The treatment of trauma can be some of the most complex work practitioners face.
And for years, this challenge was complicated by not having a clear picture of the impact that trauma has on the brain.
But scientific advances within just the past few years have opened the eyes of practitioners to what actually happens in the brain of someone who has experienced trauma.
And according to Bessel van der Kolk, MD, there are three major ways that the brain changes in response to trauma.
To find out what they are (and their impact on the body), take a look at the video below – it’s just 3 minutes.
Bessel is one of the world’s leading experts in trauma and PTSD. Because of his research, we have a deeper understanding of how trauma impacts both body and brain.
And this is crucial – it can help us target our interventions more effectively.
So now, we’d like to hear from you . . .
When it comes to the treatment of trauma, what do you want to know most? Please leave your comment below.
I would love to know more about targeting the body body memory…more focused interventions
I feel like my filtering system is forever changed and things that used to effect me, don’t even hit the meter anymore. If I’m in a group and people are discussing everyday life, I feel so detached, like “let’s talk about some REAL stuff”. If someone’s dog dies, I feel like “well, at least it wasn’t your spouse”. Will I ever have my empathy back? I feel my barometer is forever changed and it is hard to fit in.
Learn more about EMDR successes and how to manage the nightmare of long term sleep deprivation, high emotional turmoil, increased self-doubt, hyper vigilance and intense startle reflex, short term memory issues.
more on different strategies to manage the 3 brain changes you mention in the video. How to work with individuals in a unique way that meets their unique interpretation of the trauma and also managing their brain response and physical response to trauma.
A lot of survivors also want to know case studies of trauma survivors who are successful at overcoming the deep physiological response of trauma, PTSD – so any of those case studies would be great inspiration for trauma survivors on the journey to recovery.
How to help someone recover.
Sexual assault on a young man
When there has been trauma, what role does physical activity – say Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Yoga or simply physical exercise play in recovery? Is it important? Why is it important?
I want to know how to better handle those surges of terror that I feel in my body. It’s the kind of surge you have when something really bad is happening but it’s just my fear that something bad is happening that’s causing these physical reactions-the adrenalin rush, heart pounding ,things starting to go surreal.
Now that I know these surges are something that happens. I can talk myself down but it would be nice if I didn’t have them. I would like to know how.
This is very helpful. I work with clients who have experienced trauma and really wish to engage in employment; their hope is to get and keep a meaningful job, yet they have great difficulty in this area. I would love to know how to help them strategize so we can help them choose the right employment, and how to encourage them to be comfortable enough to share with a supportive employer, their accommodation needs, so the work experience can be positive-a win-win.
Can using art therapy to process trauma, help tap in to the part of the brain that helps integrate the trauma? I like to use art with clients and it seems to help them get in tune with their emotions in a deeper way and often they report that something shifts for them after. I use the art as a way for them to follow a guided imagery focused on what is happening in their body and then have them use art to externalize it and process it.
Laili
Hi, I would like to know what your experience with Neurofeedback is. I find it VERY helpful, obviously applied with other modalities like music therapy, osteopathy, cranio sacral etc.
I also find it fascinating that apparently a lot of people intuitively turn to music therapy. I have also developed my own music therapy/meditation; my greatest help, mindfulness training and “healing refuge”.
Hi Ruth, I have been dealing with complex trauma induced by Extreme and a Ritual Abuse for 30 years.
There is an amazing protocol I have developed over the this time. It involves energy psychology and energy balancing.
Emotional Freedom Technique which involves tapping on meridian points is
scientifically verified to reduce PTSD.
My method, a bilateral movement therapy called Swaying
has no scientific backup but hundreds of great results.
I would urge victims to look at energy balancing methods.
Re music. Yes it does work but better if the instruments are
tuned to Verdi’s A at 432 hz. (Reference Mark Devlin’s book
Satanism in the music industry.)
Your show was mentioned in the above video. May I post the video on my website? . I would like to meet you by Skype and if you feel it is a good fit, appear on your show.
Also, I do speaking engagements and/ or Workshops with survivors who are or have been clients.
My goals are to validate victim’s stories and wake up therapists to the reality of this type of extreme abuse which is literally hidden in plain sight.
Thanks for your consideration and your work. Sandra
Yes, this is very interesting. What I would like to know as a practitioner, as well as someone who has been through my own trauma, what simple ways can we all help ourselves to recover? For myself, I have found that meditation is the single most effective tool. Other modalities such as homeopathy, Bach flowers and kinesiology have also been invaluable. I have also tried hypnotism which was great too. What useful and simple techniques for people to practice in the home would you suggest?
i cannot say how much of a fool I feel at this moment. I am computer illiterate etc etc. I really did not want those comments made public, i just wanted to have an instant quick fix to get on with my day, I am not playing victim i just want relief from this pain that is killing my heart and spirit and body. Trying to celebrate my bday today. Guess I should go out for a walk now and release. thank you and if you have a way to remove these four messages , i would be extremely grateful. Namaste my friend.
How can I help a son reach out for help? He is now 40 and continues to blunt those difficult feelings with alcohol and self abuse (depriving himself of sleep, being taken advantage of in his workplace, cutting family off, etc..). I was a very young selfish mother and recognize my contribution to his PTSD, but have been in therapy for many years and know that my guilt cannot help him. He is in thousands of $$ of school loan debt, been divorced and now has 5 children who he does try to see and care for. We have a close but guarded relationship, and he adores his father whom I am still married to. In a drunken rage he has said to me “You are nothing without Dad”. It does break my heart but I know it’s his anger talking. I am often tempted to just let him go, but then I would never see my grandchildren. I know this is complex, but I’m always open to new approaches.
I do not want my comment exposed to the public and I see that it has already there. how do I delete that. I thought it was going to be personal and a reply would also be personal.
please do not post my previous comment from about five minutes ago to the public i wish to have that question in privacy thank you from marlene
I have had two sisters and three cousin all commit suicide from severe depression and trauma. I am here fighting the same battle, and trying to stay afloat. I am against prescription drugs but am having a hard time with this. Today is my 60th birthday. I have been married to an addict, alcoholic and he has turned my three children against me in the past six years and my heart is terribly hurting. I have been sent this email information from a friend and have not listened to or read anything yet. Please do you have any suggustions for an immediate uplift. I do not smoke, drink coffee, alcohol or drugs and need uplifting yesterday so to speak. thx marlene
This is very helpful and succinct….now, how can we help patients manage.
I have a friend who was put in the basement when they were little as a punishment. The basement was dark with mice and bats. Today this person hates dark places and stays up to all hours as not to be in the dark, has a brightly lit bedroom and overindulges himself in food and is overweight. He is in therapy now and the therapist is doing CBT with him and I know that the issues go much deeper. I believe the food is an issue because his mom never helped him get out of the basement because she felt powerless
but fed him after these events. What would you suggest as the appropriate treatment. He has also had difficulty with intimate relationships…he is very rigid in his beliefs of the world. He is very fearful.
Thank you
I have treated my own PTSD with music therapy and exercise…because some part of my brain recognized that when I was physically off- balance, I was mentally off-balance. This self-guided therapy has had extremely positive effects on my health and mental status overall….but I am not sure why. I would like to know why. I should add however, that music therapy is only effective if I am wearing headphones and am directing radiowaves into my brain. This has been the biggest mystery of all….simply listening to ambient music has no soothing effect on me…the soundwaves must be directed into my brain to soothe and regulate my brain activity. I would like to know why.
Hello, I have custody of my 10 year old granddaughter. I feel she suffers from PTSD. She has been diagnosed with ADHD. No medications or treatments are working. What kind of doctor should I be seeing. She has a trauma counselor. Is this enough?
After 9 brain injuries, physical and emotional trauma coupled with invasive operations from serious accidents, I find short sentences and somatic therapy have helped the best. EFT and EMDR did not work. I stopped my mental health training as a result of brain trauma in 2009.
My questions are:
How much time does the brain need in order to heal?
Is there a study showing the intuitive part of the brain increases?
Are there medications that help prevent early brain deterioration after brain injury and effectively keep serotonin and dopamine elevated?
Can menopause actual be good thing after trauma?
I really appreciate the shorter length of this video and the precision of the information shared on the specific theme. Very helpful in understanding trauma as it manifests in the body. I am also understanding more my bias and the assumption that the brain is actually part of the body. Therefore the mechanisms of brain are in themselves embodied processes. It’s helpful because when working with trauma, there may not be necessity to distinguish brain and the body, or is there?
Very useful information. I work in the Conflict Resolution field and the mediation centre I work for has a trauma informed approach; this is a succinct capture of a complex subject. Thank you.
Susan
What are some exercises a person suffering from PTSD can do on their own to aid them in recovery from PTSD?
How to help children recover from trauma so that reactive patterns do not become institutionalized.
My trauma event may have been when I was a baby. I have no memory of it but am sure I am affected by it. Fear rules me, my perception of my self is not to trust my intuition or others. I would like to deal with the loving myself a trust issues.
I would like to read your reply to all the questions under the persons story .i have always been interested in mental health and some people can start healing and others not I feel this is if the problem is Trauma based it’s a lot harder . I have noticed the people who have the hardest time feeling better have a very negative out look on everything a belief that nothing will work .i know it would be hard to change the feeling of doom but I do feel uplifting thought could help do you feel the brain could be retrained ?
For me, it’s about knowing just how to acknowledge the trauma and let it go? I’m trying to put together various ideas – changes in the brain and how the body holds onto pain and keeps us stuck in survivor mode instead of being able to thrive? I’m exercising, doing Reiki, counselling, investigating NLP – I think I’m improving but everything still feels blocked. I’ve always been told I “am not working to my full potential ” and it’s true. I feel overwhelmed a lot of the time. Burned out emotionally not physically.
How does the brains neuroplasticity heal trauma and which Counselling treatment modality is best recommended for trauma & PTSD?
I find its very hard to crack through the third one. “there’s nothing wrong. I’m fine” Meanwhile co-workers and family members are not have a good time with that person at all.
What is your opinion on EMDR? I have had some success with it reducing my PTSD symptoms, but find the days after therapy very difficult
I am curious as to the results of EFT on many of the symptoms of PTSD. I have been sober for a good # of years and had an emotional trauma and seemed to have back slid into old fears and freezing up and isolations along with depression. I am 70 and really don’t want to finish up my golden years feeling like crap all to often. I have a high allergy reactions so antidepressants are not an option at this point….I tried one and wanted to take my life…I have very little interest in trying more of them.
The three brain responses to trauma responses resonated with me. I have all three, but especially the one about not being able to focus on things in the right timing. I am in quite a mess in my personal and financial life now. I’m 56 years old and quite terrified every day. Medicine does not work for me, I become obsessed with suicide. There is nothing that can help me. My brain is damaged and I don’t know to fix it. The only thing that has come close to repair work, is swimming every day, sometimes twice and falling love, which for some reason I can do quite easily. too easily.
This is so like me, I am 60 and find swimming lifts me up like nothing else. It is one of the few things I feel I excel at, other things I have hit a wall. Even where I have been successful I feel like I have sabotaged myself, but not consciously. I hope you find peace of mind.
How to treat infant trauma compounded by complex trauma . Also are you monitoring the fantastic results from the medical MDMA drug trials for PTSD symptoms
How do I help my 19 year old daughter integrate back into the world? She doesn’t leave the house without having someone with her. Is afraid and doesn’t have any relationships with anyone other than her sister and I. Even is paranoid of her dad.
practical exercises to help overcome the ‘rewiring’effect of trauma.
Thank you for the post. Very informative! I am trying to recover from childhood sexual trauma and the trauma of a marriage that left me destitute. I have manifested “symptoms of unknown origin” in my pelvic floor. Spasms to be exact. And pain. Comes on with triggers. I seem to have more and more triggers. How can a person heal their bodies and their minds at the same time? I’m following dr sarnos book about mind body syndrome. It’s helped a lot but I still manifest psycho somatic sumptoms. Is there more I can do to dampen my reptilian brain responses to benign stimuli. I’m totally fear driven and I want to heal completely. Valium is the one true relief when things get horribly bad.
Thank you so much.
What methods and practices relieve the or heal the Effects of trauma.
I’d like to know if the Amygdala plays a large part in traumatised kids and teens. How is the Amygdala affected when a child is exposed to domestic violence in the home or any other type of traumatic event?
As a Speech-Language Pathologist who has worked with voice disorders for many years, in my experience it is common to find mental health contributes to the voice problems. Some of the many techniques I’ve learned are psychologically based. There is also a role for physical access to the emotions I believe, as per John F Barnes, Physiotherapist, and his unique life-long approaches to assessing and improving/releasing restrictions/constrictions of myofascial tissue throughout every part of the body that occur with physical trauma, accompanied by the emotions of trauma.
In coursework, personally and with patients, I have seen that emotional release & “unwinding” of the body as they revisit physical experiences during the massage techniques. It is powerful with an experienced “body” or manual therapist trained by Mr. Barnes, who does this work/training throughout the world. I consider it excellent adjunct work.
Recently, I was unexpectedly diagnosed as having a life threatening aneurysm on the ascending aorta of the heart. In the week before the surgery was done, I went through a kaleidascope of feelings, emotions thoughts etc. Post op it felt as if my mind was separated from the body and as the sternum has healed the two have come back together. My surgeon said that the memory usually returned to pre operative state 6 months post op. I am now just 12 weeks post op. I haven’t returned to work as yet as a psychologist – I am hoping to do so next month (I am 76). I feel this experience will be valuable in understanding such situations with my clients, but for the moment, I have lost all sense of security – and I have an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm which needs to be repaired as well in the near future and I am feeling very frightened. I appreciate it all has to do with death and dying, but this uncertainty has taken the pleasure out of planning anything for the future. Yes, I have a therapist. I myself have worked for many years with war vets with PTSD. Somehow having personally had this recent experience it is a little like I cannot see the trees from the forest.
How can we help save our loved one from suffering trauma ptsd?? Our adult son will not reach out for supportive help. He is angry depression is getting the best of him and us. His dr has not been any help as it appears made worse. We can not find anyone, any resources eastern washington rural area.
What is the best way to help the filtering system in children who have had multiple medical interventions while being cautious of post-traumatic play?
What interventions are appropriate for a patient/client with agoraphobia?
I long have been wondering how long it takes for these responses to become the “inate” pattern. That is, how long is one aware before the lights on awareness and sensation come down. How long must one endure a next blow before they live curled up to receive the blow. How long until gene expression resets?
It seems, from my TCM perspective that this could be ploted, dose dependent, on the level of stimuli.
What you describe is strikingly similar to W. Reich and the Gestaltist like Perls , btw.
When traumatic and once buried memories “down load” it releases shock layers within the body; the emotions or affect that was frozen is now moving through the body, like a river of melting glaciers, it turns the body into a slow moving experience and unable to respond; speaking is monotone, slow, labored; thinking or cognitive functioning is offline, energy slowly being drained from the body. How does one cope with the experience of being in shock with memories revealing the trauma that had been buried? Shock layers come and go. Staring without really seeing anything in particular. Shock layers releasing.
Asperin or advil – will not help. Staying warm, cover oneself with a blanket, sip warm or hot beverage, call a friend? I imagine the tears will be flowing soon, heart wrenching sobs, as the full feeling is being restored in the broken heart. She must feel the heart break of her parents having sold her into human trafficking (at all ages) and of her older brother also, drugging her and raping her whenever he wanted. The question i am asking is, how does one deal with this kind of heart break? Even at age 60?
How long does treatment with EMDR generally take?
I had my daughter 22 years ago, and I suffered from post-partum psychosis. At that time I thought I was demon possessed, but have since learnt what is really was. Over the years I have had a series of breakdowns that began when my daughter was molested at age 3. Over the last 5 yyears I have had about 4 breakdowns. I suffer from severe depression and had ECT this year. I desperately want to change my brain and am going in for neuro feedback. What else can I do.
How can I find a counselor that works with trauma. I have Complex PTSD, and started to see a counselor, we get along alright, but I feel as if I am there to fill his time. He sent me to get a psychiatric evaluation and this person never took her eyes away from the laptop she was working on. Every minute or so she’d ask a question, without looking at me. At the end of my time she gave me a prescription for VIIBRYD. I do not want drugs.