Sensory Grounding Using Smells (Audio)
The Sensory Grounding Using Smells exercise is an audio track from the Psychology Tools For Overcoming PTSD Audio Collection. It is designed to teach people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) a simple technique to ‘ground’ themselves whenever they experience intrusive memories, flashbacks, or other dissociative reactions.
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Audio track (MP3)
A therapy audio track designed for skills development.
Audio script (PDF)
The script for a therapy audio track. Read along with an exercise, or record in your own voice.
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Introduction & Theoretical Background
The Sensory Grounding Using Smells exercise is an audio track from the Psychology Tools For Overcoming PTSD Audio Collection. It is designed to teach people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) a simple technique to ‘ground’ themselves whenever they experience intrusive memories, flashbacks, or other dissociative reactions. The use of smell / olfaction is a particularly effective form of sensory grounding because of the strong connections between the olfactory bulb and the amygdala.
Therapist Guidance
This audio track is designed for people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or who experience dissociative symptoms. The audio track is a simple .mp3 file which can be played in most media player apps. You can also download the verbatim script, allowing you to record the exercise for your clients in your own voice to reinforce work completed in therapy.
References And Further Reading
- Ehlers, A., Clark, D. M. (2000). A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319-345.
- Fisher, J. (1999). The work of stabilization in trauma treatment. Trauma Center Lecture Series, Boston, Massachusetts.