Serenity Cafe AcademyThe Life Scripts & Parts Matrix (LSPM™)
The phrase "Getting Triggered" is almost a household word these days. A milder form of the same thing is "Getting My Buttons Pushed." What does it mean? Essentially, being "triggered" means I become reactive. I am proactive when I choose my behaviors, and I am reactive when my behaviors choose me! When I act in a way that I do not like, it is a part-of-self that reacts to a cue internally or externally. Only one part-of-self can "drive the bus of my life" at a time. All the other parts are on board, but not driving.
Reactivity is the hallmark characteristic of survival mode. I must be able to react to a threat almost instantly. Imagine that you just stepped off a curb and instantly jumped back because a car was coming too close. In a case like this, you don't have time to consider all the options before choosing to jump back on the curb! Growing up in a lees-than-nurturing-family can provide ample opportunities to have these kinds of experiences. As a result, we develop many reactive parts-of-self to help us survive. The document below is a general outline of examples:
The Filter of Emotional Wounds
The emotional wounds, infection, and scab forms the filter or lens through which we get triggered. The fight, flight, freeze, submit, and attachment responses are NOT the problem. We need to be able to react quickly to a danger or threat. It is when our nervous system gets conditioned to be hypersensitive to anything associated with the original experiences of abandonment, shame, and contempt that causes problems in our present-day life.
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