Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma

Psychiatrist James Gilligan, in his book Violence[8],makes this eloquent statement: …“the attempt to achieve and maintain justice, or to undo or prevent injustice, is the one and only universal cause of violence.” (italics his) On an emotional and intellectual level, Dr. Gilligan’s insight is profound and accurate, but how does it translate into th

When people are traumatized, our internal systems remain aroused. We become hypervigilant but are unable to locate the source of this pervasive threat. This situation causes fear and reactivity to escalate, amplifying the need to identify the source of the threat. The result: we become likely candidates for re-enactmentin search of an enemy.

As we discussed earlier, acting out does offer the organism some temporary relief. The actions themselves provide an outlet for excess energy generated by the ongoing arousal cycle.

The Invention of Memory, Israel Rosenfield eloquently combs the beach of conscious experience and comes to a number of startling conclusions, particularly, that the idea of memory as we normally conceive it is both inadequate and misleading. He

It is possible to be dissociated and to simultaneously be aware of what is occurring around you. This dual consciousness is important for beginning the process of healing and re-association. If you feel resistant to learning about this dual consciousness, your organism may be sending you a signal that dissociation plays an important role in organiz

The restoration of healthy aggression is an essential part in the recovery from trauma. Empowerment is the acceptance of personal authority. It derives from the capacity to choose the direction and execution of one’s own energies. Mastery is the possession of skillful techniques in dealing successfully with threat.

Spaciness and forgetfulness are among the more obvious symptoms that evolve from dissociation.

When our physiology responds to an event or stimuli with arousal, we do not move into an orienting and defending response like a healthy human. Instead, we move directly from the arousal into immobility and helplessness, bypassing our other emotions as well as the normal sequence of responses. We become victims, waiting to be victimized again and a

The forces underlying the immobility response and the traumatic emotions of terror, rage, and helplessness are ultimately biological energies. How we access and integrate this energy is what determines whether we will continue to be frozen and overwhelmed, or whether we will move through it and thaw.