Healing Trauma & PTSD: More Trauma Therapies

Introduction

There are many powerful trauma healing modalities. While the following topics are generally beyond the scope of yoga teaching, we include them here in case you need such information for yourself or to share with others.

EMDR, Neurofeedback & More

In The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk provides in-depth information on numerous successful modalities including:

1. Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) — The Trauma Center has had amazing results in situations for which EMDR is a good fit
2. Limbic System Therapy — Includes “befriending the emotional brain” and integrating traumatic memories
3. Self Leadership and Creating Structures — Creative, effective therapies that are primarily in the realm of psychotherapy
4. Neurofeedback — This, too, is described as an amazingly effective therapy
5. Communal Rhythms and Theater — There is fascinating information and inspiration regarding these effective therapies also

EMDR

Unlike conventional exposure treatment, EMDR spends very little time revisiting the original trauma. The trauma itself is certainly the starting point, but the focus is on stimulating and opening up the associative process. As our Prozac/EMDR study showed, drugs can blunt the images and sensations of terror, but they remain embedded in the mind and body. In contrast with the subjects who improved on Prozac… those who received EMDR no longer experienced the distinct imprints of the trauma: it had become a story of a terrible event that happened a long time ago. – Bessel van der Kolk MD