When a person suffers from trauma, working with their right brain improves their social interactions and relationships.
Why is it that talking doesn’t help trauma survivors heal from their experiences?
There are several explanations to this phenomena. The first is that, when a traumatic experience occurs, the left side of the brain shuts down and the right side processes.
First, an explanation of the brain’s functions.
Two sides of our brain work together most of the time. But they each have their own functions. The left side is designed for logical thinking. It is the side we use when we read, do math, figure out logic problems. When we wish to explain our past, spew out statistics. It has an orderly fashion of working.
The right side of the brain is for creative and non-logical thinking. It’s where stories come from, music, art, poetry, dance moves. It’s also where our memories of sound, touch, and smell are stored. When we react to non-verbal gestures, faces, voices, it’s because of the right brain functions.
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk discusses memory and trauma research in his book, The Body Keeps the Score. When scientists started doing Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging or fMRI’s, they learned how the brain functions during activity. Researchers would ask a trauma survivor to sit inside an MRI machine. And then they would ask them to recall memories and see where the brain stimulated. They found that the right side, especially in recalling traumatic memories, activated. While the left side of the brain totally shut down.
As a result, trauma survivors cannot put into words or logic what happened to them. As Dr. van der Kolk indicated, “In technical terms they are experiencing the loss of executive functioning.”
The second explanation is that people with traumatic memories reduce their healthy interactions with others. The right side of the brain develops our relationships. According to David Hosier in his work on Childhood Trauma Recovery, the right brain involves our ability to empathize with others, trust others, identify with them. Read emotions, form healthy attachments, and know non-verbal communication.
If traumatic memories reach the right side of a person’s brain, they may hinder these relationships. Which is why children who experienced trauma have difficulty with social interactions.
Then what are some solutions?
Practitioners in settings with trauma survivors should focus on the activities which are right brained in nature. Less talk, more doing. Activities such as art, drama, poetry, journaling, psychodrama, dancing, movement.
Mindfulness activities such as imagery, meditation, visualization, hypnosis, yoga, qigong, tai chi.
Telling a youth that it’s not their fault they were abused only goes so far. Helping them feel like a whole person integrated with mind and body helps combine the left and right side. A little at a time.
Giving them ways to retell their trauma experience as an observer, with someone there to help them through the experience, reshapes the memory into one they live with. And can accept.
These activities along with hundreds of others help the trauma survivor access their trauma memories in a safe environment, healing one step at a time.
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PRAXES is a nationwide behavioral health software, consulting, and training company. No one in the behavioral health industry has a better reputation, and if you give us the chance, we’ll show you why! At PRAXES, our services improve the efficiency and structure of behavioral health agencies serving children and families nationwide. PRAXES brings over 45 years of administrative and clinical expertise. With more than 100 client companies nationwide, we offer the expertise to advance the quality of behavioral health services. We accomplish these goals through our new clinical decision software, our training of best practices, and helping companies meet regulatory standards. At PRAXES, we believe in being creative and fostering new ways to serve children and their families. Our vision is to empower the families our agencies serve with skills that not only improve their functioning, but help them to thrive in their everyday lives. When you give us the chance, you’ll be connected directly to our friendly staff, so you can expect immediate attention to your inquiry. So, don’t wait, call now!
Dan Thorne has unique perspectives on the field of mental health. As a clinician, he has had over 40 years of experience working with clients in the Southern California area. After obtaining his Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Irvine, he worked with children in the Orange County Juvenile Hall. Here he honed his earliest techniques on at-risk children. After that, he obtained his Master’s degree in Counseling from California State University, Fullerton.
In the 1990’s, Dan turned his attention to the clinical and administrative side of behavioral health organizations. For three years, he was the Assistant Administrator of Starting Point, a chemical dependency facility in Costa Mesa, CA. In 2001, he took an opportunity to be the Director of Harbor View Community Services Center in Long Beach. When he arrived, the Center had only 80 clients and 13 staff. When he left, there were over 400 clients and 75 staff. Dan created several programs through their contract with the Los Angeles County Departments of Mental Health and Child and Family Services. Under his guidance, Harbor View became one of the leading providers of children’s services in Los Angeles County.
While improving the results of the client’s parents at the Center, Dan reflected on his experiences as a parent. His children themselves had special needs such as mental and intellectual challenges, and Dan knew the toll it takes on the parent. In order to help the child, the parent has to be healthy. From this concept, he created his parenting program. After years of refining it, teaching it to his staff at the Center, and then taking the results and comments from these efforts, he became the developer of the current PRAXES program. It is a culmination of Dan’s personal trials and tribulations as a parent along with empirical results and research of over 40 parenting programs.
Our vision at PRAXES is to advance the strength of parents and caregivers of children with special needs (mental health, intellectual, or physical) through education, support, and empowerment. Thus, they can live healthy and functional lives while caring for the child.
Apogee is a clinical decision software designed to help behavioral health practitioners with their treatment and patient engagement. It provides evidence-based and research-based components. Not only do they consist of elements from such practices as Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Seeking Safety, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Functional Behavior Analysis, but also the Intensive Models for Parents, Youth, and Children.
PRAXES has over 30 years of accreditation experience. We know what it takes to get your organization accredited. Whether it’s Joint Commission, CARF, or COA, our team can provide an evaluation of your current status and review the standards which need improvements. We will assist you with the policies, documentation, and training required to be accredited.
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