Blog post:
Monday 13th September 2021
Dr Jim Byrne
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The stored experiences of trauma in the human body-brain-mind; and how to dig them up and process them
Introduction
Most people are unaware of the trauma they carry in their body-brain-mind. Why? Because our earliest experiences seem to us to be “normal”, no matter how awful or ghastly they may objectively be. We think of our parents as normal; and ourselves as normal; and the experiences we have (including abuse and neglect), as normal.
So we cannot construct a narrative of trauma; because we lack any significant distinctions that we could use for that purpose.
To discover our own trauma, we have first to be reflected back to ourselves by somebody who came from a “more truly normal” background – or somebody who has healed their body-brain-mind of their traumatic experiences.
The world needs more “mirrors” of this kind. Some of the outstanding “mirrors of trauma” in the world today include: Bessel van der Kolk; Allan Schore; Judith Herman. But my all-time hero in this field was, of course John Bowlby. And let us not forget that he was castigated and outlawed by the British psychoanalytic movement for decades before attachment theory began to make breakthroughs because of its usefulness in the field of developmental psychology.
Today, are stand on the threshold of a more humane world; if only the “mirrors of trauma” can keep on shining; and are not “blacked out” by the forces of evil on this fragile, endangered planet.
My experience
Over a period of almost 25 years, I have “picked up the pieces” of some horrible childhood histories.
I have a special capacity – skill, ability – to deal with these problems, most likely because I came from a traumatizing background, and I’ve spent many years resolving my own developmental trauma (using a wide range of therapeutic strategies; and fortuitous relationships), and learning to live a full and happy life.
The outcome
Now I have written up the kinds of processes that I have used with my own clients over those years, in a form which is usable by self-help enthusiasts. And it could also be a good learning resource for new counsellors and psychotherapists who are moving into the field of trauma work.
These processes can be summarized in three forms – which are addressed once the reader has achieved some degree of safety and security in their life. Those forms are:
– Re-framing (re-interpreting, or re-storying) of traumatic experiences (starting with low level upsets; and proceeding upwards with caution);
– Confronting and completing (in body-mind forms) medium range traumatic experiences;
– And, finally, digesting higher intensity traumatic symptoms; through processes including: writing therapy, combined with re-framing and completion; and with bodily sensations and breath-work; and several other whole body-brain-mind strategies.
Some key outcomes achieved
The benefits to be derived from this kind of work are enormous:
Sleep is improved; digestion and breathing become normal; anxiety and depression are cleared up; social relationships become less stressful; physical and mental health improve; and so on.
To find out more about this revolutionary new psychotherapeutic strategy, please take a look at: How to Resolve Childhood Developmental Trauma.
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Best wishes,
Jim Byrne, Doctor of Counselling
I am aware of the principle of ‘concentration of power’ on our top priorities, which was popularized in the 1980s, by Dr Charles R. Hobbs, and re-presented in recent times by Garry Keller and Jay Papasan, in their book, ‘The One Thing’. We are more likely to be successful if we focus on just a few important priorities.
Many people struggle with emotional distress, just below the level of conscious awareness, which mars their life chances, and limits their capacity for happy relationships. Much of this distress could and should be classified as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); or emotional distress which follows on from a traumatic experience, which is too stressful (at the time of occurrence) to be processed into a coherent story. And even more should be defined as Complex-PTSD, arising out of protracted child abuse in early childhood.
From Ancient Athens to Vietnam and Zambia, individual lives have been ruined by stress, strain, abuse and neglect. Madness, serious unhappiness and unworkable lives were most often the result.
This is the fictionalized autobiography of Jim Byrne (writing through his alter ego, Daniel O’Beeve). None of the characters in this story should be confused with any real person, alive or dead!
Some therapists look for the source of their clients’ upsets in the client’s beliefs, as if the client invented their own belief system, independently of their parents, teachers, religious institutions, and the mass media – and as if their current beliefs and attitudes were not strongly impacted by their current socioeconomic environment, and the current physical state of their body and brain.
In my view, Frank seemed to be acting out a childhood problem of insecure attachment to this mother: an inability to get close to his mother, and to get the kind of pleasure and comfort he needed from her, 55 years ago!
Then, in 2016, I produced a book, entitled ‘Facing and Defeating Your Emotional Dragons’; which used the processes of ‘reframing experiences’ and ‘completion’, with the proviso that the reframing process must be mastered by the client before they ever attempt the completion process, in order to avoid re-traumatizing themselves.
This book is about one man’s journey away from his homeland and his emotionally barren family and priest-dominated culture, to a place where he might find love, acceptance and personal liberation.
That’s all for now.
The Institute for Emotive-Cognitive Embodied Narrative Therapy (E-CENT) 