Healing trauma
This creates a true healing and safe environment that will start to override years of trauma. Staff are empowered to utilize these when they see an opportunity. The 5 R’s are woven into our program, therapy, school and daily life. Only then can more traditional therapies even begin to really make an impact, as the brain is able to start processing more easily. These nurturing interactions, when guided by the 5 R’s, will help stabilize and regulate the young women’s brains to feel safe. We want to create nurturing interactions to build trust over time. The goal at Havenwood Academy is to use the 5 R’s to create positive experiences in their life. Any kind of therapeutic experiences provided to treat trauma need to be relevant and developmentally-matched to the individual.The 5 R’s can be tailored for the individuals specific wants, needs and past trauma. Adults with trauma and kids with trauma will need two different kinds of treatment, as they are on two different cognitive levels.
Relevant is the criteria of the experience that it must make sense for the individual cognitively. In an unsafe environment, individuals with trauma cannot even begin to break down the walls they have put up to understand their trauma. It is incredible how strong, trusting relationships and a safe environment can help individuals with trauma progress. Relational speaks to creating safety and trust. These pleasurable experiences over time help combat the traumatic ones. Creating moments where individuals can overcome a challenge creates a sense of accomplishment and confidence. Rewarding experiences again, help an individual with trauma feel safe and comfortable. In order to replace traumatic experiences, we have to have ones that are rewarding and pleasurable. It is still working though, and the more experiences we lay on top of the old trauma response, the more this will start to show in a way that is noticeable. One good experience matters, but it’s not going to make a difference we can see or feel. Consistent, repetitive, good experiences allow individuals with trauma to recognize that they are in a safe place to begin healing.This is helpful for us to know and remind ourselves and clients. One good experience does not overlay traumatic ones. Repetition is the idea that this experience is, and will continuously be safe for the individual. This can be utilized when we are having a trauma response and can also be used throughout the day. Anything rhythmic, including walking, dancing, singing, playing the drums, etc., are ways to calm the part of the brain that can’t be accessed through regular talk therapy. It can move someone from a super-high anxious state of mind to a more calm one. Rhythm serves to regulate an individual with trauma. They describe the kinds of experiences needed in order to heal trauma, and how we can help facilitate that. Bruce Perry are Rhythmic, Repetitive, Relational, Rewarding, and Relevant. Talk therapy alone cannot accomplish this.
Our trauma doesn’t go away, but enough positive experiences and interactions on top of the trauma response, can override it. This works to override our traumatic experiences by introducing more safe and successful experiences. Instead of only focusing on talk therapy, we need to get into the limbic system and work through things experientially.
In fact, talk therapy can sometimes further traumatize those who already have significant trauma. People with trauma are often unable to cognitively talk through and process things in the same way others might.
What we know today is that trauma is not stored in the brain in the same way as other things. It is traditional to offer a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which relies on the thinking part of the brain. One of the things we have come to understand today, is that trauma is and should be treated very differently than most therapeutic environments provide.