Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma

When the neo-cortex overrides the instinctual responses that would initiate the completion of this cycle, we will be traumatized.

Avoidance behaviors are a form of trauma symptom in which we limit our lifestyles to situations that are not potentially activating.

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.

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

Developmental trauma refers primarily to the psychologically based issues that are usually a result of inadequate nurturing and guidance through critical developmental periods during childhood.

As I have mentioned repeatedly, the perception of threat in the presence of undischarged arousal creates a self-perpetuating cycle. One of the most insidious characteristics of trauma symptoms is that they are hooked into the original cycle in such a way that they are also self-perpetuating. This characteristic is the primary reason why trauma is r

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.

There is a growing tendency to see danger where there is none, and a diminished capacity to experience curiosity, pleasure, and the joy of life.

Dissociation, as it is presented here, occurs in a variety of ways, each having a common fundamental disconnection between either the person and the body, a part of the body, or a part of the experience.