Self-Regulation Strategies During Challenging Situations

Even in the most supportive, positive environments, there are times when we find ourselves faced with challenging situations, and have to employ a range of self-regulation strategies. Individuals can become dysregulated, and incidents can occur, often with very little warning. This can be distressing for both practitioners and individuals, and those involved can sometimes react in unpredictable ways.

As highly-trained professionals, we rightly focus our attention on the individual in distress and do everything in our power to de-escalate the situation, and support them through crisis and into the recovery stage. But how often do we pause to consider the part we might be playing in the interaction? Are we emotionally regulated ourselves? And how are our thoughts and feelings impacting our behaviour, and potentially contributing to the escalation?

On such occasions, we need to be both calm and emotionally available. This is where the ability to self-regulate comes in. It is a simple case of cause and effect: by making sure we are regulated, we have a much better chance of ensuring that the individuals in our care are regulated, too. The question is: how do we self-regulate in challenging situations when we may be feeling overwhelmed ourselves?

Self-regulation as a response to nervous system stress

Self-regulation is a process that enables us to monitor and manage our own thoughts, feelings and behaviours in a flexible way that best matches the demands of the environment. It allows us to think before we act, and handle difficult situations calmly and rationally.

Few of us are taught how to self-regulate as children, so we can grow up without the tools we need to effectively manage our emotions and responses in a range of circumstances. Even those of us who feel equipped to regulate ourselves in our day-to-day roles or personal lives can struggle to apply everything we know and have learned when faced with a crisis. It is infinitely more difficult to self-regulate when, for example, we are called in to support a colleague in need, or when we are making dynamic risk assessments, to keep others safe and reduce the risk of harm. This is because our nervous system enters a state of ‘fight, flight or freeze’.

The physiological response to the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ state

When we experience a threat, whether real or perceived, a message is sent from the amygdala (a small structure in the limbic system which controls how we respond to danger) to various parts of the body to prepare for action. This message travels down the spinal cord to the adrenal glands, which are situated just above the kidneys. These release adrenaline, a hormone which floods the body almost immediately, making us feel alert, increasing our heart rate, diverting blood to the large muscles, and increasing the rate of breathing.

We might also lose our fine muscle control, develop a dry mouth, and have difficulty thinking clearly, accompanied by a detached, lightheaded feeling. Cognitive function, which relies on the prefrontal cortex part of the brain to work effectively, is impaired, making it virtually impossible to articulate ourselves clearly or even remember what we are doing and why.

Why is self-regulation challenging during heightened situations?

If you have ever found yourself in a highly-charged, challenging situation, these physiological sensations and the associated behaviours will be familiar to you. In this fight, flight or freeze state, we can end up making mistakes, or forget what we would normally do. By becoming emotionally dysregulated ourselves, we may have difficulty recognising exactly what is happening and be unable to support our service users, reduce the risk of harm and de-escalate the situation successfully.

Fortunately, there are steps we can take to increase our self-awareness so that we can swiftly recognise when we are entering a dysregulated state, interrupt the cycle and apply appropriate, timely self-regulation techniques. Over time and with plenty of practice, these strategies become automatic, and we employ them on a subconscious level.