Traumatic Memories and Somatic Strategies
One of the most troubling parts of trauma is the brokenness of traumatic memories. There are fundamental differences between traumatic memory and ordinary memory. Ordinary memory joins rational and emotional brain areas to create integration and meaning behind events so that memories are told in narrative styles like a story. However, traumatic memory can be fragmented. Traumatic memories can be encoded in the brain AND the body as pieces of sensory information, intense emotions, and, sometimes, physiological reactions such as a racing heart or elevated blood pressure. Bessel Van der Kolk’s seminal book The Body Keeps the Score taught us that the body can hold onto traumatic events through sensory triggers that are all separate from a cohesive story about the event.
Our brains are very complicated organs, and there is a dual nature of self-awareness that we all have. There is a part of the brain that monitors our lives over time (autobiographical awareness), and there is a part of the brain that registers a sense of self in the present moment (physical sensations). These parts are located in different areas of the brain, and trauma can really disrupt the collaboration of these two systems.
Dissociation is a psychological phenomenon in which people feel detached from their bodies, detached from their emotions, or detached from the reality of a situation. Trauma survivors will dissociate as a way to cope with trauma and overwhelming sensations. Dissociation can significantly impact memory, leading to gaps in recalling details. This can be difficult for trauma survivors, especially for victims of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and abuse. It is problematic because, not only does trauma put a heavy emotional burden on victims, but there’s a second emotional burden of their experiences not being believed.
In the seminal book The Body Keeps the Score, the author Bessel Van der Kolk wrote that “if the problem with PTSD is dissociation, the goal of treatment would be association: integrating the cut-off elements of the trauma into the ongoing narrative of life, so that the brain can recognize that ‘that was then, and this is now.’ ” This is important because the association process that heals the dissociation process must involve more than simply a talk therapy approach. Van der Kolk understood that remembering traumatic events and talking about it was not enough to resolve trauma symptoms. He explained that even the patients in his studies who could tell the stories of what happened to them were still haunted by flashbacks and bodily sensations. Those who were treated with typical cognitive therapeutic approaches still had serious PTSD symptoms months after treatment.
For this reason, somatic therapy must be a necessary part of a trauma survivor’s healing journey. Effective somatic strategies include grounding exercises, meditation, box breathing, body scans, yoga, guided imagery, and progressive muscle relaxation. Therapists who work with trauma survivors must attend to the body by including relaxation techniques in every session, while attending to the mind by revisiting therapy goals, focusing on one topic at a time, and helping clients identify wins and accomplishments.
A traumatic experience is not simply a past event with a beginning, middle, and end. We have to view trauma as a set of long-lasting imprints that continue to affect victims in the present moment. The emotions and physical sensations that were experienced during the traumatic event are not kept in the past. Even years after the event, the body and brain respond as if the danger is still present.
Therapists, counselors, coaches, social workers, and all of us who work with trauma survivors need to find ways to help clients remain calm and focused. This mindfulness helps to counteract the effects of dysregulation that can come with traumatic memories. We need to help them recognize sensory triggers that bring flashbacks, help them employ positive coping strategies, and help them separate the past and the present as best as possible.