How to Survive Trauma

This book needs to be read by all who have suffered trauma... Christina Crawford, author of Mommy Dearest HOWTO _ ; SURVIVE RAUM A PROGRAM FOR War Veterans & Survivors of Rape, Assault, Abuse or Environmental Disasters Benjamin Colodzin. Ph D. FOUNDER of OLYMPIA INSTITUTE How to Survive Trauma I was heartened by Dr. Colodzin's work. His thought on the communication process, anger and healing encouraged me to feel a sense of belonging and hope. This book needs to be read by all who have suffered trauma in their lives as well as by those who work with and love us. Christina Crawford, author of Mommy Dearest former Commissioner, Los Angeles County Child Protective Services; Founder, Survivor's Network. Dr. Colodzin has organized a very easy-to-read survival kit for those with post- traumatic stress and their loved ones— techniques for personal recovery that validate the reader's dignity. Cindee Grace, N.D. Director, Multiple Personality/Dignity (an educational organization) Beautiful, excellent, and very useful. Patricia Norris, Ph.D. Clinical Director, Voluntary Controls Program, Menninger Clinic This is an extremely valuable and important aspect of treatment for veterans who need a continuum of various traditional and alternative approaches because of the complexity and severity of their problems. I am pleased to support and endorse this offering of "alternative" healing and treatment approaches that go beyond the traditional office-based therapist-to-dient "talking therapies." Raymond M. Scurfield, D.S.W. Post-Traumatic Stress Treatment Program Director, Veterans Administration While reading your book I was struck by the idea that most Russian people I know, including myself, have experienced at least some post-traumatic symptoms. The problem of social adaptation is the problem of our society on the whole, and your book will contribute greatly to our understanding of the problem. Irena Savelyeva Russian translator of How to Survive Trauma This books helps us do our work. Valeri Mikhailovski, M.D. Director, Center School of Rehabilitation (Afghanistan war veteran treatment center, Moscow) HOWTO SURVIVE TRAUMA A PROGRAM FOR War Veterans & Survivors of Rape, Assault, Abuse or Environmental Disasters Benjamin Colodzin. PhD. P*U*L*S*E Station Hill Press Copyright © 1993 by Olympia Institute. All rights reserved. A P.U.L.S.E. Book, published by Station Hill Press, Barrytown, New York, 12507. Cover design by Susan Quasha. Distributed by The Talman Company, 131 Spring Street, New York, New York 10012. This work is a revised and expanded edition of Trauma and Survival: A Self-Help Learning Guide, published by Ghost Rocks Press, Laramie, Wyoming. Copyright 1989 by Olympia Institute. Note: For information about the programs and activities of Olympia Institute and their availability in your area, contact: Dr. Benjamin Colodzin Olympia Institute P.O. Box 750 Bolinas, California 94924 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Colodzin, Benjamin. 1954- How to survive trauma : a program for war veterans and survivors of rape, assault, abuse, or environmental disasters / Benjamin Colodzin. p. cm. ISBN 0-88268-119-2: $9.95 1. Post-traumatic stress disorder. I..Title.' RC552, P67C655 1992 616.85'21—dc20 92-35269 CIP Manufactured in the United States of America. Contents INTRODUCTION IX 1. Looking at Trauma and Change 1 2. The Myth of Readjustment 9 3. Learning to Recognize Fear 19 4. Cultivating Balance 31 5. Communicating Clear Information 49 6. Reinforcing the Immune System 59 7. Managing Out-of-Control Experiences 75 8. Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol 93 9. Healing with Ancestors and Old Ghosts 107 10. Respect and Real Work 119 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge that nothing in this text is original. I have simply organized a great deal of informa tion that was passed on by others. So many people helped in the development of this book that it would require another book to properly thank them all. Gratitude goes especially to my family, to those concerned friends who were willing to discuss this subject, and to all the trauma survivors and family members who shared their truths. Thanks to all of you for the trust and love. Introduction Experiencing strong reactions to strong and terrible events doesn 't mean you are crazy. In order to survive demanding circumstances, any human being will de velop exceptional ways of coping. This book is dedicated to the journeys of those whose lives have been affected by encounters with the violent side of human nature. I'm writing this book based on my experiences as a therapist in Olympia, Washington, where I worked from 1984 to 1987 with approximately 90 Vietnam veterans and their families. I became aware during this time that many male trauma survivors were in relationships with women who also acknowledged the presence of overwhelming events in their lives. I learned that paying attention to the relevant experiences of my clients often included attending to events as diverse as-military combat, childhood violence, sexual abuse, natural disasters, and toxic chemical and biological expo sures. In many large institutions, appropriate therapeutic strategies acknowledging the relations between prior overwhelming events and current health were not available. For many trauma survivors and their loved ones, a real measure of peace is not yet possible. Working with that group, I found that those trauma survivors who practiced the ways of thinking and applied the self-help meth ods suggested in this book achieved a greater understanding of what had happened in their lives. This understanding enhanced their ability to make meaningful choices. Along with that gain, there was frequently a reduction in the generally recognized symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder: the intervals of anger and anxiety, sleep disturbance, emotional numbing, substance use, depression, dissociative "flashback" episodes, need to isolate, and others. This book is written for people who have survived truly over whelming events and have not yet healed. It is designed to aid the search for ways to live that are more balanced, that enable day-to- x HOW TO SURVIVE TRAUMA day life to be experienced more comfortably and with a greater sense of control. For better or worse, gaining such control requires greater self-un derstanding, along with an increased awareness of one's mental, physical, and emotional reactions under various conditions. This process takes time. It takes a degree of concentration on the details of one's life that is sometimes difficult, sometimes painful. I have addressed this book primarily to the reader who is a survivor of trauma. If you are such a reader, it is an invitation to embark on a journey to learn more about yourself by hearing the testamony of others and learning better ways to pay attention to what's going on inside you. In practice, this may mean anything from noticing when your jaws clamp tight, to realizing what is happening when you "fly off the handle" after someone you care for criticizes you. I make the basic assumption that the more you learn about how "you" really tick, the more comfortable you will be in your life and the greater the peace you will find in it. Most of the ideas and exercises presented in this book will be effective only if you are willing to admit there are still important things to be learned. If you believe that you know all that you need to know about your life, you will be unable to learn from the messages you are constantly receiving from your body, your feelings, and your thoughts. Most of us indulge in a very popular method of not paying attention to ourselves; it is called "denial." Denial is what happens when, for any number of reasons, we choose to fool ourselves about the information we are receiving. Most simply, it means we edit the available evidence so that it fits into the picture that we are comfortable looking at. When we do this, we wind up ignoring most everything that doesn't fit into our picture. Let's examine this idea by way of some examples: Much evidence has accumulated over the twentieth century that would indicate that societies must shift towards sustainable eco nomic development policies or the global environmental degrada tion now underway as a result of overpopulation and poor choices in the stewardship of resources will make matters far worse. Yet, we ignore much of the evidence that tells us this is so. We do this because to make changes carries many risks and would mean we must alter the picture of the world with which we are comfortable. Another example: The official U.S. Government position at the Rio environmental summit of June, 1992 denied the seriousness of cur INTRODUCTION xi rently measurable global warming and ozone depletion effects to such an extent that the U.S. voted alone — in opposition to every other conference participant from around the world — against tak ing immediate and substantial action to cut emissions from damag ing chemicals. We are not yet comfortable, it seems, with a picture of the world in which industrial policies have seriously damaged the ability of the earth's biosphere to sustain life, though evidence supporting this is clearly available. Denial is a very powerful tool for resisting change. Again: Some hundreds of years ago, a popular European myth taught that the earth is flat. While this myth was believed, not much encouragement was given to explorations beyond certain points or boundaries of the known world because this mythic picture denied that there might be profitable consequences to journeying beyond those boundaries. Here again we see how denial can influence choices and allow something that is real and tangible to remain unseen and hidden.

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