I think the newer findings in the neurosciences offer a lot of hope for understanding trauma and addiction (though the thoughts aren't really new among older somatic-type therapies, such as Feldenkrais and Alexander Technique, that understood our ability to "re-wire"). Maybe we can't be totally "cured" but I think the helpful therapies, whether cognitive or somatic or some sort of psychodynamic, are all helpful to the point that they help us partially re-wire our nervous systems to a more balanced or regulated place...whether through physically resolving some traumas, creating corrective or positive experiences within the therapy context, or working on the cognitive and mindfulness skills that allow us to pause and re-route where we'd normally wander the same self-destructive path.
The idea of neuroplasticity, how we can change our brains and nervous systems, if applied within therapy, seems much more promising than simply talking about our problems or forever medicating them. A friend recently told me that she didn't think therapy was helpful because just talking about your bad memories made things worse. Well, she was not in a helpful form of therapy. Just talking about all of my negative experience does nothing for me either! I need guidance in recreating my felt experience of life and creating new responses to stress and new patterns. So we work on pretty fundamental patterns of safety, empowerment, connection, having feelings in safe ways, resting, switching more consciously between joining the world and curling into my shell as needed. So far I've eliminated the "I'm dying!" panic attacks and have been able to feel more connected to my pets...and quit starving or burning myself. Less foggy depression too. And my therapist seems like a real person (this comes slowly for me!)
Then recently, too much changing or too much awareness too fast and I dropped back into older addict brain hijacking (but switched that again in last idiot moment by dumping the alcohol and making different plans...need to stay careful with this)
But the process of change is slow and hard sometimes. My therapist says I have some nearly intractable defaults since my little brain formed into a trauma brain, but she also believes that I can learn to work around them better, or change some of them. It's hard right now to know what I have to accept and what can still transform or re-wire. But it helps me a lot to believe I can change...I might not always know how when struggling with an old pattern. The first few new approaches don't always work well. But the belief in change itself helps me stay creative and use my therapy better, vs stay stuck in the powerless mindset.
"With repeated and direct attention towards a desired change, we all have the ability to rewire our brains." (from the link...thanks for posting
@joeylittle )
