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.
Does alcohol use correlate with trauma?
Yes absolutely. I am an art therapy student. I have been studying trauma for a few years now in a university that over all does not believe in trauma. Adults who did not experience a secure attachment to a caregiver as an infant may find themselves navigating life without a secure base from which to live. A common feeling experienced by these survivors is that there is something missing. I have heard the expression describing a “hole in their heart”. People get involved in drugs and alcohol to try to fill that hole, or to ease the pain. It doesn’t work and just makes matters worse. If you can’t afford therapy with a good trauma therapist and want to work on yourself you might try this book Recovery from Trauma, Addiction or Both by Lisa Najavits. I found on Amazon.
Hi, Karen – I can relate to that. The “hole in the heart” is exactly what it is. But I use other ways to fill it through readings and accumulation of knowledge, it can be overwhelming, makes me feel insecure and losing control. I don’t know what else to hold onto. I don’t like to go to the meetings and try to work through it on my own. Although it feels very empty, I count on my few neighbours for company. I wish I could keep up with my meetings more often.
When working with Veteran with multiple traumas is there an approach that is better. Desensitizing (think about trauama in a controlled way) approach seems only to open the flood gates.
Does this pertain strictly to conscious trauma that has a narrative or does it apply to trauma that occurred unconsciously. (eg. car accident which is not remembered)
How do I just heal or get disability one or the other. Can’t be denied both!!
How do I get over trauma, and get on with my life feeling normal
Thankyou
Shelley x
I enjoyed watching this video. The knowledge about the impact of PTSD on the individual was very well explained without medical complicated jargon. Well done and thank you.
What a good summary of the symptoms and explanations. Very helpful to understand that ptsd is the most difficult to treat, especially in our society.
In which way can we help a schizophrenic client with ptsd dealing her daily struggles in groups ? Shouldn’t hypervigilance also be considered as a personality characteristic among ptsd clients ?
So how should people get over these feelings or states of heightened awarenessor perceptions or fears/anxieties. Suspect not everyone responds the same to similar trauma. Man might go to gym a lot to condition self but avoid male contacts if PTSD result of assault? Female might engage in extra work or hobby but reduce social activities significantly due to lack of trust in others or lack of confidence in self ?
How does one get past the cycle of “trigger” and symptoms? I feel like I am on a merry- go-round. …25 years on a merry go round
What practices on a daily basis mitigate PTSD responses? Is it possible to retrain the brain to gain a sense of well being in the cacophany of everyday life?
When you have a life time of many traumas in your 60’s and want to fully engage and be able to feel for the rest of the life left what where and how do you get to that point life now is not who I am but what I have become survival does not always make you stronger but I want to live as me .
How do we recover from ptsd I really need some help plz
What research do you have on Trans-Generational Trauma, in to relation to First Nations People around the world due to the history of colonisation and massacres, and ongoing stolen generations?, What is being done about this world wide problem imposed by corporations and governments to heal the people?
I would be very interested in learning the same with ways to start with oneself : BE the change ,you want to see in the world.
Its easier said than done, but a courageous place to start!
Be the change you want to be is KEY. In my work with traders I teach “transformational meditation” . They learn to experience themselves in a different way by connecting to a different energy frequency, and thus to different information. In other words it is about learning to recognize and then change one’s own energy field. This form of meditation has helped traders I have worked with who experienced trauma from 9/11 and other trauma triggers.
Thanks. I look forward to more great videos.
I’l love more information on secondary ptsd for the caregiver and then their resulting trauma albeit from an accident or the deaths of loved ones. The effect and what courses of treatment are used as depression, anger and even appearing to take on the character of the injured person with the original ptsd with head injury and bodily injury which caused disability, cognitive/memory difficuties, and decline in function. How is each person able to separate and the effects on the brain as both are now hypervigilant and going through related disorders and equal caregivers. Does group therapy even help in these cases?
Hi, Sarah, I have been doing caring work for more than ten years. Taking care of others like my elderly parents. It has been physically and emotionally draining. I sometimes think I have secondary PTSD but it is actually a reaction the kind caregiver have …like the being stress, and being a working mom. I did some volunteering over seas for a year and I’ve noticed that I have had more ups and downs, trouble sleeping at night, anxiety, and panic. It usually demands actual adjustment, physical and emotional.
I wonder if Bessel vdk was talking about the drugs that sedates like narcotic, opiate that causethe stopping of some excruciating muscle pain that kind of creepy dope that teens alsouses at parties to do the trick. Analgesic, pain-killer, sleeping pill consumed
Hello and thank you for that short video on Trauma and Treatment. What I’d most like to know, is how to see it in others (as I am a yoga teacher and martial arts instructor) and how I can me more compassionate and empathetic to the outward expressions – that do not necessarily translate as acceptable, kind or thinking behaviour on the part of those suffering or living with the after effects of trauma.
As a yoga teacher I work body up. Are there targeted behaviors that enhnce this method? He seemed to indicate that the dampening behaviors dampen desireable thoughts, feelings and emotions. Yoga has traditionally be used to reduce the frequency, duration and intencity of traumatic reactions but is it also dampening the positive reactions as well?
What a wonderful summary! Thankyou.
I had a client whom I saw him and his family together. This client has very few words, blunted facial expression, and gets easily agitated. There wasn’t any history of episodic trauma. When I met his parents, I noticed that his mother is likely depressed. Both parents were not good in expressing themselves. His parents were obviously supportive but were unable to meet this client’s emotional needs. This client was diagnosed with severe depression but he refused medication as he distrust all medical professionals. I felt intuitively that perhaps by engaging this family to do simple yoga exercise can spark greater connection within and between themselves. They enjoyed the sessions and find them helpful. However, the improvement in client’s condition is very very slow. I wondered whether using yoga as primary intervention is enough to help this client. Please share your thoughts.
Sarah Poh, have you assessed your client for a history of bumps to the head? Even concussions that people may not mention can have an impact on ability to utilize behavioral health interventions, and of course brain injury places clients at greater risk for depression. Every therapist has clients with unidentified brain injuries in their history, and it can sometimes explain very slow progress in therapy and suggest new approaches that combine mental health treatment with cognitive games, etc. It can be helpful to begin a discussion on did he ever fall and hit his head, get hit in the head during sports, did he lose consciousness, if so, for how long? Any medical records that could be accessed? A new theory is that when people have had brain injury (research shows that mild concussion can result in severe depression and higher risk of suicide than even moderate brain injuries), when you try to deal with psychiatric disorders without also dealing with the cognitive issues, clients get stuck. Ditto if they’ve had speech therapy for improving cognition and they don’t get a chance to process feelings, they get stuck. TBI is after all, the leading cause of death and disability from age 0 to 45. Just a thought – might be worth an ask.
I work mainly with traders. Some were present in 9/11 which resulted in delayed trauma response affecting all parts of their lives. I teach all of my clients to meditate in a very specific way which I have called “transformational meditation”. My clients learn to experience themselves in a very different way. They learn how to recognize their own energy field and change it.
This form of meditation works well in groups and might be something to consider in addition to the yoga exercises.
I am desperate for help. My daughter and I were in a car accident with concusions and TBI for me. I have had to go on disability. She is a teen and has had another trauma. Because of further events this past year which included the death of 2 people she is spinning out of control. I know good eating healthy and have recovered from a head injury before when I had money. She is starting to go for the drugs and drinking. Please does anyone treat on sliding scale? Or know of anyone that does pro bono work? Desperate mother trying to save her beautiful daughter. Labetter@aol.com
How do you overcome and deal with what has happened to the brain after trauma???
Definitely would like to know the answer to this one for sure
How does the vagal nerve complex impact on the brain What is its role in changing the structure of the brain
‘d love more info about Ptsd growth using CPT practice, integration and IFS
The video has covered very little about avoidance to none. Could we have this in the presentation in the future
How to truly vanquish toxic shame for CSA survivors
I would like to know if it is possible to re-frame the way our brain has dealt with repeated exposure to trauma?….is there a way to maybe not “normalize” it; but to learn to manage our brain’s chemical reaction without the introduction of drugs, or other chemicals…..either prescribed or self medicating.
I would like to know how to help trauma survivors whose trauma of being abused as children is compounded by current life situations. Two examples:
The client’s wariness and being suspicious of others actually elicits from others either wariness or defensive judgmentalness or even “cutting “ remarks and meanness.
Second example: Somatic Experiencing suggest titration but this retraumatizes from repeated childhood messages of the parents denying the pain, and suppressing the child from expressing the pain, and now titration feels like the same message for the client.
Mentoring of boundaries, inquiry skills and discernment. The Dialectical Behavioral Therapy does an excellent of educating these skills. Every therapist needs a copy of this program for the resources
Can dbt be paired with PE to bring out the best in a client with trauma ? Is there any proven research done on this?
Hi, I would like to know the best way of supporting children and young people who have experienced neglect, then experiencing rejection from leaving parents after going into care. Older children have a better perception of what is happening yet often deny parents were unable to care, or even sadly, did not want to care for child.
As we know neglect can lead to a range of negative direct impacts on physical health and mental health issues. How can we best support these children in building better resilience and emotional regulation in order to prevent, as much as possible, these symptoms developing.
Thank you for your posts and regular emails to keep us updated.
Hello, I’d like to know the relationship between PTSD and chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia and CFS. Thank you, Lorna Bryant
Salut j’ai eu un traumatisme crânien en 1993 . 7 jours de coma. A l’âge de 30 ans . Et j’ai découvert dans une revue scientifique que javais le syndrome du génie. Je comprend maintenant pourquoi un spychiatre australien m’as informer de çà aujourd’hui. La synchronisité c’est possible lorsque l’ont médite chaque jour. The soul l’âme la science vedique .J’ai fait une expérience spirituelle. Salut merci
A very concise presentation. Is CBT effective in treating PTSD?
Bessel van der Kolk talks about CBT in The Body Keeps the Score, and describes a number of therapies that are more likely to be effective. In my personal experience, cognitive approaches have felt like handling the problem backwards. If I don’t feel safe enough to be present with my thoughts and behaviors, it’s excruciating to feel forced to do so for long periods of time. I feel threatened, out of control, angry about it, and ashamed of my failure. I’m under the impression that CBT, lengthy meditation practices, etc., have high dropout rates among trauma patients for similar reasons. When I focus on my body first, such as doing gentle exercises that positively impact the nervous system–yoga, somatics, postural corrections, and others– that is when I begin to feel strong enough in my body and comfortable enough in my brain to be able to continue to develop skills of mindfulness, and THEN devote attention and energy to making positive changes. Hope that helps!
Yes, you are absolutely correct. I have C-PTSD. What has helped me the most has been just trying to be gentle and learning body sensations and yoga. I’m also dealing with Borderline Personality, but not doing DBT/CBT. I’m doing Transference Focused Psychotherapy and really helping. I never thought about it, but you have expressed it perfectly! It’s all in the body first! Thanks.
This is really a good point. I have rarely seen many therapists who are practicing either SE or dbt in my area. I live in Washington and I am thinking about exploring SE to find out how the body heal itself.
EMDT works for me. Exposure Therapy actually traumatised me over and over.
Regards
Carina
Carina – I agree.
Which is the best and faster way to reduce those symptoms in a PTS or in old development traumas.
Very interesting presentation. It would be interesting to note differential effectiveness of varied multi modal therapeutic regimens based on circadian rhythm variables, Age of Sub populations etc. Gender amd establishing optimal Amount and Duration of Multi Modal Therapeutic Regimems .
Can childhood domestic violence evolve into late onset fibromyalgia?
Great question, Jo. I see so many women in my practice who are trauma survivors and have chronic health issues: fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and now lupus. I wonder if there is a connection between inflammation in the body and a trauma history.
Yes. Check out Bob Scare’s books, “The Body Bares the Burden” and “The Trauma Spectum.” He’s a neurologist who lays it all out clearly as well as going over various treatment modalities. Unfortunately trauma also usually brings shame, particularly complex relational trauma and ptsd. Shame has been scientifically correlated with inflammation. Dr. Scare clearly explains how and why the freeze reflex is the key with these illnesses. This also shuts down the gut. That creates a physical and psychological cascade which can destroy people’s lives.
My last name is Adams
I believe the author cited above spells his name “Scaer.”
Hi Julisa,
thank you for recommending the book! I am a nutrition counselor and definitely find trauma in the history of patients with autoimmune diseases like colitis, gastritis, crohn’s disease but also severe allergies, irritable bowel or metabolic syndrome. Once I started to check for trauma after reading Bessel van der Kolk’s book, I was overwhelmed how often I find it and how unaware of it patients and their doctors were of the root of the health challenges. It’s so important to raise the awareness of doctors, phyiotherapist, nutritionists etc. to check for trauma and refer clients or patients to trauma specialists and trauma-aware physiotherapists and counselors.
This is very good but since I am experiencing trauma myself right now not ‘treating it’ in others I have a horrific ‘startle reflex’ going on and don’t know how to stop it. For me it makes my tendons/muscles on my right side up my back from my right shoulder blade up through my shoulder to the base of my skull very taut and producing a sharp, knife like pain which takes a while to calm. Can you make any recommendations/suggestions besides the obvious massage? I would love to go to a flotation centre but do not have the funds at the moment.
I was helped by the “Adrenal Re-set” protocol from Eileen McKusick’s website. Also helpful was tapping – I like Jennifer Partridges’ approach. There is also TRE which involves spontaneous shaking to release built-up tension. I’ve benefited from all of these
Hi, Paige – It seems like a daily combat and struggle for you. frightful physical challenge. I have regular back pain and arthritis at a very youn g age I’vefound stretching and chriropractice help. Insurance available but have to invest in a lot ot your time about thirty sessions at least. We use bicycling and elastic rope to rebuild the muscles. Love the exercises. But have to keep up the daily workout and use of the hot pad….I wish you well.
Dear Latin
Sometimes pain in our body is our body trying to talk to us. How about asking it if it wants to say anything to you. I have used this with my clients and they have been amazed at what the body is wanting to say. One client felt as if she was being strangled and her throat felt tight. After hearing what the throat had to say to her and apologising to it she had some relief.
Is this the person’s inner child speaking I think it is sometimes but it works.
The throat is a very important body part, as it connects the body to the higher self region in the brain and is often blocked.
I have created a form of what I call “transformational meditation” which helps my clients experience themselves in a very different way. I teach my clients how to consciously change their own energy in meditation. This form of meditation works also very well in small groups. It is gentle and incredibly powerful and build new neural pathways with regular practice.
As an RN who does MH groups within CDCR, what interventions might I use for those suffering with PTSD?
Hello
I work in Greece in a refugeecamp with children frm Syria. Their ages range frm 4-12.
I do know how important it is to createba safe place for them that is the reason why i started my own charity called Heart on Wheels.
I try to combine education and
a lot of playtherapy but as the number of children is so high i work in big groups. A lot of these children suffer frm PTSD and they show it through their level of agressiveness and once they slip into this it is hard to get them out of it
Is there any therapy that u can advise me pls?
Btw i love your website and tips very helpful
With kind regards
Jeanne
Bal-A-Vis-X looks promising as an approach with children
To what extent can attachment / developmental trauma be ‘diagnosed’ from QEEG results?
I have tried many things over the past 4 years to calm my brain and get rid of these symptoms, although I am much better, they still lay in my unconscious. How can I completely get rid of them to stop the fear that is constantly there in the background not allowing me to feel safe in life?
I find other’s don’t understand and think I should be over it, even therapist.
I follow Dr. Daniel Dufour and is method OGE the reverse of EGO to take care of myself. I came to question myself about why am i protecting myself with weight for the 3 time after many years. The body know the trauma, the EGO does not want you to loose time on yourself. Please, take care of yourself, pamper yourself and don’t loose faith.
All three points make sense to me following a nearly fatal car accident. So now what do I do? I am in DBT classes and that is helping me a lot. Is there anything else I can do to help? Pam Fountain.
When there are layers of trauma that start from childhood – and then are compounded by others both at home and school – what is the best approach to heal these complex and often abusive situations in someone who comes for help in their mid – twenties, when they are finally free of parents afraid of the stigma of visiting a psychiatrist
My initial method of intervention is favorably journaling because it is a required introspective work that has to be done alone with one selves through transcribing, expressing thoughts and emotions and going back in time to remember events or the trauma within a secure context until finding in the past, the “defensive” (or threatening) trigger. Why now and what/how to do next to do more intervention? It is very liberating. I would like to hear more about those. Thanks.
Hi there, someone mentioned above how to shift the freezing response. I am curious about how to work with the freezing response and then how it leads into dissociation. What are the steps towards crwtaing more options and change.
Right, how to help a client dissociated back to the here-and-now as well as stop the flashback, without medications. Any help is would be great.
Dr. van der Kolk and his work have helped me personally as an adult survivor of long term abuse (every kind) when I was a child. Professionally as a speech-language pathologist, I use the same information to relate to my students, many of whom are victims of trauma, and do speech/language therapy. BUT the most interesting thing for me is that, as I watched the video, I thought of my 15-year old son with autism. The three differences in the PTSD brain are the same as my son’s issues. Has anyone looked at the Autism Spectrum Disorder brain from the perspective of trauma? If not, then this might be something to look into.
I have, and I treat all my clients with SSP (Safe and Sound Protocol) first! I have been saying this for years!!
Bravo – I agree!
Thank you as always. My question is when childhood trauma morphs into adult phobia what is the best first step into recovery.
Binta, LCPC, CCTP
I would like to know how to deal better with freezing – when my body locks up, immobilised, and I’m terrified to move. I’ve educated myself so I know what’s happening – I know there’s no longer any danger or threat, and I tell myself this – “come on, you can move, move, it’s ok, there’s no danger anymore” – and very slowly I can begin to move again, but there’s a mountain of fear to overcome first.
This freezing was a significant part of a breakdown I had 10 years ago, where I was so anxious I would be tensed into a ball every day for hours, afraid to move or even venture outside. It still pops up now and then as a remnant of that awful time, thankfully not often, but the feelings are just as scary and strong, even though I understand now what is going on.
I had a similar experience which was called autonomic nervous system shutdown. I would all of a sudden just fall asleep. Couldn’t wake up. It was like being drugged. I never knew when it was going to happen so I couldn’t make any plans. I couldn’t be relied upon to do this or that or be here or there at a certain time. And I never knew how long I would be out…hours, days, even weeks. Good news…this condition very, very slowly went away. My new boyfriend (now husband) gently brought me into contact with other people and that was key for me. Something to do with stimulating the vagus nerve.
You may want to consider learning what I call “Transformational meditation”. I have taught this form of meditation to many clients with severe trauma. This meditation teaches you how to tune into your energy system and consciously elicit changes at will. Over time your vibrational energy frequency changes. When your energy changes you have access to different information, healing occurs, your brain builds new neural pathways.
What is the most effective & expedient way to help the brain recover from, and cope with, extensive, repeated trauma.
Janovian Primal Therapy