Wide and wise approach to trauma - B. van del Kolk

[Kasia]

Pretty wide and wise approach to trauma:

Some excerpts from the interview:

http://shrinkrapradio.com/436-brain-mind-and-body-in-the-healing-of-trauma-with-bessel-van-der-kolk-md/

Dr. Dave: […] And, what about cognitive
behavioral therapy and exposure therapy, which I
gather is very big, particularly in the VA.

Dr. van der Kolk: Yes. Cognitive behavioral therapy
is very useful for people who have cognition, and
so if you can think and reflect on yourself, it is a very
good treatment. What the research shows over and
over again is that when you go into these traumatic
modes, your cognition goes offline.

Dr. Dave: Yes.

Dr. van der Kolk: For example, anger management
classes are wonderful, as long as you don’t get
angry. Because the moment you get angry, there is
a whole cognition involved of “this is what it means
and that is what I should do” that tends to sort of go
offline. See, trauma is not a cognitive issue. It is not
the result of being stupid or not being able to have
a proper perspective on life. It is not that part of the
brain. Trauma sits in your survival brain, where your
brain automatically gets triggered into feeling like
you are under threat, and like you are in danger and
that life is almost over […]

Dr. Dave: Aha. Now, I wonder if you’re familiar
with Philip Zimbardo’s work on trauma, suggesting
that individuals suffering from PTSD need to be
trained to shift their time perspective from focusing
on the past to focusing on the present and the future.
That might relate to what you just said.

Dr. van der Kolk: That sounds a little cognitive
to me. Again, it is not a cognitive issue, learning to
still yourself and observe yourself. Meditation, yoga,
mindfulness is essential. Because, indeed, when
you’re traumatized, your brain is oriented towards
reliving the past. And the past comes into the present.
I have a lot of data throughout the book about
various brain things that go wrong and keep you in
the past. But indeed it becomes very hard to focus
on the present. And so, people should not be admonished
to be in the present, because if you see
what actually happens to people’s brains, you’ll
know that their brains aren’t very geared towards
being in the present […]

So if I were admonishing people, it wouldn’t help
to do that. So, one way is with something like neurofeedback
where you can actually retrain people’s
brain waves in order for people to be focused on the
present and to be still and to be attentive. We can
also train these issues by helping people to just be
very focused on the moment with things like martial
arts or drumming or yoga, where your body just has
to pay attention to what is going on right now […]

Dr. Dave: OK, well, that could be our wrap-up
there. Is there anything else you would like to add,
by way of summary?

Dr. van der Kolk: Yes. It is something that I don’t
need to tell you, because I am sure you are aware of it.
But, we are relational people. And relationships in
which we feel safe—in which we can say what we want to say,
in which we can safely explore what’s going
on inside of us, in which we are not being prescribed
to behave in a particular way, but are invited to really
get to know ourselves—these are central.
Trauma is about being unable, being too
overwhelmed, to know what you know and feel what you feel.
And the treatment of trauma is making it safe for
people to know what they know and feel what they feel.

And here the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0670785938/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1429439336&sr=1-1

 

[Bluefyre]

Reading this book, along with EMDR and Internal Family Systems therapy, both recommended in the book are helping me change my perspective, change my brain and my body from the inside out. Of all of the psychology books I have read, including the ones recommended on the forum, this book reached the parts of me that the others could not. I highly recommend it for anyone who has lived through childhood trauma and abuse. The wisdom and humanity that VDK shares in the book is a powerful aid in recovering/discovering who I am underneath.

I also read the Richard Schwartz book on his recommended reading list. Although it is designed for therapists, which I am not, once I started reading the parts he described and VDK described in brief in his book started really communicating with me. The exiles have all come back to the family, we work together. It's the damndest thing I've ever experienced! I find I am rarely bullied by the critical parent, the negative introject. On the one hand I know that they are all parts of me, and yet I still sometimes perceive them as outside of me. It is a process of gaining cohesion. The internal family system knows how a healthy family behaves, my self-leader knows how to nurture and have compassion and wisdom. None of this was learned in childhood, so it seems like a very direct way of seating soul potential. The little i's have definite personalities and to work with them not as combative but help them take on preferred roles as we work towards a unified self is very exciting and such a relief. I find I have much more energy for useful things that we used to expend on internal warfare.

 

[happyliza]

Thank you for posting the Kasia. I can certainly relate to what he is saying here, so will definitely put his book on my wish list.


Bluefyre:

Reading this book, along with EMDR and Internal Family Systems therapy, both recommended in the book are helping me change my perspective, change my brain and my body from the inside out. Of all of the psychology books I have read, including the ones recommended on the forum, this book reached the parts of me that the others could not. I highly recommend it for anyone who has lived through childhood trauma and abuse. The wisdom and humanity that VDK shares in the book is a powerful aid in recovering/discovering who I am underneath.

What you mention sounds very helpful. I agree there were specifics missing from the books so it is interesting which path works for you. Up until now the best book for me was In an Unspoken Voice, as far as relating re trauma is concerned. However, until therapy work starts it is a difficult one to try to do by yourself. Sounds like I should have found Dr. van de Kolk's book first! He is the first to describe that continual slipping/drowning/overwhelming feeling that takes over.

I do find that the General Law keeps appearing to force us into the present ever more - even though the coping mechanisms are not readily available. Current example my car has just died on my (head gasket-told not worth repairing), Virus turned to bronchial pneumonia a week ago, and became a Grand-mom on 18th April - my daughter kept that one quiet from everyone! So all passes as in a 'dream' due to the total brain fog from the virus!

Plus we know that our 'environment' replicates what we give to life so I am totally flummoxed atm as although I am not physically able to do much, all weird stuff breaking a in the car, nearly all lounge lightbulbs - including withing 24hrs once replaced, and cistern leaking upsetting neighbours with the pump noise, until they alerted me. I think toilet could be money going out (feng shui)? But all this trying to tell me something when I am holed up as it were. I don't understand the symbolisms yet but know I should - book on wish list!!

As luck would have it I went to my bookcase and found I had CG Jung - Aion, which is very helpful to explain some gaps I had re The Self, Ego, Anima/Animus so am studying the threads too.

Again Kolk is absolutely correct. It is just knowledge atm. Applying it prior to the basics/healing is very confusing, thus easily misapplied, misunderstood. More shadow stuff comes to the fore from the unconscious - however- it just adds to the introjects when you are already feeling deeply depressed. Also feeling stuck in 'limbo' productively speaking also creates its own pressures.

I like your idea of 'the exiles have all come back together - we work as one family'. A good perspective to have i think. Thanks again for the posts.

 

[Bluefyre]

I have found In an Unspoken Voice helpful as I go through the process as well, as I have had several episodes, during and outside of therapy where my body went into shaking all over, throwing off trauma at the body level. If I hadn't read Levine's book it would have freaked me out. The knowledge that is a natural, organic process that mammalian bodies go through, when allowed (all of them except traumatized humans) is very empowering. van der Kolk speaks very highly of Peter Levine in his book. The more knowledge we gain, the more tools we have to apply in our lives for our healing and to add to the information field. I am always mindful of this aspect of everything I am going through and keeps me working and digging.

I'm currently in the bilateral eye movement of the EMDR and am finding it very physically and mentally exhausting as my brain learns to reprossess. I came across an excellent synopsis of how EMDR works and why it works by a pyschologist in Australia, James Alexander. He has some pieces of information I've not found anywhere else in my research. He talks about the similarity to EMDR and the way the brain processes memories during REM sleep, the eye movements are the same. He also talks about how when revisiting these traumatic memories with the bilateral eye movement watching the back and forth gives the brain stem/fight or flight response something to do so that re-traumatization does not occur. It's fascinating to me how the observer mind and the experiencing mind work together and in a short time (compared to a lifetime of not being able to shake off the trauma, literally), the memory becomes just a memory, without bodily or emotional reaction, just another memory. Also, the memories are stored in "clusters" so it's not necessary to remember every memory relating to a certain aspect of the trauma, for instance in my case, all of the incidents with the pedophile. As some are processed, the brain engages to repattern the whole group.

He has written a book called The Hidden Psychology of Pain, which I have ordered and will open a thread after I've read it. I still stuffer chronic pain even with the keto diet from childhood abuse. According to him, he used the suggestions in his book to completely free himself from chronic pain.

The links to his videos are here:

_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMtrwFIRaTA

_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2BaiQZtM4M.

Thank you Kasia for this thread and happyliza for your post!

 

[happyliza]

Thanks for your update Bluefyre. EMDR is something I need to further research, but if it can help,then is well worth it. I would be interested in how you get on with your new book - The Hidden Psychology of Pain, so will look forward to your feedback on that.

In the meantime I will follow up on the links you gave, as you say - anything that helps!!

 

[Bluefyre]

I just wanted to add a footnote to my last post. I realize that the exhaustion is due to occupying a 60 year old body. Rewiring the nervous system from the brain down takes a LOT of energy. Probably younger people would not have such an intense reaction. From what i understand the real beauty of EMDR is that it does not retraumatize, or should not if done properly. It's just another opportunity to show patience and compassion with my body.

Also I succumbed to the flu bug this year and it was the weirdest experience. I did not get a lung infection as I have in the past, but had an ear and sinus infection and both eyes turned completely red for days. No pain, but I looked like demon spawn. I didn't go to the doctor, just took mega doses of vitamin C and D and extra alpha lipoic acid and N_acetyl cysteine.