I know I sound like a broken record. I recommend people interested in healing trauma in order for physical healing consider PSYCH-K When you discuss epigenetics and brain responses, the power for healing lies in our subconscious. PSYCH-K is a process to reprogram your subconscious which runs 95% of our processes. By creating a whole brain state you have the power to change beliefs and perception that impact your cognitive and behavioral world thereby impacting outcomes. I had stomach pain for 30+ years. The message I received from my subconscious was around boundaries. Once I received the message, my subconscious no longer needed my body to attempt to give me the message. The stomach pain resolved almost within minutes. For a couple of days I felt a sense of this stomach pain since it had been part of me for 30+ years. If you believe that your body's symptoms are from your subconscious, epigenetics, ACEs or any other form of psychology trying to move you to deal with trauma, then PSYCH-K is one answer. It's not the only, but a powerful tool. You can learn to use this process for yourself, in your own seat of power, not needing to rely on another to interpret or guide or do for you. I prefer to be facilitated by another PSYCH-K facilitator but I can use it independently. As a person who you perfectly described (idyllic childhood, poor recall, not aware of body sensation) I prefer facilitation. So much of what you write is resoundingly true in my view and I enjoy your substack. It's experiential and leading edge. It's hard work to go to places we avoided by our cognitive selves! I wish more people were this aware. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. Carry on and heal on!
It is an experiential process. You could always book a facilitated session with a PSYCH -K facilitator to see if you find it useful. I can say, for me, and I am a PT who believes in the body, it brought the idea that I held as a belief, that the mind and body are connected. It solved my 25+ years of stomach pain, my acne, my ability to run for public off and speak in public as a town councilor ((which I am now), build a custom built home all by myself without the support or involvement of my partner (I wouldn't recommend this per se but I have my dream home and he is still with me), has allowed me to move past specific areas of my childhood neglect that was sabotaging me and my relationships.
I reposted your note on this. In my case my main interest is much more the connection of trauma to our general inner life (feelings, thoughts, readiness to take action) than "just" chronic illness.
I have wondered if this could be so. Repressed memory. I have had a number of original traumatic experiences be triggered and unfold in real time. The universe is amazing this way. Sadly, I haven’t experienced the healing you talk about.
Some therapists will encourage what I call "stuffing" for fear of re-triggering trauma. When I was a carer, one of my clients began to get visibly annoyed with this, and others on her team supported her determination to face things and work through. The policy, in some in-patient facilities, of having care-meetings without the cared-for person present, is a thing some protocols, such as Open Dialogue, are addressing. In this long-ago scenario, it was heartening to see a team who understood this client well enough to support a supportive environment as the client transitioned out of an in-patient setting. I tell this story as it ocvurred with a child who had been fostered at that critical time, around 18, when many cultures try to enforce independence without having prepared the young person for independence. Thus, the families surprised by extreme states in their young. I am so blessed to have read Thomas Sowell on this crucial time snd how parents, friends, and extended-family can help. At 73, I still have things to resolve and I have been stubbornly resistent to conventional help. Finally, in a foreogn land, I am lrarning to trust friends in my journey, which has included cancer and traumatic brain-injury. My best wishes for you. For each person, it is a journey of discovery, and for me, experiments.
Good morning, Gary. Actually, I discovered Focusing many years ago. And then much later I discovered the same idea being used in a book of recommendations aimed at the targets of Narcissistic Abuse. Only, they didn't call it Focusing. So this idea has popped up in different times and places.
Gary, you are one of the few persons to mention Boarding School Syndrome, which I had suspected many years ago must be "a thing", simply because of the patterns I could see the potential for in that setting. You find this certainly in the privileged classes in Britain (does it stoke the Cluster-B disorders in advance of leadership positions?). Sexual abuse is often an issue there, but not solely sexual abuse.
You might also see it in any form of institutionalized residential setting for children/youth. such as orphanages, religious care homes and residential schools, etc. Trouble is, these children presumably have nowhere else to go. So what is their option?
I have been curious about the Lightning Process by Phil Parker (UK). A very interesting approach. There is a fair amount of related literature on this.
Another book (memoir) that comes to mind is "The Salt Path" by Raynor Winn, in which her husband develops Corticobasal Degeneration just as they lose their farm and become homeless (in Britain). Along the way of their following journey, they observed some interesting things about his illness.
".....all led me to the firm conclusion that the fundamental root-of-all-root causes of most cases of so-called idiopathic (meaning “of unknown origin”) illnesses is chronic stress."
I know I sound like a broken record. I recommend people interested in healing trauma in order for physical healing consider PSYCH-K When you discuss epigenetics and brain responses, the power for healing lies in our subconscious. PSYCH-K is a process to reprogram your subconscious which runs 95% of our processes. By creating a whole brain state you have the power to change beliefs and perception that impact your cognitive and behavioral world thereby impacting outcomes. I had stomach pain for 30+ years. The message I received from my subconscious was around boundaries. Once I received the message, my subconscious no longer needed my body to attempt to give me the message. The stomach pain resolved almost within minutes. For a couple of days I felt a sense of this stomach pain since it had been part of me for 30+ years. If you believe that your body's symptoms are from your subconscious, epigenetics, ACEs or any other form of psychology trying to move you to deal with trauma, then PSYCH-K is one answer. It's not the only, but a powerful tool. You can learn to use this process for yourself, in your own seat of power, not needing to rely on another to interpret or guide or do for you. I prefer to be facilitated by another PSYCH-K facilitator but I can use it independently. As a person who you perfectly described (idyllic childhood, poor recall, not aware of body sensation) I prefer facilitation. So much of what you write is resoundingly true in my view and I enjoy your substack. It's experiential and leading edge. It's hard work to go to places we avoided by our cognitive selves! I wish more people were this aware. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. Carry on and heal on!
Thanks for the reminder to look into the PSYCH-K techniques.
I once looked into PSYCH-K. Seems you can learn the process only through arranged seminars. No books on the "how to".
It is an experiential process. You could always book a facilitated session with a PSYCH -K facilitator to see if you find it useful. I can say, for me, and I am a PT who believes in the body, it brought the idea that I held as a belief, that the mind and body are connected. It solved my 25+ years of stomach pain, my acne, my ability to run for public off and speak in public as a town councilor ((which I am now), build a custom built home all by myself without the support or involvement of my partner (I wouldn't recommend this per se but I have my dream home and he is still with me), has allowed me to move past specific areas of my childhood neglect that was sabotaging me and my relationships.
Thank you.
I reposted your note on this. In my case my main interest is much more the connection of trauma to our general inner life (feelings, thoughts, readiness to take action) than "just" chronic illness.
Thank you! Yes I agree this is much wider implications than just illness, and runs through most current topics.
Gary, you might find this book of interest:
"Out of the Forest" Gregory P. Smith
I have wondered if this could be so. Repressed memory. I have had a number of original traumatic experiences be triggered and unfold in real time. The universe is amazing this way. Sadly, I haven’t experienced the healing you talk about.
🙏
Some therapists will encourage what I call "stuffing" for fear of re-triggering trauma. When I was a carer, one of my clients began to get visibly annoyed with this, and others on her team supported her determination to face things and work through. The policy, in some in-patient facilities, of having care-meetings without the cared-for person present, is a thing some protocols, such as Open Dialogue, are addressing. In this long-ago scenario, it was heartening to see a team who understood this client well enough to support a supportive environment as the client transitioned out of an in-patient setting. I tell this story as it ocvurred with a child who had been fostered at that critical time, around 18, when many cultures try to enforce independence without having prepared the young person for independence. Thus, the families surprised by extreme states in their young. I am so blessed to have read Thomas Sowell on this crucial time snd how parents, friends, and extended-family can help. At 73, I still have things to resolve and I have been stubbornly resistent to conventional help. Finally, in a foreogn land, I am lrarning to trust friends in my journey, which has included cancer and traumatic brain-injury. My best wishes for you. For each person, it is a journey of discovery, and for me, experiments.
Thanks - I will check out the Open Dialogue connection.
See "Focusing", developed by Prof. Eugene Gendlin (U. of Chicago).
Will do!
Good morning, Gary. Actually, I discovered Focusing many years ago. And then much later I discovered the same idea being used in a book of recommendations aimed at the targets of Narcissistic Abuse. Only, they didn't call it Focusing. So this idea has popped up in different times and places.
Gary, you are one of the few persons to mention Boarding School Syndrome, which I had suspected many years ago must be "a thing", simply because of the patterns I could see the potential for in that setting. You find this certainly in the privileged classes in Britain (does it stoke the Cluster-B disorders in advance of leadership positions?). Sexual abuse is often an issue there, but not solely sexual abuse.
You might also see it in any form of institutionalized residential setting for children/youth. such as orphanages, religious care homes and residential schools, etc. Trouble is, these children presumably have nowhere else to go. So what is their option?
I have been curious about the Lightning Process by Phil Parker (UK). A very interesting approach. There is a fair amount of related literature on this.
Will check this out too! Thanks for all the resources!
Another book (memoir) that comes to mind is "The Salt Path" by Raynor Winn, in which her husband develops Corticobasal Degeneration just as they lose their farm and become homeless (in Britain). Along the way of their following journey, they observed some interesting things about his illness.
Phil Parker (Ph.D.) has several books on the general market about his approach.
"Dû - unlock your full potential with a word" by Phil Parker
"Get the Life You Love Now" (as close to a do-it-yourself approach for this process as you will find; online courses available too)
".....all led me to the firm conclusion that the fundamental root-of-all-root causes of most cases of so-called idiopathic (meaning “of unknown origin”) illnesses is chronic stress."
I couldn't agree more.