I am currently reading "Healing from Trauma" by Jasmin Lee Cori, wrapping up the 'symptoms' in the first half and heading into the 'healing' half. It's a very good book, I've read several books on trauma and would put this one near the top. I like the fact that she poses several questions and exercises along the way. Last night, I read this section on "The Tasks of Healing". She said it's not exhaustive, but put forth ten 'common' ones. TEN! Well, I am focusing on, like, two, in the last few years. I suppose that is the more manageable thing to do, and I must give myself credit for having already tackled some of them. This certainly gave me a lot to think about. She suggests writing these down and ranking yourself from 1 (not started) -10 (done) and pick one or more that feel most current and create an action plan to further support this aspect of your healing.
I want to sit and think on this a while. I plan on toting this list in to therapy. It's sounds like an excellent way to kind of create a recovery inventory to me.
I'm copying very briefly each of the tasks, but I hope this is helpful to some of you if you are like me, as sometimes I find myself wondering where I am going on this journey - lost my map!
1. Resetting your nervous system: trauma alters your physiology, a full recovery requires resetting the nervous system
2. Freeing your body of the impacts and holding patterns that have derived from the trauma. Beyond the nervous system, memories in tissues, the defensive contractions, aches and pains
3. Expanding your capacity to stay present. Dissociation and freezing - practice grounding, defuse triggers, learn to recognize dissociation right away, etc.
4. Mastering your trauma symptoms. "Can be a big task". SO she says! Some symptoms go away, some remain and we must skillfully manage those that remain.
5. Being able to feel a full range of emotions without being controlled by any of them. Numbing, avoidance, dissociations limit this.
6. Managing and coming to peace with your memories (or lack of them).
7. Coming to terms with what happened. How it has shaped your life and what it means within your larger life narrative.
8. Making up for what you missed. More relevant to those who suffer trauma early in life, making up for developmental needs that didn't get met - form close trusting bonds, develop self-confidence, etc.
9. Integrating - when we heal, what was shattered becomes whole again. A new identity grows out of the process.
10. Giving back. Developmental needs correspond with different life stages, there is a need to give something back and can see it as an outgrowth of our healing.
That sounds interesting, thanks. I'll put it on my wishlist. I didn't know that a nervous system can be reset. Does she explain how that works?
Cat:
To copy what she wrote about Resetting your nervous system: "In Chapter 2, 'It's a Body Thing,' you learned how trauma alters your physiology. It changes the programming of the nervous system, which then ends up working extra hard, yet is able to accomplish less. This one fact of trauma cannot be emphasized enough: trauma changes your nervous system; therefore, a full recovery from trauma requires resetting the nervous system. It means learning to manage arousal. This is the basis of somatic therapies and for most of the self-help tools for dealing with trauma (see Chapter 8). Those who do not resolve trauma have weakened resilience, but those who have truly worked through trauma have more resilience and ability to cope and self-regulate."
The tools she mentions in Chapter 8: - hope this helps as I'm not copying text for each of these items
- slowing down the process
- Grounding exercises
- Keeping one foot on solid ground - keep part of your attention anchored in your body, fixed on the present environment, or keep your access to the traumatic material more limited
- Finding your rock - "good mommy" - a regulating resource
- Controlling your arousal level
- Learning to self soothe
- Accepting comfort from another person
- Seeing options
- The three Ss - Stop, soothe and support - an antidote for hyperarousal
- The three Rs - Refocus, reconnect, reenter (an antidote for dissociation)
- The Control Button - imaginary ways of regaining control over traumatic stimuli
Good for you, BH, and best of luck!
I've recently found myself unemployed and am meditating almost every day, trying to walk at least 30 minutes if I don't make it to the gym, and reading more about healing. Like you, I'm planning to take a year off and focus on recovery. Seriously, can't we find at least 15-30 minutes a day, at least, to devote to our own growth? Maybe we should make a pact! And agreed - with age comes wisdom, and the pieces are falling into place more sensibly, now.
The resetting, I believe, was referencing somatic exercises - looking at how the body carries the memories of trauma and dealing with that.
Oh wow, thanks for copying all that, wingnut. That gives me a clearer picture. I'm so lucky to live in a time where there's the internet and so many books on trauma. Without that, I'd be groping my way forwards in the dark a lot more. Thanks for the tip. :hug:
I love the line that those who work through trauma have more resilience and ability to cope - I think for us it's even moreso than most people given what we have dealt with. It's that silver lining Walker talks about that trauma brings into our lives (which is difficult to even consider at first).
I like short and sweet acronyms like "The three R's Refocus, reconnect, reenter" when dissociation begins to creep in because it's simple and I can immediately go to that as my memory is beginning to fog over. Same for the three Ss - Stop, soothe and support.
Tks WG! :hug:
Well, this was an interesting and qorthwhile exercise. I ranked myself from 1-10 on the 10 tasks then my T and I went over them and she ranked me, as well. She ranked me lower on almost all of them except we did agree on a couple. I realize that she is the observer and I do get a bit activated in there. She did point out several behaviors and body.language that I hadn't considered. I told her we needed Olympic score cards, she was the Russian judge and I was the American athlete. Yeah, I still got work to do.
Excellent! I liked it a lot. I got it from the library and copied several sections for future reference. Id be interested to know your thoughts on the exercise on page 89 when you get there.