Traumas of the Mind-Brain-Body: PTSD: Lonely Pioneers

Journal of The History of The Behavioral Sciences, 1998

This book is part of a larger project to bring together articles by psychologists from the United States and the former Soviet Union and make them available to both English-and Russian-speaking audiences. The English-language version appeared first; the publication of the book in Russia, it is hoped, will follow shortly. The contributions to this volume were carefully chosen to reflect on contemporary changes in both post-Soviet and American societies. They are taken not from conventional academic subdivisions, but from the application of psychology to socially relevant issues: politics and persuasion, mental health, prejudice and ethnic conflicts, ecological and environmental problems. Following the editors' intention to highlight both differences and similarities between American and post-Soviet psychology, the book is organized in sections each containing parallel articles from U. S. and former Soviet scholars. Sometimes the articles complement each other, sometimes they stand in a striking but instructive contrast.

Humanities, 2015

Since the second half of the 20th century, the life sciences have become one of the dominant explanatory models for almost every aspect of human life. Hand in hand with biomedical developments and technologies, the life sciences are constantly shaping and reshaping human lives and changing human biographies in manifold ways. The orientation towards life sciences and biomedicine from the very beginning to the end of human life is driven by the utopian notion that all forms of contingency could be technologically and medically controlled. This paper addresses the interrelatedness of life sciences and human biographies in a field where contingency and risk become essential and existential parts of lived experience: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). On the one hand, this diagnostic entity is related to (neuro-)biological underpinnings of (a lack of) psychic resilience as well as to those of contemporary pharmacotherapy. On the other hand, PTSD is also understood as based on a traumatic life event, which can be accessed through and addressed by talk therapy, particularly narrative exposure therapy (NET). We argue that a novel focus on concepts of narrativity will generate pathways for an interdisciplinary understanding of PTSD by linking biological underpinnings from neurobiological findings, to brain metabolism and pharmacotherapy via the interface of psychotherapy and the specific role of narratives to the lived experience of patients and vice versa. The goal of our study is to demonstrate why therapies such as psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy are successful in controlling the disease burden of PTSD to some extent, but the restitutio ad integrum, the reestablishing of the bodily and psychic integrity remains out of reach for most PTSD patients. As a test case, we discuss the complementary methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and the established procedures of talk therapy (NET) to show how a methodological focus on narratives enhanced by notions of narrativity from the humanities grants access to therapeutically meaningful, enriched notions of PTSD. We focus on TCM because trauma therapy has long since become an intrinsic part of this complementary medical concept which are more widely accessible and accepted than other complementary medical practices, such as Ayurveda or homeopathy. Looking at the individual that suffers from a traumatic life event and also acknowledging the contemporary concepts of resilience, transdisciplinary concepts become particularly relevant for the medical treatment of and social reintegration of patients such as war veterans. We emphasize the necessity of a new dialogue between the life sciences and the humanities by introducing the concepts of corporeality, capability and temporality as boundary objects crucial for both the biomedical explanation, the narrative understanding and the lived experience of trauma.

The International journal of psycho-analysis, 2007

Extreme traumatization affects the individual's relation to others in several social and psychological ways. The post-traumatic experiences are characterized by helplessness, insecurity, anxiety, loss of basic trust, and fragmentation of perspectives on one's own life. Special considerations should be given to the destruction of the ability to regulate negative emotions (extreme fear, distress, anguish, anger, rage, shame) in relation to others and activate internal good and empathic object relations. Destruction of the capacity for symbolization of traumatic experience may threaten the mind with chaotic states against which the 'I' tries to defend itself and find a balanced psychic mise-en-scene. The authors emphasize three dimensions that the analyst should observe in his understanding of the traumatized mind and its conflicts. The proposed dimensions are called the body-other dimension, the subject-group dimension, and the subject-discourse dimension. All three di...

(2017). "Trauma Sensitive Yoga as a complementary treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder: A Qualitative Descriptive analysis." Int J Stress Manag 24(2): 173-195. Research on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and chronic childhood abuse has revealed that traditional trauma treatments often fail to fully address the complicated symptom presentation, including the somatic complaints, loss of awareness of one's emotional and physical being in the present moment, and overall lack of integration between the self and the body. The mindfulness-based intervention of hatha yoga shows promise as a complementary treatment, and focuses on personal growth in addition to symptom reduction. This qualitative study explored the experiences of thirty-one adult women with PTSD related to chronic childhood trauma who participated in a 10-week Trauma Sensitive Yoga class, specifically examining perceived changes in symptoms and personal growth. Five themes were identified that reflect participants' feelings of Gratitude and compassion, Relatedness, Acceptance, Centeredness, and Empowerment. Results and implications for research and clinical work are presented. (2017). "Changes in Mindfulness and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Among Veterans Enrolled in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction." J Clin Psychol 73(3): 201-217. OBJECTIVES: The current study assessed associations between changes in 5 facets of mindfulness (Acting With Awareness, Observing, Describing, Non-Reactivity, and Nonjudgment) and changes in 4 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom clusters (Re-Experiencing, Avoidance, Emotional Numbing, and Hyperarousal symptoms) among veterans participating in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). METHOD: Secondary analyses were performed with a combined data set consisting of 2 published and 2 unpublished trials of MBSR conducted at a large Veterans Affairs hospital. The combined sample included 113 veterans enrolled in MBSR who screened positive for PTSD and completed measures of mindfulness and PTSD symptoms before and after the 8-week intervention. RESULTS: Increases in mindfulness were significantly associated with reduced PTSD symptoms. Increases in Acting With Awareness and Non-Reactivity were the facets of mindfulness most strongly and consistently associated with reduced PTSD symptoms. Increases in mindfulness were most strongly related to decreases in Hyperarousal and Emotional Numbing. CONCLUSIONS: These results extend previous research, provide preliminary support for changes in mindfulness as a viable mechanism of treatment, and have a number of potential practical and theoretical implications. Shipherd, J. C. and K. Salters-Pedneault (2017). "Do Acceptance and Mindfulness Moderate the Relationship Between Maladaptive Beliefs and Posttraumatic Distress?" Psychol Trauma. OBJECTIVE: Maladaptive pre-and posttraumatic beliefs are reliable predictors of distress in the wake of trauma. Acceptance and mindfulness skills may be associated with less distress in the presence of these beliefs, but few studies have explored these relationships. This study examined whether individual differences in acceptance and mindfulness moderate the relationship between maladaptive thoughts and distress in postdeployment soldiers. METHOD: We explored the relationships between posttraumatic maladaptive beliefs, acceptance, mindfulness, and posttraumatic distress (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD] and general psychological symptoms) in a sample of recently postdeployed active duty U.S. Army Soldiers (N = 1,524). RESULTS: Maladaptive thoughts, acceptance, and mindfulness predicted posttraumatic distress, adjusted for combat exposure. In addition, mindfulness partially moderated the relationship between maladaptive thoughts and PTSD symptoms, and acceptance partially moderated the relationship between maladaptive thoughts and general psychological symptoms. Moderation effects were small. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that individual differences in acceptance and mindfulness may weakly mitigate the relationship between maladaptive thinking and posttraumatic distress, but additional skills may be necessary to fully address maladaptive beliefs in Soldier postdeployment. (PsycINFO Database Record

2020

The purpose of this paper is to create a comparative synthesis between scientific perspectives and spiritual perspectives of understanding the psychosomatic (mind-body) nature of trauma. In order to do so we will consider the works of Dr.Bessel van der Kolk, a world-leading psychiatrist in the field of trauma therapy who advocates for the use of body-oriented approaches to healing, and the works of Carl Jung and

Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 1987

Over the last quarter of a century, research on the illness experience has thrived. Publications on this subject are reviewed in relation to three themes: subjectivity; coping actions and strategies for managing everyday life; and the social structure. Sociology of Health and Illness has contributed significantly to this field. In conclusion, research perspectives are suggested for tackling the problems in passing from a micro to a macro level of analysis.

* Sample* For full text please message me: The stigma, misconceptions, and "tough it out" atttitude torwards trauma-related disorders has inspired the development of this document/digital zine, and why the first issue of Modern Minds has been dedicated to concepts relating to PTSD. I hope through the dissemination of this free magazine to broaden the definition of & destigmatize trauma-related 'disorders', encourage others to think critically & promote self-care wherby being kind to ourselves helps us to be kind to all.

Pastoral Psychology, 2011

Religion and cognitive science contribute complementary understandings of the human person, and an integrated perspective can bridge clinical, spiritual, and philosophical resources to facilitate healing and growth. Drawing upon cognitive science and systems theory, I respond to Richard Payne, Mary Walsh, and Doug Oman's comments on my Mind, Brain, and the

In this article, the anatomy of psycho-trauma (psychological trauma) is expounded in three interconnected stages – Pain, Illness and Recovery.The latter is presented within the framework of Cognitive Conceptual Therapy. Mental or psychic pain that a person can feel their lifetime and which is commonly called “psycho-trauma”, has quite a complicated nature. The real psycho-trauma only develops when the occurred conceptual dissonance becomes conscious and acknowledged by the person: this is when the person really is traumatized. For the "recovery" of the person it is necessary to integrate the traumatic experience into their general experience: the person’s conceptual system. CITATION: Begoyan, A.N. An Anatomy of Psycho-trauma: Pain, Illness and Recovery. International Journal of Psychotherapy: 2014, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 41-51.

Mind-Body practices have become increasingly popular as components of psychotherapeutic and behavior medicine interventions. They comprise an array of different methods and techniques that use some sort of mental-behavioral training and involve the modulation of states of consciousness in order to influence bodily processes towards greater health, well-being and better functioning. Mind-body practices may thus be interpreted as the salutogenetic mirror image of psychosomatic medicine, where psychophysiological and health consequences of specific psychological states are studied, such as stress arousal, psychological trauma or depression. This contribution examines the empirical evidence of the most common mind-body techniques with regard to their salutogenetic potential. We concisely discuss some aspects of the mind-body problem, before we consider some historical aspects and achievements of psychosomatic medicine. We then turn to some prominent mind-body practices and their application, as well as the empirical database for them.

This article continues my journey into the clinical usefulness of bodily emotion and extends my earlier formulation of core affective experience (Cates, 2011) to a consideration of what I call insidious emotional trauma, a concept that is defined as the repetitive demonization of emotionality during development and beyond. The analytic treatment centers on the phenomenological investigation of bodily emotion, which is viewed as having mutative power when called into the service of development. Clinical vignettes highlight salient theoretical points: (a) the influence of mutual engagement in capturing the emotional moment from which traumatic memory materializes, (b) the shame of being as the most radical of the injurious consequences of emotional demonization, and (c) dissociation as a flight from traumatic emotional vulnerability to disembodied cognition. The closing discussion integrates the article as a whole with consideration of therapeutic change.

Transcultural Psychiatry, 2019

In this brief commentary, I consider ongoing attempts to moderate the search for universal solutions to suffering by incorporating inherent sources of diversity that undercut the efficacy of blanket approaches. As a vision for common solutions to understanding, treatment, and prevention of suffering has spread with accelerating globalization over the last 200 years, it increasingly has butted up against the constitutive role of local conditions and processes. Resistance to and, at times, outright failures of western allopathic medicine provoked recognition of its essential limitations as a provincial, culturally inflected system. Such sobering lessons have prompted necessary investigations into the diverse responses to the core issues of suffering that permeate every society, from lived experience to behaviors, beliefs and practices, and the cultural schemas and models that organize them. These systems must be sufficiently dynamic, flexible, and powerful to support survivaland the deep human need for meaning and belonging-in the face of individual variability, shifting social configurations and conditions, materialities, and stochastics. Consequently, we have something to learn from any such system. Delineation of local cultural pathways of suffering and resilience, as represented in this special issue, defines a leading aspect of that effort. Nevertheless, I suggest that current approaches need updating, as they often reify mind-body distinctions and exclude biological pathways just as these are coming into sharp relief within evidence for an inclusive body-mind-context dynamic. Engagement with diverse social forms of illness and healing has moved from an early period of cataloguing exoticized non-western practices, through the recognition that societies may give rise to distinctive health conditions (culture-bound syndromes), to understanding locally specific experiences, expressions, and responses to suffering. What has been learned is valuable but also sobering, as scholars have Commentary