WHAT IS TRAUMA?
Source: How Trauma Affects our Brain, Body, Feelings, Thoughts, and Healing — Confusion to Clarity (confusiontoclaritynow.com)
Trauma comes from a serious or ongoing threat that overwhelms our ability to cope, and living with an abuser is severe trauma. All that psychological and emotional abuse, gaslighting, blame shifting, lies, manipulation, and betrayal is beyond anyone’s ability to cope.
Trauma isn’t just about what happened in the past. It doesn’t end when we leave the abuse. It’s the imprint that the abuse left on your brain and body.
Here are some symptoms of unresolved trauma:
~ Anxiety, a chronic sense of panic
~ Feeling like your nervous system is on high alert
~ Feeling overwhelmed by life
~ Feeling unsafe even after you are out of the abuse ~ Having a hard time thinking, concentrating, making decisions ~ Spacing out ~ Low motivation ~ Easily triggered by events or conversations ~ Feeling like you can’t control how you feel ~ Racing thoughts ~ Trouble sleeping ~ Not trusting yourself ~ Losing your sense of purpose and direction ~ Feeling chronically unsafe in your body ~ Being exhausted ~ Feeling empty, helpless, trapped, and weighed down ~ Shutting down and dissociation ~ Feeling disconnected from yourself, your body, and your feelings ~ Feeling like ‘somebody else’ or like ‘nobody’ ~ Feeling lost and disconnected from the world, others, and God
NMT-
Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics: ChildTrauma Academy, Dr. Bruce Perry
Dr. Perry developed the Neurosequential Model (NM) including the clinically-focused version, the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT). This developmentally-sensitive and neuroscience-informed approach has been used by hundreds of clinical organizations and thousands of clinicians in over thirty countries. This evidence-based approach to clinical problem solving is also an evidence generating approach that continues to provide data about the impact of experience - good and bad - on the developing child.
Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire
The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire is a 10-item self-report measure developed for the ACE study to identify childhood experiences of abuse and neglect. The study posits that childhood trauma and stress early in life, apart from potentially impairing social, emotional, and cognitive development, indicates a higher risk of developing health problems in adulthood.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ACE QUESTIONNAIRE The ACE study originated in 1985 in Dr. Vincent Felitti’s obesity clinic in California. Felitti was frustrated that a number of the people in his program dropped out, even though they were successfully losing weight. Upon reviewing the history of the people who dropped out, Felitti found that many people in his clinic had a background of adverse childhood experiences, such as physical or sexual abuse. He began to wonder if obesity might be, for some people, an unconscious defense that lingered as a result of adverse childhood experiences. Researchers found that weight gain was indeed the way some of those who had experienced childhood abuse had attempted to protect themselves, whether consciously or unconsciously, from further incidences of abuse, and that they left Felitti’s program due to feelings of anxiety that followed their weight loss. Following the results of this study, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was exploring the psychosocial origins of various public health concerns such as alcohol abuse, obesity, and nicotine use, paired up with Kaiser Permanente to develop one of the largest epidemiological studies in the United States. The ACE Study aimed to identify the childhood trauma experiences of more than 17,000 adult participants, who underwent a physical examination and completed the ACE Questionnaire, in order to determine whether there truly was a link between adverse experiences in childhood and health concerns, both physical and mental, later in life. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
The study found that nearly 40% of participants had been exposed to two or more of the different categories, and 12.5% reported exposure to at least four categories. In other words, the study showed that adverse childhood experiences were more common than had previously been recognized or acknowledged by research and medical findings. The study also identified a direct link between the ACE score and adult chronic illness, as well as emotional and social issues such as depression, domestic violence, and suicide. For example, an individual with an ACE score of four or higher was 260% more likely to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than someone with a score of 0, 240% more likely to contract hepatitis, 460% more likely to experience depression, and 1,220% more likely to attempt suicide. USING THE ACE QUESTIONNAIRE The questionnaire helps researchers and mental health professionals identify childhood abuse and neglect and family dysfunction such as domestic violence, incarceration, and alcohol and drug issues. The survey consists of ten questions. Each affirmative answer is assigned one point. At the end of the questionnaire, the points are totaled for a score out of ten, which is known as the ACE score.
Ways to Regulate the Brain
The 6 R’s of NMT (Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics)
Used with permission from the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics: Child Trauma Academy, Dr. Bruce Perry
Repetitive (Happens multiple times, over a period of time)
Rhythmic (Has rhythm, like music, dance or exercise)
Relevant (Can see the benefit and importance of doing)
Relational (Strengthens bonds with others, especially those close to us)
Respectful (Feel valued and appreciated when or after doing something)
Rewarding (The payoff is worth the effort)
Examples of Brain Regulating Activities
Dance Music
Painting
Exercise/Yoga
Campfires
Storytelling/Fairy Tales
Board Games
Rocking/Swinging
Add your own
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