THE NEUROPSYCHOTHERAPIST

Issue #20(November 2015)

ISSN 2201-9529

CONTENTS

Traumatized individuals can experience life very differently to those who have not suffered the like of chronic abuse and neglect. The passage of time may not be experienced as the seamless and steady stream most of us take for granted. Voices may be heard speaking in the second person. There can be a feeling of detachment from the body. The traumatized person can be overwhelmed by emotions or can shut down and “numb out”. Such experiences can amount to a trauma-related altered states of consciousness that Paul Frewen and Ruth Lanius have encapsulated in their four-dimensional model. Together with the authors, we this month visit the four dimensions of time, thought, body, and emotion to learn how the traumatized client experiences life on these levels.

Also this month we hear from Louis Cozolino on the importance of grandparents’ interactions with their grandchildren and the positive effects for both. Louis calls for the harnessing of grandparents’ “experience, affection and time they have to offer” as important contributions to the social economy, enhancing not only the lives of their grandchildren, but their children and themselves.

Finally we hear from an expert in intuition and creativity in therapeutic practice, Terry Marks-Tarlow, on the subject of implicit learning as an invaluable asset for the clinician, along with some wisdom on professional direction and development. Terry has a wonderful ability to bring together the science of neurobiology and the very “human”, intuitive, and creative aspects of what it is to be an effective mental health professional.

-Ed.

Features

Neurophenomenology & Trauma-Related Altered States of Consciousness

A summary of the four-dimensional model of trauma-related altered states of consciousness as developed by Paul Frewen and Ruth Lanius. The dissociative patterns associated with developmental trauma  paint a somewhat typical picture across four dimensions of conscious awareness.  The authors call for greater differentiation within the symptomatology of trauma-related disorders, distinguishing between traumatized persons who are experiencing distress associated with normal waking consciousness versus those who also experience dissociative trauma-related altered states of consciousness

Paul Frewen & Ruth Lanius

Sustaining the Social Brain Throughout Life

Insight into the importance of grandparenting in the context of healthy brains and tribal experience.

Louis Cozolino

Embodied Clinical Truths

Implicit learning, intuition, creativity and professional development as a psychotherapist.

Terry Marks-Tarlow

39 pages