Corrective experience creates a new imprint in cells of our body (Trauma education IV):

I used to love going into the deepest depth of trauma in sessions, but realized over the years, that trauma symptoms didn’t disappear that way and so I was on the lookout for a different approach. My supervisor pointed me into the direction of Peter Levine, who had developed a therapy model approaching trauma very differently and I started reading a book he wrote for therapists. Every page in this book resonated with me and I just knew I had to do this training, no matter what. I felt very lucky when this training was offered for the very first time in Australia a few years later.

Through my Somatic Experiencing training I have learnt how to carefully renegotiate the challenging past without re-traumatizing a client. As a therapist  I now go gently back to the edge of traumatic events with the intention of changing it. Visualizing the support we would have needed back then in an embodied way means shifting the past for good: Receiving the support of unconditionally loving people or beings around us, being caught tenderly by the softness of a mattress to catch our fall, being held soothingly by warm water, carried and embraced, a body hugging and hand wiping away our tears, a "lion" protecting us and an assertive person setting a clear boundary for us. It is important to let our body complete movements it held back for survivals sake – in the traumatic situation it might have been too dangerous or inappropriate for a person to follow these body impulses. But when these movements are not completed the massive energy that prepared for fight or flight will stay trapped, hence the body will perceive it is still under threat, even years later if the charge isn’t released.  Sometimes it takes the form of running away, shaking, biting, spitting out words, hands pushing or punching the imagined person away. All this happens in a slow, carefully titrated way and is very different from the emotional catharsis therapy work I used to do.

This of course doesn't change what happened to us in our past, but it does change how it is stored in the body! Instead of the body re-remembering over and over again what happened to it years ago it can now let go, arrive in the present time and become finally unstuck from the past. It is a great relief for the nervous system to no longer be in constant fight/flight/freeze when not required. Instead the whole system can now return to equilibrium and engage with the outside world in a relaxed way.

We can store this new imprint in our body on a cellular level so we know how to truly nurture ourselves and how to self regulate. Neuroplasticity means our brain can build new and better neural connections when receiving a new, good and corrective embodied experience. Clients then can make new and better choices, step into the world in a more embodied, empowered and assertive way. As a client recently said coming out of a deep corrective experience when gently working on her childhood sexual abuse: “I feel proud, enlightened and  empowered”. She left the office feeling at peace with herself and the world, experiencing a new joy which is lasting to this day.

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.

Should you miss a post, just check out my Facebook page “Barbara Schmidt Counselling Somatic” or have a look under the blog section on my web site www.counsellingsomatic.com.au where you can subscribe to my newsletters so you won’t miss any future ones.

So far I covered “What is trauma?” ,“Freeze state that follows fight flight survival mechanis”, Reptilian, mammal and rational brain “speak” different languages” and “How the self soothing Parasympathetic Nerve develops and how patterns of worrying and over-thinking can be set up in childhood”

Next week I will write about: “When sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve go into chaos and trauma symptoms take over”

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

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.

Should you miss a post, just check out my Facebook page “Barbara Schmidt Counselling Somatic” or have a look under the blog section on my web site www.counsellingsomatic.com.au where you can subscribe to my newsletters so you won’t miss any future ones.

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

Reptilian, mammal and rational brain “speak” different languages: Trauma Education II

When someone is stressed out & irrational it makes sense to explore negative thinking and to help that person to return to rational thinking (CBT). In Trauma however the frontal cortex (our rational thinking brain) is not connected to the rest of our brain and areas in our brain like the Broca’s (responsible for reasoning and articulation/ finding the right words) break down.

This means that we need to develop a new language beyond words that our brain can actually understand when we are working with trauma.

The question is, how can we bypass language in therapy and reach the parts of the brain, where the trauma is actually stored?

To make it very simple: our brain can be divided into three parts that coincide with our evolution. We share our oldest part of the brain with reptilians, it is responsible for all our instinctual responses, helping us with breathing, swallowing, heartbeat, digestion, circulation, sleep, sexuality, action and survival. And it is in our reptilian brain that trauma is stored!

Next up is our mammal brain, it makes us into emotional human beings and has the herd instinct wired into us (we need one another, we are “herd animals”). To reach this part of the brain a client needs to feel comfortable with the therapist they see and be met with an empathetic, accepting and non judgmental approach and soothing sounds (that’s why when someone is upset it works for us parents to simply nod and say “hm...” in an feeling empathetic way).

Only human beings have the third part of the brain, it allows us to think rationally and have use of our words. It is a wonderful brain and enables us to be clever, clear and smart, come up with wonderful inventions and solutions. We can express how we feel and share our inner world with others. Without it communication via words wouldn’t be possible. As mentioned before though, the rational brain isn’t online when a person is in trauma. (“Use your words!” command doesn’t work with angry, upset people old or young, neither does advice giving – that part of the brain then simply isn’t switched on)

Coming back to the reptilian brain where trauma resides: It can be accessed only via the language of sensations. “When you feel the sadness, where does it sit in your body and how does it feel? Soft, tight, tingly, knotted, hot, cold, heavy light....?” Gently and with a lot of mindfulness the bodily felt sense is being explored via a trained Somatic Experiencing practitioner. The reptilian brain now finally receives the information it needs to register that parts of the body are actually tense and hold trauma memory. This means you are on the road to recovery.

It is such a relief that there are now trauma approaches (Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, MATES and Brain spotting) available that have developed a language the reptilian brain can actually understand. It works - once the reptilian brain is on board, it no longer will sabotage your emotions and rational thinking and can now concentrate on its important job of instinctual responses.

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.

Should you miss a post, just check out my Facebook page “Barbara Schmidt Counselling Somatic” or have a look under the blog section on my web site www.counsellingsomatic.com.au where you can subscribe to my newsletters so you won’t miss any future ones.

So far I covered “What is trauma?” and “Freeze state that follows fight flight survival mechanism”

Next week I will write about: “How the self soothing Parasympathetic Nerve develops and how patterns of worrying and over-thinking can be set up in childhood”

Have a great day,

Barbara

Counselling Somatic

Barbara SchmidtMental 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

Freeze state that follows fight flight survival mechanism - Trauma education I

Thank you for signing up to my newsletter! As I am starting with my series on trauma education I am resending my first article of the series. If you missed the introduction “What is trauma” you can find it on my blog on my web site.

Most people have heard about fight and flight: It’s a survival mechanism that kicks into place when we are in danger and chatting and smiling don’t work anymore. The new situation requires us to do something different: We now need to be assertive and set a clear boundary , when it’s more severe push someone away (fight impulse) or we need to turn around, walk or run away (flight impulse).

It is normal having to use fight/or flight in life and it is clever that our bodies are set up for it. Without it people could walk all over us and things would get messy very soon.

 It is just as healthy that we have access to the freeze state. It’s our oldest survival mechanism controlled by a nerve called dorsal vegal. It helps us in smaller doses to go to sleep, in big doses it helps us to survive when even  fight/flight isn’t enough anymore. We then go numb, dissociate and submit into immobility - we take refuge in the freeze state. In this state nothing hurts too much emotionally nor physically. Nature intended it this way to help us for when we have an accident or when we are being attacked.

While on this survival mode systems like digestion are shut down to conserve energy.  Staying in this state too long means our digestion suffers (irritable bowel syndrome) and since we feel less pain we also shut down from pleasurable experiences. We are meant to stay in this state for short times only -  we are not reptilians who can comfortably stay frozen for hours and even days.

The thing is – and here it gets problematic – that some of us when we were young were faced by situations where fight/flight would have been necessary. But a baby can’t set a boundary or pack its bags and walk away. The only way it can escape is by physically contracting  and then by going into a freeze state straight away.

The freeze state works so well, that as babies we then become used to frequently going into the freeze state. As adults later on we therefore go into a freeze state when fight or flight would be much more appropriate. Life that way becomes difficult and complicated very quickly and can look like one big exhausting survival instead of a joyful living.

The good news is, that therapies like Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, MATES and Brain spotting can help reinstate fight/flight and support a person to become unstuck from a freeze. By following sensations and slowing things down the body can carefully be coaxed back to homeostasis. Having fight flight online again and being able to transition to relaxed social engagement translates into a much more healthy way of being. Fun, joy, relaxing and nurturing can now be a much more regular part of your life with a healthier nervous system supporting you.

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.

Should you have missed my post “What is trauma?” , just check out my Facebook page “Barbara Schmidt Counselling Somatic” or have a look under the blog section on my web site www.counsellingsomatic.com.au If you want more info on this subject, check out Stephen Porges Polyvagal theory.

Next week I will write about “Reptilian, mammal and rational brain “speak” different languages”

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

Trauma education I: Freeze state that follows fight flight survival mechanism

This is my second posting of my trauma education series:
Most people have heard about fight and flight: It’s a survival mechanism that kicks into place when we are in danger and chatting and smiling don’t work anymore. The new situation requires us to do something different: We now need to be assertive and set a clear boundary , when it’s more severe push someone away (fight impulse) or we need to turn around, walk or run away (flight impulse).

It is normal having to use fight/or flight in life and it is clever that our bodies are set up for it. Without it people could walk all over us and things would get messy very soon.

 It is just as healthy that we have access to the freeze state. It’s our oldest survival mechanism controlled by a nerve called dorsal vegal. It helps us in smaller doses to go to sleep, in big doses it helps us to survive when even  fight/flight isn't enough anymore. We then go numb, dissociate and submit into immobility - we take refuge in the freeze state. In this state nothing hurts too much emotionally nor physically. Nature intended it this way to help us for when we have an accident or when we are being attacked.

While on this survival mode systems like digestion are shut down to conserve energy.  Staying in this state too long means our digestion suffers (irritable bowel syndrome) and since we feel less pain we also shut down from pleasurable experiences. We are meant to stay in this state for short times only -  we are not reptilians who can comfortably stay frozen for hours and even days.

The thing is – and here it gets problematic – that some of us when we were young were faced by situations where fight/flight would have been necessary. But a baby can’t set a boundary or pack its bags and walk away. The only way it can escape is by physically contracting  and then by going into a freeze state straight away.

The freeze state works so well, that as babies we then become used to frequently going into the freeze state. As adults later on we therefore go into a freeze state when fight or flight would be much more appropriate. Life that way becomes difficult and complicated very quickly and can look like one big exhausting survival instead of a joyful living.

The good news is, that therapies like Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, MATES and Brain spotting can help reinstate fight/flight and support a person to become unstuck from a freeze. By following sensations and slowing things down the body can carefully be coaxed back to homeostasis. Having fight flight online again and being able to transition to relaxed social engagement translates into a much more healthy way of being. Fun, joy, relaxing and nurturing can now be a much more regular part of your life with a healthier nervous system supporting you.

If you like these posts, please share them. Everying I have written is copy righted and I am requesting to give me credit for information passed on and copied. Thanks.

Should you have missed my pos “What is trauma?” , just check out my facebook  page “Barbara Schmidt Counselling Somatic” or have a look under the blog section on my web site www.counsellingsomatic.com.au   More info to this weeks topic: read Stephen Porges Polyvagal Theory. 

Next week I will write about “Reptilian, mammal and rational brain “speak” different languages”

Have a great day,

Barbara

 Counselling Somatic

Barbara Schmidt MAASW (Acc.)

Trauma education series introduction: What is trauma?

I am passionate about sharing what I know about trauma, especially now  having finished my three year training in Somatic Experiencing. I have sat down and written six articles on the following topics:

1.     Freeze state that follows fight flight survival mechanism
2.    Reptilian, mammal and rational brain “speak” different languages
3.     How the self soothing Parasympathetic Nerve develops and how patterns of        worrying and over-thinking can be set up in childhood
4.    Corrective experience creates a new imprint in cells of our body
5.   When sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve go into chaos and trauma        symptoms take over

I will start posting them each one week apart on the weekend (I am away this weekend without internet, so this one comes early) . If you like these posts, please share them. Information on trauma is something that needs to go viral. I am often stunned how little even professionals know about trauma.

What is trauma? It’s an event that is potentially life threatening (like a car crash where nothing much gets damaged and you walk away apparently unscathed  - it still has the potential to be life threatening and you might develop trauma symptoms). 

Trauma is also when we sense we have no control, feel overwhelmed and our whole organism is strained beyond its adaptional capacity. The Nervous system cannot restore to balance when it holds highly activated survival energies frozen in time (Maybe you wanted to turn the wheel around, but you couldn't as something was in the way – but your arm muscles still prepared for the turning of  the wheel). Biological responses that couldn't be completed at the time (as not enough time or resources were available or as it was not safe to do so) are stored in the body, signalling the brain that the trauma isn't over when in fact it might have finished years ago. Here an incomplete list of possible traumas:

·         Neglect and abuse in childhood

·         Attachment issues (avoidant, ambivalent or disorganized)

·         Accidents and falls (often overlooked!!!)

·         Birth trauma

·         Previous hospitalisations and Medical interventions (also often overlooked)

·         Over anxious parent

·         Sexual abuse

·         Domestic Violence

·         Transition issues

·         Loss of loved one

·         Lack of support

·         Generational inherited trauma

·         Natural and man-made catastrophes

Even if you can’t remember the trauma, because you subconsciously wanted to forget it (dissociating and forgetting is often a reaction to trauma) or you where too young to remember it (the hyopocampus brain, which helps us build memory isn't fully developed in younger years yet) – the body remembers every trauma! It then gives signals off that something isn't right which causes disruption in our organism and effects our nervous system, brain and mental health.(Effects of trauma have been named in my last post.)

Most of us have experienced some sort of trauma in our lives - how well we recovered depends on how early we experience the trauma (how helpless where we?), how severe or how ongoing it was and how much support we received afterwards.

I consider myself very fortunate and am grateful that I have had extensive trauma training, I feel humbled being able to help people recover from trauma. I have had my own share of trauma as most professionals do drawn to this profession and I can see in myself the amazing changes and shifts that occur due to the right care for my own nervous system.

Reading my posts you will hopefully understand why normal talking therapy doesn't work with trauma clients – all parts of the brain need to be targeted and the Autonomic Nervous System needs assistance  to reorganize in a more coherent and healthy way. My understanding of trauma has been informed by many years of personal growth work, training I have been offering myself on “practical neuroscience” and my Somatic Experiencing and EMDR training. If you are interested in reading more I suggest Peter Levine’s book “Waking the tiger”.

Should you miss a post, just check out my facebook page “Barbara Schmidt Counselling Somatic” or have a look under the blog section on my web site www.counsellingsomatic.com.au

Have a great day,

Barbara

 Counselling Somatic

Barbara Schmidt MAASW (Acc.)

Trauma education series starting soon

I have decided to do a series of blogs on trauma education and will be starting posting these blogs weekly. It’s so important that we all know more about trauma, so we can understand our neighbours, friends, kids, partner, family and the world around us better and be of better service.

The result of trauma can be:

·         drug and alcohol issues, any kind of addictions,

·         promiscuous behaviour, reckless behaviour,

·         trauma symptoms like IBS, migraines and other pain syndromes, insomnia,

·         anorexia, eating disorders,

·         repeatedly getting into unsafe situations,

·         dissociation, avoidance, care taker patterns,

·         aggression, social problems,

·         depression, anxiety, PTSD, post natal depression.

I look forward to hearing your responses and hopefully this stuff gets out there! Please share “recklessly”.   ;) 

Should you miss a post, just check out my page “Barbara Schmidt Counselling Somatic” or have a look under the blog section on my web site www.counsellingsomatic.com.au