Your body is constantly in motion, but how often do you pay attention to what these movements convey? Focusing on the way people move their bodies can actually show us a lot about the trauma they’ve experienced. But how can we help people learn to recognize what their bodies are reflecting about their trauma? By […]
The Polyvagal Theory: Looking at Trauma through a New Lens
Can trauma haunt the body the same way it haunts memories? According to Stephen Porges, PhD, not only does the body remember a traumatic experience, but it can actually get stuck in the trauma response mode. So even when life becomes safe, the body still perceives danger and its defenses stay engaged. Why does this […]
PTSD and Emotional Trauma Affects Partners of Veterans Too
It’s common knowledge that caring for someone with PTSD sometimes leads to secondary trauma. But researchers at the University of Utah wondered just how bad that secondary trauma could be. Could the partners of veterans with PTSD suffer just as much, if not more, than the veterans themselves? Catherine Caska, a graduate student in clinical […]
PTSD and gene expression: What can we learn about treating trauma?
Is there a “trauma gene”? Well, let’s back up a bit. We know that genetics can have something to do with vulnerability to trauma. But what if we could find a specific gene that led to PTSD? That’s just what Ya-Ping Tang, MD, PhD, a professor of cell biology at LSU, tried to do. Joined […]
Trauma and Resilience: What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger?
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? Although most of us have probably heard this euphemism before, a recent study looked at traumatic life experiences to see how true this saying really was. Published in the Current Directions in Psychological Science, Mark D. Seery, PhD and his colleagues from the University of Buffalo, delved […]