TRAUMA CLINIC

The topic and issues around trauma are talked about so much lately. But there are huge gaps in what's being offered, thought about, and spoken about. There's a serious lack of definitional clarity and understanding about what the implications of trauma are in people's lives and how to address them. 

Further, while there is a great recent focus on somatic experience, (which is some profound and powerful emerging intelligence) there is the possibility of great harm in accessing this tool when people are not ready to enter overwhelming  traumatic events. Specifically, there are several key steps that need to be taken beforehand so that people are self aware and empowered enough for healing to actually result from making somatic experience.

Otherwise the experience is re-traumatizing and the healing is unsustainable.  

In addition, there is almost no one writing or teaching about the most important part of trauma healing - what happens when a person shares their story in a world filled with denial, dismissal, neglect and simply a pervasive lack of capacity for people to bear witness. This hole in trauma education must not remain unaddressed. It leads people to develop a self-awareness that is not curious, intelligent, loving or healing; instead it leaves people ’seeing’ themselves through shaming eyes for much of the rest of their lives; it leaves people believing that their healing is a path of “getting rid” of parts of themselves - a path that mirrors the darkest shadow of their trauma.

Studying trauma, it is apparent that people don't know enough to share their own story; that they learn their narratives from others. For example, if you work with somebody and they begin saying, "This is what I need help with, this is what I need to stop doing, this is why I need to stop feeling certain ways,”  that person is likely unable to tell you well what they need help with. 

Simply put, they're sharing the ideas and opinions they've from others, as opposed to their own experience and a true witness. Part of trauma’s enormous impact on people's distrust of themselves, leads them to  internalize the outer opinions and narratives given by others. 

What is the result?  

The way people work on themselves is so often shaming and retraumatizing because people are working on themselves through a lens that says “I shouldn't be this way. How do I change this? How do I change that? I'm unhappy with myself.”  And then there's no clarity about what's happening and no genuine curiosity or compassion.