Trauma Resolution
by Peter Levine
WHAT IS SOMATIC EXPERIENCING®?
''Somatic Experiencing®'' (SE) is a short-term naturalistic approach to
the
resolution and healing of trauma
developed by Dr. Peter Levine. It is based upon the observation that wild
prey animals, though threatened
routinely, are rarely traumatized. Animals in the wild utilize innate
mechanisms to regulate and discharge the
high levels of energy arousal associated with defensive survival
behaviors.
These mechanisms provide
animals with a built-in ''immunity'' to trauma that enables them to return
to normal in the aftermath of highly
''charged'' life-threatening experiences.
Although humans are born with virtually the same regulatory mechanisms as
animals, the function of these
instinctive systems is often overridden or inhibited by, among other
things,
the ''rational'' portion of our
brains. This restraint prevents the complete discharge of survival
energies,
and does not allow the nervous
system to regain its equilibrium. The un-discharged energy remains in the
body, and the nervous system
becomes stuck in ''survival mode.'' The various symptoms of trauma result
from the body's attempt to
''manage'' and contain this unused energy.
SE employs the awareness of body sensation to help people ''renegotiate''
and heal their traumas rather than
relive them. With appropriate guidance into the body's instinctive ''felt
sense,'' individuals are able to access
their own built-in immunity to trauma, allowing the highly aroused
survival
energies to be safely and
gradually discharged. When these energies are discharged, people
frequently
experience a dramatic
reduction in or disappearance of their traumatic symptoms.
Because traumatic events are often encounters with death, they evoke
extraordinary responses. The
transformation process can allow people to deepen their sense of self and
others. The healing journey can
be an ''awakening'' to untapped resources and feelings of empowerment.
With
the help of these new allies,
people can open portals to rebirth and achieve an increased sense of flow.
The experience can be a genuine
spiritual awakening, one that allows people to re-connect with the world.
The very structure of trauma, including hyper-arousal, dissociation. and
freezing, is based on the evolution
of the predator/prey survival behaviors. The symptoms of trauma are the
result of a highly activated
incomplete biological response to threat, frozen in time. By enabling this
frozen response to thaw, then
complete itself, trauma can be healed.
Traumatic symptoms are not caused by the dangerous event itself. They arise when residual energy from the event is not discharged from the body. This energy remains trapped in the nervous system where it can wreak havoc on our bodies and minds. Wild animals have developed the ability to shake off this excess energy. The key for humans in dispelling traumatic symptoms lies in our being able to mirror wild animals in this way. Dr. Levine offers a safe, gradual way to help trauma survivors develop their own natural ability to eliminate the excess energy caused by overwhelming events.
Trauma, Healing, and Spirit by Peter Levine, Ph.D.
Trauma is an internal straitjacket created when a devastating moment is frozen in time. It stifles the unfolding of being, strangling our attempts to move forward with our lives. It disconnects us from our selves, others, nature and spirit. When people are overwhelmed by threat, we are frozen in fear. It is as if our instinctive survival energies are ''all dressed up with no place to go.''
Trauma is a fact of life, but it doesn't have to be a life sentence. We
humans have the natural capacity to
''thaw'' these frozen moments, and move on with our lives. By
understanding
why animals in the wild are
rarely traumatized-though their lives are threatened routinely, we
find the
key to healing trauma. We do not have to cling to the past, reliving devastating events again and again. By
gently awakening this innate
capacity for resilience that we share with all living organisms, the
straitjacket is loosened. As we are
unbound from the past, a future abundant with new possibilities unfolds.
Our
ability to be in the present
expands, revealing the timeless essence of the ''now.'' Trauma can be hell
on earth; transformed, it is a
divine gift.
Peter Levine, Ph.D. is the originator and developer of Somatic
Experiencing®
and the Director of the
Foundation for Human Enrichment. He holds doctorate degrees in both
Medical
Biophysics and Psychology. During his thirty year study of stress and trauma, Dr. Levine has
contributed to a variety of scientific,
medical, and popular publications. His book, Waking the Tiger; Healing
Trauma is in its fifth printing and
receiving wide international attention. He is presently working on two
other
books. It Won't Hurt Forever is a
guide to the prevention and healing of trauma with children. The other
book
is presenting trauma theory and
practice with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk. Levine's method, under the
title
Healing Trauma, Restoring the
Wisdom of the Body, is available in an audio cassette tape learning series
produced and distributed by "Sounds True, 1999. Peter was a consultant for NASA during the
development
of the Space Shuttle, and has
taught at hospitals and pain clinics in both Europe and the U.S., as well
as at the Hopi Guidance Center in
Arizona. He lives near Lyons, Colorado, on the banks of the St. Vrain
River.
Breathing and Trauma Self help Trauma resolution
|
