It's a Tuesday. Nothing has happened, nothing is going to happen, and you've checked the back door twice since dinner.
That's where most of PTSD lives. Not only in the worst ten minutes, but in the ordinary week built around them: the seat you choose, the route you take, the evening that won't switch off. So these seven PTSD coping skills are for ordinary days. They're ways to steady yourself, not ways to work through what happened, and each one comes with a line on where it stops. That line matters, because a skill that gets oversold can leave you thinking you're the thing that's broken.
Paced breathing when your chest goes tight
This one is for the low, constant tightness that sits across your chest for most of a day and never quite becomes anything.
Keep it short and frequent rather than formal. Three long out-breaths, several times a day, attached to something you already do. At a red light. Waiting for the kettle. After you park. Breathe out longer than you breathe in, and don't hold your breath.
It's working when you notice the tightness earlier, while it's still small.
What this will not do: three breaths won't settle a flooded system or stop a flashback in progress. And for some people with PTSD, long, quiet attention to breathing backfires, because close attention to the inside of the body gives a watchful system something to scan. Keep it brief and attached to something else.
Working through a list like this alone, for years, is more common than it should be. A free 15-minute consultation is a low-pressure way to talk it through, and nothing has to be decided in it.
Orienting to the room when the past crowds in
Sometimes the past doesn't arrive, it crowds. It's an ordinary afternoon and it feels near.
The anchor that tends to help here is time rather than place. So name things in front of you that didn't exist back then. The phone in your hand. Your current job. The car you drive now. Three or four items, said under your breath, each one a small fact that proves time has passed.
How do I handle a trigger in public? The same way, done quietly. Pick one object nearby that belongs to now and hold your attention on it in detail while you carry on. It works standing in a lineup, and nobody can tell.
It's working when the nearness loosens a little and you're still in the afternoon.
What this will not do: it won't stop the past arriving, and it doesn't change the memory. It moves your attention, which is useful but different. If you've tipped into a full flashback, reach for a person you trust or the support lines at the end of this article.
A two-minute body check before sleep
This comes with a caution, which is why it's described carefully.
Two minutes, feet to head. At each part, name the surface it's touching rather than what you feel inside it. Heels on the mattress. Back against the bed. Hands on the blanket. You're noticing contact, not feelings. Eyes open or closed, whichever you'd rather. Stop at two minutes even if it's going well.
That change matters, because keeping attention on the outside edge of the body is often easier for a watchful system than sending it inward.
What this will not do: it won't stop nightmares, which need their own approach. And it doesn't suit everyone. If paying attention to your body brings the memory closer or makes you feel far away from yourself, stop and use something outside your body instead. That reaction is common, and it isn't a failure.
Going back to one avoided everyday place
Avoidance quietly shrinks a life.
One important limit comes first. This is not about the place where it happened, or anywhere closely tied to it. That kind of step belongs in therapy, with a clinician, at a pace you've decided on together.
This is about the ordinary ground avoidance has taken since. The grocery store you stopped using. The road you go around. The gym. Pick one, make it small, and repeat the same one within a few days, because repetition is what helps. If even an everyday place brings the memory flooding back, stop and leave it for therapy.
It's working when the place starts to feel boring.
What this will not do: it won't process the trauma, and winning back the grocery store buys you the grocery store. When the avoidance is closely tied to what happened, this is a therapy task, not a self-help one.
Leaving the details for therapy
Should I write down what happened? On your own, it's usually better not to write out the details. Writing a traumatic scene in depth, alone, can flood people and leave them feeling worse.
The skill here is the opposite: noticing the pull to replay or write out the whole story, and deliberately setting it aside for a safer time. Some people jot a single line, like "for therapy", and close the notebook. You're not ignoring it. You're choosing when and with whom it gets looked at.
What this will not do: setting it aside doesn't make the memory go away or change how it's stored. It protects your week while you get proper support for the memory itself.
Building a shutdown routine for the evening
An evening routine for PTSD happens earlier than people expect. It's about closing the working day so the alertness doesn't run straight through into the night.
Set a time around the end of the working day, and do the same four or five things in the same order. Change out of work clothes. Put the phone in a set spot. Do the lock-up once, deliberately, as a scheduled item. Ten minutes of something physical. Then a marker that says the day is done.
The order matters more than the content. A fixed sequence tells a system that runs on prediction that nothing more is needed today.
What this will not do: it won't turn the alertness off or stop night waking. And if it grows into a long list of conditions that must all be met before you can settle, it's become a ritual, and rituals tend to tighten.
Naming the days you already know will be hard
The body often registers a hard date before the mind has looked at the calendar.
So sit down once with a calendar and mark the dates you already know cost you something. The anniversary. The month, if it's a month. The first cold morning or the week the clocks change. Beside each, write what you'll take off that week and one person who'll know it's coming.
How do I get through hard anniversaries? Lower demands in the week or two before, since the run-up is often worse. Decide in advance what the day holds. And plan the day after, which is easy to forget.
What this will not do: a calendar won't make the date ordinary. It changes what the day costs you, not what it means.
Do PTSD coping skills replace therapy?
No. Everything above steadies you and protects your week. None of it changes how the memory is stored. If you've practised all seven and still feel stuck, that isn't a failure of effort.
Trauma therapy works on the memory itself, usually after a stabilizing stretch where skills like these get built first. So none of this is wasted. You can read about what happens in an EMDR session, learn how trauma affects your window of tolerance, or see how we approach trauma and PTSD counselling.
It's worth booking if this has gone on for months, if avoidance has taken places or people you'd like back, if sleep has gone, or if you're drinking to get through the evening. You don't need a diagnosis, and you don't have to describe what happened to book.
None of these skills is meant for a crisis. If you're thinking about ending your life, put this down and reach out now. Our practice can't offer crisis support. Call or text 9-8-8 any time. In Waterloo Region, call Here 24/7 at 1-844-437-3247. In Ottawa, call the Mental Health Crisis Line at 613-722-6914. If you're in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.
Taking the first step
You won't need a referral, and we don't have a waitlist. We've been part of Kitchener-Waterloo since 2016, and we see people in person in Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge and Ottawa, or online anywhere in Ontario. Sessions with our therapists are $130 to $200, and there is a one-time $50 setup fee. Many extended health plans cover counselling, and in many cases we can bill your insurance directly, depending on your plan and your therapist. Depending on your plan, your insurance may cover the full session fee.
Seven skills is a lot to hold on your own. A free 15-minute consultation can show you what the rest of a plan could look like.