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Bessel van der Kolk

Bessel van der Kolk Books

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“When something reminds traumatized people of the past, their right brain reacts as if the traumatic event were happening in the present. But because their left brain is not working very well, they may not be aware that they are re-experiencing and reenacting the past - they are just furious, terrified, enraged, ashamed, or frozen.”

HealthTraumaPtsd
Book:The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
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“While reliving trauma is dramatic, frightening, and potentially self-destructive, over time a lack of presence can be even more damaging. This is a particular problem with traumatized children. The acting-out kids tend to get attention; the blanked-out ones don’t bother anybody and are left to lose their future bit by bit.”

ChildrenPsychologyTraumaDissociationChild PsychologyFight Or FlightChild Trauma
Book:The Body Keeps the Score / Trauma and Recovery / Hidden Healing Powers
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“Trauma results in a fundamental reorganization of the way mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think. We have discovered that helping victims of trauma find the words to describe what has happened to them is profoundly meaningful, but usually it is not enough. The act of telling the story doesn't necessarily alter the automatic physical and hormonal responses of bodies that remain hypervigilant, prepared to be assaulted or violated at any time. For real change to take place, the body needs to learn that the danger has passed and to live in the reality of the present.”

PsychologyViolenceTraumaPtsd
Book:The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in Transformation of Trauma / Hidden Healing Powers Of Super & Whole Foods: Plant Based Diet Proven To Prevent & Reverse Disease
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“If a mother cannot meet her baby’s impulses and needs, [quoting Donald Winnicott] ‘the baby learns to become the mother’s idea of what the baby is.’ Having to discount its inner sensations, and trying to adjust it its caregiver’s needs, means the child perceives that ‘something is wrong’ with the way it is. Children who lack physical attunement are vulnerable to shutting down the direct feedback from their bodies, the seat of pleasure, purpose, and direction.”

PsychologyChildhoodParentingTrauma
Book:The Body Keeps the Score / Trauma and Recovery / Hidden Healing Powers
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“The forward to the landmark 1980 DSM III was appropriately modest and acknowledged that this diagnostic system was imprecise. So imprecise that it never should be used for forensic or insurance purposes. As we will see that modesty was tragically short lived.”

PsychiatryDsmDiagnosticsImprecision
Book:The Body Keeps the Score, How Healing Works, Hashimoto Thyroid Cookbook 3 Books Collection Set
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“Trauma really does confront you with the best and the worst. You see the horrendous things that people do to each other, but you also see resiliency, the power of love, the power of caring, the power of commitment, the power of commitment to oneself, the knowledge that there are things that are larger than our individual survival. And in some ways, I don't think you can appreciate the glory of life unless you also know the dark side of life”

PeopleThinkingKnowsWayDoeIndividualSidesDarkWorstSurvivalGloryCommitmentAppreciateOneselfCaringTraumaDark SidePower Of LoveResiliency
Author:Bessel van der Kolk
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“Traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: The past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort. Their bodies are constantly bombarded by visceral warning signs, and, in an attempt to control these processes, they often become expert at ignoring their gut feelings and in numbing awareness of what is played out inside. They learn to hide from their selves.”

PeopleFeelsSelfFeelingsBodyPastFormProcessAliveAwarenessExpertsGutsWarningInteriorsDiscomfortVisceralUnsafeGut FeelingsNumbingBombardedWarning SignsBombarded By
Author:Bessel van der Kolk
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