What about Trauma?
“Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.”
The works of experts such as Bessel van der Kolk and Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) clearly demonstrate that when we encounter overwhelming circumstances in our lives our nervous systems fundamentally become altered in very situationally specific ways resulting in trauma and ongoing nervous system dysregulation.
This trauma and dysregulation is a result of the incompletion of our threat response. We encounter a situation we perceive as threatening. Our nervous system attempts to respond via our fight, flight, or freeze response. If we are unable to successfully complete the response then our nervous system literally becomes stuck in its response and left to manage the incredible amount of survival energy held within these disrupted responses. This leads to experiences such as anxiety, depression, general irritability, aggressiveness, intrusive thoughts, compulsive behaviours etc. (post-traumatic stress). Our attempts to manage these energies can make navigating our lives most difficult.
Additionally, these stuck energies alter our biophysiology leading to (or exacerbating) a multitude of physical symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, sleep disruptions, physical pain, digestive issues, circulatory changes, nerve issues, etc. Ultimately, with complex trauma the level of disruptions overwhelms the system leading to, or contributing to, syndromal patterns such as Fibromyalgia, Migraines, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and Chronic Fatigue.
With all of this information, it seems somewhat self evident that simply talking about our problems might not be enough. Once again, our incredible bodies know how to heal. I believe the purpose of therapy is primarily to provide gentle informed guidance and hold space for the client to be able to drop into their inner process so that their system can engage with these stuck energies and patterns and begin to unfold itself, complete the responses, let the energy go, and settle into a healthier more regulated state. It is a profound and amazing process to experience and to witness!
Further, Steven Porges, through his Polyvagal theory, outlines how the intricacies of our nervous system are literally hard-wired for connection. As a result, our ability to access social engagement is a profound determining factor on how events impact us and our ability to heal. This emphasized the importance of the presence of that safe other to provide witness and support in order for healing to be optimized.