In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness

Learning to live through states of high arousal (no matter what their source) allows us to maintain equilibrium and sanity.

the capacity for self-regulation is what allows us to handle our own states of arousal and our difficult emotions, thus providing the basis for the balance between authentic autonomy and healthy social engagement. In addition, this capacity allows us the intrinsic ability to evoke a sense of being safely “at home” within ourselves, at home where go

the same psychophysiological systems that govern the traumatic state also mediate core feelings of goodness and belonging.

This capacity is especially important when we are frightened or injured.

ingesting psychoactive substances, to name a few. Of these various methods for altering one’s way of being, modern medicine has accepted only the use of (limited, i.e., psychiatric) chemical substances. The other “coping” methods continue to find expression in alternative and so-called holistic approaches such as yoga, tai chi, exercise, drumming,

We are “scared stiff.” In human beings, unlike in animals, the state of temporary freezing becomes a long-term trait.

This preparation for action was absolutely essential on the ancient savannahs, and it is “discharged” or “used up” by all-out, meaningful action. In

I will explain how our nervous system has evolved a hierarchical structure, how these hierarchies interact, and how the more advanced systems shut down in the face of overwhelming threat, leaving brain, body and psyche to their more archaic functions.

was simply not an option—could have entrapped me. My global activation was “all dressed up with nowhere to go.”

Orthopedic patients in a recent study, for example, showed a 52% occurrence of being diagnosed with full-on PTSD following surgery.