I have recently attended two high powered
conferences in a row. The first was Bessel van der Kolk’s 25th Annual
International Trauma Conference: PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA: Neuroscience,
Attachment, and Therapeutic Interventions on May 28 - 31, 2014 in Boston. The theme
was What We Have Discovered Over The Past Quarter Century About
Traumatic Stress and Its Treatment.
Then I presented at
Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Model of Treatment Inaugural
Symposium:
Brain Development
and Trauma: Implications for Interventions and Policy, June 10 – 12, 2014 in Alberta, Canada at the
Banff Centre. What a lovely place!
So my head
is spinning with new ideas and new takes on old ideas, which I will be sharing
with you in the upcoming weeks.
First let me
focus on a basic premise of the Neurosequential
Model. We cannot think when we are dysregulated. We can think best when we are
in relationships to others. So, in every situation, for us and for our clients,
follow the sequence:
Regulate
Relate
Reason
We can use
many methods to regulate ourselves and our clients. The best are “bottom up”;
that is, using the body and rhythmic, repetitive activities. This includes
rocking, walking, petting animals, doodling, jumping, music, throwing a ball
back and forth, etc. Regular small doses of such activity can keep us regulated
throughout the day and avert many crisises.
Once someone
is regulated, emphasize relationship. Connected people are at their best.
People who feel noticed, heard and safe can think creatively.
Then, and only
then, problem solve.
And as soon as
problem solving becomes stressful, return to regulation and repeat the sequence
again.
More to come….
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