Mind Body Practices Supporting Healing from Trauma

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1 Mind Body Practices Supporting Healing from Trauma Linda Scherer, LICSW New Day Counseling, PLLC (320) Crow River Family Services (320)

2 Soft belly breathing: Growing neural connections for relaxation Feet on the floor to ground and connect to the earth (prevent dizziness) Permission to open eyes and look at neutral and boring focal point if feeling unsettled or images come up Notice how this feels and practice helping the body relax (it may not feel better at first) Hand on belly or focus on breathing into the belly and relaxing belly muscles (vagus nerve that goes from the brain to the stomach and triggers the relaxation response when the belly is soft) Breath in through the nose to prevent too much oxygen intake and hyperventilating, Long inhale will increase energy Long exhale to relax and reduce energy

3 What brings me to Mind Body Medicine Self as expert-seek out experts in field but trust own gut as ultimate knower of what to accept or reject Health as Core-Inner Healer-Universal Intelligence-Spiritual Source-Higher power Prevention of illness Care for the whole person in treatment-aimed at whole person growth not just symptom relief Aimed at living in alignment or in the flow of life energy

4 Incidence of trauma in children David Hong PsyD LP, Basic TF-CBT 40% of American children will have at least one potentially traumatizing experience by age 18 1 in 8 children under age 17 reported serious maltreatment by adults within the past year Not all have PTSD but at any given time more than 8 million American Children suffer from diagnosable trauma-related psychiatric problems

5 Types of Trauma Child Abuse (sexual, physical, emotional) Victim/witness of Violence Accidents Disasters War/Terrorism, Immigration/Refugee Medical Traumatic Grief Human Trafficking Historical/Generational Trauma

6 Stress and Relaxation Response Sympathetic: Gas on a Car Signals our body to get ready Energy for fighting or running from danger, often there isn t really danger, we just think there is Heart beats faster, Stomach might hurt Muscles tense Cold hands Racing thoughts Parasympathetic: the breaks Helps us feel quiet and peaceful Feel good Feel relaxed and safe Heart rate, blood pressure, breathing slow down, Digestion works as it should Muscles relax Hands and extremities warm Better at solving problems prefrontal cortex has blood flow

7 The body s response to anxious thought Although the body is very intelligent, it cannot tell the difference between an actual situation and a thought. It reacts to every thought as if it were a reality. It doesn t know it is just a thought. To the body, a worrisome, fearful thought means I am in danger, and it responds accordingly, even though you may be lying in a warm and comfortable bed at night. The heart beats faster, muscles contract, breathing becomes rapid. There is a buildup of energy, but since the danger is only a mental fiction, the energy has no outlet. Part of it is fed back to the mind and generates even more anxious thought. The rest of the energy turns toxic and interferes with the harmonious functioning of the body. Tolle, E. (2005). A New Earth. U.S.A: Plume.

8 Neurons that fire together, wire together. Donald Hebb,1949 Hand model of synapse Fist is nerve ending where neurotransmitters are released Fingers of left hand are dendrites: the more dendrites the more neurotransmitters are picked up and the more rapidly the synapse fires Arms are axon Dendrites that are not used are pruned. Synaptic connection is less likely to fire.

9 Stephen Porges Polyvagal theory Person explosed to repeat trauma Changes in neurology cause frequent physical stress response Results in frequent anxious thought. Person exposed to repeat trauma Narrative of self in world filled with anxious thought Causes physical stress response and wires neurology

10 Meditation Harvard study (2011) Increase in gray matter in hypocampus and decreased gray matter in amygdala after 8 weeks of meditating at least 30 minutes (nonconsecutive) a day Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction by Jon Kabat-Zinn Combination of Guided imagery, diaphramactic breathing, focussed mindfulness, concentrative mediation with mantra San Francisco schools with major reduction in discipline and improved test scores from Transcendental Meditation in schools(2014)

11 Dean Ornish epigenetics research 12 week group resulted in longer telemeres (part of gene connected to preventing or turning off of disease)thus reduced risk of prostate cancer, alcoholism Meditation Sharing stressors with one another Exercise Mindful eating and healthy diet Information about the stress response

12 Quiet time at south 5 minutes twice a day Once over intercom Once by teacher in classroom after lunch Got teachers to volunteer for intercom Variety of styles of relaxation and mindfulness Teachers using it to put children to sleep at night Student with school phobia in the office every day able to go to class

13 Movement to release cortisol 10:50 Watch video: Shaking trauma bear Shaking and Dancing

14 Guided Imagery Imagery is deliberate and directed daydreaming. Imagery works because it is connected to so many centers in the brain: the emotional centers, the centers for thoughts and association, and perception and the hypothalamus, which is the central switching station for the autonomic nervous system, the endocrine and the immune centers. The hypothalamus is the part of the brain that triggers your stress or relaxation response.

15 Imagery Active Imagery: Using words to guide you through an imagery experience Visualization is one form of this Words that invite sensory experience make imagery real, (color, smells, sounds, feelings, touch) Passive receptive imagery: This imagery leaves open ended possibilities for our mind to offer an image to come to us spontaneously in the moment. Invites intuition and inner healer to offer content that our logical mind would not come up with Fresh information for the moment that we are in

16 Imagery is constant because we are meaning making machines the images of imagined future or replayed past are played almost constantly Who we see in front of us when we interact with someone is part sensory input and part imagery (image conjured from our mental story of them) We are firing synapsis and wiring pathways together at all times, these images affect our physiological response and thus our health

17 Healing with imagery Joe Dispenza s book: Tells the story of self healing through imagery after a bicycle accident left him paralyzed You are the Placebo Norman Doidge s Books: Neuroplasticity and healing The Brain that Changes Itself The Brain s Way of Healing Practice Safe Place Imagery (11:05)

18 What imagery is practiced when: A child with frequent suspensions thinks of school We imagine our next conversation with our partner Our first thought about our work day when we wake in the morning Our self reference (body image) We think about food What we anticipate when diagnosed with an illness

19 Literature review on guided imagery (available upon request) Use of imagery and relaxation to prevent development of PTSD for those exposed to war bombing Guided imagery and knowledge of healthy lung function images to treat Upper respiratory illness and asthma Guided imagery to treat Irritable Bowel Syndrome Use of imagery to change mental story around trauma triggers

20 Autogenics with biofeedback device So effective that you should consult with doctor about medication doses if practicing regularly Use thermisters Use biodots Use pulse before and after (story about pulse rate of Wako surviver as proof that boy needed intervention from The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog)

21 11:15 Autogenics researched in 1920 s by Johannes Schultz My arms are heavy and warm (pause) I am at peace (pause) My legs are heavy and warm (pause) I am at peace (pause) My heartbeat is calm and strong (pause) I am at peace (pause) My abdomen radiates warmth (pause) I am at peace (pause) My forehead is pleasantly cool (pause) I am at peace ( pause) My breath is calm and relaxed (pause) I am at peace (pause)

22 8 week Mind Body Skills Group starts September 25 Meditation Guided Imagery Autogenic training (self hypnosis) Breath Work Movement Journal Writing Drawing Mindful Eating