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Mindset Bootcamp for PTSD: Defining Your Current Self

Host: Brad Schipke • Overcoming PTSD Podcast • Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching

In this Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching bootcamp episode, Brad and Kayleen walk you through the first, often skipped step of PTSD recovery: honestly defining your current self. Before you can become your “recovery hero,” you have to see who you are today with clarity, compassion, and zero sugarcoating.

Using a simple GPS analogy, Brad explains why recovery stalls when you don’t know your starting point. Together, they guide you to look at your actions, habits, emotions, thoughts, triggers, and beliefs without turning it into a self-attack or shame spiral.

You’ll also learn how to uncover your strengths—not just your struggles—so you can use them to fuel change instead of trying to “fix” everything at once. This episode gives you a practical 10–15 minute exercise you can do today to start transforming how you see yourself, your symptoms, and what’s actually possible for your healing.

By the end, you’ll see that you are not your trauma responses, and that change isn’t about becoming a different person—it’s about becoming more of who you really are.

💡 What You’ll Learn

How defining your “current self” becomes the foundation for PTSD and trauma recovery

Why awareness and honesty are the first non-negotiable steps toward change

A simple writing exercise to list the habits, actions, emotions, and beliefs you want to stop

How to recognize and write down your strengths so they can support your healing

The difference between objective self-awareness and beating yourself up

How to view your life like a GPS route: where you are now, where you want to go, and how to bridge the gap

Why feeling fear or seeing “insurmountable” challenges doesn’t mean recovery is impossible

How to separate your true self from your symptoms, triggers, and trauma responses

A practical way to use this list all week as you design your “recovery hero” identity

🧠 Key Takeaway

You are not your symptoms—honestly seeing who you are right now, with self-love instead of judgment, is the first step to becoming the recovery hero you’re meant to be.

🔗 Next Steps

Subscribe for new weekday episodes from the Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching archive.

To go deeper or work with Brad directly, visit https://overcomingptsd.com/consultation.

CHAPTERS:

Topics Covered:

PTSD recovery roadmap • trauma healing journey • recovery hero identity • current self assessment • PTSD mindset shift • trauma coping tools • emotional regulation for PTSD • nervous system regulation • overcoming trauma triggers • self-acceptance after trauma • breaking negative habits PTSD • beliefs and PTSD recovery • trauma recovery coaching • practical PTSD exercises • healing C-PTSD step by step