NEUTRALIZING APPROACHES
There are three basic approaches to resolving trauma (that I know of).
The bottom-up approach, the top-down approach and a combination of the two.
- Bottom-Up
The bottom-up approach focuses on the body and calming the nervous system first.
When the body and nervous system have calmed down, then the mental or emotional work of identifying and neutralizing the underlying trauma can be done.
The bottom-up approach works best for most people I have met.
Some people need to lean heavily into de-escalating (calming) first; otherwise, the emotional pain is too great or their thoughts are bouncing all over the place, making it impossible to get a handle on what the real underlying issue is. - Top-Down
The top-down approach is doing the emotional or mental work of identifying and neutralizing the underlying trauma first, and then the nervous system naturally calms down and gets regulated as a result.
The top-down approach works best for me.
I can move quickly or immediately into neutralizing with little to no de-escalation first, finding that my nervous system calms down as soon as I have done the emotional or mental work of neutralizing the past trauma.
(However, if my triggered reaction is very intense, I will sometimes need to take a bottom-up approach, and the intensity of my reaction will determine how much de-escalation I need to do to calm my nervous system down, before I can start to uncover and neutralize the anchor.) - Combo
It is possible to combine de-escalation and neutralizing and do them at the same time.
The most common way is to add rhythm - which is very calming and grounding to the nervous system - to a neutralizing technique.
Many neutralizing techniques can be done while walking, hiking, jogging, running, cycling or swimming (adding bilateral rhythm).
EMDR is a neutralizing technique, which has rhythm built into it in the form of bilateral (side to side) movements. These rhythmic bilateral movements can be side-to-side eye movements (without moving your head), sound, vibration, touch (such as crossing your arms and alternately patting each shoulder or upper arm with the palm of your hand or alternately patting your thighs with your hands), or alternating footsteps while walking or running.
Addressing past trauma can be added to practically any de-escalation technique.
LIST OF TECHNIQUES
There are many techniques that can help us identify and resolve past trauma.
Which technique(s) a person will like is a matter of personal preference.
Over time I have tried many techniques and witnessed several others in action.
I can also use these techniques to neutralize limiting beliefs picked up randomly throughout life,
not just those related to trauma.
Here is a list of some neutralizing techniques and modalities that I know about:
-
Bottom-Up:
- Somatic Experiencing (SE) created by Peter Levine
Website Link: SE 101 - EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) created by Francine Shapiro
Doing EMDR with a trained professional, at first, is generally recommended.
Overview Link: About EMDR
A self-EMDR process is described in the book And So We Begin by James M. (page 61) - Re-Evaluation Counseling (RC) created by Harvey Jackins
Website Link: Origins of RC
Website Link: About RC - Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) created by Richard Schwartz
Website Link: IFS Model
Website Link: About IFS - Family Constellations Therapy created by Bert Hellinger
Website Link: What Is Family Constellations? - Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) created by Marisa Peer
- TAT™ (Tapas Acupressure Technique) created by Tapas Fleming
Website Link: tatlife.com
Video: What is TAT?
TAT Demonstration Video by Tapas Fleming: TAT pose and stoppers... with Tapas Fleming - Completion Process created by Teal Swan
Book Link: The Completion Process Book
Website Link: 12-Step Completion Process Outline
Video: Completion Process
Video: Triggers - Emotions
Video: Unhook the perception of threat - Graduation Exercise - described in the book And So We Begin by James M. (pages 57-58)
- Thought Rhyming (part of Immanuel Journaling) - a Christian-based journaling exercise
Book Link: Joyful Journey: Listening to Immanuel
Informative Website: presenceandpractice.com
Worksheet Link: Worksheet - See Part B - ABC Tool (a SMART Recovery tool) - a Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) Approach
Website Link: About ABC
(Worksheet Links are Out of Order)
To turn this into a neutralizing technique, examine where the negative core belief originated from. - The Work created by Byron Katie
Worksheet Link: Judge Your Neighbor Worksheet
Example Video: My Son Is Selfish
Combo:
Top-Down:
SUPPORT
It can be very difficult to face unresolved trauma alone and to use any of these techniques by ourselves, especially at first.
It is super helpful to have someone guide us through a neutralizing technique 2-4 times.
After that, we may be able to do it on our own, especially if we have the instructions written down or recorded.