A chronic reaction to being terrified — and betrayed
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may occur in persons who have been subject to traumatic events which are outside the range of usual human experience. The trauma may be physical or sexual abuse, accidents, or combat. When trauma happens for years, across developmental stages, we go with what Bessel Van der Kolk has called "neurodevelopmental trauma." The hyperalertness and defensive posture gets very "built-in." The person may live in a state of extreme vigilance with much anxiety, disturbing nightmares, social withdrawal. Flashbacks may occur — usually some fragmented image from the traumatic experience, often triggered by some current situation which is similar in some way to the traumatic situation.
Emotional safety first
Before you ever start talking about what happened to you, we want you to develop some practiced skill at finding a calmer-than-usual feeling inside. We help you find that with heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback, muscle relaxation practices, meditation methods. No one size fits all, so we help you find some ways that work for you. The reason it is very important that you get some serious relaxation skill before talking about terrible things that happened to you is that the feelings you have while talking about something get connected to that memory. So talking too far into pain can cause the painful memories to get more emotionally charged. It's fine - and normal - to get emotional when you start opening up about things that happened. It is important to find your voice. But over the course of a conversation, if you're even a little more relaxed than usual, then that calmer state gets connected to the trauma memories and starts to erode their power. This is part of why talking with someone you trust and feel safe with helps.
Neurotherapy for PTSD
The pioneering work of Dr. Eugene Peniston at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Fort Lyons, Colorado and Dr. Paul Kulkosky at the University of Southern Colorado has opened a new range of power to help clients with serious, persistent PTSD and depression.
Using continuous feedback of information about the electrical activity of the client's brain, the client is taught to allow themselves to go into a profoundly relaxed, yet quietly alert state. This is possible because certain patterns of brain electrical activity are known to correspond to this calm, centered feeling.
A computer is set up to record EEG from electrodes placed on the scalp — completely painless and comfortable. First, an assessment of the EEG activity is done. This allows the neurotherapist to determine the pattern of training that will be most beneficial. The computer is then adjusted so that it emits pleasant tones or music that lets you know your brain is generating desirable brain rhythms. You don't have to "try" to do anything, being mildly pleased when you hear these signals is enough. Clients begin to feel a tremendous sense of empowerment as they take back what they were deprived of by the trauma — a good night's sleep, feelings of calm and confidence, and the knowledge that they can relax themselves at will.
What the process looks like
Neurotherapy for PTSD typically consists of approximately 40 sessions. During the course of these sessions, the client often spontaneously begins to recall more detail about the traumatic events that caused the disorder. These experiences may be very vividly relived — as spontaneous images, often metaphors, or as body sensations. A woman had an image of being alone in a room with no windows; the walls began leaking water in. She knew what it meant. Tears that had been walled off for decades.
These experiences are processed in the safety of the relationship. The person can tolerate this spontaneous, unprompted recall, because they now have the direct knowledge that they are able to calm themselves even in the face of the worst memories.
The results of controlled studies, as well as clinical experience, have been tremendously encouraging. People who have been suffering from PTSD for ten and twenty years are often completely relieved of their symptoms. As memory is regained, the traumatic incidents can be discussed with others, grieved over, and finally put aside as sad — but no longer terrifying or threatening memories.