[Traumata] Resensitization: Coming Back to Life after Trauma

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Resensitization: Coming Back to Life after Trauma

February 23, 2015 • By Jeremy McAllister, MA, LPCI, Hakomi Experiential Psychotherapy Topic Expert Contributor

Trauma dysregulates the body. It moves energy levels away from baseline to extremes of hyperarousal (“too much,” panic, overwhelm) and sometimes hypoarousal (“low,” lethargy, emptiness), not only alternating but sometimes getting stuck in either extreme.

When we experience overwhelm in the body, one natural response to this dysregulation (and accompanying confusion or relational struggles) is to just get away—perhaps through drinking, sex, anxiety medication, working out, or power-watching television series online. For some, especially when trauma occurs early in life or when physical escape is not an option, dissociation (mentally drifting, wandering, “spacing out”) becomes the path to something that approximates peace or safety. Whatever route you take to numbness, it ultimately leads to separation from overwhelming sensory input coming through the body. Studies have shown that even when mental denial occurs, when we tell ourselves we are not upset, our body still shows all the standard symptoms of activation and overwhelm.

Big names in trauma, including Peter Levine and Bessel van der Kolk, advocate not for desensitization approaches that dull perception (repetitive reprocessing of trauma), but for practices that resensitize somatically to awareness of the present moment, the physical narrative, and an embodied experience of safety and control.

“Traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: the past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort. Their bodies are constantly bombarded by visceral warning signs, and, in an attempt to control these processes, they often become expert at ignoring their gut feelings and in numbing awareness of what is played out inside. They learn to hide from their selves.”
—Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma


From Numbness

When we split from Self, we become our own enemy. We deem some core part of Self unacceptable or unsafe and expend huge amounts of energy in an effort to contain and subdue that part.

Sometimes the numbness soothes.

Sometimes it smothers.

Especially in trauma, we move to extremes.

Where we once sought freedom from overwhelming sensations, we eventually embody the separation: fully numb, divorced from life, split from Self, desperately seeking a way to feel real again, to feel connected to others and to life … to feel anything but the empty nothingness we sought and created.

The experience changes from one person to the next. For some, it may be less conscious or intentional. Maybe awareness of behaviors comes from the feedback of others as they accuse you of being irritable or irrational. Maybe they point out how analytical you’ve become, how rigid you’ve become in your rules and boundaries in some apparent quest to manufacture security.

Sometimes the extremes seem less extreme. Especially from a patterned “freeze” response or “learned helplessness,” the only noticing may be more of a familiar giving up, an acceptance of circumstance, buying in to the belief that this is all there is. From the perspective of onlookers—seeing your shoulders fall, your head drop slightly—it might look like a physical collapse.

Character development over the years, adapting around ongoing waves of trauma, commonly moves toward extremes of highly responsible or irresponsible behavior—rigid or chaotic. It might be a complex blend of both, creating artificial structure to protect and control, then engaging in high-risk behaviors to drown out or anesthetize the pain.

Sometimes there’s just the safety of the same old patterns.

Sometimes an anger rises against that monotony. That part contains screams out from inside of you.

Whether it feels safe or not, that unknown, incessant core part of Self keeps making itself known, keeps drawing your attention.

To Overwhelm

Coming back into your body often means a return to the original overwhelm.

Sometimes we can feel it coming. Other times, we are so split from our bodily senses that we don’t feel the pain until it’s too intense to ignore. It might feel like an instant move from “just fine” to overwhelm. What would it be like to drive a car with a speedometer that shows zero or 100 but nothing in between?

“Trauma changes the insula, the self-awareness systems. Traumatized people often become insensible to themselves. They find it difficult to sense pleasure and to feel engaged. These understandings force us to use methods to awaken the sensory modalities in the person.”
—Bessel van der Kolk

Sometimes the only way out is through … through the natural physical sequence of fight or flight—whatever motor pattern that represents in your body, whatever unfinished story it represents in your behavior. Sometimes this requires the help of a trauma therapist, including a therapeutic process of training and resourcing, developing a bond of trust and a mindful grounding in the present moment. The accessing of uncomfortable physical sensations (and state-dependent beliefs that come with the sensations) can become a healing experience rather than a confirmation of negative beliefs formed at a time when you felt incapable of meeting the occasion.

Some people find a grounding, resensitizing support in nature. Others find a necessary social/attachment support in structured groups. For some, it might be yoga or martial arts that return your body to a felt sense of control. Many therapists, particularly those trained in trauma or body-based experiential approaches, come equipped to help a person internalize (to gradually take in, to incorporate into his or her character) an experience and a knowing of safety and control with Self and with Other (the therapist). Whatever the method, for those who have separated from their bodily self, the move to incorporate bodily sensation into their awareness often proves to be a life-altering process.

To Manageable Pain

Sometimes it’s in the shower, cooking a meal, sitting in a garden, or “being” with a therapist. The nervous system drops to a calm hum, the physical containment ceases, and the memories process, unbidden, unstopped. And finally, in stillness, with internal safety and compassion, we observe, feel, accept, and integrate. Sometimes the body shakes—with or without tears. And after all the years of struggle, sometimes a gentle sadness lingers.

Once the overwhelm is past and underlying truths are part of present awareness, only grieving remains. Each new level of awareness brings with it a comparison between what was and what could have been—grieving for the time lost, missed opportunities in life, unmet wishes, past distractions from this centered place of living.

There may be decades of fighting the overwhelm of grieving, and then just the simple, natural, bodily directed process of grieving. No longer does one part of the body expend energy containing the “unwanted” energy of another part. No longer is it “too much” to bear. It just is. We are able to sit with the experience without reaction, without separation, with nonjudgmental presence. It might be less letting go and more letting be.

To Joy
Emerging on the other side of pain, many people find new connections. Many find that the quality of external integration echoes the quality of internal integration, and once Self is internally acceptable, we begin attracting others who also accept and value those parts of Self that we truly value, that perhaps we preserved in hiding so many years.

“If you are divided from your body, you are also divided from the body of the world, which then appears to be other than you or separate from you, rather than the living continuum to which you belong.”
—Philip Shepherd, author of New Self, New World


References:
1.Siegel, D. J. (2010). Mindsight: the new science of personal transformation. New York: Bantam Books.
2.Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score. New York: Viking.

© Copyright 2015 by Jeremy McAllister, MA, LPCI, therapist in Portland, Oregon. All Rights Reserved.

Quelle: http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/resensi ... ma-0223154
Zuletzt geändert von Sonntagskind am 27. Juli 2015, 10:06, insgesamt 2-mal geändert.
~~ courage ~ compassion ~ connection ~~
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ vulnerability ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ Γνῶθι σεαυτόν ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Re: Resensitization: Coming Back to Life after Trauma

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Ich habe den Artikel vor einigen Wochen gefunden und auch an jemanden weitergeleitet, aber heute erst fertig gelesen.
Sehr nachvollziehbar. Ich finde ihn einfach nur: :2daumen: :2daumen: :2daumen:

Und den letzten Abschnitt hoffnungsvoll:
"Emerging on the other side of pain, many people find new connections. Many find that the quality of external integration echoes the quality of internal integration, and once Self is internally acceptable, we begin attracting others who also accept and value those parts of Self that we truly value, that perhaps we preserved in hiding so many years.

“If you are divided from your body, you are also divided from the body of the world, which then appears to be other than you or separate from you, rather than the living continuum to which you belong.”
—Philip Shepherd, author of New Self, New World
"

We'll see...
~~ courage ~ compassion ~ connection ~~
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ vulnerability ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ Γνῶθι σεαυτόν ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Re: Resensitization: Coming Back to Life after Trauma

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Psychotherapie heilt DNA-Schäden: Wie traumatische Erlebnisse das Erbgut beeinflussen

Schreckliche Erlebnisse können krank machen. Sie brennen sich ins Gedächtnis ein und quälen die traumatisierten Menschen immer wieder. Posttraumatisches Belastungssyndrom heißt das in der Fachsprache. Dabei leidet nicht nur die Psyche, sondern es entstehen auch Schäden an der Erbsubstanz DNA. Die traumatischen Schäden sind heilbar.

Sana Sabally hat Schreckliches erlebt. Er war früher Vize-Präsident von Gambia. Nach einem Putsch wurde er inhaftiert und immer wieder gefoltert. Traumatischer psychischer Stress kann auch starke körperliche Auswirkungen haben. Stress wirkt bis tief in Zellen hinein und schädigt dort die Erbsubstanz DNA. Diese Schäden verursachen körperliche Krankheiten. Das Risiko für Herzkreislauf-, für Autoimmun-, für Krebserkrankungen und für Diabetes steigt.

In der Trauma-Ambulanz der Universität Konstanz behandeln Experten Kriegsflüchtlinge und andere Traumatisierte mit einer speziellen Psychotherapie und sie erforschen die Auswirkungen auf die Erbsubstanz. Die Wissenschaftler haben die Immunzellen von 65 traumatisierten Flüchtlingen untersucht – vor und nach der Therapie. Das Ergebnis: Nach einer erfolgreichen Psychotherapie waren auch die DNA-Schäden verschwunden.

Sana Sabally kann dank der Therapie wieder ein neues Leben mit seiner Frau in Deutschland führen.

http://www.daserste.de/information/poli ... n-100.html
~~ courage ~ compassion ~ connection ~~
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ vulnerability ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ Γνῶθι σεαυτόν ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Re: Resensitization: Coming Back to Life after Trauma

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Vielen Dank für's Teilen!
Ich bin ganz aufgeregt, da ein Philip-Sheperd-Zitat zu lesen, New Self New World ist an der Spitze meiner Buchempfehlungen.

Zum Thema Trauma und Körper gibt es auch den Somatic-Experiencing-Ansatz von Peter Levine. Der hat beobachtet, wie Tiere mit großer Bedrohung fertig werden (sie "schütteln" die Erregung direkt nach dem Ereignis ab, der Körper bringt z.B. eine angefangene Fluchtbewegung zu Ende, sodass er sich der Energie entledigt). Hypothese von Levine ist, dass beim traumatisierten Menschen die Erregungsenergie im Körper eingefroren ist, was zu sämtlichen Traumasymtpomen führt, und der Schritt gemacht werden muss, diese Energie zu spüren und ihren natürlichen Ausgang gehen zu lassen.
Habe zufälligerweise vor ein paar Tagen angefangen, mit dem Ansatz zu arbeiten - diese Synchronizitäten immer ^^

Re: Resensitization: Coming Back to Life after Trauma

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aneurysma hat geschrieben: Zum Thema Trauma und Körper gibt es auch den Somatic-Experiencing-Ansatz von Peter Levine. Der hat beobachtet, wie Tiere mit großer Bedrohung fertig werden (sie "schütteln" die Erregung direkt nach dem Ereignis ab, der Körper bringt z.B. eine angefangene Fluchtbewegung zu Ende, sodass er sich der Energie entledigt). Hypothese von Levine ist, dass beim traumatisierten Menschen die Erregungsenergie im Körper eingefroren ist, was zu sämtlichen Traumasymtpomen führt, und der Schritt gemacht werden muss, diese Energie zu spüren und ihren natürlichen Ausgang gehen zu lassen.
Habe zufälligerweise vor ein paar Tagen angefangen, mit dem Ansatz zu arbeiten - diese Synchronizitäten immer ^^
Dazu fällt mir ein, dass ich auf etlichen LSD-Trips Phasen hatte, in denen es mich über längere Zeiträume geschüttelt hat bzw. ich in das schütteln gegangen bin. Das tat gut!
happiness is the absence of resistance

[Traumata] Re: Resensitization: Coming Back to Life after Trauma

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[Ich hab den Thread-Titel mal umbenannt, da er - auch - zu einem Sammelthread zum Thema wird/geworden ist.]

"Before looking for love once again, I decided to take a break and learn everything I could about what made relationships work and what caused them to fail. I’m happy to say I’ve found some answers. I applied what I learned, met my present wife, Carlin, and we would’ve now been happily married for thirty-five years. I learned that the secret for developing a loving relationship that can last a life-time, was understanding the ways that childhood trauma impacts our lives.

Ongoing research from The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study demonstrates conclusively that childhood trauma can impact our physical, emotional, and relational health. For the first time I made the connection between my father’s attempted suicide when I was five and my adult depression, erectile dysfunction, and attention deficit problems. I understood, for the first time, that my mother’s withdrawal and constant worry contributed to my fears of abandonment and ongoing beliefs that I wasn’t safe.

The ACE study [http://acestoohigh.com/aces-101/] asked ten questions to assess childhood trauma. What surprised me was how many of us suffer from trauma. Two-thirds of the study participants answered “yes” to at least one of the questions and if we answered “yes” to one there was a good chance that we answered “yes” to others. I had 4 Aces (Great in playing poker, not so great for my personal and relationship health)."

Quelle: How Childhood Trauma Can Wreck Your Relationship and What You Can Do to Heal by Jed Diamond Ph.D


Got your ACE score?
http://acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score/
"The study’s researchers came up with an ACE score to explain a person’s risk for chronic disease. Think of it as a cholesterol score for childhood toxic stress. You get one point for each type of trauma. The higher your ACE score, the higher your risk of health and social problems. (Of course, other types of trauma exist that could contribute to an ACE score, so it is conceivable that people could have ACE scores higher than 10; however, the ACE Study measured only 10 types.)

As your ACE score increases, so does the risk of disease, social and emotional problems. With an ACE score of 4 or more, things start getting serious. The likelihood of chronic pulmonary lung disease increases 390 percent; hepatitis, 240 percent; depression 460 percent; suicide, 1,220 percent.

(By the way, lest you think that the ACE Study was yet another involving inner-city poor people of color, take note: The study’s participants were 17,000 mostly white, middle and upper-middle class college-educated San Diegans with good jobs and great health care – they all belonged to the Kaiser Permanente health maintenance organization.)

(...)

At the same time that the ACE Study was being done, parallel research on kids’ brains found that toxic stress physically damages a child’s developing brain. This was determined by a group of neuroscientists and pediatricians, including neuroscientist Martin Teicher and pediatrician Jack Shonkoff, both at Harvard University, neuroscientist Bruce McEwen at Rockefeller University, and pediatrician Bruce Perry at the Child Trauma Academy.

When children are overloaded with stress hormones, they’re in flight, fright or freeze mode. They can’t learn in school. They often have difficulty trusting adults or developing healthy relationships with peers (i.e., they become loners). To relieve their anxiety, depression, guilt, shame, and/or inability to focus, they turn to easily available biochemical solutions — nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, methamphetamine — or activities in which they can escape their problems — high-risk sports, proliferation of sex partners, and work/over-achievement. (e.g. Nicotine reduces anger, increases focus and relieves depression. Alcohol relieves stress.)"
~~ courage ~ compassion ~ connection ~~
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ vulnerability ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ Γνῶθι σεαυτόν ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Re: Resensitization: Coming Back to Life after Trauma

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Erraphex hat geschrieben:
aneurysma hat geschrieben: Zum Thema Trauma und Körper gibt es auch den Somatic-Experiencing-Ansatz von Peter Levine. Der hat beobachtet, wie Tiere mit großer Bedrohung fertig werden (sie "schütteln" die Erregung direkt nach dem Ereignis ab, der Körper bringt z.B. eine angefangene Fluchtbewegung zu Ende, sodass er sich der Energie entledigt) [...]
Dazu fällt mir ein, dass ich auf etlichen LSD-Trips Phasen hatte, in denen es mich über längere Zeiträume geschüttelt hat bzw. ich in das schütteln gegangen bin. Das tat gut!
Ist mir auch tatsächlich nach einer Ayahuasca-Zeremonie passiert. Allerdings war da wirklich kein "mir ist danach", ich konnte das gar nicht steuern und auch nicht unterbinden. obwohl ich es damals aus Ignoranz und Angst gewollt hätte. Habe das dann in der Folge drei Monate lang immer wieder gehabt, wenn Gefühle aus der Zeremonie in meinem Alltag hochkamen.
Schütteln wie in Osho-Meditationen oder im Qi Gong empfinde ich auch als sehr befreiend, das hat bei mir aber definitiv eine andere Qualität - auch wenn der Körper da viel Freiheit bekommt sich auszudrücken kann der Geist theoretisch das Steuer übernehmen und einen Riegel vorschieben (bei mir).


Sonntagskind: Ich bin erleichtert, dass die Häufigkeit von Traumata(-symptomen) nach und nach anerkannt wird. Hatte auch den Eindruck, dass sowas viel verbreiteter ist als einige Definitionen, mit Schwerpunkt auf wirklich extremen Belastungszuständen, nahelegen. Levine schreibt, dass auch ein mehr oder weniger ungefährlicher Sturz in der Kindheit ein Trauma werden kann, das sich Jahre später in einer schweren Symptomatik äußert, selbst wenn es keine Erinnerungen an den Vorfall gibt oder er "harmlos" erscheint.

Re: [Traumata] Resensitization: Coming Back to Life after Trauma

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Passend dazu eine Buchempfehlung:

Bild


"This new TRE book includes 23 TRE providers from 13 countries and 3 languages (English, Spanish & Portuguese) who wrote chapters for this new book.

It explains:

- The neurology of the tremor mechanism

- The physiological changes it helps to produce in the body

- The psycho-social applications of the way people use TRE around the world.

Pictures demonstrating how to perform the series of seven exercises are included in the final chapter."

https://traumaprevention.com/store/shak ... d-berceli/
~~ courage ~ compassion ~ connection ~~
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ vulnerability ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ Γνῶθι σεαυτόν ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Re: [Traumata] Resensitization: Coming Back to Life after Trauma

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Bild


Amazon: Sowohl der Wunsch nach Nähe als auch der Wunsch nach Abgrenzung begleitet Menschen durch das ganze Leben. Nicht selten jedoch werden die vitalen symbiotischen Bedürfnisse in der frühesten Kindheit von den Eltern nicht befriedigt. Die Bindung an die Mutter kann dann zu einem Symbiosetrauma für das Kind werden. In den seelischen Verstrickungen, die sich daraus ergeben, sieht Franz Ruppert die Quelle für die meisten Beziehungsprobleme, die Neigung zu Suchtverhalten, zu Ängsten, Depressionen und sogar zu Schizophrenien. An zahlreichen Beispielen aus der Praxis zeigt er, wie Symbiosetraumata erkannt und behandelt werden können. Seine neu entwickelte Form, mit der Aufstellungsmethode zu arbeiten, hat sich hier als besonders erfolgreich erwiesen. Zielgruppe: - PsychotherapeutInnen aller 'Schulen' - TraumatherapeutInnen - Betroffene

Gerade dabei zu lesen - zu empfehlen.
~~ courage ~ compassion ~ connection ~~
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ vulnerability ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ Γνῶθι σεαυτόν ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Re: [Traumata] Resensitization: Coming Back to Life after Trauma

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Was mich an der Vipassana-Meditation (10 Tage in Triebel) am meisten geschickt/ belastet hat, war erstens das Hardcoreprogramm (viele Stunden sitzen und Meditieren, jeden Tag), zweitens der teils befremdlich/ bedrohlich anmutende Sektenartige Gesang Goenkas vom Band. Auch kamen mir die Mitarbeiter teils leicht brainwashed vor. Sehr nervig auch die ewig nicht endenwollenden Vorträge am Abend, wenn man nur noch ins Bett wollte.
Zudem hatte ich so manche Nacht massive Schlafprobleme, da erkältet und meine Zimmergenossen geschnarcht haben wie ne Horde voller Russen/ als gäbs kein Morgen. Um so witziger war es, dass sich hinterher alle als sehr symphatisch herausstellten. Und ja, eine gewisse Zwangslandheim/ Knastathmosphäre kam auch auf durch das Sprechverbot sowie Umzäunung des Geländes + Trennung der Geschlechter.

Trotz o.g. Erfahrungen, würde ich den Kurs eventuell noch mal antreten, allerdings dann eher in den wärmeren Monaten. :strubbel:
“You have to die a few times before you can really live.”
― Charles Bukowski

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