Grounding & Your Nervous System
What is Grounding?
Grounding is a tool frequently used by therapists, especially when clients are feeling overwhelmed by their emotions or experiencing a trauma response. The purpose of grounding is to help bring us back into the present moment and regulate.
Grounding exercises consist of things like:
Regulating our breathing (inhaling for 4 seconds, holding for 4 seconds, and exhaling for 6 seconds)
Re-orientating to the present moment (saying “my name is…”, “I am (age) years old…”, “I am at (your location - my home, my therapist’s office, the park, etc.)...”, “I can see (describe your surroundings)”
Doing an exercise like the 5 senses (5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste)
Grounding might feel a little woo-woo without understanding our brain’s stress response and two important components of our nervous system: the parasympathetic nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system.
Our Stress Response and the Parasympathetic & Sympathetic Nervous System
Our parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems act as complementary counterparts - we need both to function in our daily lives.
Our parasympathetic nervous system is a part of our autonomic nervous system that regulates many functions of our bodies that we don’t even think about [1]. Things like regulating our blood pressure, heart rate, digestion, sexual arousal, waste removal, and respiratory rate. Sometimes we’ll hear the parasympathetic nervous system being referred to as our “rest and digest” system.
Our sympathetic nervous system is a part of our autonomic nervous system, and is best known for activating our fight/flight/freeze response when we perceive something as stressful or dangerous [2]. When danger is perceived, it will automatically prepare us for a fight/flight/freeze response, like pushing more blood flow to our extremities and away from non-essential areas for the response like digestion. Having this response is important! If a big scary wave comes our way on the beach, our sympathetic nervous system engages without us even thinking and has us running away. Where things can get sticky is sometimes this response gets engaged when there is no real danger.
Grounding exercises are tools that we can use to try to switch off our stress response (fight/flight/freeze) and engage our parasympathetic nervous system. Grounding can help us regulate and remind our bodies that we are safe in the present moment [3]. It draws attention away from distressing thoughts/memories and back into sensory awareness. This interrupts the brain’s alarm system, our amygdala, and helps us bring our pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for reasoning and logic, back online. It can be effective for anxiety reduction and improved sleep [4], regulating trauma symptoms (e.g. flashbacks, dissociation) [5].
How This Shows Up in Therapy Sessions
Sometimes our stress response will get triggered in therapy when we’re exploring the pain we feel or traumatic events that have happened to us. We might begin to feel panicky, overwhelmed, or dissociated. While it’s important to attune to our emotional experience (to feel our feelings) it’s also important that we do this in a safe way. As your counsellor, an important part of my role is to support you in exploring these parts while monitoring distress levels, and helping you contain and regulate as needed. Towards the last 5-10 minutes I’ll begin to close up our session, and will typically offer to walk you through a grounding exercise to help you emotionally regulate. This is to help act as a transition between therapy and moving back into the world.
Another important aspect of my role as your counsellor is providing psycho-education to you in session to help you understand your symptoms and how you can support yourself outside of session.
Limits
It’s important to note that grounding doesn’t erase trauma or painful emotions. It can give us more control in the moment and help us feel safe enough to continue processing.
Interested in Learning More?
Are you in British Columbia and interested in learning more about how I might approach your case with the stress response and grounding in mind? Book in for a free 20-minute online consultation by clicking here. And if I’m not the right fit? I’m always more than happy to make a referral to my trusted network of clinicians.
References
[1] Cleveland Clinic. Parasympathetic Nervous System (PSNS). https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23266-parasympathetic-nervous-system-psns
[2] Cleveland Clinic. Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS). https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23262-sympathetic-nervous-system-sns-fight-or-flight
[3] Berberat, P. D. (2023). The benefits of grounding strategies in emotion and arousal regulation. Mental Health & Human Resilience International Journal, 7(2), 1-6. https://medwinpublishers.com/MHRIJ/the-benefits-of-grounding-strategies-in-emotion-and-arousal-regulation.pdf
[4] Koniver, L. (2024). Grounding To Treat Anxiety. Medical Research Archives, 12(12). https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/6024#:~:text=Results%3A%20Grounding%20has%20been%20shown,function%2C%20and%20better%20sleep%20quality.
[5] Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (US). (2014). Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 57. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207188/box/part1_ch4.box5/?report=objectonly
*I do my best to ensure my posts are accurate and to cite reputable sources, however if you notice something that needs a correction please reach out to me at monica@beginagaintoday.ca.
