ArcticWolf
14-12-06, 23:16
This book is about resolving traumatic symptoms using a naturalistic approach I have developed over the past twenty-five years. I do not view post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as pathology to be managed, suppressed, or adjusted to, but the result of a natural process gone awry.[...]I believe that many of the principles and much of the information offered here can be used to facilitate the healing of trauma. If you are in therapy, it may help you to share this book with your therapist. If you are not in therapy, it is possible to use this book to help yourself. However, there are limitations. You may need the guidance of a qualified professional.
Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence. Not only can trauma be healed, but with appropriate guidance and support, it can be transformative. Trauma has the potential to be one of the most significant forces for psychological, social, and spiritual awakening and evolution. How we handle trauma (as individuals, communities, and societies) greatly influences the quality of our lives. It ultimately affects how or even whether we will survive as a species.
Trauma is traditionally regarded as a psychological and medical disorder of the mind. The practice of modern medicine and psychology, while giving lip service to a connection between mind and body, greatly underestimates the deep relationship that they have in the healing of trauma. The welded unity of body and mind that, throughout time, has formed the philosophical and practical underpinnings of most of the world's traditional healing systems is sadly lacking in our modern understanding and treatment of trauma.
For thousands of years, oriental and shamanic healers have recognizsed not only that that the mind affects the body, as in psychosomatic medicine, but how every organ system of the body equally has a psychic representation in the fabric of the mind. Recent revolutionary developments developments in neuroscience and psycho-neuro-immunology have established solid evidence of the intricate two-way communication between mind and body. In identifying complex "neuro-peptide messengers", researchers like Candice Pert have discovered many pathways by which mind and body mutually communicate. Theis leading-edge research echoes what ancient wisdom has always known: that each organ of the body, including the brain, speaks its own "thoughts", "feelings", and "promptings", and listens to those of all the others.
Most trauma therapies address the mind through talk and the molecules of the mind with drugs. Both of these approaches can be of use. However, trauma is not, will not, and can never be fully healed until we also address the essential role played by the body. We must understand how the body is affected by trauma and its central position in healing its aftermath. Without this foundation, our attempts at mastering trauma will be limited and one-sided.
Beyond the mechanistic, reductionistic view of life, there exists a sensing, feeling, knowing, living organism. This living body, a condition we share with all sentient beings, informs us of our innate capacity to heal from the effects of trauma. This book is about the gift of wisdom we receive as a result of learning to harness and transform the body's awesome, primordial, and intelligent energies. In overcoming the destructive force of trauma, our innate potential now lifts us to new heights of mastery and knowledge.
Peter Levine
Written on Amtrak Zephyr
October, 1995
I've just received this book that I believe will help those who prefer to go it alone,
that is, without drugs, quacks and psycho-paths...
:confused:
...sorry I meant medication, doctors and psych-iatrists/-ologists... obviously.
Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence. Not only can trauma be healed, but with appropriate guidance and support, it can be transformative. Trauma has the potential to be one of the most significant forces for psychological, social, and spiritual awakening and evolution. How we handle trauma (as individuals, communities, and societies) greatly influences the quality of our lives. It ultimately affects how or even whether we will survive as a species.
Trauma is traditionally regarded as a psychological and medical disorder of the mind. The practice of modern medicine and psychology, while giving lip service to a connection between mind and body, greatly underestimates the deep relationship that they have in the healing of trauma. The welded unity of body and mind that, throughout time, has formed the philosophical and practical underpinnings of most of the world's traditional healing systems is sadly lacking in our modern understanding and treatment of trauma.
For thousands of years, oriental and shamanic healers have recognizsed not only that that the mind affects the body, as in psychosomatic medicine, but how every organ system of the body equally has a psychic representation in the fabric of the mind. Recent revolutionary developments developments in neuroscience and psycho-neuro-immunology have established solid evidence of the intricate two-way communication between mind and body. In identifying complex "neuro-peptide messengers", researchers like Candice Pert have discovered many pathways by which mind and body mutually communicate. Theis leading-edge research echoes what ancient wisdom has always known: that each organ of the body, including the brain, speaks its own "thoughts", "feelings", and "promptings", and listens to those of all the others.
Most trauma therapies address the mind through talk and the molecules of the mind with drugs. Both of these approaches can be of use. However, trauma is not, will not, and can never be fully healed until we also address the essential role played by the body. We must understand how the body is affected by trauma and its central position in healing its aftermath. Without this foundation, our attempts at mastering trauma will be limited and one-sided.
Beyond the mechanistic, reductionistic view of life, there exists a sensing, feeling, knowing, living organism. This living body, a condition we share with all sentient beings, informs us of our innate capacity to heal from the effects of trauma. This book is about the gift of wisdom we receive as a result of learning to harness and transform the body's awesome, primordial, and intelligent energies. In overcoming the destructive force of trauma, our innate potential now lifts us to new heights of mastery and knowledge.
Peter Levine
Written on Amtrak Zephyr
October, 1995
I've just received this book that I believe will help those who prefer to go it alone,
that is, without drugs, quacks and psycho-paths...
:confused:
...sorry I meant medication, doctors and psych-iatrists/-ologists... obviously.