As I continue to heal the wounding that brought me to my knees at this time last year, this poem arose to meet the anniversary of my near death. It is all a journey to heal the trauma held within the body that heals the mind and soul too. We are one holistic being and everything matters:
Trauma that is held in the body over time freezes…the healing process requires defrosting…it can be painful…physically and emotionally. Their is no separation between body and mind. The body is mind, the mind is body. So what is done to the body is done to the mind and what is done to the mind is done to the body. It’s a vibrant, synergistic relationship of oneness.
Let us please open our eyes and help one another to see. Right now those in public and sanctioned positions to help us are actually harming us unintentionally. We must bring this to a stop. We must help one another. There is no motivation to heal without drugs if there are no safe places to do it. Right now it’s not safe for most people most of the time. This alone will keep people from even attempting to do it or even realize or acknowledge it’s possible. It’s scary and the fear is justified and even rational given what we face. I am in a rare and privileged and lucky position and I still get frightened too. This is scary stuff. …
Psychiatry Must Stop Ignoring Trauma, says Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Yes, please, and thank you for saying so! Of course psychiatry must not just stop ignoring trauma, it must stop retraumatizing the already traumatized. It’s clients. The very vulnerable people who seek help and end up being harmed further. Not only are hospitals and a lot of standard treatment horribly abusive the medications have been found to be further agents of trauma. It’s also true that coercion, subtle or otherwise, is the rule in psychiatric care and that the United Nations has also declared forced treatment to be a form of torture. … [click on title to read the rest]
Van der Kolk draws on 30 years of experience to argue powerfully that trauma is one of the West’s most urgent public health issues. The list of its effects is long: on mental and physical health, employment, education, crime, relationships, domestic or family abuse, alcoholism, drug addiction. “We all want to live in a world that is safe, manageable… predictable, and victims remind us that this is not always the case,” says van der Kolk. When no one wants to hear about a person’s trauma, it finds a way to manifest in their body. … [click on title to read and view more]
I’ve posted several times now about Bessel van der Kolk’s work. Below are some quotes from his book ” The Body Keeps the Score,” that Laura K. Kerr selected. She is currently reading the book. I look forward to her writing on her thoughts about the book when she completes it. She writes wonderful posts on… Continue Reading →
“Trauma really does confront you with the best and the worst. You see the horrendous things that people do to each other, but you also see resiliency, the power of love, the power of caring, the power of commitment, the power of commitment to oneself, the knowledge that there are things that are larger than our individual survival. And in some ways, I don’t think you can appreciate the glory of life unless you also know the dark side of life” … [click on title for the rest of the post]
That trauma deeply impacts the body is something people are still just starting to understand.Those of us using yoga and other body/mind techniques to heal learn just how profound the body/mind connection is. Yoga has been a profoundly healing part of my journey for past traumas (both experiential and the iatrogenic trauma that psychiatric drugs imposed) and for rehabilitation after having been bedridden for a couple of years. The below information about yoga healing and integrating PTSD and past trauma is very important practice, news and research. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Survivors of incest or molestation, and/or extreme neglect often talk about how they are evil or damaged or worthless. When we tell them that is not true, it can make them feel even worse, more alone and misunderstood – despite our good intentions, we have just told them again how wrong they are, even about their own reality. They need for us, as their therapists, to get how ugly they feel about themselves, how ugly their core self map really is.
We need to help them go inside themselves with an adult ego and notice what happened to them without dissociating or avoiding. There is no need to relive the memories, only to witness them as an observer (the reliving of a memory is known entering the memory field). If they bring adult awareness to wounded child-part of themselves, it becomes easier to regulate the core brain stem functions. [This is the foundation of self compassion training.] … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Trauma that is held in the body over time freezes…the healing process requires defrosting…it can be painful…physically and emotionally. (it’s also well worth the trouble!) … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Everything matters 
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