Healing (original) (raw)

Complex Trauma, Chronic Pain and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

2019

Psychotherapists work with traumatized individuals daily, many of whom have endured chronic early trauma, often referred to as complex trauma. Complex trauma creates dysregulation in the self (mind and body), dysregulation in connections to others, and can severely alter consciousness to the point that survival depends on distancing oneself from one’s body (Lanius, 2017; Neumeister, 2018). This dissociation, along with the constant flooding of defence-response neurochemicals, impacts the long-term health of individuals who experience complex trauma, both physical and psychological.The focus of this paper is on clients experiencing chronic pain that may appear to have no discernible cause, such as functional somatic disorders, and how psychodynamic psychotherapy and other emerging psychotherapeutic trends can be effective means to support a path to healing.

Theory-and-Practice-of-Psychotherapy-with-Specific-Disorders.pdf

This book is designed as a reference source for professional psychotherapists, and as a text for a course in psychotherapy. Its purpose is to reach students of psychology, psychiatry, and social work. It claims to "provide the reader with the newest, most creative and most effective" guidance in psychotherapeutic method. The approach is psychodynamic with due recognition of the person and emphasis on interpersonal relationship as a major healing vehicle. The writers are outstanding members in the fields of psychology and psychiatry. Included are Drs. Salzman, Chrzanowski, Schiffer, Rose Spiegel, and Wolman.

Clinical Holistic Medicine: Tools for a Medical Science Based on Consciousness

The Scientific World JOURNAL, 2004

Biomedicine focuses on the biochemistry of the body, while consciousness-based medicine -holistic medicine -focuses on the individual's experiences and conscious whole (Greek: holos, whole). Biomedicine perceives diseases as mechanical errors at the micro level, while consciousness-based medicine perceives diseases as disturbances in attitudes, perceptions, and experiences at the macro level -in the organism as a whole. Thus, consciousness-based medicine is based on the whole individual, while biomedicine is based on its smallest parts, the molecules.

The Somatic Experience of the Wounded Therapist

2014

Psychotherapists' somatic responses have largely remained an untapped resource of information and healing potential in the field of psychotherapy. This may be due in part to the difficulty of describing and understanding these experiences as well as an educational gap in teaching therapists to recognize and value them. This dissertation asks: What types of somatic phenomena do psychotherapists experience in the context of therapeutic work with clients, and what therapeutic value can be made of these experiences? This study examines the role of the therapist's woundedness in his or her experience and understanding of somatic phenomena, with particular reference to the Wounded Healer archetype. Utilizing interpretive phenomenological analysis as a research methodology, seven psychotherapists to whom the research questions were meaningful and significant were chosen to participate. They shared their somatic experiences and reflections in an interview. Several different categories of somatic phenomena emerged, which included physical sensations, physiological responses, medical conditions, behavioral impulses, postural shifts, emotions, and conceptual images. The images and themes conveyed participants' conceptual understandings of somatic field dynamics. The study found that participants unanimously related to the Wounded Healer archetype, agreeing that their wounding experiences played a significant role in their therapeutic work, including but not limited to their vocational call, countertransference, heightened awareness and understanding, and increased capacity for empathy. The majority of participants made a variety of meaningful connections between their wounding experiences and somatic experiences. Specific types of somatic experiences were related to areas of the body that were either previously injured, ill, or associated with previous emotional traumas. The necessity of self-care was emphasized as it related to their wounds, discernment processes, and perceived demands of the profession. The findings of this study validate the significance of therapists' somatic experiences, highlight the presence of both personal and interactive field dynamics, and suggest that the therapist's own woundedness deepens empathy and thus predisposes one to somatic experiences. Participants used their somatic experiences to further explore and deepen into the psychotherapeutic work.

Trauma Related Events.docx

In our increasingly violent world, the expectation that a field based missionary will experience a traumatic event during their term of service is dramatically increasing. Studies have concluded that over eighty percent of field based missionaries report a traumatic event with many experiencing long-term effects. Mission's organizations along with pastoral counselors need to understand the long-term effects of trauma related events in the lives of field based missionaries in order to provide appropriate compassionate care for re-entry into a missionaries' normal living environment.

Effects of Experiential Focusing-Oriented Dream Interpretation

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 2001

retical, and methodological, to the spiritual, psychotherapeutic, and multicultural. Psychology is poised for a renaissance, and this Handbook will play a critical role in that transformation. As increasing numbers of students and professionals rebel against mechanizing or, on the other hand, relativizing trends, they are looking for the fuller, deeper, and more personal psychological orientation that this Handbook promotes.