We all experience trauma in life – whether it be from a sudden event such as a car crash, ongoing abuse and neglect as a child or persistent relationship abuse as an adult.
The response to trauma of Vietnam War veterans drew the attention of researchers, and the science of treating trauma began to develop. Peter Levine was among the pioneers in research and treatment.
Levine spent years observing animals in Africa being chased by predators. He watched a deer narrowly escape when a lion was chasing it. After the lion had given up, the deer froze, then shook and twitched, until it was back on its feet.
Shaking is the way animals release traumatic events. It prevents them from developing post-traumatic symptoms that affect people.
Levine developed a treatment called Somatic Experiencing. Soma is the Greek for body, and Somatic Experiencing helps you connect your mind and body, become more comfortable in your own skin and increase your sense of safety.
Our new group at TLCC, Taming Trauma, is based on Somatic Experiencing.
We help you learn techniques in which you pay attention to the tension in your body, tension that has become ingrained in you over the years. Tension that had made you vigilant and anxious.
Somatic Experiencing helps you heal trauma, whether it began in the battlefield or the crib, by noticing the suppressed physical sensations associated with being frozen in trauma. You learn to shake off the fear and process your response to it.
We proceed slowly, sharing compassion for each other. We give you the opportunity to feel safe and move beyond the trapped feelings that go with trauma – feelings that can inhibit our energy and sense of well-being for years.
Levine, whose best-known book is “Taming the Tiger,” describes his approach on the Beyond Theory Podcast. “It’s being able to experience our bodies, not just anatomically, but in terms of its vitality, its energetic aliveness,” he said.
“I think it really comes down to when people are stuck, their energy is stuck. When people are able to then restore their energy, their aliveness, their vitality, that’s what healing is about.”
To join the Taming Trauma group, call 405-965-8641 or email chriseversole1@gmail.com.
Chris is a mental health coach as TLCC.
