How have you felt since the Boston Marathon terrorist attack? I've felt horror, disgust, rage, and sadness. Right now I feel numb. And this is from miles away. I can't imagine how I would feel if I'd been on ground zero, witnessing the carnage. But I can imagine what it's like to face trauma such as rape, abuse, accidents, and crime. I hear it from my psychotherapy clients all too often. Survivors of trauma like bombings or abuse may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder , a clinical syndrome I detail HERE in my Psycho Author series. Quite a few of my characters have struggled to heal from PTSD. What's a simple tool to help anyone who's endured a traumatic event? BREATHE. When we get scared, our breathing changes, becoming quicker and shallower, or stopping for a moment. Such changes only serve to increase our panic and tension. Simply paying attention to our breath can help calm us when we're feeling stressed. But deep breathing , aka d...