Trauma

One of the guiding ideas behind my practice is that emotions are like a sixth sense. Although they aren't tangible in the same way as other senses, they can very much shape reality in both beautiful and troubling ways. This is especially true when they are influenced by traumatic experiences.

Whether we're talking about one or multiple traumatic experiences, complex trauma, intergenerational trauma, vicarious trauma or minority stress, many people notice a difference in their physiological responses to stress compared to those around them. This could mean difficulty sleeping, hypervigilance, irritability, panic attacks, pain, exhaustion, immune problems, etc...

For a long time trauma has not been taken seriously despite clear evidence that the conditions of our environment have major impacts on our quality of life and mental health. It seems much easier for society and those with status to treat people as if they were broken rather than acknowledge the effects of white supremacy, war, poverty, sexual violence, child abuse and other social plagues. Not only can we see evidence of trauma all around us, research shows that the brain can be physically altered by these experiences and as a result, the body becomes an uncomfortable place to inhabit. The sense of danger experienced by someone with a history of trauma, is just as real as these changes in the brain.

But getting back to what I said about emotions shaping reality; if someone with trauma feels in danger constantly, their body knows it has to be physically tense and ready to either run, fight or shut down. In turn, the mind can also respond to what the body feels, making it exceedingly difficult to find a sense of calm because everything the body is doing, points to being in danger.

I can't blame you if reading this has you feeling a bit down, but don't worry because there are a lot of ways to soothe the mind and body and heal. While I provide specific interventions using EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy) and other approaches in session, there are other things outside of therapy that are helpful and are backed up by empirical data.

Many people find practicing meditation and yoga are complimentary to therapy and they are scientifically proven to help people heal from trauma mentally and physically. These practices are shown to help sync up heart rate and breathing which are often disrupted by the physiological effects of trauma. In fact, they help the mind unlock parts of itself (the medial prefrontal cortex) that are vital to emotional regulation, but have been "shut off." Activities such as massage, dancing, theater, improv and others have all shown promising results in helping people heal from trauma, connect with others, themselves and their bodies

I always encourage people to be creative and curious in finding coping strategies that work for them. The important thing is to not let yourself get discouraged if things don't work right away. Facing these feelings is difficult, but necessary and I would argue that facing down trauma is an act of courage.