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A Pioneer In Mind Body And Spirit Therapy Shares How To Heal From Trauma



March 10, 2005 -- With the aftermath of the tsunami, one of the biggest natural disasters of all time, and other tragic events in the news such as children being sexually abused and Iraqi war casualties mounting, many are experiencing trauma that can alter their lives forever. What is the best way to get over trauma and where can one go for help



"Experiencing any kind of trauma can be life changing, and unless someone knows how to deal with it, the effects can be devastating, so it is crucial to find help," says Staci Haines. Founder of Generation Five, a non-profit organization whose mission is to end the sexual abuse of children within 5 generations, Haines has been a pioneer in the field of somatics - mind/body/spiritual healing since 1987, helping hundreds of trauma victims heal. A sexual abuse survivor, she left home at 17 and never returned. In an effort to help others like herself, she wrote the bestselling book The Survivor's Guide to Sex: How to Have an Empowered Sex Life After Childhood Sexual Abuse and used it as the basis for her new DVD Healing Sex: The Complete Guide to Sexual Wholeness.



Having trained many psychotherapists, social leaders, and practitioners over the last 15 years, Haines' work has transformed many lives.



"This is the most clinically valuable training that I have ever taken. Seeing my clinical work through the lens of somatics has significantly deepened most of what I do. My clients are reporting more positive changes in their lives, and I am feeling more satisfied than ever in my own work." --Michael Klein, Ph.D., Adjunct Faculty, California Institute of Integral Studies



"Understanding the impact of trauma on our Selves is fundamental to stopping violence and beginning to heal. Having a somatic framework and the skills to make a viable difference in how we move through and out of trauma is vital to this work. --Donna Diamond, Director of Community Organizing, manalive



Now, in an effort to help as many people as possible heal from trauma, Haines shares the following...



Trauma impacts the whole self. Normal reactions to trauma like the fight, flight and freeze responses last long after the traumatic event has ended. These natural and automatic reactions start to create havoc when they are not worked out. People feel anxious, mistrusting, depressed, and powerless.



Unfelt or held back painful emotions will remain in our system until they are acknowledged.If they are never attended to, they can run amok, affecting physical, mental, and spiritual health. When we are able to work through the impact of trauma, we experience transformation and release. That metamorphosis and return to empowerment is what healing is all about



How to Heal:



1. You are more powerful than what happened to you. You made it through the traumatic experiences- you can now use your strengths to heal and become whole again.



2. Build on your resilience. People find many ways to be resilient through traumatic experiences. What did you leverage to get yourself or others through Was it your spirituality, nature, helping others, fighting for justice, art, a connection to animals, knowing there is a bigger purpose in all of this Whatever your sources of strength and wisdom- do it regularly, make it a daily practice. This helps to build your resilience.



3. Get support. You didn't get hurt alone - so you can't heal alone. Find at least one other person (a group is even better) with whom you can share your healing. Talk with them regularly.



4. You can't heal unless you feel. It is natural to want to get away from pain and painful emotions. Some people spend years trying to get away from themselves to avoid what happened to them. The solution, however, is to feel yourself more deeply. While it might temporarily feel awful, going into and through the experience will free you from it.



5. The fear of feeling is worse than actually feeling. Although you may be afraid to let yourself feel the depth of your loss, your anger or that sense of powerlessness, unpacking the trauma from your emotions and body allows you to heal. It won't last forever. Even intense emotions, once felt, last only an average of 20 minutes.



6. Stay healthy by letting yourself feel both anger & grief. Grief and anger are natural responses to hurt and trauma, serving as healing agents to mend our wounds. Anger helps us take back our dignity and grief assures we do not become too hardened-it opens us up again.Both are necessary in recovering from trauma.



7. Develop your skills. Healing is very pragmatic too. Develop skills that you may be missing because of traumatic experiences, like-boundaries (can you say no when you need to), empowered consent (this is the ability to say yes, no or maybe, based on what you want), knowing what you want, taking care of yourself and others at the same time (mutuality), etc. These skills can be learned from people who are good at them, classes, books and practice.



8. Become empowered with physical, mental and spiritual practices. Activities like yoga, martial arts, dance, and meditation can help you become more present and centered by embodying relaxation and empowerment at the same time.    




Staci Haines is the originator of the Somatics and Trauma course. A teacher at the Strozzi Institute, she has lectured at numerous institutions, including Oberlin College, UC Berkeley and Stanford University on such issues as child sexual abuse, somatics, and trauma recovery. For more information on Staci Haines, check out www.healingsexthemovie.com.






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