The window of tolerance is such an important concept when we’re working with trauma and dysregulation.
For clients who have experienced trauma, that window often becomes quite narrow.
They may space out and dissociate, or get too angry or anxious to focus. Or, they might fluctuate between hyper- and hypo-arousal. When they’re too far outside the window, it makes it difficult to continue the work of healing.
So what are some ways to help clients expand their window of tolerance and come back into it?
Ruth Lanius, MD, PhD and Bessel van der Kolk, MD offer some of their insights in the video below. Take a look – it’s under 5 minutes.
Ruth and Bessel, together with Stephen Porges, PhD and Pat Ogden, PhD focus on: How to Help Clients Tolerate Dysregulation and Come Back From Hypoarousal as part of the Treating Trauma Master Series.
Now we’d like to hear from you. What have you found effective in helping clients learn to self-regulate? Please leave a comment below.
I have developed a Mindful and Resiliency Toolkit for kids in foster care. We taught these simple activities as several summer camps this year and the youth loved them. If you are interested, you can get a copy of them here
https://www.dropbox.com/s/16gjmox550lqnb2/Mindfulness%20Moments%20Booklet.pdf?dl=0
I’m wowed by how good and wise this training is and how well put together; also how generous it is – a great deal of work must have gone into it. Some is familiar, some new; all of it is helpful. At the moment am still assimilating it but it’s very good to feel hopeful that the effects of trauma are not irreversible.
On self-regulation I have found that colouring-in can be soothing. The movement, selection of colour, feel of pencil in hand and sensation of the paper on skin help to provide strong focus on what’s happening here and now.
Me, too. I work with colors and a silhouette… It’s a 4 step map for registering the different stated of emoticonal dysregulation on a body based intervention.
Which sheets do u use?
Wouldn’t it be pretty wild if one’s regulation and emotions were all rooted in the balanced or imbalanced microbiome…. from natural birth vs. c-section, over-use of anti-biotics in the meat industry, toxic waste, plastics, sprays, etc., causing a GUT IMBALANCE and because the gut is in communication with the Brain through the vagus nerve, all sorts of MENTAL PROBLEMS (Alzheimer’s, Autism, Depression, protruded cases of PTS, Parkinson’s, Compulsions) and disregulated emotions (Greed, Rage, Jealousy, Lack of motivation), have arrived on the scene. What was once thought of as Mental problems are actually imbalances in the Microbiome.
Two things occur to me – it seems like accessing Self, as in IFS, is a way of regulation. Dick Schwartz and Loch Kelly held an online course last spring called ‘Accessing Self’ giving methods/meditations on how to do this. When I access Self, I find myself moved out of either hypo or hyper arousal (I have severe developmental trauma I am still working on).
The other thing I am wondering about is that I know I have heard Dick comment on how IFS avoids the whole window of tolerance issue by the nature of the IFS approach, but I can’t recall how/what/why. Anyone else know?
IFS?
Internal Family Systems.
I find that psycho-education relating to the window of tolerance can be an eye-opener. Folk with a strong visual imagination will ‘see’ it and notice how it can go up and down/in and out – like bag-pipes, perhaps.
I realise that the experience of the window can be flooded by ‘explanation’ and I am not too sure if I know how I discriminate those who ‘get’ it, from those I will hold back the information from. I am cautious and valued this short video as pointing to ways of relating differently to the experiences!
I have found body work and deep breathing with mindfulness as well as visualisations very helpful to expand my clients window of tolerance. It helps them move from chaos or rigidity to a safe place where trust and connection is possible
I am a physical therapist and I use ball throwing as well to help someone get into their body and feel safe to express. I also have my clients stand on a balance board while having a conversation about something they like. It helps them get into their core muscles and be able to express truth.
I recently tried the newest iteration of Thr Flash technique with a client who couldn’t tolerate thinking of the traumatic event without shutting down. This method was “more helpful than anything else we tried”.
The “SeeSaw” breathing lessons from the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Re-education, not only expand the lungs but can lead to the development of new neurological pathways that over-ride pathways created during trauma. All the Feldenkrais lessons release habitual muscle-tension holding patterns.
Body scan or loving kindness meditation. Grounding exercises.
In my practice (Tom Robertson Therapy) I usually have the clients adopt a positive physiology – looking forward, not down, smile on their face (even if they don’t mean it) shoulders back and of course, deep breathing! In addition I use Emotional Freedom Technique (tapping) too. I find tapping is very powerful in most cases.
However, I do like the beach ball imagery described in the video and may incorporate it into the procecedure.
Thank you for your video. The description of what the window of tolerance is was well explained. I am a therapist and am disappointed at the lack of more practical ways that really help clients increase or return into their window that were offered.
I work at Dandelion Time in the UK. We utilise movement in the body to help families rebuild relationships and rhythmic sensory experiences to help them self regulate. We work largely outside in the natural world and we work systemically. Our work is experiential and I have found that kneading dough, using the shave horse in green wood work, digging in the garden, stroking a guinea pig, felting wool or simply walking offer opportunities for self regulation.
Thank you. Succinct grasp of the whole person dynamics with flexible options to ‘unwind’, expand and balance tolerance levels.
Thank you very much for this video! I found it very interesting! Working through conscious breathing, centering the attention in the body, in stillness or movement are two powerful keys to help clients learn to self regulate.
I teach clients slow micro-movement meditation whilst sitting. It takes 1-2 minutes. The shift before and after is very tangible enabling them to relax before moving into hypnosis.
Could you please elaborate on what micro-meditation is. It sounds interesting! Thank you.
As a healing practitioner and educator, I have designed an entire trauma-informed program for individuals and groups that includes nearly 50 different actionable techniques for emotion regulation, stress reduction, and, thus, building a bigger window of tolerance.
Based on Hanna Somatics, EFT (Tapping), Qi Gong, acupoints, breathwork, sound, and rhythm, I designed the Mindful Motion program (www.SomaticRelease.net) to bring people into their bodies in easy and comfortable ways so that the work of healing from trauma is accessible. Using Porges’ concept of the Social Engagement System, which allows us to use particular parts of our body to allow us to connect to ourselves and others, Mindful Motion is a mindfulness-through-movement program that has been shown to reduce the symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and depression.
I have included all of the science behind how and why these evidence-based techniques work. I gathered my information from the writings of many experts: Eugene Gendlin, Bessel van der Kolk, Peter Levine, Daniel Siegel, Stephen Porges, Suzanne Scurlock-Durana, Candace Pert, Thomas Hanna, Tom Myers, Moshe Feldenkrais, Bruce Perry, and many others.
Thank you for bringing this information forward, NICABM!