Healing Trauma (chapter 1)

My brother in law kept telling me that I needed to read the book "Healing Trauma" by Peter Levine. I put him off for two months feeling like I was too busy with school to read it. I also felt like I had not suffered from trauma so it wasn't going to apply to me.

He kept insisting and finally I got it as an e-book from the library. As I started to read it I realized that I needed to buy it because it was starting to look like it could be helpful for me and I also wanted to get the CD that normally accompanies the book. I have already recommended it to a couple of people that I think it could help as well.

Peter Levine has spent most of his career studying how trauma affects the body. He says that the unresolved effects of trauma can be devastating. It affects our habits and outlook on life that can lead to addictions and poor decisions. It takes a toll on our relationships and family life. It can trigger pain, symptoms and disease.

So what is trauma? Well I thought that a person had to go through a war or be physically or sexually abused to qualify as a trauma victim but that isn't the case. He claims that trauma is the most avoided, ignored, denied, misunderstood and untreated cause of human suffering. He says that it does not need to stem from a major catastrophe. People can be overwhelmed by what we see as ordinary events. We become traumatized when our ability to respond to a perceived threat is in some way overwhelmed.

Trauma is about loss of connection with ourselves, our bodies, our families, others and the world around us. This loss of connection can be hard to recognize because it doesn't happen all at once. It happens over time and we adapt to these changes over time. These are the hidden effects of trauma, the ones we keep to ourselves. We just perceive that something isn't right, without being fully aware of what is happening. These are manifest in the gradual undermining of our self-esteem, self-confidence, feelings of wellbeing and our connection to life. Our choices become limited as we avoid certain feelings, people, situations and places. The result is a loss of freedom, vitality and the fulfillment of our dreams.

Dr. Levine believes that humans are built to overcome the effects of trauma. As we overcome the effects of trauma we can undergo a spiritual transformation and realize our dreams.