In An Unspoken Voice - Peter Levine

[Jones]

In this video, Peter Levine talks about the different types of memory and uses examples from his therapy and study to explain them. He also explores inter-generational memories and gives some examples.

44mins

The video isn't showing here but can be seen by following the link in the above.

 

[Turgon]

Peter Levine and Thomas Huebl (who works more with collective trauma rather than individual) discuss healing trauma and spiritual growth:

- healing trauma is not spiritual growth, but it can open pathways to it.
- trauma doesn't necessarily have memories associated with it, but it does have symptoms. Working with symptoms may help to recover specific memory, but can vary in the time it takes to get to it if at all.
- perception of time is different where there are unhealed traumas.
- healing trauma is one thing, but changing the associated personality can be a lifetimes work.
- uses an analogy of waves created when a bunch of pebbles are dropped into water and where the waves intersect is where the trauma response is and there is blocked energy disrupting connectedness with self and others. Healing trauma allows the wave to move on unimpeded.
- discussion on collective trauma and how the narratives may be different, but the trauma is pretty much the same.

53mins

Thanks for sharing. I've added a few additional notes as that was an interesting talk. Never heard of Thomas Heubl before.

- Trauma, at the deepest level, is not being able to be in the here and now and can be seen as, or looked at like a wave, whose energy has gotten stuck in traumatic events where that motion is locked/blocked and needs to be released.
- For those who are traumatized, meditation can be hanging around in dissociated spaces and that’s not what you want because in the dissociated space, we are not able to evolve our energy. Our energy can only evolve when it’s connected. When there is disconnection, there is no movement.
- Daily experience is our practice time. Inappropriate relations creates a lot of trauma, so appropriate relations are healing and one of the fundamental spiritual practices.
- They talked about Contraction and Expansion – Light and Darkness – has to be held together. Because it’s not all light and that’s one of the gifts that trauma transformed, offers. You learn how to hold polarities in experiencing the non-dualities of existence.
- Working with the core and essence of trauma, the person is eventually able to say I’m alive and I’m here, I’m alive and I’m real. So the process of becoming more alive and more embodied is - at a minimum - a life's work.
- The past is not what happened yesterday, the past is what has stayed from yesterday and has gotten stuck.
- Question about cycles, healings, dimensions of patterns IRT trauma: Somebody who is stuck in the fixity/grip of trauma, wherever they look, every person they meet, every relationship, they are banging into their trauma. As you work on it for a while, that sharpness starts to smooth out so that you are eventually able to rub up against it but move along and through it.
-Healing is about developing relational capacities enough to create an environment of healing
-Answer to a question about how to handle someone who doesn’t want to let go of their trauma: To transform trauma is easy, to transform a personality takes a lifetime
- Why does it take so long to remember non-verbal trauma? The word memory is used in a narrow way. The types of memory involved in trauma cannot be remembered in the same way a declarative memory can. They are remembered not as memories as we normally think of it, but as reaction patterns in the body and emotions that erupt seemingly out of nowhere.
- Know how to meet and bring those unconscious memories into greater consciousness which can be formed into a healing narrative/make sense of it.
- If someone can help you track sensations, you’ll eventually be able to access these memories.
- Q: How to know if the trauma is personal or tapping into the collective? A: Doesn’t matter. Do you have to have a memory to work on it? No, everyone has a symptom, behaviour or haunting and that’s all you need (to work on it). Start with your pain and symptoms, what’s close to home and work out from there. When you are more stable, becoming more aware of the world and the collective.
- Lot’s of discussion of surfing on the energy of the moment. You’re not interpreting but rather observing how it flows. That’s the best tracker to unravel the question between individuals and collective issues. Need to work on yourself before working on the generational. Sometimes, individual trauma can be entangled with a generational process but that’s more complex.
- Trauma is primordial and the key is being able to feel those sensations and emotions as gently as possible, the trick being having our frontal cortex alive and working, receiving it’s information from the senses within the body. Allows us to have enough distance to not dissociate or suppress them – the most primitive and the most conscious held together.

 

[Jones]

Thanks Turgon, I was still sorting out some thoughts on this material and:

Why does it take so long to remember non-verbal trauma? The word memory is used in a narrow way. The types of memory involved in trauma cannot be remembered in the same way a declarative memory can. They are remembered not as memories as we normally think of it, but as reaction patterns in the body and emotions that erupt seemingly out of nowhere.

- they mention procedural memory and seem to draw a something out that has stuck in mind. That is that procedural memory can be what we refer to as flashes of images. Next that the flash of image can be disconnected from or perceived to be separate from patterns of bodily symptoms or emotional reactions as you say.

I think I've seen this disconnect and it's resolution. In a group setting, that didn't include somatic experiencing in a big way that I was aware of, there was an ambulance officer/paramedic.

His wife's complaint was that he was a reactive hot head when they were working on a project together on the farm and it frightened her to the point that she would cry.

His immediate thought that he could recall from emotional patterns was, if I remember correctly, was that he was the youngest sibling and the only boy and his older sisters were nasty to him, but since he was a boy he didn't feel supported in the family because he was supposed to man up and take it on the chin.

In some of the stories that they related in the group, they mentioned minor injuries like that he had skinned his knuckle. Given his profession it would be reasonable that injuries and blood might trigger him so it was decided to follow that to see what turned up.

He was instructed to do some deep breathing and relax and pay attention to any images that come to mind and was told that the images may not have any emotional content, that they may just be pictures in his mind.

What he described was that as a little kid - didn't specify age - he was in a farm accident where his throat was cut and his jugular vein severed and the image flash was of being in an ambulance being furiously worked on to prevent him from bleeding out.

Thing is his response as he related that story was to sigh, and relax as he said something along the lines of 'ah, so that's it. The other thing is that this seems to be a significant story, but he didn't think it was significant enough - or didn't make connections between that experience and his recent emotional reactions. Could be that his story about the relations in his family also had an impact or something. Could also be that he thought that the situation with his farm accident as a kid had been resolved and no longer had and impact on emotional reactions and bodily symptoms - he survived it after all.

The interesting thing about his sigh is that in this thread on the book Accessing the healing power of the vague nerve the exercises given to stretch the vagus nerve and are held until there is a sigh, cough or yawn. So maybe the signs of resolution in the emotions and body can be that subtle.

Not sure if I'm on track with this, just trying to tease out procedural memory specifically and the disconnect in general.

 

[Oxajil]

made a lot of sense as to how trauma effects us in so many ways and stores itself in our body, as a continuous state of 'holding' - so that the energy is never released or processed so that we can eventually move on from it and continue forward in life.

I have a question for you guys who are better versed in his method. Let's say someone has experienced trauma and is triggered by a noise. They start to shake and feel the urge to curl up in a corner for safety. From my understanding of Peter Levine's approach, the idea is to allow the body to respond naturally in order to feel safe and to release trapped energy. However, how would you determine whether you're allowing the body to heal or whether you're unintentionally reinforcing fear?

For example, curling up in a corner signals to the body that the situation is indeed dangerous (the body is in a closed and protective position). But if, when triggered, a person consciously (cognitively) recognizes that they aren't in any danger and chooses to respond differently such as sitting upright in an open position in a chair while allowing the shaking, it can help retrain the body to understand that the noise (trigger) is not a threat.

But I think this is probably what Peter Levine tries to achieve, to first release the energy by following the body's natural response and to then learn to adopt a different behavior to signal to the body that the situation is safe despite the fear someone may feel initially.

 

[Jones]

I have a question for you guys who are better versed in his method. Let's say someone has experienced trauma and is triggered by a noise. They start to shake and feel the urge to curl up in a corner for safety. From my understanding of Peter Levine's approach, the idea is to allow the body to respond naturally in order to feel safe and to release trapped energy. However, how would you determine whether you're allowing the body to heal or whether you're unintentionally reinforcing fear?

I guess the simplest measure would be to ask 'what is the fruit?' Is the person in question increasing capacity to hear the noise with diminishing trigger response intensity or regularity, or is the trigger response staying the same or increasing in intensity or regularity?

 

[gottathink]

However, how would you determine whether you're allowing the body to heal or whether you're unintentionally reinforcing fear?

Trauma Release Exercises (David Bercelli) stipulate that a person processing trauma through tremor is safe provided they do not dissociate. This means that it is best someone is supervised so they can be brought back to full consciousness if they start dissociating. TRE also recommends no more than 10 minutes of tremoring, two times per week.

I have observed my cat after experiencing trauma, she started to shake when I applied reiki. I stayed with her until it fully resolved and then she slept. So she knew she was safe. I think it is very important to release the energy whilst being conscious that is what is happening and being conscious of feeling safe. Being present in the moment of safety is the safeguard.

 

[Yas]

I have a question for you guys who are better versed in his method. Let's say someone has experienced trauma and is triggered by a noise. They start to shake and feel the urge to curl up in a corner for safety. From my understanding of Peter Levine's approach, the idea is to allow the body to respond naturally in order to feel safe and to release trapped energy. However, how would you determine whether you're allowing the body to heal or whether you're unintentionally reinforcing fear?

For example, curling up in a corner signals to the body that the situation is indeed dangerous (the body is in a closed and protective position). But if, when triggered, a person consciously (cognitively) recognizes that they aren't in any danger and chooses to respond differently such as sitting upright in an open position in a chair while allowing the shaking, it can help retrain the body to understand that the noise (trigger) is not a threat.

But I think this is probably what Peter Levine tries to achieve, to first release the energy by following the body's natural response and to then learn to adopt a different behavior to signal to the body that the situation is safe despite the fear someone may feel initially.

My understanding of it is that it isn't always so straight-forward as "just curl in corner and feel the panic", that's why usually they recommend to do it with someone who can notice if there is release or just reinforcement, and I'm not sure if the people who work with this method are always aware of the difference, unfortunately.

For example, there's also the very important concept of titration and/or pendulation. That makes it easier to make sure it is not reinforcement. For example, the person may be asked to allow a bit of curling and shaking, and then, come back to a grounding position that brings a sense of safety, then back again to a little bit of shaking and curling, and so on and so forth. This would allow the person to experience a sense of resource as an anchor, which would allow them to explore the trauma reaction with that anchor to safety. In a way is like knowing that you can be OK too, and bringing that sense of 'okayness' when exploring the uncomfortable. The idea is also to grow the capacity for handling those uncomfortable sensations, not to just go there without having that capacity first. So usually there's a lot of 'resourcing' done first, which is, growing the sense of being able to handle uncomfortable feelings before diving into them to 'release' them.

Other examples are some exercises that Peter Levine talks about in his books which are for example, to push away (a wall, but it can also be a person who is holding their ground as the idea is not to push them violently but just experience the strength of pushing away), and to run in place (can be sitting down and just move the legs as if you are running). So, these exercises are intended to release but not so much in a 'curling' and defenceless sort of way, but more to activate the natural need to escape or to push someone away from you, which is often what was thwarted when there was trauma (the ability to defend yourself or run away). Here, the intention is to activate the inner strength and agency. For example: Curling is more of paralyzing motion (immobilization) and the idea is to try to break free from that paralysis by activating the mobilization that was thwarted and that is usually what remains stored in the body and needs release.

 

[iamthatis]

Trauma Release Exercises (David Bercelli) stipulate that a person processing trauma through tremor is safe provided they do not dissociate. This means that it is best someone is supervised so they can be brought back to full consciousness if they start dissociating. TRE also recommends no more than 10 minutes of tremoring, two times per week.

I have observed my cat after experiencing trauma, she started to shake when I applied reiki. I stayed with her until it fully resolved and then she slept. So she knew she was safe. I think it is very important to release the energy whilst being conscious that is what is happening and being conscious of feeling safe. Being present in the moment of safety is the safeguard.

I don't know anything about TRE, though I've heard that TRE is a bit different than Levine's approach because it puts arbitrary limits on what the body should do to to release. Maybe it's more regimented in that way? There's an emphasis on shaking in TRE, and a certain limited amount of shaking, as you say. I'm imagining someone is doing a somatic exercise, and there is something that the body wants to release - but they've already used up their shaking time. Does the therapist get them to stop somehow? Why?

I have a question for you guys who are better versed in his method. Let's say someone has experienced trauma and is triggered by a noise. They start to shake and feel the urge to curl up in a corner for safety. From my understanding of Peter Levine's approach, the idea is to allow the body to respond naturally in order to feel safe and to release trapped energy. However, how would you determine whether you're allowing the body to heal or whether you're unintentionally reinforcing fear?

For example, curling up in a corner signals to the body that the situation is indeed dangerous (the body is in a closed and protective position). But if, when triggered, a person consciously (cognitively) recognizes that they aren't in any danger and chooses to respond differently such as sitting upright in an open position in a chair while allowing the shaking, it can help retrain the body to understand that the noise (trigger) is not a threat.

But I think this is probably what Peter Levine tries to achieve, to first release the energy by following the body's natural response and to then learn to adopt a different behavior to signal to the body that the situation is safe despite the fear someone may feel initially.

From my not-really-an-expert perspective, I'd say it depends in large part where the person is in the therapeutic process. If they're in the early stages, and haven't gained the knowledge of their nervous system, nor developed the adequate awareness necessary to feel powerful feelings and process them without getting swept away by them, they can probably be re-triggered. In large part they get triggered by being triggered. I know that's how it was for me, even though I thought I knew what was going on and what to do. Kinda hilarious how hard I fought against healing. But also not very hilarious because the fear was there because I was quite sure I was dying.

Anyways, if the person has learned to orient, pendulate and titrate, they can can curl up in fear due to the loud noise without reinforcing the fear or being newly traumatized by staying connected to the present moment and their body, as this is the means by which the trauma is released. So long as they are grounded in awareness and knowledge and are dedicated to focusing on building nervous system capacity day by day, it works. This commitment and attitude are key, as sometimes people take years to heal.

Side note, I've also been learning that shaking itself isn't required. Sometimes it's just a subtle head movement, a tingle in the arm, an itch on the neck, a holding of the breath, etc., that can unlock something quite deep, with no shaking necessary.

 

[gottathink]

@iamthatis, your post is a good example of why people with lived experience of a particular condition are necessary to inform any kind of healthcare practice. Thank you for your information.

 

[Gwenllian]

I have a question for you guys who are better versed in his method. Let's say someone has experienced trauma and is triggered by a noise. They start to shake and feel the urge to curl up in a corner for safety. From my understanding of Peter Levine's approach, the idea is to allow the body to respond naturally in order to feel safe and to release trapped energy. However, how would you determine whether you're allowing the body to heal or whether you're unintentionally reinforcing fear?

What @iamthatis said.

Also, I started watching Irene Lyon videos today (The Nervous System Expert) and perhaps some of her videos could be useful for you to watch?

What was an eye-opener to me was that trauma release doesn't necessarily involve shaking or trembling. It can be felt in all kinds of ways. We can feel hot or cold, and so on. It is a very individual thing, that is what I learnt from her videos.

I just watched this one and it basically explains what iamthatis wrote:

I watched this one, too, which might be helpful:

Here is a thread about her:

Thread 'Irene Lyon - 'Nervous System Expert''

Jul 7, 2024

The core of her work is releasing stored trauma and learning how to properly self-regulate and live in the here and now. Peter Levine is one of the original pioneers of somatic experiencing, which is a relatively new field that was further expanded by Healing Developmental Trauma and the NARM model that went into further details about this. That trapped trauma and sensations, whether it's early developmental trauma, shock trauma, stress and even past-life trauma's (which she discusses in some of her videos) that are unresolved, becomes 'stored' in a person's body, cells and...

• Turgon

• 
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[Turgon]

However, how would you determine whether you're allowing the body to heal or whether you're unintentionally reinforcing fear?

Have you had a chance to review Irene Lyon's work? She details ways of working through involuntary fears in the body, especially if talk therapy isn't enough to get through to help someone at the somatic level. Slow, gradual movements, tracking the shifts and sensations in the body and especially, going slow with this work allows the prefrontal cortex to become active enough to process these shifts and changes in the nervous system responses without being overwhelmed and reinforcing the trauma. Like iamthatis said, shaking isn't always necessary, but more so subtle changes.

 

[iamthatis]

I was thinking a bit more about the question of re-triggering or reinforcing fear to see if I could make sense of it to myself. Kinda hard to put it all into words, but here goes.

When going through a somatic trauma release, it was eye-opening to learn the difference between healthy resourcing and defensive accommodations. Resources are consciously identified beforehand as safe and comforting. They could be a memory, an image, a prayer, a sacred object - that kind of thing. They are also understood to be temporary points of rest or safety, with the intent to 'go back in' when the system is ready. Defensive accommodations are generally a response to the survival energies themselves when they get overwhelming. The goal is to numb, block, or avoid the trauma.

So let's say in Scenario A, someone is in the midst of an episode - maybe they've heard a loud noise (acute shock trauma) and this has triggered an implicit childhood memory (developmental trauma). They instinctively curl up in fear - but when they do so, they know to maintain a grounded connection with the environment, the safety of the here here and now, which gives the system a green light to express. They also maintain a connection with the peaceful, still part of themselves that witnesses everything without judgment. In other words, allowing, but non-identifying, with the turmoil. It's a matter of letting go, but also a gentle holding of oneself with love.

If it gets too much, resourcing could mean a temporary swing in awareness away from the sensations, and focusing on the resource - a prayer, a memory, an image, or a safe place in the body, the sensation of the feet on the ground, reminding the self that the body is safe in the present moment, and that this too shall pass. This builds trust within the psyche, especially when doing little doses at a time at first - the system realizes that 'we can do this'. After a rest, they can swing their attention 'back in'. Generally, people can get to the point where they hold the turmoil, the resource, and the environment in their awareness simultaneously. When it's over, sometimes there's a feeling of freshness, and sometimes a feeling of been dragged by a truck through a field of rocks. For me there's generally a sense of completion either way. The next time it happens, the thought 'we can do this', already proven, is reinforced.

In Scenario B, someone hears a loud noise and the shock triggers a childhood memory. They instinctively curl up in fear - but when they do so, they panic internally, and identify with the reaction. This is paired with the thought that 'something is desperately wrong here', that it is a problem needing a solution - NOW! The response is to not let go, but fight what is happening, following old familiar neural pathways that didn't allow the trauma to express in the first place. The cortex goes into overdrive looking for the 'solution', AKA one of their defensive accommodations - which I think is also an attempt to love and care when it's all just too much to handle.

My common defensive accommodations were to generate a cascade of thought to ignore the turmoil, put on a guided meditation and bliss out, go for a walk, read-read-read, or go to sleep. Other defensive accommodations could be more destructive, like eating junk food, promiscuity, taking a sedative, cutting, using weed or alcohol, etc. Even 'good' things, like journalling, having a smoke, doing pipe breath, a cold water plunge - anything to stop the feelings - can be defensive accommodations. The main thing is that in Scenario B, it's already a bit too much from the beginning, and the trauma can stay stuck inside with these palliative responses. The next time it happens, the fearful thought 'something is desperately wrong here' can kick in and the fight starts all over again.

So yeah, from the outside, Scenario A and B can both look the same - someone curls over in fear in reaction to a loud noise, and then after a brief vacation in hell, they eventually get up and get on with their day. The difference is that one person has let go of some of their 'allostatic' trauma load, but the other has not, and may have even increased it. These two examples are admittedly too black-and-white, but it's a bit beyond me to trace out all the nuances.

Defensive accommodations are also very important. This term has been developed to replace the more judgmental ones like 'maladaptive reactions', etc. Some degree of dissociation is definitely warranted when the hell of the past spills out into the present. Knowing when one has had too much and stopping is 100% okay. The idea is to start where you are, and move slowly away from the usual tendencies to try to palliate in Scenario B, avoid the destructive defensive accommodations, and ease into fully facing the darkness with intentional suffering, as in Scenario A.