Client Resource Page
Support for Your Healing Journey
WELCOME!!
I'm glad you're here. This page was created with you in mind—a space to return to for support, reminders, and practical tools between sessions or as you continue your healing journey.
Take your time exploring. Some tools may feel familiar, while others might be new. Healing isn’t linear, and it's okay to revisit the basics or move slowly—building new ways of being takes practice and patience.
Trauma recovery is not a one-size-fits-all process. It often unfolds in stages, as first outlined by psychiatrist Judith Herman and expanded by clinician Janina Fisher. These three stages—Safety & Stabilization, Processing & Integration, and Reconnection & Growth—serve as a flexible guide through the healing journey.
The resources below are organized by stage, offering practical tools and reflections to support your progress, both during and between sessions.
🔹 Stage 1: Safety & Stabilization
“No recovery from trauma is possible without safety.” — Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery
The first stage of trauma recovery focuses on creating a sense of safety—both internally and externally. This includes building skills to regulate emotions, stay grounded, and develop more compassionate awareness of your thoughts, sensations, and triggers.
It can be tempting to want to “get to the root” quickly, but real healing begins by establishing a steady foundation. These tools aren’t just techniques—they’re the scaffolding that helps you feel more in control, more present, and more resilient when things feel overwhelming.
🌱 Take your time here. Learning how to calm your nervous system and stay connected to the present moment is an essential part of long-term healing. As many therapists say: “Go slow to go fast.” The deeper work will always be there, and it becomes more possible when you’ve built capacity and trust in yourself.
1. Grounding Exercises - Click here for a downloadable file.
A collection of quick sensory-based tools to help you stay present when feeling overwhelmed or disconnected. Includes:
5-4-3-2-1 technique
Texture or temperature focus
Object tracking (visual bilateral stimulation)
“These practices help anchor you to the present moment.”
2. Breathwork Basics (PDF)Easy-to-follow breathing techniques to calm the nervous system. Includes:
Box breathing
4-7-8 breath
Gentle extended exhale
“Breathing is one of the quickest ways to shift your body state.”
3. Safe/Calm Place Visualization (PDF + optional MP3)A guided imagery script to help you return to a place of calm and safety, even during difficult emotions.
“Imagining a safe place helps build an internal sense of refuge.”
4. Orientation & Nervous System Reset (PDF)Simple movements and orienting techniques to help regulate when hyper- or hypoaroused.
Look around slowly and describe what you see
Gentle bilateral tapping
“These actions help signal to your brain that you're safe.”
🔹 Stage 2: Processing & Integration
Once you have more stability, it becomes possible to begin gently working with past experiences. The goal is not to relive trauma, but to understand and integrate it with support and care.
Approaches like EMDR, parts work, Brainspotting, and somatic tracking can help connect past and present without becoming overwhelmed. These methods support your system in releasing what’s been held—at a pace that feels tolerable and empowering.
🌿 This kind of work is not meant to be done alone. If you come across a tool or reflection here that stirs up strong emotion or feels too intense, please wait to explore it until your next session or schedule a time to talk it through. Processing is most effective—and safest—within the container of a supportive therapeutic relationship.
1. Parts Mapping Worksheet (PDF)A gentle way to explore inner parts or “younger selves” that show up in certain situations. Includes:
Prompts like: “What does this part want me to know?”
Visual map for labeling parts
“Understanding your parts fosters inner compassion and coherence.”
2. Journal Prompts for Trauma Integration (PDF)A guided journal with prompts such as:
“What helped you survive?”
“What do you need from others now?”
“What is your body trying to tell you?”
“These prompts support deeper reflection and self-awareness.”
3. Understanding the Window of Tolerance (PDF)Visual and written explanation of the “window” where you feel safe and connected, with notes on what helps you widen it.
“Learning your own patterns helps you stay within your window during stress.”
4. Trauma & the Nervous System – Psychoeducation Handout (PDF)Explains trauma’s effect on the brain and body using client-friendly language and visuals.
🔹 Stage 3: Reconnection & Growth
In this phase, healing begins to expand beyond symptom relief into fuller reconnection—with yourself, your body, your relationships, and a renewed sense of meaning and possibility.
You may notice increased capacity to stay present, explore your values, set boundaries with greater clarity, and create new patterns that reflect who you’re becoming. This is also a time to reconnect with joy, creativity, purpose, and community—not by pushing yourself, but by allowing these parts of life to reemerge naturally.
🌼 Growth at this stage often includes reflecting on how far you’ve come and continuing to nurture the practices that support ongoing resilience and well-being.
1. Values Exploration Worksheet (PDF)Helps you clarify what matters most—ideal for rebuilding identity and purpose. Includes:
List of core values
Reflection prompts: “When do I feel most like myself?”
“Reclaiming your values is part of reclaiming your life.”
2. Self-Compassion Practices (PDF)Short exercises drawn from Kristin Neff’s work and Janina Fisher’s parts work. Includes:
“Soften–Soothe–Allow” exercise
Gentle self-talk scripts
“You are worthy of kindness, especially from yourself.”
3. Post-Traumatic Growth Reflections (PDF)Prompts to notice growth, strength, and change over time.
“What do I know now that I didn’t before?”
“What relationships have deepened?”
“Healing can uncover strength, insight, and purpose.”
4. Recommended Reading & Podcasts (PDF)Curated list of client-friendly trauma books, podcasts, and healing-focused media.
“Learning from others can bring hope and connection.”
📝 Sources & Inspiration
Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman (1992)
Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors by Janina Fisher (2017)
Janina Fisher’s Psychoeducational Flip Chart
Daniel J. Siegel, The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are (1999) – originator of the “Window of Tolerance” model