Part V: Types of treatment
Our next discussion Part V includes the discussion of different methods of treatment
A stimulus-response association creates a link (the beard and trauma energy), which needs to be broken. When the reptilian brain is confronted with an activating situation, the reptilian formation must be guided that a survival response is not necessary as the situation is not unsafe but may be unpleasant. It is not the same situation, person, or time, and the cortex comes into play and says that the response is not logical.
In the aftermath of trauma, a faulty ANS regulation confuses the need for connection with the need for protection. The ANS cannot distinguish between the unsafe past and now-safe present and cannot turn off the need to protect.
The purpose of therapy is to retrain the ANS, to empower the individual to effectively manage their NS, especially for individuals who find it difficult to verbalize their emotional pain.
What does the process entail?
- To move the CNS FROM dysregulation to regulation
- To update and upgrade the capabilities of the CNS to calm the person
- To come into optimal engagement with the environment and others
Therapeutic strategies and tools refer to resourcing – create more capacity for the CNS to cope and make space, build more lanes on your highway seen as your life, and deal more effectively with current traffic or daily stress which is part of life.
The trauma loop should be closed off and the fight/flight loop should be completed so that the past is closed off creating a survival response and clearing the trauma.
IBBA or integrative brain-based approach includes diaphragmatic breathing, meditation, pointer work, and eye position through which the NS can be entered. Brain spotting or BSP hypothesizes that the field of vision can be used to locate eye positions that correlate with relevance to inner neuronal and emotional experience or neuroception.
The ANS should be retrained to connect with others or co-regulate as we are consistently in contact with people. This does not mean agreeing with or disagreeing with others but connecting.
We need to get free from being stuck in chronic survival mode. This includes fighting for a safe space or survival mode when we are no longer stuck in an unsafe place.
Therapies implemented for trauma:
Neurofeedback supported by Dr Bessel van der Kolk
Integrative Brain-Based therapy by implementing resourcing (effective dealing with current and ongoing traffic on your life-highway or daily demands, tow trucking or clearing the trauma, and tollgating or updating your responses to others. Meditation and hypnotic suggestions are used in IBBA.
Dr Annemie Peche
082 33 561 33