999-Understanding Triggers and Cravings: Counselor Education Webinar

### Summary

#### Introduction

- Presenter: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes

- Topic: Understanding triggers and cravings

- Goals: Define triggers and cravings, identify personal triggers, and discuss coping methods

#### Defining Triggers and Cravings

- **Triggers**: Anything prompting a rewarding or survival response.

 - Examples: Touch (hot stove), sounds (alarm clock), sights (child's smile), smells (fall air), places (dentist's office), people (reminding you of someone), situations (new job).

- **Cravings**: Repetitive, consuming thoughts or desires caused by triggers.

 - Example: Food commercials triggering hunger at night.

#### Components of Triggers

1. **Sensory Awareness**:

  - Body perceives a stimulus and sends it to the brain.

  - Brain retrieves a schema to interpret and respond to the stimulus.

  - Neurochemical release depending on the schema (fight or flight, pleasure).

2. **Cognitive Awareness**:

  - Includes flashbacks and intrusive thoughts.

  - Brain determines how to handle the situation based on past experiences.

3. **Systemic Awareness**:

  - Body notices imbalances (blood sugar, dopamine levels).

  - Brain looks for past coping mechanisms to address the imbalance.

#### Coping with Triggers and Cravings

1. **Identify Personal Triggers**:

  - Recognize triggers for specific feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.

  - Example: Hunger, tiredness, environmental factors (places, times of day).

2. **Developing Awareness**:

  - Be mindful of surroundings and internal states.

  - Journal recent triggers and analyze early warning signs.

3. **Increase Positive Triggers**:

  - Enhance the environment with positive stimuli (pictures, smells, music).

4. **Addressing Negative Triggers**:

  - Reduce or manage negative triggers (broken locks, unsafe situations).

  - Use coping strategies like deep breathing, meditation, exercise.

#### Practical Strategies

1. **Four Square Breathing**: 

  - Trigger relaxation response by deep breathing.

2. **Loving Kindness Meditation**:

  - Reduce stress response by fostering positive emotions.

3. **Increase Physical Safety**:

  - Modify environment to reduce stress (mirrors, locked doors).

4. **Address Comfort and Ergonomics**:

  - Improve physical comfort to enhance mood and focus.

5. **Build Positive Relationships**:

  - Use assertive communication and manage boundaries to feel secure.

6. **Recondition Responses**:

  - Change associations with negative triggers (e.g., payday as positive).

  - Make triggers more unpleasant if necessary (e.g., Antabuse for alcohol).

7. **Mindfulness and Journaling**:

  - Reflect on triggers and responses to understand and manage them better.

#### Handling Cravings

1. **Stop, Look, Listen, and Feel**:

  - Recognize cravings as clues to unmet needs.

2. **Alternative Actions**:

  - Identify what is truly needed and find healthier ways to fulfill that need.

3. **Dealing with Persistent Cravings**:

  - Understand cravings as similar to a child's tantrum; resisting strengthens resolve.

### Time Codes for Major Points

00:00 Introduction and goals of the video

02:00 Definition and examples of triggers

06:30 Components of triggers (sensory, cognitive, systemic)

10:45 Understanding cravings and their impact

15:30 Identifying personal triggers and increasing awareness

20:00 Developing positive triggers and addressing negative ones

25:45 Practical strategies for coping with triggers

30:00 Handling cravings and alternative actions

35:00 Reflecting on personal experiences and journaling

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