Sunday, April 5, 2009 . 10:48 AM
NEW PARADIGMFOR
HEALING EMOTIONAL SHOCK AND TRAUMA
(part 2) INTRODUCTION
Most people are familiar with the concept of emotional trauma - an event or circumstance that is emotionally painful, causing a wound (or trauma), the energy of which continues to affect our lives long after the event ends. The effects of these traumas can be subtle (preference for solitary activities) or profound (rage), functional (drive to succeed) or dysfunctional (inability to express yourself). Traumas tend to manifest in patterns of behaviour and ways of being in the world. How a person manifests emotional trauma varies widely - and the same trauma can produce very different patterns from person to person.
However, in the last few years, pioneers in the field have discovered a lot about the most extreme levels of emotional trauma. The most startling finding is that extreme trauma (renamed shock, for clarity) has completely different dynamics and treatment needs than lesser levels of trauma.
There are many ways to describe this difference. One way I describe shock is to imagine heating up a pot of water. For a long time, the water is the same - just with more heat. However, at some point, it gets enough heat in it and becomes steam. Now steam is not just hotter water - it is something completely different. Similarly, the most extreme level of trauma, shock, is not just MORE trauma. The severity makes it something different - and that warrants a different name.
Keep in mind the when we use the word shock we are talking about several things. Shock is:
1.) an event
2.) the resulting physiological reaction
3.) the resulting physiological cycle
4.) the persisting psychological pattern(s)
5.) an overall (usually unconscious) chronic state of the body/mind
(Credits to: http://www.terrylarimore.com/Shock.html)
Done by: Malorie Tan