Introducing Our Latest Guide: 10 Tips to Create a Trauma Response Toolkit

Long Beach, CA – June 19th, 2025 – Qwoted Newswire – Pacific Mind Health, a California-based provider of outpatient psychiatry and therapy, has released a new resource during PTSD Awareness Month: a guide featuring 10 grounding techniques to help individuals manage flashbacks caused by trauma. Developed by medical director and chief psychiatrist Joshua Flatow, MD, the guide offers practical, clinician-recommended tools for regaining control during these intense episodes, which are a hallmark of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“Flashbacks are a sign that the brain and the body are struggling to process and heal from past trauma,” says Flatow. “Flashbacks can be extremely frightening, and some people can lose all sense of awareness of their surroundings as they are seemingly transported back to a past event.”

PTSD is a condition that affects 3.5% of the adult population.1 Left untreated, PTSD symptoms can compound and lead to long-term physical problems, like cardiovascular and gastrointestinal issues, sleep disorders, substance use and addiction, suicidal thoughts, and more.

10 clinician-recommended grounding techniques to help a person manage flashbacks and stay in touch with the present moment:

• 5-4-3-2-1 sensory method: Name five things you can see, four you can feel, three you can hear, two you can smell, and one you can taste.
• Box breathing: Inhale for four seconds, hold for four, exhale for four, and hold for four. Repeat until you feel calmer.
• Cold water or ice: Splashing water on your face or holding an ice cube re-engages the brain’s prefrontal cortex, the seat of reasoning, decision-making, and self-control.
• Touch texture: Run your fingers over something bumpy, soft, or rough to engage your senses.
• Orient to the present: Say out loud where you are, what day it is, and that you are safe.
• Move your body: Stretch, walk, stomp, or swap. Movement signals to your brain that you don’t need to freeze in fear.
• Repeat a soothing phrase: Try saying, “I am safe right now” or “This will pass.”
• Use a grounding object: Carry a small, familiar item you can hold during high-stress moments.
• Smell something familiar: Essential oils, citrus, or a favorite lotion can calm emotional flashbacks.
• Sing or hum: Sound and vibration help activate the vagus nerve, which plays a huge role in the mind-body connection in terms of stress and emotional regulation.

Why do flashbacks happen?

Flashbacks can occur after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event such as abuse, violence, accidents, or natural disasters. They can cause intense feelings of fear, helplessness, or horror and may leave a lasting imprint on a person, echoing across the brain and body for years, especially when left untreated.

A flashback can trigger the same stress responses as the original trauma. Just like during a traumatic event, a flashback engages the brain in a hormonal chain reaction to prepare the body for fight or flight. Even though there is no present danger, a person can still be gripped by same overwhelming feelings of panic, fear, or disconnection as the original event.

Cortisol and adrenaline, hormones that alert and prepare the body to danger, suppress a number of the body’s systems, including digestion, reproductive, immune, and brain functioning. Over time, this can lead to even bigger mental and physical health challenges.

Many people may avoid getting help for PTSD. They may feel shame, stigma, or believe they will heal on their own.

Thankfully, PTSD is highly treatable. Therapy, medication, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and Spravato® (esketamine) are highly effective in helping patients manage symptoms and even experience full remission.

Living with PTSD can feel exhausting and unpredictable, but it’s important to remember that no one is alone in their mental health journey. Asking for help is the ultimate sign of strength.

Download and print our free Trauma Response Toolkit, and read our full article Practical Tips to Healing After Trauma on our website.

References

1 National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). Posttraumatic stress disorder. NAMI. Retrieved May 15, 2025, from https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-Conditions/Posttraumatic-Stress-Disorder/