2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43
Currently, the concept of mental trauma and the possibility of its healing are more relevant than ever. This article will highlight the different types of trauma and methods of healing with the help of psychodynamic therapy "symboldrama".
Mental trauma can be defined as a breakthrough in a person's natural psychological or physical protection when he is completely defenseless in the face of an event that threatened his life and health. This is an extraordinary, extraordinary event characterized by suddenness and unexpectedness
There are the following types of injuries (two main, the rest are specific):
Shock or life-threatening injury, bio-survival injury
This type of trauma includes such events as hostilities, catastrophes, natural disasters, sexual and physical abuse, medical injuries (surgery, painful medical procedures. As well as developmental trauma, embryonic trauma, birth trauma.
This type of injury is formed as a result of a short-term intense exposure that exceeds the capabilities of the personality's defense mechanisms. There are violations in the area of basic needs (sleep, nutrition, sexual behavior, self-regulation skills). It is characterized by such sudden affects as acute anxiety, feelings of helplessness, disorientation, hyperexcitation and traumatic dissociation. The traumatic event itself is displaced from consciousness.
In case of shock trauma, the process of psychotherapy will consist of stabilizing the state, teaching self-regulation skills. Confrontation with trauma is excluded.
Emotional trauma
These are such events in life as the loss of loved ones, divorce, betrayal, betrayal. Events are characterized by a violation of mental comfort, loss of the object of attachment, violation of dyadic relationships. Whether such an event becomes traumatic depends on many factors, the most important of which are the characteristics of the client's personality structure, the presence of a developmental trauma in the anamnesis.
It is formed as a result of the loss of the object of affection and love, limitations in self-realization, self-respect. It is a psychological disorder with physiological consequences (psychosomatic disorders). This trauma is characterized by obsessive thoughts and experiences associated with the event. As a rule, these experiences are of a regressive nature and reflect, as it were, repeating the trauma of development in a new round of life. The condition can be described as "mental trauma" if a person is "stuck" in a traumatic situation. Psychotherapy is supportive during the period of grief (from one to 2 years, depending on the personality structure). After this period, it is possible to work out the injury itself.
Developmental injury
Disruption in the sequential psycho-emotional development of a child or adolescent caused by deprivation, frustration or a traumatic event.
Fetal trauma
It combines shock trauma (a threat to the life of the mother or fetus during pregnancy with adverse effects on the fetus, the desire to have an abortion, etc.) and developmental trauma: unwanted pregnancy, depression of the mother during pregnancy, emotional trauma to the mother during pregnancy).
Birth trauma
Also, a combination of shock (a threat to the child's life during childbirth) and developmental trauma (anesthesia during childbirth, drug stimulation during childbirth).
If I ask the client to show where the trauma is felt, he will show: on the stomach, solar plexus, if it is a bio-survival trauma (shock, embryonic); on the chest if it is emotional trauma. Without even remembering the traumatic events, but experiencing discomfort in life, one can assume the type of trauma depending on where the pain of the client's experiences is located.
Most injuries affect physiological, psychological and social living standards
Physiological level
With a super-strong threat to a person's life, a large charge of energy is formed in the body for the implementation of coping strategies of survival genetically inherent in each person: "Fight" or "Run". The main characteristic of trauma is the complete powerlessness of a person to do anything. The released energy is not used for its intended purpose, is suppressed and remains uncharged in the body and nervous system. Later, the consequences of undischarged energy will be some symptoms of trauma. These are irrational fear of something, panic attacks, unexplained anxiety or somatic symptoms, autoimmune diseases. “Body memory,” how the symptom is perceived, is stored in the thalamus of the brain, and anxiety symptoms are activated by the amygdala.
How the mechanism of trauma manifests itself at the physiological level
The traumatic event can be described using the channels of perception. Visual (I see), auditory (I hear), kinesthetic (I feel, smell). At the moment of traumatization, through the channels of perception, information about smells, images, bodily sensations is imprinted in different parts of the brain (thalamus, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, reticular formation), which have an ancient origin from the time of reptiles. These are instincts.
The trigger (trigger) of an injury can be the appearance of an odor accompanying the traumatic event, body posture, or an image that resembles the environment or personality of the aggressor. A person loses contact with reality, and, falling into the trauma funnel, begins to behave as during traumatization. This phenomenon is called retraumatization.
Psychological level
It is determined by feelings and experiences at the moment of trauma and after it: from complete helplessness, anger, fear, rage to humiliation of one's own dignity and guilt, as well as by the methods of cognitively built constructs that help explain and cope with what happened. Emotions are regulated by the limbic system of the brain.
Social level
How the traumatic event is explained by the immediate significant environment influences the formation of the trauma survivor's identification. Those. what he will "include" in the idea of himself, answering the question: Who am I? What (kaya) am I ?. The strength, intensity, duration of emotional reactions during a traumatic event directly correlates with the strength of the experience of one's own guilt, responsibility, helplessness and fear experienced afterwards. One way to deal with these intense experiences is to find someone to blame for the tragedy. More often than not, relatives and close friends begin to avoid the victim, blaming him for what happened, which is called a "secondary wound" and is sometimes more traumatic than the injury itself.
General stages of psychological work with psychological trauma include:
1 stage of stabilization: anamnesis is taken, internal and external resources are assessed. The patient is trained in self-regulation skills, which over time can be used outside the therapist's office. And only when he is strong enough can we immerse ourselves in a traumatic event or experience. The motives are used: "Safe and secure place", "Building a fortress", "Internal helpers", "Healing spring", etc.
The motive “building a fortress” is very resourceful in dealing with trauma, because trauma itself means a violation of internal security, the threat of personal destruction. At the symbolic level, at the level of neural connections, with the help of this motive, the client and I restore a sense of security and internal security.
2. Transformation of trauma - work with traumatic history and experiences. We use NLP techniques: "screen", "documentary filming", art therapy techniques, metaphorical cards.
3 dealing with post-traumatic feelings longing, sadness, deep sadness. The tasks of this stage are to live and accept the event that has occurred. Good help at this stage are the motives "A House in which Feelings Live", "Abandoned Garden", "Inner Garden"
4. Integration - the next stage of psychotherapeutic work. The task of this stage is to form a new sense of identity, to accept the traumatic event as part of life experience. Finding meanings. Along with others, the motives "Bridge", "Path" are used.
Be kind to yourself, show care and tenderness
This article was first posted on my site
Article written:
- based on materials taken from the magazine "Symboldrama" No. 1-2 (10) 2016 "Mental trauma: topical aspects", author Elena Stolyarova-Shereshevskaya;
- based on the materials of the training seminar "psychotherapeutic assistance for physical and psychological violence in the family, psychological assistance to victims of sexual violence" by Yakov Leonidovich Obukhov-Kozarovitsky.
Illustration taken from the site
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