Coping With Triggers: A Trauma-Informed Guide to Staying Grounded in the Present

If you’ve ever felt hijacked by a strong emotional reaction, whether in a relationship, at work, or even scrolling through social media, you’re not alone. These intense emotional responses often stem from triggers: sensory cues that remind your nervous system of past pain. Triggers can make the present moment feel confusing or overwhelming, even when there’s no real threat.

As a trauma therapist, one of the most common questions I hear is:

“How do I cope when I’m triggered?”

Below is a step-by-step guide I use personally and professionally to help people respond to triggers with more awareness, safety, and self-compassion.

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Step 1: Build the Skill of Interoception

Before we can cope, we have to notice.

Interoception is your ability to recognize and attune to what’s happening inside your body in real time like your heart rate, breath, muscle tension, stomach clenching, etc.

This is your nervous system’s language. It’s how your body tells you something has shifted…whether you feel flooded, frozen, or on edge.

Most of us have learned to disconnect from our bodies, especially if they didn’t feel like safe places growing up. But tuning in is the first step to getting out of autopilot.

When we’re triggered, our brains often default to protective responses—like shutting down, people-pleasing, lashing out, or over-explaining—strategies we learned to survive past pain. Interoception helps us interrupt that automatic loop.

💡Try this: Pause and ask,

• What sensations am I noticing in my body right now?

• What emotion might be tied to that sensation?

• What is my body trying to protect me from?

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 Step 2: Regulate the Body and Reassure Safety

Once you recognize a shift, your next job is to bring your body and mind back to a sense of safety. This isn’t about pretending everything is okay, it’s about reminding your nervous system that the past is not the present.

Let’s say, for example, your partner shuts down during an argument and you feel panicked or angry. If your parent gave you the silent treatment as a child, your body may interpret that silence as punishment or abandonment…even if that’s not what’s happening now. That panic isn’t wrong; it just belongs to another time.

Neuroscience nugget: When we’re triggered, the amygdala (our brain’s alarm system) goes off. To calm it down and reengage the prefrontal cortex (our rational, reflective brain), we need body-based interventions first—not logic.

💡Try this:

• Breathe deeply into your belly (consider using the physiological sigh or keep it simple with an inhale for 4, exhale for 8)

• Move your body—stretch, walk, shake

• Ground yourself with your senses (name 5 things you see, 4 you feel, etc.)

• Take a step back and assess: Am I physically safe? Emotionally safe?

Emotional safety also matters. Ask yourself:

• Do I feel emotionally connected and seen here?

• If not, what would help me feel more emotionally safe right now?

Below the paywall you will find

1. Steps 3-5 of how to cope with triggers

2. Bonus content and reflection questions