Books Books Books

FINALLY THE PSYCHIATRIC WORLD IS CATCHING ON that trauma is not just a neck-up problem. The latest book I have been studying is Trauma and the Body, A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy. Latest advances in treatment include examining and working with the physical side of trauma and PTSD with it's ongoing effects.
Yay! (Understatement).
I'm half-way through the book, as it has been a highly detailed slog, but also incredibly enlightening and helpful. I have been educated in-depth about the theories of Information Processing, The Window of Tolerance, Attachment, The Orienting Response, Defensive Subsystems, Action Systems, and Trauma and the Brain.
It all makes so much sense! A thorough explanation of why the patient cannot simply 'get over it' but must work through and repair the damage that was done during childhood development, and re-train defense systems to respond to current issues rather than terrifying past reality.
The next half of the book is devoted to the specifics of Treatment - by the end I should be able to hang a diploma on the wall!
One of the writers of this book recently visited Brisbane and ran workshops that a number of my health care workers attended - they had glowing things to say, but to toot my own horn I have to tell you that I bought the book several months ago before any of them had ever heard about it! (Okay, I didn't start actually reading it till a few weeks ago, but I do know what I like, and I like therapy that is holistic and inclusive of all the body's systems).

After a While....

"After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul, and you learn that love doesn't mean leaning and company doesn't mean security, and you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises, and you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open, with the grace of an adult, not the grief of a child, and you learn to build all your roads on today because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans. After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much. So plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. And you learn that you really can endure... that you really are strong, and you really do have worth." (Veronica A Shoffstall)

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing".

The above quote is from Edmund Burke, but is paraphrased from this longer statement that I found today. Stirring stuff:

"It is not enough in a situation of trust in the commonwealth, that a man means well to his country; it is not enough that in his single person he never did an evil act, but always voted according to his conscience, and even harangued against every design which he apprehended to be prejudicial to the interests of his country. This innoxious and ineffectual character, that seems formed upon a plan of apology and disculpation, falls miserably short of the mark of public duty. That duty demands and requires that what is right should not only be made known, but made prevalent; that what is evil should not only be detected, but defeated. When the public man omits to put himself in a situation of doing his duty with effect it is an omission that frustrates the purposes of his trust almost as much as if he had formally betrayed it. It is surely no very rational account of a man's life, that he has always acted right but has taken special care to act in such a manner that his endeavours could not possibly be productive of any consequence."

Duty demands and requires that what is right should not only be made known, but made prevalent, that what is evil should not only be detected, but defeated.

Go, Edmund!

It Hits Home

"1 in 3 women are survivors of childhood sexual abuse,
we are your grandmothers, sisters, daughters, partners, cousins, friends....
Listen, believe, make our journey easier...."

(kindly contributed by Lucy)

Questions and Wonderings

Thanks to a prompting from a friend I have been revisiting and revamping the blogsite a little bit, and wondering about what new threads to introduce that could be of value to childhood sexual abuse sufferers/carers/friends and family.

Please feel free to drop in and add your comments and questions and 'always wondered's' - I would love to hear from you.

"Breathing in I calm myself - breathing out I smile..."
Barb.