Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont Pomona Senior Theses Pomona Student Scholarship 2020 The Psychosomatic Journey of Trauma and Its Healing: A Comparative Synthesis Between Scientific and Psycho-spiritual Perspectives Isabel Kelly Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pomona_theses Part of the Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Other Religion Commons, Philosophy of Mind Commons, Philosophy of Science Commons, Practical Theology Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Kelly, Isabel, "The Psychosomatic Journey of Trauma and Its Healing: A Comparative Synthesis Between Scientific and Psycho-spiritual Perspectives" (2020). Pomona Senior Theses. 253. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pomona_theses/253 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Pomona Student Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pomona Senior Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Kelly 1 The Psychosomatic Journey of Trauma and Its Healing: A Comparative Synthesis Between Scientific and Psycho-spiritual Perspectives Isabel Kelly In partial fulfillment of a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religious Studies, 2019-2020 academic year, Pomona College, Claremont, CA Reader: Oona Eisenstadt Kelly 2 Table of Contents • Abstract…………………..…………………..…………………..…………………..……………4 • Acknowledgements…………………..…………………..…………………..…………………...5 • Introduction: Framing our Comparative Synthesis…………………..………………………..6 • Chapter 1: Exploring the backgrounds of Bessel van der Kolk, Carl G. Jung, and Donald Kalsched o Introducing Van der Kolk…………………………………………………..……………18 ▪ Psychiatry at the Start of Van der Kolk’s Career………………………………..20 ▪ Systematic Failures to Recognize Trauma’s Psychosomatic Nature……………22 o The Origins of Jungian Theory…………………..…………………..…………………..29 o Donald Kalsched’s Background in Analytical Psychology……………………………...34 • Chapter 2: Drawing Theoretical Parallels Between Scientific Paradigms of Van der Kolk and Psycho-spiritual Paradigms of Jung and Kalsched o How do Van der Kolk and Kalsched Define Trauma? …………………..……………...38 o Van der Kolk’s Scientific Perspectives of the Psychosomatic Nature of Trauma……….43 ▪ The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) …………………..…………………...44 ▪ The Polyvagal Theory…………………..…………………..…………………...46 ▪ Psychosomatic Illness…………………..…………………..…………………...53 o Jung’s and Kalsched’s Psycho-Spiritual Understanding of the Psychosomatic Nature of Trauma…………………..…………………..…………………..……………………….54 ▪ Concepts in Jungian Theory Relevant to Understanding the Connection Between Psyche and Body…………………..…………………..………………………...55 ▪ The Psychosomatic Connection Throughout Jung’s Primary Works…………...60 ▪ Jungian Insights into Psychosomatic Illness…………………..………………...64 ▪ Impacts of Trauma on the Soul According to Kalsched…………………..…….66 • Chapter 3: Drawing Further Scientific and Psycho-Spiritual Parallels Between the Topic of of Dissociation in Trauma o The Scientific Basis of Trauma and Dissociation According to Van der Kolk………….72 o Kalsched, Dissociation, and the Self-Care System…………………..…………………..82 • Chapter 4: Drawing Further Scientific and Psycho-Spiritual Parallels Between the Topic of of Reenactment in Trauma o Reenactment According to Van der Kolk…………………..…………………..………..95 Kelly 3 o Longitudinal Case Studies Reveal the Societal Prevalence of Childhood Trauma and its Impacts…………………..…………………..…………………..……………………….99 o Jung’s Concept of the “Shadow” and its Parallels with Reenactment………………….103 o Reenactment Throughout Kalsched’s Work……………………………………………105 • Chapter 5: Trauma and its Healing: Van der Kolk’s Body-Oriented Therapies, Kalsched’s Psycho-spiritual Approach, and the Importance of the “Right Brain” o Van der Kolk’s Proposed Roads to Healing…………………..………………………..111 ▪ The “Language of Trauma” According to Van der Kolk……………………...115 ▪ Martial Arts, Yoga, and Massage for Trauma Patients………………………...117 ▪ Theatre as Therapy…………………..…………………..……………………..122 ▪ Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) for Trauma Patients…………………..…………………..…………………………………125 ▪ Conclusion of Van der Kolk’s Therapies…………………..………………….128 ▪ Van der Kolk’s Proposals for the Future of Trauma Therapy…………………129 o Trauma and Language According to Jung and Kalsched…………………..…………..135 ▪ Left and Right Brain “Languages” of Trauma…………………..……………..136 ▪ Clinical Vignettes of Kalsched’s Patients and Their Healing………………….142 ▪ A Comparative Synthesis Between Van der Kolk and Kalsched’s Proposed Methods of Healing…………………..…………………..…………………....158 • Conclusion…………………..…………………..…………………..………………………….164 • Bibliography…………………..…………………..…………………..………………………..173 Kelly 4 Abstract The purpose of this paper is to create a comparative synthesis between scientific perspectives and spiritual perspectives of understanding the psychosomatic (mind-body) nature of trauma. In order to do so we will consider the works of Dr.Bessel van der Kolk, a world-leading psychiatrist in the field of trauma therapy who advocates for the use of body-oriented approaches to healing, and the works of Carl Jung and Donald Kalsched. Jung is considered one of the founding fathers of the field of Transpersonal Psychology, while Kalsched is a Jungian psychoanalyst who specializes in working with trauma patients. We will see that while Van der Kolk enables us to understand trauma through scientific, diagnostic, and empirical frameworks, Jung and Kalsched illumine the “soulful, mytho-poetic, and imaginal” dimensions of trauma, its healing, and the psychosomatic nature of this process. Though these paradigms addresses trauma through very different “languages,” we will illumine the parallels between them and demonstrate how they can be considered together in order to create a more holistic, expansive, and wider reaching understanding of trauma and its healing. The harmony between these frameworks confirms that the human experience of trauma is indeed a neurobiological phenomena, as well as a psycho- spiritual one. In the course of our individual and collective evolution towards constructing a better trauma-informed society at large, both of these languages play an essential role. Kelly 5 Acknowledgments I would like to thank the Claremont Colleges community at large for the transformative last four years. I’m deeply grateful for the knowledge I have gained throughout my time here, and all those who have made it possible. I’d like to thank the 5C’s Religious Studies department for the rich diversity of classes offered, and the freedom given to students to explore the discipline our own unique ways. I received Professor Oona Eisenstadt as an advisor before ever knowing I would major in religious studies (a delightful coincidence) and she has truly enlightened my time at Pomona throughout classes, independent studies, and all her additional guidance. I would like to thank my classmates, peers, and friends for being such an integral part of my experience at the Claremont Colleges. They have helped me grow not only intellectually, but in deeply personal manners as well. The Pomona Pitzer volleyball team will forever be one of the most memorable aspects of my time in college, and I want to thank coach Valerie Townsend and all my teammates for how they’ve helped shaped my time here. A special thanks to my family for their endless support, love, and encouragement throughout this thesis writing process (and far far beyond). Thank you to my mother Marta for ensuring that I stay sane and personally healthy throughout the writing process (and life), thank you to my father Dan for the many conversations that helped guide my thesis research (and intellectual interests at large), and thank you to my twin sister Carmen for providing me with ceaseless laughter from dawn to dusk. Finally, thank you to the thinkers whose works have been central to my research. It has been a delight to spend extensive time with the works of Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Donald Kalsched, and Carl Jung (along with many others) throughout this process, and I speak for many when saying that these works shed invaluable light on the intimate connection between psyche and soma, and the diversity of ways in which this relationship can be honored. Kelly 6 Introduction: Framing Our Comparative Synthesis Today, the word “psyche” is commonly used in reference to the human mind. The field of psych-ology, for example, can be defined according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “the study of mind and behavior in relation to a particular field of knowledge or activity.”1 Traditionally however, the word “psyche” was borrowed directly from Greek lexicon around the 16th century and referred to “the soul, mind, spirit; one’s life, the invisible animating principle or entity which occupies and directs the physical body.”2 In Greek, the word refers to an ancient mythological story involving “Psykhē,” a mortal woman whose beauty was so profound that men began worshipping her over other goddesses. This angered the goddess Aphrodite, who then tried convincing Eros, the god of love, to make Psykhē fall in love with the most hideous and contemptible of all men. However, upon meeting Psykhē, Eros himself fell so in love with her mortal beauty that they became lovers. This led the other goddesses into tricking Psykhē to lose the love of Eros, which then sent her into the underworld to complete a series of challenging trials before finally redeeming