Thursday, July 19, 2012

Trauma in the Body

By Amanda Pasciucco, MFT at Therapy by Amanda, LLC

Do you ever feel pain and tension in your body even though you haven't done anything that would cause pain? Do you ever get restless leg syndrome or overly anxious for no particular reason? These could be signs that your body is holding onto some extreme emotions that need to be released in somatic (body-centered) therapeutic work.

But I never experienced trauma! Traumas can be caused in our lives when one of our boundaries has been broken, causing extreme anxiety and distress. Traumas are not only caused by childhood stress or family chaos; they can be caused by boundary violations such as being in a job where we are treated poorly or being in a relationship where our needs are never heard.

Fight or flight response. Frequently in our lives, we experience this process: an electric charge by an outside stimulus is followed by a relaxation of that charge. Healthy individuals are able to maintain their usual boundaries with those around them. However, when these boundaries are skewed, an outside source causes us to have an extreme response that bring us outside of our comfort zone (known as homeostasis). For some people, the impact caused by an outside source is such a severe shock on the nervous system that it elicits a traumatic response in our bodies.

How to help ourselves. First, see a therapist trained in trauma work and body-centered process. Trauma is not a "quick fix." There is no tool or tip that can get you through it. Practices such as yoga and meditation can be helpful when working through a traumatic episode, but the most helpful resource is getting professional help to repair this tear within your central nervous system.

Amanda Pasciucco, M.A. MFT, is an individual, couple, and family therapist with a private practice in Wilton, Connecticut. Currently, she is working on publishing her first book. For more information, you can visit her website at www.therapybyamanda.com or follow her on twitter @TherapyByAmanda.

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