Psychosynthesis & Core Process therapist
working in TOTNES & EXETER in person and online
Hi I'm David
However it is important to remember we are not our symptoms and conditions, even though we may suffer from them.
Stress and anxiety is part of life and our nervous systems are biologically and physiologically designed to respond to threat whether it is perceived or real. Once we understand and befriend our Autonomic Nervous System we can learn how to regulate it. I have a particular interest in the PolyVagal Theory and how it can help to navigate these internal response to threat and find safety.
As a species we are relational beings ...and relational seeking beings. ..Without relationship we would not survive. Ideally a safe secure attachment with a parent or caregiver in childhood sets us up for life but too little or too much or the wrong kind of love (attention) can stir up a pervasive mood of unlove along with a feeling of 'we are not alright as we are'. And then, as a result, although we are hungry for connection, we can find ourselves deflecting or refusing it, which may show up as guardedness, shutdown, disocciation, resentment or mistrust.
Trauma as PTSD or developmental trauma is when we are unable to release blocked energies and we remain stuck in our responses to painful events. We can feel stuck in a kind of limbo or under a spell where our experience is rooted in survival instincts.
In today's world with it's constant and insistent demands upon us it is easy to feel overwhemed. Maybe we no longer see the way ahead or feel there is much point to life. If we can settle perhaps we begin to see the Soul's call for re-allignment
Loss and especially grief is a season of the Soul which like the winter of the world needs to have its place. Often though we may hear our or another's voice telling us to 'get over it' Coming home to grief is sacred work and if unexpressed can harden into depression.
Transitioning from one way of being to another can often be accompanied by a sense of discombobulation. At these thresholds what is yet to be made or unfolded is unkown even as we leave the familiarity of what has been. Examples of when transitions occur are adolescence, marriage, pregnancy, midlife, letting go of children, moving, and reduncacy.
Depression is hard going terain, but having said that there are often gifts to be discovered (gold within the dross) Events which may bring depression include bereavement, childhood experiences, anger (especially if frozen), circumstances, physical illness, Bi polar, SAD. Thoughts of suicide and self harming may be present. The important thing is that there is help and that you are not alone.
All addiction has its roots in some kind of trauma and we need to heal the trauma rather than the addiction . The shame of the addiction is the shame of the tauma. The addiction is an attempt to solve the problem but as we know this often leads to loneliness isolation and and poor relationships.
There is a strong link beteen feelings of self worth and the sense of worth we received from our childhood environment. If I doubt my self worth then the more important are the opinions of others and the more sensitive I will be to rejection. Shame results in the manner in which my entire being is valued, or more precisely devalued, -not only by others but by myself.
There is no such thing as a human body without emotion and imagination We express ourselves through sexuality but our expression or lack of it also contains our unmet needs or needs that were met in an inapproriate or abusive manner.
Experiences of a deeper sense of meaning and purpose and a yearning to belong and connect with something greater than our small selves seems to be inherent in the human condition This can often appear as glimpses at different times in our lives or through an ever increasing ground of being
Adoption effects many more people than one might imagine. Fortunately it is dealt with better than it used to be. However whatever the outcome the ghosts of those present by their absence will figure. For the adopted child it will be his/her birth mother and father; for the birth mother the loss of her baby. Similarly for adoptive parents their loss of what might have been
