The body keeps the score

[Chava]

thanks for sharing. Trauma specialists such as Bessel van der Kolk have really turned things around for me....hope where I didn't have any because I don't feel randomly and helplessly f*cked up. It all makes sense, including why standard talk therapy was minimally helpful in my case. This book is on my wish list.

 

[Anarchy]

Here are a couple of videos of van der Kolk, talking about his work. They are very well worth watching, there are absolute gems of information in them (and you don't have to pick through an hour of shit to find those gems) , for example in the Virginia lecture, he shows brain scans of people who were flashing back - the area of the brain concerned with speech is completely shut down - we cannot speak when we are triggered or flashing back: this has massive implications for us, particularly in a court room setting. also he points out that the only area of the conscious brain which has a connection with the amygdala, is the part concerned with breathing and proception, hence the importance of breathing exercises and bodily experiencing practices like yoga or martial arts for calming us.

In the NEA BPD talk (I do believe that BPD is part of a larger syndrome of developmental trauma) he shows brain waves of people with traumatic response compared to a random control sample of non diagnosed people, and talks about the use of neuro feedback in order to re regulate brain activity, he also shows brain scans of people who are severely dissociating - basically, if you are dissociating, any attempt at therapy is wasted, because you can't do anything with it until you ground.

also check out the panel discussions.

If anyone is really into vids, I posted some more links here https://www.myptsd.com/threads/suicidal-thoughts-eating-me.50615/#post-806909

 

[Dali77]

Ty all for responding

Did some body work in the past but it dident do anything for me

But before I write this off as well Im gonna take a good look into it before making judgments about it

 

[Nighthawk]

@Anarchy
Thank you for sharing. Got some good info some unexpected trauma responses and lots to work on.

 

[Yvy]

Hi, thanks for posting this. I was wondering, before I would buy the book: I'm looking for things that help and advice for the ptss. In a lot of books there's a lot of theory and when you come to the part of the pratical the book is finished. Is there in this book or in other books information about what sort of yoga will help with ptss? Are there specific exercises with which you can start? I've read a lot about yoga but there are so many forms of it. I've seen another book about yoga and ptss too, but before I go and buy lots of books I'd like to be sure that there's a part of the information I'm looking for. Thanks!

 

[somerandomguy]

@Yvy - it's not really that kind of book. There's a chapter on yoga, but it's not a self-help book.

 

[anthony]

Van der Kolk is one of the leading complex trauma experts... for anyone who didn't know that. His work is of the highest quality.

 

[myheart]

I haven't read this book, or the book called 'The Body Remembers', (although I was very interested, it seemed too complicated for me.) But I believe it. Not only feeling pains from our own past, but also feeling pains that others close to us were experiencing. (I guess that part is off-topic, but interesting!)

 

[Leigh925]

I learned a lot from reading this book and though it is not a self help book it did give me new insights on myself and I have been able to apply much of what I learned into my therapy. It definitely gave me the platform to talk very openly with my therapist and to guide my therapy in a direction I thought might be more healing....so I definitely think it is worth the read even though it is not a step by step guide book!

There were so many "a-ha" moments for me and it made me feel less crazy in general. I found a lot of explanations that made sense to me.

I have felt pretty crazy during this process so to feel understood was a pretty cool thing for me.

 

[Summer Ava]

Anthony, are you seeing Van der Kolk next month in Australia?

 

[Freedomfighter]

Will check that out later, too tired now, which is another symptom of PTSD, dang

 

[anthony]

too tired now, which is another symptom of PTSD

Nope... it isn't. Tired is a symptom of depression, exhaustion, and more... but not PTSD itself.