Trauma

Bill O’Hanlon therapist, trainer and prolific author has started a series of YouTube videos about recovery from trauma and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). These videos have been prompted by the return of traumatised US soldiers from Iraq although the principles will fit for other traumatic experiences.

The first in the series challenges four common myths and misconceptions about trauma and PTSD

1. Everyone who has a severe trauma develops PTSD.
2. If you develop PTSD you have to have therapy to get over it.
3. You’ll never get over PTSD once you develop it.
4. The only effects of trauma are negative.

You can find out more about his approach to trauma at www.getovertrauma.com

I’ve been lucky enough to attend some of Bill O’Hanlon’s trainings in the UK and I highly recommend him as someone who knows his stuff and walks his talk. I’m looking forward to other videos in this series.

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Some suggestions from Bill O’Hanlon if the “brown smelly stuff” is hitting the fan.

When you are going through Hell, keep going.

Winston Churchill

In the spirit of the saying: It’s easier to ride the horse in the direction it’s going, here are some guidelines for mining the value of a life crisis if you are going through one.

Principle #1: Out with the old, in with the new
Get rid of stuff, habits, beliefs, relationships, friends, etc. that no longer serve.

Of course, you don’t want to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Consider what you would like to retain or recreate from your recently disrupted life to bring to your post-crisis life.

Principle #2: Revisit old dreams, passions and plans
Were there plans, dreams, hopes, wishes, goals etc. that you had put away due to lack of time, deciding you needed to be “realistic,” others’ disapproval, fears, and so on? If so, are there any of those old dreams that you could take out, dust off, renew, come to in a new way, now that your life has changed or now that you have some time on your hands?

Principle #3: Commit to healthy habits
Since this is a major change time, why not commit to renewing or developing healthy habits, like exercise, meditation, healthy eating, regular spiritual or religious practices, and so on? First, these healthy habits will probably help you get through this challenging time. Second, since things are in flux, you might as well steer them in a positive direction.

Bill O’Hanlon, M.S., Possibilities, 223 N. Guadalupe #278, Santa Fe, NM 87501 USA 505.983.2843; Fax# 505.983.2761; PossiBill@aol.com; http://www.billohanlon.com

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An article in the New Scientist reports on a research project about how we might be genetically predisposed to remember intense experiences.

Highly emotive incidents trigger the brain to release the hormone and neurotransmitter noradrenaline.This stimulates the amygdala – part of the brain involved with processing emotional reactions – to store memories in the hippocampus and other parts of the brain, says Dominique de Quervain, a neuroscientist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.

However how you recall emotionally charged memories (both good and bad) varies a lot from person to person. There is a common variation in the gene which influences how sensitive your brain is to noradrenaline, 30% of Caucasians and 12% of Africans have this variation.

In an experiment involving Swiss citizens and survivors of the Rwandan genocide he found that people with the genetic variation had a far higher recall of negative emotional events.

“The genetic variant is related to enhanced emotional memory,”
concludes de Quervain. “But it also appears to predispose people to
stronger traumatic memories when something terrible happens.”

These results may go some way towards answering why some people are much more traumatised by events than others.

Knowing how it happens is one thing, knowing what to do about it is something else. I look forward to the day I can review an article about the effectiveness of EFT or NLP in reducing the impact of trauma.

Emotional recall is in your genes - 29 July 2007 - New Scientist

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Here in the UK it’s the anniversary of the Falklands War. The plight of ex-servicemen still suffering from the effects of PTSD from that conflict is being reported in the media, including this article in The Times

David Walters who runs an EFT based program to help ex-servicemen overcome the trauma of that conflict has posted a video of interviews with people who have used his program. They only mention EFT in passing but the results are an excellent testimony to this kind of work

You can find out more about this program www.afterthefalklands.com

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It’s not EFT, but Thought Field Therapy (TFT), the direct antecedent to EFT. This little video takes you through a complete personal session for reducing some emotional difficulty. The tapping method is the same, but the sequence of taps is more involved than EFT. It’s worth a look, as a step by step guide to feeling better.

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Carol Look, a well known EFT therapist in New York, has provide a recording of a real life EFT session on her website. Her client ‘Toby’ very generously consented to have her session recorded and put online. If you’ve ever wondered what an EFT therapy session can be like this, is a great opportunity to listen in.

Carol Look has a very free flowing approach to dealing with issues and it’s very interesting to listen to her deal with a difficult situation. If you are already an EFT practitioner it’s a great example of EFT at it’s best.

There is also a short follow-up recording in which Toby discusses how the session has radically changed how she feels.

Please note: The subject matter is quite intense, her grief about the death of Toby’s son who died ten years ago, she goes through a lot of tough emotions to get to a much more peaceful state of mind.

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Writing thoughts and feelings about trauma or crises for as little as 15 minutes a day for as few as four or five days has been shown to be correlated with:

• Far fewer visits to the student health center for college students
• An increase in T-cells (immune system functioning)
• Increasing the likelihood and rapidity of getting a new job after being laid off
• Reduced anxiety and depression
• Improved grades
• Improved mental and physical health of grade-school students, people in nursing homes, arthritis patients, medical students, rape victims, new mothers, and prisoners

Read the rest of this entry »

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