What is Trauma?

Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships, and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea.

Cancer is a traumatic life event.

There are typical trauma responses that we go into as a result:

When trauma happens we automatically relay on our normal coping mechanisms that are fight, flight, freeze or fawn.

• Flight: Moving stress towards something productive, or avoidance
• Freeze: Disassociating or numbing to reduce the overwhelm of stress or the threat
• Fawn: Fall into agreeable and people pleasing tendencies at all costs, even at the expense of our own needs
• Fight: Seeking control in situations to soothe the unease of things feeling unpredictable

"When we experience something traumatic or have been exposed to prolonged stress, it causes part of our brain, the amygdala, to go into hyperdrive where we see and feel threats in nonthreatening situations," licensed therapist Chioma Moronu, LCSW, tells mbg. "This causes us to act in ways that we don't understand and can leave us feeling like we no longer have control over ourselves. The [trauma] response is often based on what your brain thinks will help you survive the current situation."

In a study about the neurobiological effects of psychological trauma, researchers note our bodies are designed to respond to perceived threats through a constellation of near-instantaneous, reflexive survival behaviors. Via a short-term strategy, chemicals are sent into our bloodstream to activate the sympathetic nervous system's defenses. But when stress responses are constantly triggered, there's not enough time to metabolize the chemicals, and our nervous system overloads and dysregulates—putting us squarely in the survival zone. The temporary defenses become sustained as our body shifts into a state of sympathetic nervous system dominance. Complex effects of trauma can still affect you significantly when it's not emotionally processed and integrated—somatically, spiritually, and mentally. If it's not resolved, trauma can essentially convert into stuck, frozen energy that your body will uniquely respond to physiologically in the form of a trauma response.

When this happens it can show up as fear, being distracted, trouble sleeping or complete detachment from reality. There can be feelings of shock, fear, helplessness or horror. Because of this, it can show up as PTSD.

In this 3-Day Workshop:

We will systematically work through the healing process together. With support and structure you will finally be able to heal the trauma. Not just from the brain but the body as well. As we systematically tap into the subconscious mind and body to release these untapped feelings through movement, art and journaling questions.

Each live session is guided by Casey whom continues to do the work on her own to continue to heal PTSD.

How does this work:

The work done in the 3-Part series has repeatedly reduced the percentage of PTSD by more than 80%, with gains that hold 3 to 10 months later. The research also demonstrates statistically significant decreases in depression, hopelessness, anxiety, anger, sleep disturbances. While at the same time increasing mindfulness, self efficacy and quality of life. These studies show statistically significant decreases in burnout, secondary traumatic stress, anxiety, perceived stress, and personal distress as well as improvement in empathic concern. In one study, the group did not have the same exam-time increases in stress hormones as a comparison group.