Abstract
It is important to note that for many trauma survivors, the body can become a source of pain, intrusion, and shame. Therefore, survivors may often feel disconnected from their bodies. It has been established that exposure to the threat of trauma stimulates the autonomic nervous system, resulting in sympathetic hyperarousal and parasympathetic hypoarousal states accompanying survival responses such as fight, flight, submission, and freeze. The foundation of trauma healing begins with enhancing the survivor’s awareness and knowledge about the body’s responses to trauma, with the ultimate goal of locating a sense of safety within the body. This allows a client to operate out of deep self-awareness rather than classic conditioning. This chapter begins by providing an overview of the how trauma impacts the mind and body. Second, the significance of affective states is reviewed through the lens of the Modulation Model and Polyvagal Theory. This chapter explores the concepts of implicit memory and somatization in the context of complex trauma treatment. Finally, this chapter reviews the existing relevant literature exploring the relationship between chronic stress and immune system impairment.
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O’Shea Brown, G. (2021). Trauma and the Body. In: Healing Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Essential Clinical Social Work Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61416-4_6
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