Advice? Getting used to triggers.

[goblinchild]

Before we (T and myself) realized I had CPSTD, we were trying to treat anxiety/social anxiety through exposure. It never seemed to work out the way it was supposed to, it felt like nothing really ever got better. It probably wasn't a very effective treatment for CPTSD.

I've had a lot more luck with triggers once I started focusing on causes and past experiences/ processing old feelings but there are a few that have been very stubborn! I feel stumped. I think these are ones that started occurring when I was youngest and stem from what feels like...a more central trauma if that makes sense? Maybe something that impacted the way I think and see the world more than anything else.

Has anyone else worked through one of these stubborn triggers? Or maybe you're in the process of doing so? I would appreciate examples or advice if anyone has any. I feel like no matter how far back I dig with these specific triggers, they just won't go away! I feel like I could analyze and emotionally process these things forever and it wouldn't do any good.

[Kizzie]

I did some Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for my social anxiety and it really helped.  It involves identifying beliefs & behaviours you have because of your past trauma and then challenging them in the present.

E.g., People judge me harshly = Is everyone judging me harshly? It may have been true in the past within my family, but what is the evidence that this is true/not true now?  = Some people do judge others harshly but they are far fewer than I imagined.  =   I am a good person and most people will not judge me harshly like my parents did.  Judging others harshly says much more about that person than it does me. I can walk away or stand up for myself when I need to now.