Trauma needs reintegration work to be truly resolved, but breathing techniques have tremendous benefits.
When a youth or adult experiences trauma, they are stuck in the stress response. They feel continuous pressure, muscle constriction, high heart rate, and breathing. Experience hyperarousal and hypervigilance as a result. Every event, every stimulus may remind them of an earlier traumatic event. One they can’t escape. Although a child yelling or a loud noise may not be a stressful event, the trauma survivor’s mind thinks of it as a life or death event and the body responds accordingly.
The treatment techniques which help trauma involve reintegrating the mind and body. Approaches such as EMDR, psychomotor therapy, internal family systems, and other approaches succeed in reducing the youth’s trauma.
But what can be done on an everyday basis with youth or child who experiences a trauma cue? What’s to be to help them calm down?
Breathing is one of the best approaches. Because it provides quick results and reaches the youth’s autonomic nervous system to calm it down. When a person perceives they are in a stressful situation, their sympathetic nervous system (or fight or flight response) activates which increases their breathing. Think of someone in a panic attack or responding to a life and death crisis. Their breathing accelerates to enrich the body of oxygen so their muscles and body are at full alert.
But think about the youth your agency services. If they’ve experienced complex trauma or multiple instances of it, they’re constantly activating the fight or flight response. Unconsciously. And it can happen anywhere. Standing in a line. Smelling flowers. Hearing their father on the phone. Their sensory perceptions are magnified and everything can re-traumatize them.
Breathing is a major aspect of mind and body approaches. Yoga, mindfulness, meditation, imagery, Qi-Gong. All require that the participant learn to focus on their breathing. The inhalation and the exhalation of air. And not only that focus, but also the speed at which the breathing is occurring.
Why breathing? Because it is one thing a youth or anyone can do to stop the stress response. When breathing slows down, the body follows. The sympathetic nervous system goes on vacation, leaving the parasympathetic nervous system to help the body recover and calm down.
In Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s book The Body Keeps the Score, he discusses how emotional regulation is a key element in working with trauma. Because the more youth can control their emotions, the more successful they will be in managing their behavior. This means if you have a youth you’re working with who has a history of trauma, teaching them breathing exercises helps.
The sweet spot for breathing is 6 breaths per minute. Which means one breath per 10 seconds. 5 seconds for slow inhaling and 5 seconds for slow exhaling. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Your client is having a bad day. Another kid looks at him with a mean face and it triggers a memory. He takes slow deep breaths and removes himself from the other kid or turns away or just stands there. The muscles calm down, the body goes back to a neutral state. The feeling of wanting to hit the other kid is less likely to happen, because when the stress response goes away, so does the cycle of aggression.
Maybe it will help you as well. For all the secondary or vicarious trauma, you experience in your everyday social service work.
PRAXES provides training on behavioral health subjects, including Trauma-Informed Care and Interventions for Youth.
For more information or to customize a training for your organization, please contact us.
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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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