How the self soothing Parasympathetic Nerve develops and how patterns of worrying and over-thinking can be set up in childhood (Trauma education III):

We have a nerve that helps us to calm down and to self regulate –this great “ relaxer nerve” (parasympathetic nerve) develops in babies only via its care takers: Skin contact helps it to come online and loving, tender touch helps it to thrive - hence the importance of skin to skin contact for babies!  A comforting, kind and gentle voice teaches the baby how to self sooth. When a baby is born it has a fully functioning sympathetic nerve (controls activation and arousal) and the dorsal vegal nerve (so it can go into the freeze state).

Babies in the womb depend entirely on their care givers. All they have in terms of protection is the possibility of contracting their little bodies when something traumatic and emotionally threatening happens and to shut down . When the baby responds by contracting its body, the spine then also contracts from the tailbone all the way up to the tip of the spine. The energy there can then only go up to the head. And it’s this “stuck energy” that then can creates a lifelong pattern of worrying, over-thinking and analyzing;  for other people a pattern of ungrounded, dissociated spirituality and a “longing to go home” . I am personally familiar with both patterns and shifting it made a big difference in my life.

 It will be important for people with this pattern to start going into the new direction of embodiment via sensing what is happening in their body – mindfulness, aware exercise , massage, tai chi and yoga are amazing tools to help a  person become more embodied and mindful of inner experiences. Instead of being stuck in thinking, stressing and /or leaving the body a person can now find entirely new solutions in connection with their gut feelings – decisions will be different and more supportive when they come from a deep place of intuition.

If the sympathetic nerve is revving up and there isn't enough parasympathetic nerve available to counter act, the arousal in a baby keeps getting higher and higher...until the dorsal vegal nerve kicks in and brings the whole system into the freeze state. This is good, otherwise the arousal would get dangerously high. As mentioned in previous posts however, this shutting down works so well for the baby or young child that the young nervous system then can learn to rely on this way of being too much. Instead of living life in a gentle wavy up (sympathetic) and down (parasympathetic), the nervous system learns to zig zag treacherously up and down - stuck between sometimes manic hyperactivity and disconnected, depressed states. Living life this way is exhausting!

It is so important that a therapist won’t let you repeat and relive your whole trauma story – it would lead to your sympathetic nerve shooting up too high (and then the dorsal nerve might be the only way to bring it down again). In my therapy sessions I carefully observe a clients nervous system for signs of arousal and will respectfully interrupt a client and teach them how to settle again before they can continue to tell their story. Everything in life consists of wave length and a well organized coherent nervous system will mimic gentle ocean waves.

A good trauma session will imitate a gentle wavelike up and down of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve - until the nervous system can learn that this way of being is so much easier on the rest of the organism.

 If you like these posts, please share them. Information on trauma is something that needs to go viral. Everything I have written is copy righted and I am requesting to give me credit for information passed on and copied. Thanks.

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So far I covered “What is trauma?” ,“Freeze state that follows fight flight survival mechanis” and Reptilian, mammal and rational brain “speak” different languages”

Next week I will write about: “Corrective experience creates a new imprint in cells of our body”

Have a great day,

Barbara

Counselling Somatic

Barbara Schmidt

Mental Health Social Worker, EMDR, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner

Barbara Schmidt

Mental Health Social Worker

EMDR, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner

144 Stirling Terrace, Albany &

3/55 Strickland Street, Denmark

e: barbara@counsellingsomatic.com.au

w: www.counsellingsomatic.com.au

m: 0458 234 410

Why nourishing your own senses as therapist is important

When I work with a client I try to work with all senses, especially when using visualization – the experience then becomes real and so the brain can build a strong new neural connection that serves the person on a higher and much more positive level.

And so that I can do this work with creativity and light humor (especially when working on dark and deep trauma) it is important that I make sure I nourish my own senses every day. I love looking at shapes and nature around me,  I discover new amazing sights every day, allow pleasant sound waves to tickle my ear, touch surfaces and give hugs, tease my taste buds, enjoy moving every joint and muscle in my body via yoga, stretch my arms out wide to take in the sky, breath and spaciousness around me, sing and dance and close my eyes to track sensations inside my body. All this gets me away from the to-do-lists in my head, I connect via my heart with my surroundings  and I find myself playing and enjoying life.

Here is my poem to encourage you to play:

I venture out to play

creating a feast for my senses

My fingers brushed by the wind

while hands delight in shapes of stone

and eyes eagerly following every form

My feet in softness and warmth

leave footsteps of deep behind

Sound waves are tickling my hair

and water cascading over rocks

transforms my belly into an ecstasy of joy

I reach out and my eyes touch endless space

                                                By Barbara Schmidt

Why we have information missing after trauma and how to recall it savely by going very slow

In trauma everything happens very quickly. So fast indeed, that our brain can’t store all the information correctly: Missing pieces, incorrect facts and confusion result in incoherence in the story and we often draw conclusions that can have a very limiting and negative effect on the rest our of our life.

The good news is, that all the information necessary for healing is stored in the body and can be gently accessed with a therapist who is trained to work with sensations. And instead of going fast in therapy it’s necessary to go very slow when tracking these sensations. The slower, the faster is the healing in the end. This is something that still amazes me, but has been confirmed over and over again with my clients.

If the information emerges slowly, the brain is given a chance to store it correctly this time, new meaning can be added to our story and instead of feeling like a victim we come out feeling powerful and in charge of our lives. I would like to celebrate this with a photo from artist and writer Leunig: