CAPABILITY TEST | MINDFULNESS BASED TRAUMA TREATMENT

You need some particular skills in order to be able to apply Mindfulness Based Trauma Treatment successfully. You need to be able to imagine, to keep distance from your nasty emotions and to be creative.

Imagination

Imagination is the ability to form (or create) new images and sensations within the mind, which are not perceived through sight, hearing, or other sensory perceptions.

Imagination test

1. Please close your eyes. Imagine a car. Can you see it?

2. Please change the color of the car into red. Can you see the red car?

3. Please start the engine of the car. Can you hear the sound of the engine?

4. Please touch the engine. Can you feel the change of its temperature?

5. Please smell the exhaust fumes of the car. Can you smell them?

6. Now image that this is your car. Please add an elephant to your imaging. The elephant is trying to get into your car. Can you imagine this?

7. The elephant isn´t able to enter your car. So he decides to go sit on your car. Can you see this happen? Can you hear it too?

If your answer to all these questions is positive, you have successfully passed the imagination test. If this is not entirely or partly the case, you might be faced with difficulties applying Mindfulness Based Trauma Treatment.

Keeping distance from your emotions

Keeping distance from your emotions is quite a skill. This particular skill is absolutely necessary to be able to stay in control with yourself during your trauma-meditation. You have to guide yourself through your trauma-meditation. In order to manage this properly, you´ll have to keep thinking rationally during your trauma-meditation and see to it not to lose control whatsoever.

Distancing emotions test

1. Are you losing control over your behavior when you´re feeling angry?

2. Can you manage to distance yourself from your emotions and observe them?

3. Are you able to keep thinking rationally when you are being overwhelmed by nasty emotions?

If your answer to the first question is negative and your answer to the second as well as to the third question is positive, you have successfully passed the Distancing emotions test. If you didn’t pass this test, you’ll definitely having difficulties applying Mindfulness Based Trauma Treatment.

Creativity

When you are re-experiencing your bad recollections, you need to be creative in order to think up new elements (like persons of things) which you can add to your recollection. These elements are not given. You’ll have to think them up by yourself. These additional elements are necessary in order to be able to change your emotional experiencing from negative to neutral.

Creativity test

1. Image, you are walking along the street. You see a mother who’s shouting at her crying child very aggressively. You don’t feel good about this. What should you do?

2. Image, you are walking along the street. You see a group of young boys who are trying to rob an older women. What should you do?

3. Image, you are walking along the street. You see two big men who are beating a teenager. What should you do?

4. Image, you are walking along the street. You see group of men raping a woman. You are all alone on the street. What should you do?

5. Image, you see a relative of yours. Someone is intimidating him/her. What should you do?

6. Image, you witness a car accident. Someone gets stuck in a burning car. What should you do?

If you can’t find a suitable solution for at least one of these situations you may have difficulties applying Mindfulness Based Trauma Treatment.

 

Please note. There is one particular kind of trauma which is (almost) not suitable for treating by Mindfulness Based Trauma Treatment. This is losing a loved one.