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Healing Trauma

A forum dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of trauma.

 

Peter Levine: Presence in Trauma and Spirituality

Profound words from Peter Levine on the relationship between the presence experienced during trauma and the presence which catalyzes spiritual transformation. Elizabeth’s note on the opening of the heart during spiritual practice and its closing during trauma.

Beyond Technique: Trauma Healing, Mediation and Spirituality (Wu wei or 無為)

A post about the tension between technique and presence during deep moments of resolution in trauma healing, spirituality and mediation. True mastery is not “doing” but wu wei, the ability to act while holding this tension. Draws on Peter Levine’s trauma work, (Somatic Experiencing®), the work of Daniel Stern, the Theory of Holes (A. H. Almaas and Faisal Muqaddam), and the work of J.G. Bennett, as well as Elizabeth Bader’s writings on the IDR cycle.

Appendix to “Beyond Technique: Trauma Healing, Mediation and Spirituality”

In “Beyond Technique: Trauma Healing, Mediation and Spirituality,” Elizabeth Bader uses several terms from Daniel Stern repeatedly. However, Stern uses these key terms in ways that do not necessarily conform to their obvious meaning or normal usage. For that reason, this post provides those definitions. All definitions are from Daniel Stern’s book, The Present Moment in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life (W. W. Norton & Company, 2004).

Trauma 101: Physiology & Causes of PTSD

This post discusses the causes of PTSD and the “defense cascade” of fight, flight and freeze which is often described as the basic mammalian response to trauma. The work of Peter Levine, Stephen Porges, Walter Cannon, and Schauer and Elbert will be discussed.