This workbook is intended to be used over the course of five weeks, with one session per week. Allow yourself 45 minutes at roughly the same time each week to engage with your workbook. You can get the most from this notebook by keeping your sessions consistent and treating them with the same attention and care you would treat a session with a therapist.

Start by selecting a memory to focus on. This notebook is based on Written Exposure Therapy, a technique that asks you to intentionally re-expose yourself to a traumatic memory. Because of that, The After-Trauma Notebook guides you in choosing a single traumatic memory to work through over a 5-week period. If you want to work on a different memory, we encourage you to use another The After-Trauma Notebook (or continue with the notes pages in the back).

Use the guided prompts to reprocess the memory. After each 30-minute journaling session, you'll have an opportunity to check in with your body and how you're feeling. Then, you'll be guided through a reflection exercise on how the writing experience was for you.

Note: This workbook is not therapy or a replacement for therapy with a licensed professional. If expert assistance for counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.