A Place for Strength Coaching in Trauma?

Yesterday I saw a written scenario doing the rounds again on social media concerning Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I also read it an hour before I received a call from a friend, traumatised, having lost a colleague, a soldier, to suicide. The soldier had been diagnosed with PTSD.

I am no expert on PTSD, if anyone indeed can be, but I myself suffered from a level of it following a major accident and a series of heart-wrenching knock-on events that reminded me of Nelson Mandela's beautiful quote, "After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb." Not only was my body and mind suspended in an endless re-run of the accident (typical of PTSD), but it seemed life didn't want to give me breathing space to find a way to recover, if recovery was at all possible. So, no I am not an expert in medical terms, but I am an expert of my own experience. And my experience, of how I developed a mechanism to step out of the PTSD re-runs, was as unexpected as that accident was. My mother is an expert and even started an organisation to provide support for soldiers, an organisation that won awards and introduced me to those with PTSD and people who had lived through unbelievable trauma, such as Terry Waite. Why do PTSD warriors suffer with re-runs? I personally think it is because too much information was suddenly thrust into our brains at the time of the traumatic event and it couldn't be processed, a traffic jam of things, that, then stay on a constant loop in the brain. And that's hard to work with— even my background in clinical neuropsychology fails to provide a solid answer. For me, it is what it is— a traffic jam, a bottle-neck, of memory.

So, back on point and back to the written scenario on social media (and, I am sorry the original poster comes up as Anonymous, as I would love to give them credit).

The short version: A soldier, diagnosed with PTSD, is in a hole. His senior officers throw him down tools and tell him to get himself out. The priest prays with and for him. The psychiatrist gives him pills. The psychologist encourages him to talk about it. But he is still in the hole. That is, until another soldier jumps in, a soldier who is working through PTSD himself, and tells him, “Calm down. It’s okay. I’ve been here before. I know how to get out, just follow me."

I scrolled through responses and many were aggressive and attacked pharmaceutical companies, religion, etc., and all in the marvellous safety of the cyber space within which we see people hiding behind regularly, throwing out comments from the safety of their living rooms. But I took something different from the post. For me, it made sense because it highlighted the fact that, whilst prayer, counselling or pills may work for some, for others they may find something quite different works. And, I knew this, because this is exactly what happened for me. And this was the reason behind me becoming a certified Gallup Strengths Coach.

Before Strength-Based Coaching, I had tried the approaches indicated within the Soldier-In-The-Hole-Story, apart from the last one with the fellow soldier. Though for me, it wasn't a soldier that jumped down into the hole with me— it was a Strength Coach. We are all utterly unique as human beings, and with that, means unique approaches to dealing with life. I not only suddenly had an understanding of my unique strengths, but how I could draw on them to help me. I had actually taken the Clifton StrengthsFinder a decade before and on taking it again, as predicted by my coach, the top natural talents, strengths, were similar. Except for one. Futuristic.

People with Futuristic as a strength are inspired by the future, are fascinated by the future and can see, feel and touch a vision. They dream. Attending the pilot for advanced coaching in 2017 at their campus in Omaha, Nebraska, the Gallup team mentioned a trend in seeing how re-taking the Clifton StrengthsFinder sees Futuristic jump up higher, with other strengths remaining in a similar place, following trauma. Come up with your own reasoning behind this, however, for me it made me think back to 2016 when I certified as a Gallup Coach. At that time I said to my Strengths Coach, "If PTSD, or a trauma, can impact a natural strength like Futuristic, then all strengths can surely be used to deal with trauma?" It was an idea, and I needed something for my Gallup Coach to work on with me on. He took a deep breath and said, "Let's do this."

Intensive coaching sessions went by, but where I found therapy and counselling frustrating having to talk and relive through the giant mountain of my trauma, something about Strengths Coaching began to work. Sometimes you don't have to drill through or climb over hills (sorry, I do love you Nelson Mandela). Sometimes, you can navigate around the hill, accept that it is your hill and that it is on your journey and map, and continue on. And this, is what my coach and I did.

Command is one of the rarest strengths to appear in people's top results globally— and I had it. Along with Futuristic, Ideation, Maximizer and another rare one— Self Assurance. Self-Assurance is an internal compass, a pure confidence, which doesn't let you doubt your journey. But I didn't feel that way. And I needed to. When looking at my top strengths, another coach and an inspirational friend at Gallup told me, "You can take us wherever we haven't thought we could go." And that was my foundation, but focused on me first. I had to apply strength-based coaching to take myself where I hadn't thought to go— to meet the future Me, not the Me from before the accident. The version of Me that was a result of adapting from a trauma. One thing is certain about each day that passes by in life, and that is that you will never be exactly the same person you were yesterday. Each day in our journey alters us.

Now, before the social media pitchforks are reached for, I must reiterate that I am no PTSD expert and that this approach may not work for everyone or, indeed, anyone else. But what a curious concept that we may have another practical tool at our disposal to choose from when facing our trauma..... I have coached others going through, or having experienced trauma and we built a ladder to get out of that hole, a ladder made by their own innate talents, their strengths. Correction— they built it and I simply showed them they already had the tools and materials. They just needed some help figuring out the Build-Your-Own-Ladder instructions.

For myself, the soldier that jumped into the PTSD hole with me wasn't a total stranger, and like I mentioned above, it wasn't a soldier that jumped down into the hole with me— it was a Strength Coach. It was Me. But 'Me' from the future. The strength-coached 'Me' from the next chapter of my life telling the 'old chapter Me' to...

"Calm down. It’s okay. I’ve been here before. I know how to get out, just follow me."

As a final thought, and the most important one, if you are suffering through any form of mental health challenge please reach out. To a doctor, a friend, a support group, or even me if it helps. You are not alone. Whether it was a terrible time at work, PTSD, or something equally as painful. Please. Reach out to someone. People may not know you are down in that hole unless you call out for help. Please call out.

About the Author:

?Gwenhwyfar Dunne is a certified Gallup Strengths Coach and Behaviourist that comes from a strong psychology background. She is passionate about seeing others achieve and takes great pride in supporting them in their personal everyday journeys. She is a mother to a future dinosaur trainer, an artist and has been blessed by working all around the globe, learning from different cultures.