There is no question that these repeated acts of violence are deeply rattling our sense of humanity and our perception of what is a “safe place.” However we at the Somatic Experiencing® Trauma Institute continue to hope that people are not left alone in their struggles. We want the world to know that although trauma touches all of our lives, human beings are resilient. We can ride through these times with the support of others— and with the confidence that our bodies carry the innate wisdom to cope and to heal.

We want to assure all the people affected by these tragedies that much of what they are no doubt feeling and experiencing after a tragedy like this is normal, healthy, and expected. It is important to focus on our own innate ability to heal and to aid our bodies and minds through the inevitable trauma response we will encounter. As a service to all communities hit by these acts of violence we asked Joshua Sylvae, MA, SEP, to share simple steps that can aid each one of us in these very confusing times:

Click to view this 5-minute video –

We hope that this video will be of some assistance, particularly for those most affected by this latest event, in regaining feelings of basic safety and resiliency. We believe in the strength, healing capacity, and openness that we all are capable of holding.

In Service,

Laura

The post A ‘Safe Place’ of Healing Within Us All appeared first on Somatic Experiencing® International.

In 1996 one of my therapists, Marcus Kurek, gave me an article by local psychologist, Peter Levine. Dr. Levine's article addressed trauma and PTSD— and also described many of the physical symptoms of my whiplash patients. Upon reading his work on Somatic Experiencing®, I sent several auto accident patients to Dr. Levine. After years of ineffective therapy, many of their emotional symptoms of PTSD and also their physical symptoms related to whiplash disappeared with SE®. I realized that whiplash was a traumatic experience, not merely a physical injury. I also realized that their contact with the medical system had contributed greatly to my patients' trauma by creating an environment of helplessness.

I myself had experienced many surgeries with ether anesthesia as a child, including loss of an eye at age four. I never realized that those experiences were traumatic and had shaped much of my life. I asked Dr. Levine to show me what he did, in SE, with my patients. My response to his treatment session showed me that I had unwittingly carried a huge trauma burden my whole life. For years I'd had a “nervous tic” in my left eye which disappeared after that session. I came to understand that much of my trauma was produced by the terror of my hospital experiences. In my medical training, my teachers had no concept of medical procedures being potentially traumatizing.

The medical care system is dedicated to healing— so what should we do to prevent it from actually being traumatic? How can we adapt these concepts to children, who are even more susceptible to trauma than adults?

Hospitals are scary places, even for adults. Being loaded into an ambulance with your head strapped to the stretcher can be terrifying. Getting X-rays, scans, and blood tests are isolating, strange, noisy, and sometimes painful experiences. You're often left alone in rooms filled with strange machinery. The operating room is cold, sterile, and everyone is wearing a mask. Having a mask placed over your face for anesthesia feels like you're being suffocated— but at least they've stopped using ether! Can you imagine how a child responds to these experiences? Everything seems designed to make you helpless. And children, in particular, are uniquely susceptible to helplessness and being traumatized by the medical care system.

Empowerment is the antithesis of helplessness. There are many ways to empower the child. We should ensure the presence of the parent when at all possible, especially in the run-up to surgery. We should explain, step by step, what is happening to the child and why. If the child already is familiar with the events leading up to a procedure, the threat associated with strangeness can be mitigated. Ana do Valle addresses these concepts and more in the video below:

Please view the first video of the new Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute's medical trauma series here  (9:55) –

These simple techniques are easy to learn and can be practiced by both parent and child. With the skills mentioned in the video, Emma was able to assert her control of the strange operating room. Through simple acts like asking for everyone's name, she was able to banish her helplessness. This is a powerful step toward preventing medical trauma.

Best,
Bob

Author Robert Scaer, M.D. directed the brain injury and chronic pain programs for many of his 20 years as medical director at the Mapleton Rehabilitation Center in Boulder, Colorado. Board certified in neurology, he practiced for 36 years. Now retired from clinical practice, Dr. Scaer continues to write and lecture in the field of traumatology.

The post Doctor Addresses Prevalence of Medical Trauma appeared first on Somatic Experiencing® International.

In this 5-minute video, founder of Somatic Experiencing®, Dr. Peter Levine discusses how he came to create his powerful approach to trauma. As part of his research, he met with military veterans who said they considered trauma an injury rather than a disorder (as in PTSD). The answer to the example of the doctor and the cast? It is our own bodies that are equipped to heal from such an injury.

After more than 40 years of clinical work on trauma, it was findings like these that led Dr. Levine to seek a solution that would “support the innate healing that all human beings exhibit.” Watch the video here:

Origin of Somatic Experiencing® (5:13)

P.S. The video starts with a mention of Dr. Levine's latest book, In an Unspoken Voice, which he calls “in many ways a culmination of my life's work.”

Rock on Trauma Healers,

Laura

The post Origin of Somatic Experiencing: Supporting Our Innate Healing appeared first on Somatic Experiencing® International.

In his writings about Somatic Experiencing^®, Peter A. Levine, PhD discusses at length his observations of animals in the wild, noting their innate ability to recover from life-threatening situations. He concludes that their behavior sheds light on humans' own biological healing process. Peter writes: “The key to healing traumatic symptoms in humans lies in our being able to mirror the fluid adaption of wild animals.” He's referring to how animals avoid traumatization when reacting to life-threatening situations.

As we look at how PTSD develops in military dogs, we see the incredibly traumatic effects war can have on all those within its grip. When faced with the continual and oppressive trauma of war, military animals (which have been trained not to engage their most basic and instinctive defensive responses of fight/flight/freeze), can become completely overwhelmed and unable to heal on their own. We see very similar effects in their human companions facing PTSD.

The current return of U.S. troops from Iraq expedites the need to further educate professionals and the public, providing awareness and sensitivity to the needs of our military personnel and their loved ones. In the following free 2-minute video, Peter A. Levine, PhD, provides valuable guidance to military families and friends, as well as to active soldiers and veterans themselves. Peter provides insight on making sense of the myriad feelings, sensations, and thoughts that so often follow war-time experiences.

We hope this video can bring the promise of a positive and hopeful recovery to our military personnel, K9s included. We are so grateful and proud of you all.

Happy Holidays,

Laura

The post Like Humans, Animals Can Experience PTSD appeared first on Somatic Experiencing® International.