Peter Levine on the Spiritual Journey and Healing Trauma

A brief talk by Peter Levine on healing trauma and the spiritual journey.  From the increased aliveness and embodiment we attain through working through trauma, we become able to give to others from a place of love and goodness.

According to Dr. Levine, trauma can be a portal to transformation if we learn how to work with it properly.  This will include learning how to surrender in a safe way and at the right time.

Surrender for this purpose is the willingness to experience whatever we are experiencing without judgment, without seeking to grasp at peak experiences or quick fixes. These principles are also part of Somatic Experiencing®, the modality of trauma healing taught by Dr. Levine.

In Elizabeth Bader’s view, releasing trauma becomes more and more important as one progresses along the spiritual journey.  For example, the kind of “splitting” and us-versus-them thinking seen in cults and other destructive groups is characteristic of unresolved trauma.  Additionally, on a personal level, traumatic residues tend to exist at very deep layers in our psychological structure.  If we wish to experience more openness, we need to integrate trauma resolution into our practice.

Elizabeth has completed the third year of a three-year trauma program in Dr. Levine’s school, and now holds a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner’s certificate.

Dr. Levine’s work can also be helpful for mediators considering how to deal with clients who are experiencing difficulty or psychological activation in mediation. This topic will covered in greater detail in later posts.