Trauma + somatic presets — 4 worksheets

Four diagrams that anchor trauma-informed psychoeducation. Each one is the kind of visual that, once a client sees it built on the canvas, they remember the framework long after the session ends.

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Polyvagal ladder (Deb Dana / Stephen Porges)

Three vertically-stacked bands representing the three autonomic states:

• Ventral vagal (top, green): safe, connected, curious, grounded
• Sympathetic (middle, amber): fight, flight, mobilized, anxious
• Dorsal vagal (bottom, blue): shutdown, collapse, disconnected, numb

A vertical bidirectional arrow on the side labelled “climb / descend” makes the ladder metaphor concrete — we move up toward ventral, down toward dorsal, and back again. Use it for: introducing polyvagal theory. The most powerful diagram in the trauma-informed toolkit for clients who have been told “you’re anxious” and need a different frame — that they’re moving between nervous-system states, not stuck in a single one.

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Window of tolerance (Dan Siegel)

Three horizontal bands stacked vertically:

• Hyperarousal (top, red): anxious, panic, hypervigilant, racing thoughts
• Window of tolerance (middle, green — and deliberately the tallest band): present, curious, connected, able to process
• Hypoarousal (bottom, blue): shutdown, numb, dissociated, collapsed

The green window is taller than the other two on purpose — visually and clinically, the window is the goal zone where growth and integration happen. Use it for: explaining why a client can think clearly some days and not others, and what trauma does to the size of the window. Pairs naturally with the polyvagal ladder as foundational trauma psychoeducation. The clinical move that lands: “Trauma narrows the window. Therapy widens it.”

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Iceberg model

A simple but powerful visual — the visible tip above the waterline labelled “What you see — Behavior, words, choices.” The much larger mass below the waterline labelled “What you don’t see” with four layers:

• Beliefs about self, feelings, needs
• Past experiences, trauma, attachment
• Fears, longings, meaning
• Core beliefs, identity

Use it for: psychoeducation on why surface behavior makes sense given what’s underneath. Especially useful with clients who are frustrated with themselves for reactions they can’t explain, or who are trying to make sense of someone else’s behavior in their life. The diagram does a lot of clinical work without you saying much.

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Trigger map

A central red box labelled TRIGGER surrounded by six outer boxes arranged in a ring, each one a category of stressor:

• Person / place 1 and 2
• Time / situation 1 and 2
• Body cue
• Memory / thought

Use it for: mapping a client’s specific triggers in one place. Drop the preset, then sit with the client and rename the outer boxes to their actual triggers (“my mother’s voice,” “Sunday evenings,” “tightness in my chest”). Pairs naturally with planning — once the map is filled in, the next move is “so when [this] fires, what’s the coping move?” The boxes are deliberately labelled with categories, not blanks. The prompts give clients something to push against; an empty box is harder to fill than a labelled one you can edit.

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