Ongoing exposure to trauma
Frontline work in areas such as, domestic violence,
teaching, substance dependency, home visiting, homelessness, counselling and
therapy with children and young people and adults who are physically ill,
mentally ill, long-term unemployed, children in care, care leavers, parents, kinship
and foster carers, adoptive parents means repeated exposure to their trauma.
Many of us who do this work play little attention to the
toll it takes on us as there is:
- · No time
- · Limited knowledge
- · No interest
- · No one to acknowledge it
- · An organisational climate of ‘toughness’ as a ‘badge of honour’
- · NO TIME!!
Why does
this matter?
Exposure to
repetitive trauma means a survival system that is attuned to the emotional
state of others and sensitivity to the tone of voice, facial cues, the tension
in them, and the energy they give off. Living with fear and unpredictability
with little access to emotional and physical safety or stability means the body
and brains survival system becomes uncomfortably ‘alert’. A practitioner needs
to understand what this can look like.
Slight changes in the
tension of the brow, wrinkles around the eyes, curvature of the lips, and angle
of the neck quickly signal to us how comfortable, suspicious, relaxed, or
frightened someone is……Just so the muscles of our own faces give others clues
about how calm or excited we feel, whether our heart is racing or quiet (Van der Kolk, 2014)
It also matters a great deal because it makes many front
line practitioners ill! Stress and anxiety are all too common in frontline
workers, although often only whispered about. Self-medication often looks like,
smoking, drinking, and eating crap, eating nothing, over-working, and many
other unhealthy practices to feel less stressed and to avoid emotional
processing and overload.
What can we
do?
A huge change
in my practice has come about because I work hard to check in with myself and regulate
my emotional state before I sit down with, or speak with, ANYONE I am
supporting. I take calmness into sessions and find I am able to be less
reactive and so offer more informed support. It’s ongoing and the people I work
with teach me a great deal and this is what I want to share, along with a more
technical insight into the impact of trauma.
Why yoga?
The Trauma
Awareness and Integration Course will offer simple, accessible practices to do
in the car, corridor, loo, at your desk and at home which just allow a moment
to check out your emotional ‘state’, to regulate it and to access a sense of
calmness. Yoga is emerging as a great way to address stress, anxiety and trauma,
although this has been known for a very long time there is now research being
done into why. What is coming to the forefront is that trauma is stored in our
bodies first and foremost therefore it needs to be addressed at this level
rather than by trying to rationalise or intellectualise it!
..our understanding of
the body’s response to trauma has brought encouraging news. It is possible to
intervene directly in the body’s difficult state of hyper arousal. We now know that
we can intentionally and systematically intervene in the body’s own alarm
systems and begin to turn them down. (Emmerson
& Hopper, 2011)
As someone who has spent gazillions of years trying to
self-medicate and intellectualise my stress, anxiety and trauma in order to be
a good practitioner and human being, discovering simple mindful yoga,
meditation and other easy practices has changed EVERYTHING!!
Join Claire Murphy of
Santosha Studios and me to begin your journey to the information and
well-ness you deserve for yourself and those you support.
This course will offer insight into:
- what repetitive trauma is and why it
matters
- how childhood exposure to trauma
shapes brain and body development
- what it can look and feel like live
and work with
- ways of recognising secondary trauma
- simple practices to regulate trauma
in self and clients
- a more trauma informed way to practice and care
Early Bird rate until JULY 31ST
Emmerson, D &Hopper, E 2011 Overcoming Trauma through Yoga, North Atlantic Books
Van der Kolk, B, 2014 The Body Keeps the Score, Viking
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