Takeaways from The Summer Institute on Trauma

Last month, I was in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, learning from the experts of The Trauma Center, founded by Bessel Van der Kolk, and home to some of today's foremost research on trauma and the brain. I attended seminars on the complexity of adaptation to trauma, how to work with dissociation through component based psychotherapy, and trauma sensitive yoga. Here are a few takeaways:

From Joseph Spinazzola's talks on Complex Trauma:

• The seat of consciousness is in the brain stem, not the frontal lobe.
• Instead of "I think therefore I am", it's "I feel my body, therefore I am."
• Psychological maltreatment happens more than any other type of abuse and leads to a 93% higher risk of addiction.
• "We can become addicted to pain, when it is inseparable from love."

From David Emerson's talk on Trauma Sensitive Yoga:

• Our yogic third eye is called the medial prefrontal cortex in brain language, and its purpose is to locate where our physical body is oriented in space.
• Interoception is the ability to sense the body, and is dramatically decreased in trauma survivors.
• Building the ability to sense the body helps us re-learn the body is a reasonably safe place.
• Goals of trauma sensitive yoga are
  • Empowerment
  • Making Choices
  • Present Moment Awareness 

From Fran Grossman's talk on dissociation:

• Everyone has parts of themselves that are sometimes at odds.
• The degree of the separation between the parts reflects the degree of trauma.
• The goal is to get the parts cooperating and healing, not to eliminate them.
• Creating meaning in the story of one's life is a key component of therapy.

Part of what we do in therapy  with any client, whether trauma has been present in their lives or not, is help them gain coping skills to manage stress, moods, circumstances, and the unhelpful reactions and thought processes that come along. Meditation and mindfulness are the cornerstone of this practice at Flourish, and I am always looking for ways to share it with clients. On breaks from this summer training, I enjoyed lots of time at the beach. The video below was taken at the Nauset Lighthouse (pictured above, yes it's the one on the Cape Cod chip bags!). I found myself lost in the sound and the beauty of water moving over rocks and sound, and for a moment found a peaceful and contented place within. I captured the moment to share here on the blog and with clients in session. Sensory tools like this video may help to cultivate clarity, focus, and to filter out the mental chatter that doesn't serve us. 

A Visual and Audible Meditation 
--Courtesy of "the Cape"

Watch this 1 minute video and be sure to turn on your speakers. Notice:
1. What do you find beautiful?
2. What do you find distracting?
3. What judgments do you make? Is the clip too long, too short, too loud, too boring?
4. What past experiences does it bring up for you?
5. What hopes for the future does it bring up for you?