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What is Trauma

Individual trauma results from an event, series of events,

or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual

as physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening and

that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and

mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.

- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association(SAMHSA)

How trauma is stored

Events and Experiences have Effects

 

The excessive stress  of trauma overloads the nervous system, stopping the trauma from processing. This overload halts the body in its instinctive fight or flight response, causing the traumatic energy to be stored in the surrounding muscles, organs and connective tissue.  The brain disconnects from that part of the body to block the experience, preventing the recall of the traumatic memory. Any area of our body that our brain is disconnected from won’t be able to stay healthy or heal itself.

 

Prolonged or repeated exposure to trauma causes shrinking of the hippocampus, affecting everything you do, understand, read,  learn, plan and remember. In addition it causes swelling of the amygdala, keeping you in a state of hyperarousal, releasing cortisol which can lead to adrenal fatigue, interferes with learning, memory, your immune system, bone density, weight gain, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease,  increases your risk of developing  mental illness, depression and lowers your life expectancy. Cortisol is  released during traumatic incidents as well as when  ruminating over any past traumatic events.

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The predictable effect of stored trauma is degeneration and disease. 

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Emotions are the vehicles the body relies on to find balance after a trauma. Recovery from trauma is the process of the body finding balance and freeing itself from constraints. 

Costume
Brain Scans

After Trauma

  • Some people never experience any major problems, known as resistance.

  • Many people have symptoms similar to PTSD in the weeks after a trauma. that will subside, known as natural recovery or resilience.

  • Other people experience problems that do not go away on their own. PTSD is one potential outcome. Symptoms include

  • Re-experiencing symptoms, including:

  • Flashbacks or intrusive thoughts about the traumatic event

  • Intense physical or emotional reactions to reminders of the event

  • Nightmares

  • Avoidance symptoms, including:

  • Avoiding thinking or talking about the trauma

  • Avoiding people, places, activities or sensations that remind you of the trauma

  • Negative changes in your thinking and emotions, including:

  • Feeling more down, depressed, angry or anxious

  • Finding it hard or impossible to feel happy

  • Feeling shameful or guilty

  • Feeling distant from other people

  • Losing interest in things you used to enjoy

  • Being unable to remember important parts of the trauma

  • Having more negative thoughts about yourself, other people and the world

  • Hyperarousal or emotional/physical reactivity, including:

  • Being always on guard and/or easily startled

  • Having trouble concentrating

  • Being quick to anger and aggression

  • Doing things that are risky (e.g., impulsive sex, binge drinking)

  • Having trouble sleeping

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  • C-PTSD shares many symptoms of PTSD, including  re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal. However, C-PTSD also includes

  • Problems in emotion regulation, like having difficulty managing ones feelings

  • Problems in self-image, like feeling completely different from other people and/or having a negative self-view

  • Interpersonal problems, including having trouble trusting others 

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  • Social support, including:

    • Belief that other people care about you & will be there if you need them

    • Being able to talk about the trauma and your reactions to it with supportive people

    • Having supporters who avoid reacting in unhelpful ways when told about the trauma

  • Getting back to one’s life, including:

    • Returning to your routine, such as going to work or school, doing chores and maintaining a sleep schedule

    • Not avoiding safe reminders of the trauma

    • Staying connected to friends and other important people

  • Making meaning of what happened, including:

    • Finding helpful and realistic ways to fit the trauma into the way you think about yourself, other people and the world

    • Noticing unhelpful thoughts that get in the way of making meaning, such as self-blame, and finding more helpful thoughts

    • Looking for examples of ways that you did your best or coped well

    • Practicing gratitude

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               PTSD Coach available on Google Play, iOS or online:

              https://www.ptsd.va.gov/apps/ptsdcoachonline/default.htm

What helps

Trauma Release Bodywork

When the original traumatic experiences occurred, the inner resources were not in place to handle that experience effectively. Tension, stress and high levels of cortisol do not allow space for the traumatic energy to move and release. 

Reconnection of the brain with the area of the body where the trauma is stored is required so that emotional energy can be dispersed.

 

Vagal Trauma Release Bodywork enables clients to discover the habitual, automatic attitudes that generate patterns of experience. It helps clients gain awareness of inner experience, specifically inner body sensation and patterns, emotions, images, memories, or thoughts. Working with the effects of trauma and abuse, emotional pain, and limiting belief systems, this gentle therapy teaches clients to follow the inherently intelligent processes of the body and mind.

Clients are educated in the nuances of inner body sensations and learn to track the mercurial flow of the language of the body, expanding awareness of the “somatic sense of self”,  healing the various forms of dissociation from the body. 

 

Trustworthiness is maintained through transparency, consistency and clarity. By valuing clients as the experts regarding their own needs and wants, it is a collaboration between therapist and client that fosters  physical and emotional safety regarding guidelines about the therapy process. By taking client’s treatment preferences into consideration and prioritizing their goals, it employs choice . It empowers the client by recognizing and nurturing their strengths and skills, using reflective listening skills. â€‹

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Bodywork plays a key role in bridging locked memories with the physical body.. Skilled therapists locate and physically free the muscle and  fascial restrictions  that house traumatic memories. As tissue unravels, tensions and memories may surface and release, causing the body to spontaneously “replay” body movements associated with the memory of the trauma. This initiates relaxation, unlocking the frozen components of the nervous system. Such a shift marks the reconnection of the brain with the tissue housing the trauma, allowing transformation and healing to ensue. Unconscious attitudes are brought to consciousness where they can be examined, understood, and changed. The transformative shift can take root on physical, emotional and cognitive  levels simultaneously.

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Bodywork facilitates release in the space between physical and emotional health. Since psychological counseling is beyond the scope of practice for Bodyworkers, it is recommended that these techniques are used with a client who has sought, or is currently seeking support from a mental health professional to develop the emotional resources to cope with traumatic experiences. The holistic approach of combining subjective, cognitive and somatic approaches allows traumatic events to complete their feedback loop, allowing the body to once again find balance.

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