Healing Trauma: How To Start Feeling Safe In Your Own Body with Dr Bessel van der Kolk

#BesselVanDerKolk #Trauma #HealingTrauma #PTSD #TheBodyKeepsTheScore #Meditation #Dissassociation #EMDR #Tapping #BreathingExercises #Neurofeedback #BodyTrauma #MDMATherapy

Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk is a Boston-based psychiatrist and The New York Times best-selling author of The Body Keeps the Score. He was previously the President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University Medical School, and Medical Director of the Trauma Center. He has taught at universities around the world and his work has been featured in TIME, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and more!

SHOW NOTES & TIMESTAMPS
0:03:08 Introduction & Bio
0:03:40 Interview Starts
0:05:50 How Helplessness Impacts the Development of Trauma
0:06:04 The History of Medical Treatments for Trauma
0:09:39 Trauma Is Physically Stored In The Body
0:11:35 Where is Trauma Stored? What Parts of the Body?
0:12:20 How The Body Gets Stuck in "Fight, Flight, or Freeze" Mode
0:13:45 What's The Scientific Research Supporting All This?
0:15:53 Can Drugs, Alcohol, and Pharmaceuticals Effectively Solve Trauma?
0:17:56 Can MDMA Therapy Heal Trauma?
0:19:06 Using Neurofeedback to Heal Trauma
0:23:01 Mind-body Interventions To Deal With Trauma
0:24:57 Using Mind-Body Techniques To Regulate Your Physiology
0:25:59 Are Yoga, Meditation, and Breathing Exercises Unscientific and Ineffective?
0:28:09 Should You Revisit Past Traumas To Overcome & Heal Your Trauma?
0:30:02 It's Not About the Memory of the Trauma, It's About the Physiology of the Trauma
0:31:12 How Can You Feel Safe, Calm, and In Control of Your Own Body?
0:34:39 Understanding Why You're Traumatized Does NOT Cure The Physiology of Trauma. Trauma Can't Be Rationally Solved
0:36:10 How Can You Start Using These Practices In Your Life?
0:40:05 EMDR and How It Works
0:41:10 One Simple Thing You Can Do Right Now!
0:45:45 Does Cardio at the Gym Help Heal Trauma?

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[jennieroberts]

I have been struggling with trauma my whole life. The hard part is honestly trusting anyone. So many people that I've tried to talk with have made it worse. Finding a safe person who actually helps me has been so overwhelming. I stopped trying. I workout, have dogs, dance and try to have positive thoughts and pray. Every day is a battlefield of the mind. I have devoted myself to showing others love and compassion. I think we all desperately need that.

[icantdance]

My childhood trauma made a mess out of my adult life. I’m 52 just now finding out where all my dysfunction comes from. I’m just now changing my perception of the world and my place in it. Forgiving myself for being victimized (my most familiar emotions are shame, guilt, anger, hopelessness) I live with chronic pain, fatigue, addiction & loneliness.

[kourakis]

Skip the rambling intro and go directly to Dr Bessel at 3:38.

[GallumArtemi]

I think so many of us are realizing we need healing recently. I wish the best for everyone.

[monicanlamppost]

"Post traumatic stress is not post trauma. It feels like it's happening right now."

I often describe my life as trying to clean the house or do homework while in the middle of a car wreck. Not just after the accident, not in the moment before, but literally as the car is spinning and flipping. Sometimes I have to remind myself that this is going on as well because I just go on with life, pretending the car accident isn't happening and wonder why I'm not able to thrive as well as other people in basic tasks.

[Parasatchitananda]

When you say if you can fight back there may be less trauma, this is why covert abuse is so extremely traumatic in ways most can not conceive. Covert abuse can be EXTREME with no way to fight back and no one else can see the abuse is happening, much less comprehend the impact. Covert abuse is more likely to lead to death than witnessing a shocking event or suffering a physical assault. Covert abuse can last for years without the victim being believed because the abuse is hidden even when the outcome may be seen in the victim's life. Usually the victim is blamed for negative outcome to their life when they are covertly abused. They become isolated due to the abuse being hidden and no one understanding what is actually happening.

[finsterthecat]

25:00 self regulation
Pay attention
Be still
Yoga - Meditation
Integrating mind and body.
Chanting with others
Because of the experience the brain has been changed. Trauma is stored in the body.
Need to feel safe in your body
Massages Dancing.
Take bite size of memories
Understanding why you are messed up does not solve the problem.
What therapies to try:
EMDR
Somatic experience

[sovereignlife]

Trauma is "distress without resolution ". So perhaps we need to widen the net of what qualifies as trauma and not limit it to only extremes like war or rape. Being neglected emotionally as a child by parents who do take care of physical needs still is a trauma.

[jenniclaire]

Skip the first 3½ minutes is an advertisement for the podcast. Dr Van der Kolk is a very interesting man and his book is fascinating.

[bebaaskaful]

It is all ok, from the perspective of someone who has a PTSD, sometimes yoga increase anxiety and panic. With yoga it is more important to get the right dose and to gain safety for time. Because when you do streching of fascia some of as they call samskaras will eventually come up. From my own expirience I had severe panic atacks doing yoga. Grounding is the most important step. Feeling body. Stay present in body. EMDR is great because it takes away the wall of feeling difficult emotions. Sometimes runing, or gym can be helpfull. Walking and stay present is also good. Breathing deeply in youre pelvis. Feeling the presure of chair and bed, also grounding. These are all elements of somatic practice.

[Bayoubebe]

As a trauma survivor with panic disorder for 25 yrs, this is one of the best videos ever, and I’ve watched thousands. Will listen many times more.

[makaylahollywood]

Dr. Van derkolk knows and articulates trauma as accurately as I have experienced it. Profound. I am creative & doing my own research on myself for recovery by paying attention, trying things, journaling, & observing my patterns of feelings, bad past stories. Being "Gentle", baby steps using new inner dialog, breath, good routines, exercise, books, music, sing, nature, prayer, trusting myself, photo therapy, safe social connections, creative projects are all my practice. I've made progress, and "slow, gentle and steady is my pace". I feel we have a healing capability.The heavy part is loneliness, acceptance while creating a new life. Wonderful Interview.

[groundedempowerment]

This man is amazing and his research and treatment is so gentle and down to Earth. I’m so grateful for people who understand sensitivity and the importance of emotions and feeling

[DoggyDoula]

Childhood trauma changes the brain, and the child's life forever. 😔 its difficult to explain. Im 42 and just had a retraumatizing incident that broke me. I don't think I've got much left to give and yet here I am.

[fatimaampm]

"Trauma is not a story, it changes the brain" I haven't watched the video yet but THANK YOU!

[saramoreorless]

46 and fighting my way through this. I am realizing that I have NEVER felt safe. Never in my whole life and especially not with my recent ex, who just abandoned us and left us stranded 5 states away from my entire family and all my friends. My whole life. I cannot fathom trusting anyone anymore.

[johnnysalter]

I am so grateful people are doing things like this now. I am in my early 70's and was diagnosed with bipolar 15 - 20 years ago. But as I got older and could not hold a job I started self-reflecting and journalling, intensely. And I figured out that people raised similar to me would exhibit nearly the same symptoms as bipolar. There were many issues but the root problem was that I thought I would be killed there, and looking back it was not an illogical concern.

[Thebaron]

I had a severe panic attack when I was 24 that I’m starting to realize has shaped my life ever since. It’s like I’m always on high alert trying to make sure that doesn’t happen again, and it’s been 11 years.

[mindbodyspirithealthy]

Trauma is what is left behind when we experience an event where we lack the ability to cope and our caregivers fail to meet those needs. There are so many holistic ways to move through trauma - you can utilize movement practices to move stuck emotions - yoga, walking, dancing, somatic exercises, qi gong, tai chi, etc.; you can incorporate breathwork to work with your physiology to bring your heart rate and blood pressure into normal limits; taking control of your thoughts/behaviours - understanding what unhelpful coping mechanisms you've put in place to keep you safe, knowing how your thoughts can be controlled and to change them to healthier thoughts before it results in reactions; inner child work - provide yourself with what you lacked as a child - you didn't feel safe, provide yourself with safety; didn't get to play because you were a caregiver for your parents - play now! It's nice to see that trauma and mental health healing is becoming more prevalent.

[susanmercurio]

4:30 I *don't* "try to forget". I can't stop remembering.

8:04 I had a "trauma therapist" who told me that, because I'm no longer having flashbacks and recurring nightmares from the abuse in my childhood (60 years ago), the PTSD just "went away." (I told her that I didn't want to work with her.)