2/27/2015 1 The Broken Lens: The Impact of Trauma and Addiction on The Way We See The World Brennon P Moore MS, CTT, CADC‐II The Broken Lens: The Impact of Trauma and Addiction on The Way We See The World • The Broken Lens of Trauma • The Endless Cycle: Why Trauma Survivors Struggle • A New Pair of Glasses: Goals & Outcomes for Doing Comprehensive Trauma Treatment The Broken Lens & Our Dirty Filters! What do I mean by “broken lens”? The Impact of Trauma on The Brain… • A Study by Idan Shalev in Molecular Psychiatry shows that violence and physical abuse literally ages DNA in children • “The phrase 'old before their time” is often applied to children who have seen terrible things. • Children who have been abused actually age faster ‐ with the stress affecting DNA in a way that could shorten their lives.” The Impact of Trauma on The Brain… • Neglect can have just as much of a negative impact on the brain as overt physical abuse and violence! • Can be the most minimized form of trauma!
Transcript
2/27/2015
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The Broken Lens: The Impact of Trauma and Addiction on The Way We See The World
Brennon P Moore MS, CTT, CADC‐II
The Broken Lens: The Impact of Trauma and Addiction on The Way We See The World
• The Broken Lens of Trauma
• The Endless Cycle: Why Trauma Survivors Struggle
• A New Pair of Glasses: Goals & Outcomes for Doing Comprehensive Trauma Treatment
The Broken Lens & Our Dirty Filters!
What do I mean by “broken lens”?
The Impact of Trauma on The Brain…
• A Study by Idan Shalev in Molecular Psychiatry shows that violence and physical abuse literally ages DNA in children
• “The phrase 'old before their time” is often applied to children who have seen terrible things.
• Children who have been abused actually age faster ‐ with the stress affecting DNA in a way that could shorten their lives.”
The Impact of Trauma on The Brain…• Neglect can have just as much of a negative impact on the brain as overt physical abuse and violence!
• Can be the most minimized form of trauma!
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The Impact of Trauma on The Brain…
Charles Nelson, a Harvard Neuroscientist studying the impact of severe deprivation in Romanian orphanages and the effects on child development found children so starved for stimulation that they turned to rocking, self‐harm (slapping, banging their heads into walls and hitting themselves) in an attempt to stimulate and self‐soothe.
The Impact of Trauma on The Brain…
Orphanages and Foster Care in Developing Countries:• Had brains that were literally smaller
• Higher levels of mental health issues
• Almost all had severe attachment disorders
The Impact of Trauma on The Brain…
Attachment System‐ J. Bowlby, M. Ainsworth, M. Main
• Serves to create a central foundation from which the mind develops
• An inborn system in the brain that influences and organizes motivational, emotional and memory processes with respect to significant care‐giving figures
• Involves seeking of proximity and protection from danger
• Provides communication processes with others
• Highly responsive to indications of danger
The Power of Attachment and the Broken Lens
Disorganized Attachment‐Dan SiegelTrauma & Chemical Addiction: A Perfect Storm!!!
• ALL ADDICTION IS ABOUT DISSOCIATION
• Treating trauma does not equal normal drinking and using
• All addicts are not trauma survivors but the correlation is undeniable
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Not Seeing Through the Broken Lens… The Broken Lens of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Working Through the Shame…
• The body responds
• The Shame of the Perpetrator themselves
• Betrayed trust
The Endless Cycle…
• Trauma Repetition
The Endless Cycle…The Endless Cycle…
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Getting to the Core!!!
• Trauma lives and dwells in the body
• Trauma work needs to be deep and experiential
• Trauma work needs to integrate body, mind, and soul
“Mainstream trauma treatment has paid scant attention to helping terrified people to safely experience their sensations and emotions. Medications such as serotonin reuptake blockers, Respiridol and Seroquel increasingly have taken the place of helping people to deal with their sensory world. However, the most natural way that we humans calm down our distress is by being touched, hugged, and rocked. This helps with excessive arousal and makes us feel intact, safe, protected, and in charge. Touch, the most elementary tool that we have to calm down, is proscribed from most therapeutic practices. Yet you can’t fully recover if you don’t feel safe in your skin. Therefore, I encourage all my patients to engage in some sort of bodywork…”
‐Bessel van der Kolk
A New Pair of Glasses & Writing the Recovery Story• It is NOT about the past event(s): It
is about the present inability to live in ones own body and tolerate the lingering distress of unresolved trauma…
• Revisiting the story is important as it allows for a safe and supportive opportunity to grieve or perhaps get angry…
• BUT, dwelling on the story keeps a person stuck in it!
A New Pair of Glasses
Adoption:
• Creating a tribe and fostering connection
• The Importance of Family Week
• Helping the client discover their origins
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A New Pair of Glasses
Abandonment & Neglect:
• Inner‐child work
• LOTS OF ARTWORK: Collages or masks versus letters!
• Creating a loving and supportive space
A New Pair of Glasses
Childhood Sexual Abuse
• Approaching with Caution‐ Childhood Medical Procedures
• Massage and Healthy Touch
• Again… More art… Doing, NOT talking!!!
A New Pair of Glasses
Body Based Approaches (Adventure Therapy, Equine Therapy and Bat work)
A New Pair of Glasses
Trauma That is Spilling Over…
• Having a catch or a cold
can of soda!!!
• Mindfulness, Yoga,
breath‐work…
• Somatic Experiencing
A New Pair of Glasses
Self‐Harm…
“At The Refuge I learned a lot of things but none more important to me than how not to hate myself. After all how could I hate someone I didn't know. I had never been myself for fear of rejection and judgment. I learned that talking about the things that make me most uncomfortable (when appropriate) wasn't going to lead to reaction or judgment. Rather was a way to get input on how silly most of the things I believe about myself actually are. I say are because it is a process that if I don't keep practicing I will start to believe that nonsense plus new lies.
Since The Refuge I practice this through the steps and fellowship of AA. Being myself in meetings with everyone and talking in private to my sponsor and other recovering people who I trust.
I’m not sure when it happened but I went from not hating myself to loving myself…” ‐Paul
