NAVIGATING TRAUMA RECOVERY: THREE REALMS OF HEALING
People across the country have begun to open up and realize the broad ranging impact that trauma has on a person. Fortunately, more people are open to exploring how to heal from trauma. While there are many options for healing, there is no one single approach to healing; no one pill or one intervention that works for everyone.
Traditional approaches in western medicine focus on Evidence Based Treatments; treatment that has research to support it’s effectiveness. This generally comes in two options: prescription medication or individual psychotherapy.
But, trauma impacts a person on multiple levels – physically, emotionally, psychologically, interpersonally, energetically, and spiritually.
While traditional western therapeutic approaches focus primarily on the psychological aspects of trauma, there is growing recognition of the importance of holistic trauma healing.
Healing from trauma means addressing three interconnected dimensions of healing: Physical Realm, Emotional Body, and Consciousness Realm.
Dimension 1: Physical Healing The Physical dimension of healing PTSD involves addressing the impact of trauma on the physical body and all things seeming from the material form. Somatic therapy, cognitive therapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) are key modalities for healing in this dimension. Somatic therapy emphasizes the mind-body connection, becoming aware of the somatic experience while using techniques like body awareness, bodywork, breathwork, and movement to release stored trauma from the body. Cognitive therapy helps with identifying and challenging negative thought patterns developed from the traumatic event, allowing cognitive restructuring and emotional regulation. EMDR utilizes bilateral stimulation to process traumatic memories to reduce the emotional charge and integrate the experiences, facilitating healing at the neurological, emotional and psychological levels.
Dimension 2: Emotional/Energetic Body Healing The Emotional Body dimension focuses on the emotional impact of trauma. Emotions like fear, sadness and anger may be “stuck” and require processing, releasing or rebalancing. Learning how to tolerate emotions is essential here. Modalities focused on emotion release and learning to sit with emotions can help process stuck emotions. Other supports include floral essences, sound healing, and biofield therapies to rebalance the energetic field. Floral essences, derived from plants and flowers, work to soothe. Sound healing utilizes vibrational frequencies to restore balance within the body's energy system. Biofield therapies, such as tuning forks and reiki, work with the body's energy field to clear blockages and promote energetic flow.
Dimension 3: Consciousness The Consciousness dimension explores the spiritual and consciousness aspects of trauma recovery. Practices include meditation, spiritual rituals, and psychedelic-assisted therapy. Psychedelic-assisted therapy, when conducted under therapeutic settings, can offer explorations of the different stages of consciousness, healing the unconscious drives and painful memories as well as connecting with the collective unconscious.
Healing trauma and PTSD involves a multi-dimensional approach that addresses the condition on physical, energetic, and spiritual levels. By integrating therapeutic modalities that target these dimensions, you can receive a comprehensive healing journey that nurtures all the parts of being human - body, mind, and spirit.