journey.
When I accepted that not everyone could be my safe place, I stopped trying to make them fit into roles they were never meant to play.
Looking back, I realized that my attempts to make others fit those roles were really attempts to control the outcome — to make people show up in ways that made me feel safe.
But safety doesn’t come from control; it comes from trust — especially trust in myself.
Instead, I learned to:
• Lean on friends who could listen without trying to fix me.
• Continue healing my relational wounds in therapy for deeper emotional connection to my parts that needed re-parenting.
• Go inward and support my inner child — the part of me that once felt unseen, not enough, and too much all at the same time.
• Listen to my intuition more than ever before.
• Reach out to trusted friends, family, and, always, my therapist (shoutout to LR) when I need help processing.
And surprisingly, that created space for new people — people who could meet me where I was, without judgment or confusion. People who didn’t make me feel like I was too much or a burden.
I’m still working on not performing anymore — on simply being.
The truth is, once you stop expecting everyone to understand you, you find the ones who actually do.
It means releasing control.
It means forgiving people for not being able to show up in the way you hoped.
And most importantly, it means showing up for yourself in the ways no one else can.
Healing isn’t about cutting people out; it’s about setting realistic expectations for who they are and what they can give. That’s not bitterness — that’s self-awareness.
Learning that not everyone will be the person you need can feel like loss — but really, it’s a form of clarity.
You stop chasing validation. You stop overexplaining.
And you start building relationships rooted in mutual understanding, not emotional debt.
Because the truth is, you don’t need everyone.
You just need a few real ones — and yourself.
Why Virtual Therapy Works & How It Can Benefit You
In today’s fast-paced world, finding time for self-care and emotional healing can be challenging. Virtual therapy, also known as online counseling or teletherapy, has become a trusted and effective option for many individuals seeking support. At Hope Counseling PLLC, we’ve seen how virtual therapy can help people build resilience, manage stress, and work through life’s challenges — all from the comfort of home.
Virtual therapy removes many of the barriers that keep people from getting the help they need. For those living in rural areas, balancing busy schedules, or facing mobility or transportation issues, online counseling offers accessibility and convenience. Sessions can take place from your home, office, or any private space with a secure internet connection, making it easier to stay consistent with your care. Therapy fits into your life — not the other way around.
Comfort is another key benefit. Meeting with a therapist from a familiar environment often helps clients feel more relaxed and open. Many find that it’s easier to process emotions and engage authentically when surrounded by the comforts of home. Virtual sessions also provide a high level of privacy; there are no waiting rooms and no chance encounters, just confidential, one-on-one connection between you and your therapist.
Research consistently shows that online therapy is just as effective as in-person sessions for treating conditions such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship issues. Therapists use the same evidence-based approaches — including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness-based therapy, and trauma-informed care — through secure video platforms designed to protect confidentiality. The quality of care remains the same, with the added benefit of flexibility and accessibility.
Virtual therapy also allows for continuity of care, even when life changes. Whether you’re traveling, moving, or navigating unexpected circumstances, online counseling ensures that your therapeutic journey continues uninterrupted. Maintaining consistent support helps foster growth, stability, and long-term progress.
Perhaps most importantly, virtual therapy empowers you to take charge of your mental health. The flexibility to schedule sessions around your day and the comfort of connecting from your own space can make therapy more sustainable and less stressful. Healing is not defined by a location; it’s defined by connection, trust, and commitment to personal growth.
At Hope Counseling PLLC, we believe that healing can happen anywhere — even through a screen. Our licensed clinicians provide compassionate, professional virtual therapy to clients across multiple states, helping them find balance, clarity, and hope. If you’ve been considering therapy but aren’t sure where to start, virtual counseling might be the right fit for you.
To learn more or schedule a virtual consultation, visit Hope Counseling PLLC and take the first step on your path to healing and growth.
Redefining Safety: Why Avoiding Conflict Isn’t Always the Answer
Many people grow up believing that safety means the absence of conflict. This belief often leads to a lifelong pattern of conflict avoidance — steering clear of disagreement, suppressing needs, and striving to keep the peace at all costs. While this may reduce immediate discomfort, it can also create a false sense of safety and distance us from authenticity and connection.
The Illusion of Safety
Avoiding conflict can feel protective, especially for those who experienced situations where disagreement led to chaos, punishment, or emotional harm. The nervous system learns that conflict equals danger, and appeasement becomes a survival strategy.
However, appeasement and safety are not the same thing. When we prioritize harmony over honesty, we may quiet external conflict but create internal disconnection. True safety does not come from the absence of conflict; it comes from the ability to navigate conflict while staying regulated, self-respecting, and grounded.
Redefining What Safety Means
Safety is not the absence of tension; it is the presence of trust in oneself.
Conflict does not automatically mean that a situation is unsafe. In fact, conflict can sometimes lead to greater safety — when it becomes the space where boundaries are set, needs are communicated, and self-respect is reinforced.
Learning to stay connected to oneself during conflict allows for authentic relationships built on mutual respect rather than avoidance. It communicates, both to others and to the nervous system, “I can keep myself safe, even here.”
The Role of Emotional Regulation
Developing the capacity to remain regulated during conflict is central to this process. When the nervous system senses threat, the amygdala can trigger a fight, flight, or freeze response. For many, this automatic reaction is tied to early experiences where conflict truly was dangerous — emotionally, psychologically, or physically.
Through practice, it is possible to retrain the body and mind to recognize that not all conflict is danger. With support and repetition, the nervous system can learn to tolerate discomfort, differentiate between real threat and emotional challenge, and respond with greater flexibility.
Practicing Internal Safety
Cultivating a sense of safety within conflict takes time and intentional practice. Some helpful starting points include:
Regulating the nervous system – Pause, breathe, and notice physical sensations before reacting. Grounding techniques and mindfulness can help signal safety to the body.
Setting and honoring boundaries – Even small acts of self-advocacy build internal trust and reinforce that one’s needs matter.
Developing a relationship with younger parts – Often, the fear of conflict belongs to a younger part of the self that once felt powerless or unsafe. Creating a compassionate dialogue with this part can provide reassurance and healing.
Reflecting rather than reacting – Taking time to process before responding helps maintain connection and clarity, rather than falling into old protective patterns.
Moving Toward Authentic Safety
Safety is not found in avoiding conflict; it is found in trusting oneself to remain safe within it.
When individuals learn to regulate their emotions, honor their boundaries, and attend to the parts of themselves that feel fearful, they begin to experience a more stable and authentic sense of safety — one that does not depend on external calm but arises from internal trust.
Conflict, when approached with regulation and self-awareness, can become a pathway to growth, integrity, and genuine connection.
When the News Follows Us Into Our Dreams: Regulating a Hypervigilant Nervous System
How to Calm Hypervigilance and Regulate Your Nervous System
As a therapist, I’ve been noticing a new trend in my work: more and more clients are experiencing nightmares connected to current events in America.
What does this mean? It shows that the constant stream of distressing news we’re exposed to every day isn’t just overwhelming during the day—it’s following us into the night. Instead of restorative rest, many are finding their sleep disrupted, leaving them even more depleted.
I believe this is connected to what I call the growing “hum” of hypervigilance. For individuals already carrying fear or anxiety, the nervous system remains on high alert, scanning for threats long after the day is done.
What is Hypervigilance?
Hypervigilance is the body’s way of saying: “I don’t feel safe.” The nervous system switches into survival mode, constantly searching for danger—even when no immediate threat is present.
Over time, this heightened alert state can lead to:
Irritability and mood swings
Exhaustion and chronic fatigue
Poor sleep or nightmares
Difficulty relaxing or focusing
The good news is that there are proven nervous system regulation techniques that can help calm hypervigilance and restore balance.
How to Calm Hypervigilance and Anxiety
Grounding Practices for Anxiety
Grounding helps bring your body back into the present moment. Focus on your breath, notice the sensations in your body, or observe small details in your environment. Allow thoughts to arise, and then let them drift away like waves returning to the ocean.
Meditation for Nervous System Regulation
Even just a few minutes of meditation can help signal safety to your nervous system, quiet the mind, and reduce stress-related hyperarousal.
Community and Co-Regulation
Connection is essential for nervous system health. Spend time with trusted friends or family, check in on loved ones, or get to know someone new. Safe, supportive relationships provide opportunities for co-regulation—our nervous systems “borrow calm” from others.
Core Principles of Nervous System Regulation
Pendulation: Move gently between stress and relaxation. Flexibility, not stillness, is the goal.
Bottom-up regulation: Use the body (breath, movement, sensation) rather than thoughts alone.
Safety cues: Create reminders of safety through predictable routines, soothing spaces, and relationships.
Gradual titration: Release stress in small amounts instead of overwhelming the system.
Techniques for Hypervigilance (Over-activation)
Breathwork: Inhale for 4, exhale for 6–8 to calm the vagus nerve.
Orienting: Slowly look around and name what you see in your environment.
Grounding through touch: Weighted blankets, pressing feet into the ground, or holding a warm mug.
Rhythmic movement: Walking, drumming, rocking.
Brief cold exposure: Splash cold water on your face or hold an ice cube to reset fight-or-flight.
Techniques for Over-Control (Freeze, Rigidity, Collapse)
Sometimes the nervous system goes into shutdown instead of overdrive. Here we aim for gentle reactivation:
Energizing breath: Quick inhales and exhales (such as “breath of fire”).
Playful movement: Dance, shake out the body, bounce on your heels.
Sound: Humming, chanting, or singing to stimulate vagal tone.
Creativity: Free drawing, music, or playful writing.
Micro-risk-taking: Safely breaking small rules (like trying a new route to work) to reduce rigidity.
A Daily Nervous System Regulation Routine
Morning: Gentle stretching and paced breathing.
Midday: Step outside, walk, and notice the horizon.
Afternoon: Take a short shake-out break or play uplifting music.
Evening: Warm shower or bath, then journal to release the day.
Before sleep: Long exhale breathing, dim lights, and use a weighted blanket if desired.
Try This Now: A Short Grounding Exercise
Sit comfortably with both feet on the floor.
Inhale through your nose for a count of four.
Exhale through your mouth for a count of six. Repeat three times.
Use the “5-4-3-2-1” method: name five things you see, four things you touch, three things you hear, two things you smell, and one thing you taste.
Place your hand over your heart and tell yourself: “In this moment, I am safe.”
Even two minutes of this grounding exercise can calm an overactive nervous system.
Final Thoughts on Managing Hypervigilance
If you’re experiencing nightmares, anxiety, or ongoing stress symptoms, you’re not alone. Hypervigilance is a natural response to overwhelming circumstances, but it doesn’t have to control your days—or your nights.
With grounding practices, nervous system regulation techniques, and supportive community, you can begin to reclaim rest, presence, and safety.
As always, our therapists are here to help. If you are struggling and would like additional support, please reach out. You don’t have to navigate this alone.