<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIf the neocortex gets involved then we will have explicit memory – we can pull in associated events and a timeline to contextualise the flow of information. Explicit memories usually only emerge into awareness after the body has changed. In the optimum situation, the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex should help the woman say \u2018Your dad shouted way too much, but it was 30 years ago\u2019.\u00a0But stress makes everything go\u00a0too\u00a0quick and tends to\u00a0inhibit the hippocampus and neocortex.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nExplicit memories are not essential when trying regulate the defense cascade. It is important to honour the memories and stories that appear, however try not to not get distracted by them and do not put too much energy in trying to make the narrative come together. Do go really slowly and keep orienting to feeling safe in your body and your environment in the present time. Tell yourself \u2018The danger is not happening now\u2019, even if your primitive brain is screaming at you to run, jump, fight or shutdown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFollowing Dr David Berceli, founder of TRE, I am fond of saying \u2018You do not need to remember or do not need to understand to heal trauma\u2019. The goal is to feel safe right now and not get activated by the \u2018tissue memories\u2019, \u2018cellular memories\u2019 and \u2018action patterns\u2019. We can learn to be more than old protective patterns that are seeking to take over.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRecognising early signs of distress<\/h3>\n
When working with trauma it is important to note the surges and changes in the rhythmic activity of the body as implicit memories occur. There are some great early warning signals that too much is happening too soon. Kozlowska et al (2015) list some early signs of mobilising (\u2018fight-or-flight\u2019); changes in breath, furrowing of the eyebrows, the tensing of the jaw, or the clenching of a fist, narrowing of the range of attention. For early signs of\u00a0immobilising (\u2018freeze\u2019 and \u2018dissociation\u2019) they list; visual blurring, sweating, nausea, warmth, light-headedness, and fatigue.<\/p>\n
My favourite signs (Haines 2016) are anything going too quick; thoughts, sensations or emotions that cannot be integrated into the present moment and anything going too slow; spacey, floaty, absence, hard to make eye contact, numbness or tingling or loss of body awareness.<\/p>\n
Dry mouth, distorted hands or feet, absent belly, cold hands and a sense of disappearing are all good signs to put the brakes on and become more grounded, whatever process is being expressed. David Berceli (2008) teaches avoiding \u2018freezing, flooding or dissociation\u2019, these are signs that too much arousal is occurring to integrate in the present moment.<\/p>\n
When we are more grounded we can then help find the right pace of change so we can self-regulate. Sometimes the presence of a safe other person is necessary to lead us to co-regulate, so we can learn to self-regulate (Ndefo 2015). Context and environment will change how memories are expressed, for good or for ill. The primitive brain does not do words and concepts very well, but will respond to safety, touch, presence and going slow.<\/p>\n
Summary<\/b><\/h3>\n\n- Information is stored in the tissues and cells of the body. We frequently only experience fragments of implicit memories.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- Memories are stored inside people and people are inside families, society and cultures. Remembering is a complex perception that depends on context. Quiroga 2017 states \u2018perception and memory are based on similar principles\u2019 and \u2018Our memories are dynamically recreated with each recall.\u2019<\/li>\n
- The threat detection systems in the primitive brain can be activated as the body changes. The stimulus could be a safe, novel situation or ongoing stress or an unknown symbol.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- The primitive brain does not do words and concepts very well, but will respond to safety, touch and presence.<\/li>\n
- If we can support change in the body, and regulate arousal, we can change activation without needing to understand or remember the trauma event. The goal is to uncouple the charge of the defense cascade from the sensations of the implicit memory.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
References<\/b><\/h3>\n\n- Berceli D (2008) The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process. Transcend Your Toughest Times.<\/i> Vancouver: Namaste Publishing.<\/li>\n
- Damasio A and Carvalho GB (2013) The nature of feelings: evolutionary and neurobiological origins. <\/i>Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Vol 14, February 2013, 143.<\/li>\n
- Haines S (2016) Trauma Is Really Strange.<\/i> London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.<\/li>\n
- Hedley G (2005) The Integral Anatomy Series. 4 Vol DVD set.<\/i> Integral Anatomy Productions, LLC, 430 Westwood Avenue, Westwood, NJ 07675, USA (or check \u2018The Fuzz Speech\u2019 on YouTube).<\/li>\n
- Ingber DE (2008) Tensegrity and mechanotransduction.<\/i> Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies 12, 198\u2013200.<\/li>\n
- Kozlowska K, Walker P, McLean L, and Carrive P (2015) Fear and the Defense Cascade: Clinical Implications and Management.<\/i> Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2015 Jul; 23(4): 263\u2013287.<\/li>\n
- LeDoux JE (2015) The Amygdala Is NOT the Brain’s Fear Center.<\/i> psychologytoday.com http:\/\/bit.ly\/ledoux-no-fear-center\u00a0 <\/span>Accessed 2015-09-01<\/li>\n
- Ndefo N (2015) Personal communication.<\/i>\u00a0\u2018Sometimes we have to co-regulate before we can self-regulate\u2019.<\/li>\n
- Quiroga RQ (2017) The Forgetting Machine: Memory, Perception, and the “Jennifer Aniston Neuron\u201d.<\/i> Dallas: BenBella Books Inc.<\/li>\n
- Rothschild B (2000) The Body Remembers \u2013 The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment.<\/i> London: W.W. Norton.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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