The Mind-Body connection in Therapy

We often discuss the mind body connection in therapy, for many reasons. In my practice it is an important component of recovery, if trauma can be defined in a simplistic way, it is the forced disconnection of mind and body, and trauma recovery is the reconnecting, and new understanding of that connection of mind and body. Our nervous system receives information by both the mind and body. The mind interprets what it senses, and the nervous system interprets what it feels. This connection allows us to move in the world in a way that allows us to respond to various stimuli. So for example, if we sense hunger our mind will send a signal to the body to eat, the nervous system will amp up energy to get us moving to find food, to problem solve what we will eat, etc. Now here is the kicker, we have evolved as a species, our nervous system has remained intact, meaning it has not evolved with us.

The nervous system is our energy centre, it communicates with the mind in order to get things going, and it primarily evolved so we will survive. Without adrenaline, we would not get up to find food, we would not have the energy to. Without adrenaline we would not fight or run away from danger, we would not know to do so because the signal would not reach our brain. The signal has remained the same, the actions have changed significantly. We are no longer living in the wild, needing to be on guard, needing to survive certain death at all times.

We can manage this if we have the tools to. However, if we experience trauma a few things happen:

1. During the event, our prefrontal cortex will shut down - this happens because it is not needed to survive. Once the brain gets the signal from the nervous system that action needs to taken because we are in danger, it will automatically shut down the prefrontal cortex in order to activate the amygdala (the fight or flight centre of the brain). Once that opens we are in fight or flight mode, we are not problem solving, we are acting, and because this signals survival and because the prefrontal cortex shuts down, the reptilian brain (the brain stem) lights up, very simple actions very simple survival based thoughts reside here.

2. Because trauma usually has some level of real danger associated with it, the brain remembers this, not only that, if we are unable to recover from that trauma, the brain adapts to it. This means that the anxiety (fear, anger ...) felt during that event will now be a signal to the brain to shut down the prefrontal cortex and go into survival mode. The individual feels they have no control over this, in other words they become disconnected from their body and mind.

Of course, recovery from trauma is not as simple as connecting the mind and body, yet it is that simple. Why it is NOT that simple is, the brain needs a structured and gentle approach to healing the psychological wound. Why it IS that simple is because ultimately, each modality, each protocol, in its' most simple form is, connecting the mind and body - relearning what anxiety means - is it imminent risk, or is the nervous system just sending a signal to our brain because it needs energy to act (to find some food, to walk through a crowd, to get through a traffic jam ...).

When I meet clients for the first time, I always end with a description of what I do. Aside from what I am trained to provide I talk about the importance of learning the language of the nervous system so we can begin to guide it once again, so we can begin to connect to our body once again. By starting from a bottom up approach to therapy not only am I working toward their goal to recover, but we are also building a skillset that will help each client stay connected to themselves. It will also help them connect to that part of them that is unchanging, the part we so often forget, or other parts may block believing it is the only way to survive: the Self - the unchanging piece of us. As I tell my clients, the part of you that chose to be here today - despite the strong pull to cancel or as I often hear - to lie to the therapist so she doesn't dig in (it never works by the way) is because the Self is powerful, and it will come through, maybe for a few moments at first, but I always see it. Once it does, it is my job to unblock the other parts so that the person feels connected and powerful once again.