Christen Shiber Nichols, LCSW

Trauma responses don’t always look the same for everyone.

"There's definitely emerging evidence that just the act of putting a label on your feelings is a really powerful tool for regulation. It can keep the anger from... overwhelming you. It can offer clues about what to do in response to the anger. And sometimes, it can make the anger go away." https://www.kqed.org//angry-how-naming-and-understanding-t

To manage complex trauma, we may dissociate parts of our self, sinking qualities of our fullest expression of aliveness below the radar of awareness. For exampl...e, it kept us safe to put aside our emotional integrity, our defense of physical boundaries, our self-protective responses. Inhibiting authentic expression leaves us vulnerable to imagining the world though the eyes of being a victim. We expect the trauma to reoccur, the backlash of hostility, the assumed lack of respect for boundaries. The nervous system overwhelm at this depth of concern during early informative years may keep a rich part of ourselves stuck in a developmental freeze. -Joel Decker #traumahealing #therapists #ptsd #somaticexperiencing #somatic #somatichealing #therapy #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealth #healing #inclusion #diversity #equity #anxiety #trauma #love #training #SEtraumaInstitute #selfcare #mindfulness #psychology #traumatherapy #resiliency #somaticexperiencingtraining #mentalhealthprofessional #health #kindness #community

HOW ANIMALS DISCHARGE SHOCK Dr. Levine was inspired to study stress on the animal nervous system, when he realized that animals are constantly under threat of d...eath, yet show no symptoms of trauma. What he discovered was that trauma has to do with the third survival response to perceived life threat, which is freeze. When fight and flight are not options, we freeze and immobilize, like playing dead. This makes us less of a target. However, this reaction is time-sensitive, in other words, it needs to run its course, and the massive energy that was prepared for fight or flight gets discharged, through shakes and trembling. If the immobility phase doesn’t complete, then that charge stays trapped, and, from the body’s perspective, it is still under threat. The Somatic Experiencing method works to release this stored energy, and turn off this threat alarm that causes severe dysregulation and dissociation. #somaticexperiencing #anxiety #cptsd #mentalhealth #polyvagal #ptsd #resiliency #SE #SEP #somatic #somaticexperiencinginstitute #somaticexperiencingtraining #somatichealing #somaticpractice #somaticpsychotherapy #somatictherapy #therapists #therapy #training #trauma #traumahealing #traumainformed #traumatherapy #wellness #Somaticexperiencingtraumainstitute See more