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This book represents a startling breakthrough in trauma therapy--that trauma can manifest itself physically in the body's muscles, not just the mind. This work outlines the exercises that can alleviate or eliminate such physical stress.
This book explains many aspects of the trauma recovery process in uncomplicated language and uses basic concepts for the non-professional. It includes the ground-breaking, Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE). These exercises elicit mild psychogenic tremors that release deep chronic tension in the body and assist the individual in the trauma healing process.
This book contains an easy to follow stress reduction exercise technique whose central aspect is the activation of a mild shaking response of the nervous system. It explores this most fundamental human experience of 'shaking' during highly excited experiences or events. This book explains how this natural shaking response is potentially capable of both relaxing physical tension patterns in the body as well as reducing psycho-emotional stress and tension. The technique explained in this book has demonstrated itself to be useful for people who are experiencing simple daily stress, long-term chronic tension, or even recovering from traumatic events. This shaking response, which has been traced back through traditional cultures to present day medical science, is the body's own natural neuro-physiological reaction to reduce stress. The combined writings of 24 authors representing 12 countries and 3 languages take the reader through the theoretical understanding of this shaking mechanism from neurological and physiological perspectives to its application with self, family, community and organizations as well as, active duty and veteran military personnel, first responders, refugee populations, and natural disaster survivors.The easy to follow pictures and explanations of these exercises guides the reader comfortably through this self-help, stress reduction process.
Unraveling trauma in the body, brain and mind—a revolution in treatment. Now in 17 languages. In this culmination of his life’s work, Peter A. Levine draws on his broad experience as a clinician, a student of comparative brain research, a stress scientist and a keen observer of the naturalistic animal world to explain the nature and transformation of trauma in the body, brain and psyche. In an Unspoken Voice is based on the idea that trauma is neither a disease nor a disorder, but rather an injury caused by fright, helplessness and loss that can be healed by engaging our innate capacity to self-regulate high states of arousal and intense emotions. Enriched with a coherent theoretical framework and compelling case examples, the book elegantly blends the latest findings in biology, neuroscience and body-oriented psychotherapy to show that when we bring together animal instinct and reason, we can become more whole human beings.
Praise for The PTSD Breakthrough "Dr. Lawlis has done it again! His latest book offers new hope for PTSD sufferers and their families with approaches that can be used at home where the real problems occur and persist. There is a great deal of insight, strategy, and inspiration for anyone who is dealing with these horrific challenges toward the satisfied life they deserve. A must-read for every member of a family touched by PTSD." Dr. Phil McGraw "Dr. Frank Lawlis, one of the most gifted and prolific contributors in modern psychology, delivers in The PTSD Breakthrough a highly readable, scientifically grounded, balanced approach to PTSD, zeroing in on the damaging effects of trauma to the brain psyche, and spirit." John Chibran, PhD, ThD, Harvard Medical School, and the author of What's Love Got to Do with It: Talking with Your Kids About Sex "As a nurse educator, coach, author, and consultant, Dr. Frank Lawlis's timely book on PTSD truly addresses the deep-rooted problem beneath the symptoms and syndrome. His innovative and practical guidelines allow the individual to once again achieve high-level wellness with new penetrating insights and compassion for self in the healing journey." Barbara Dossey, PhD, RN; International Co-Director, Nightingale Initiative for Global Health; Co-Director, International Nurse Coach Association; Author of Holistic Nursing: A Handbook for Practice (5th ed.) and Florence Nightingale: Mystic, Visionary, Healer "Much is being written about post-traumatic stress disorder. But if you a book that looks at the disorder from a new perspective, and explains it and its treatment in a way that both patient and practitioner can understand, this is the book for you." John Roitzsch, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina, VA Medical Center
This practical guide presents the cutting-edge work of the Trauma Center’s yoga therapy program, teaching all therapists how to incorporate it into their practices. When treating a client who has suffered from interpersonal trauma—whether chronic childhood abuse or domestic violence, for example—talk therapy isn’t always the most effective course. For these individuals, the trauma and its effects are so entrenched, so complex, that reducing their experience to a set of symptoms or suggesting a change in cognitive frame or behavioral pattern ignores a very basic but critical player: the body. In cases of complex trauma, mental health professionals largely agree that the body itself contains and manifests much of the suffering—self hatred, shame, and fear. Take, for example, a woman who experienced years of childhood sexual abuse and, though very successful in her professional life, has periods of not being able to feel her limbs, sensing an overall disconnection from her very physical being. Reorienting clients to their bodies and building their “body sense” can be the very key to unlocking their pain and building a path toward healing. Based on research studies conducted at the renowned Trauma Center in Brookline, Massachusetts, this book presents the successful intervention known as Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TSY), an evidence-based program for traumatized clients that helps them to reconnect to their bodies in a safe, deliberate way. Synthesized here and presented in a concise, reader-friendly format, all clinicians, regardless of their background or familiarity with yoga, can understand and use these simple techniques as a way to help their clients achieve deeper, more lasting recovery. Unlike traditional, mat-based yoga, TSY can be practiced without one, in a therapist’s chair or on a couch. Emphasis is always placed on the internal experience of the client him- or herself, not on achieving the proper form or pleasing the therapist. As Emerson carefully explains, the therapist guides the client to become accustomed to feeling something in the body—feet on the ground or a muscle contracting—in the present moment, choosing what to do about it in real time, and taking effective action. In this way, everything about the practice is optional, safe, and gentle, geared to helping clients to befriend their bodies. With over 30 photographs depicting the suggested yoga forms and a final chapter that presents a portfolio of step-by-step yoga practices to use with your clients, this practical book makes yoga therapy for trauma survivors accessible to all clinicians. As an adjunct to your current treatment approach or a much-needed tool to break through to your traumatized clients, Trauma-Sensitive Yoga in Therapy will empower you and your clients on the path to healing.
The instant New York Times bestseller By the acclaimed author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease, and a pathway to health and healing. In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health? Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. Cowritten with his son Daniel, The Myth Of Normal is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.
Dr Laurel Parnell provides an insider's view of EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing). Drawing on her experiences as both client and therapist, she shares stories of healing, taking readers into her clients' psyches, where past traumas are witnessed and released.
Challenges the notion that clients with PTSD must revisit, review, and process their memories to recover from trauma. Being able to monitor and modulate a trauma client’s dysregulated nervous system is one of the practitioner’s best lines of defense against traumatic hyperarousal going amok—risking consequences such as dissociation and decompensation. This paperback edition of Babette Rothschild’s The Body Remembers, Volume 2, clarifies and simplifies autonomic nervous system (ANS) understanding and observation. It includes a full-color table that distinguishes six levels of arousal, which has proven to be an essential clinical tool, presenting a new and useful distinction between trauma-induced hypoarousal and the low arousal that is caused by lethargy or depression. Multiple therapeutic transcripts illuminate key points in trauma treatment, including stabilizing clients who dissociate, identifying and implementing hidden somatic resources, and utilizing good memories and somatic markers. With an authoritative yet personal voice, Rothschild’s book is essential reading for anyone working with those who have experienced trauma. The full-color ANS table is also available separately as a laminated desk reference card.
Brain-based therapy is the fastest-growing area in the field of psychological health because it has proven that it can immediately address issues that talk therapy can take years to heal. Now Dr. David Grand presents the next leap forward in psychological care—combining the strengths of brain-based and talk therapies into a powerful technique he calls Brainspotting. In Brainspotting, Dr. Grand reveals the key insight that allowed him to develop this revolutionary therapeutic tool: that where we look reveals critical information about what's going on in our brain. Join him to learn about: The history of Brainspotting—how it evolved from EMDR practice as a more versatile tool for brain-based therapy • Brainspotting in action—case studies and evidence for the effectiveness of the technique • An overview of the different aspects of Brainspotting and how to use them • Between sessions—how clients can use Brainspotting on their own to reinforce and accelerate healing • Why working simultaneously with the right and left brain can lead to expanded creativity and athletic performance • How Brainspotting can be used to treat PTSD, anxiety, depression, addiction, physical pain, chronic illness, and much more "Brainspotting lets the therapist and client participate together in the healing process," explains Dr. Grand. "It allows us to harness the brain's natural ability for self-scanning, so we can activate, locate, and process the sources of trauma and distress in the body." With Brainspotting, this pioneering researcher introduces an invaluable tool that can support virtually any form of therapeutic practice—and greatly accelerate our ability to heal.
