Somatic Psychotherapy Today

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Research in Review: A Brief Look at Current Studies in the Literature By Dawn Bhat, MA, MS, NCC, RYT-500, LMHC Research from the fields of contemporary medicine and mental health is increasingly validating the mind -body continuum, the heart of somatic studies. Drawing from clinical and basic science, phenomenological and case studies, and literature reviews, this column is dedicated to sharing research from multiple perspectives that may potentially impact the field of body psychotherapy. Turunen, T., Haravuori, H., Punamäki, R.-L., Suomalainen, L., & Marttunen, M. (2014). The role of attachment in recovery after a school-shooting trauma. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 5. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC4082197/ Why do some people suffer from trauma symptoms and others grow anew? It starts at the beginning. The attachment system is innate and built in infancy, from which people learn how to regulate arousal and emotional reactions when stressed. Selfsoothing and problem solving skills become internal working models generalizing to future relationships. With regard to attachment style, some develop a sense of security and others one of insecurity. As a trauma therapist, I often see clients who have difficulties coping with traumatic experiences. Some are highly reactive, have a heightened level of arousal, or their thought content has subtle innuendos of hopelessness. For instance, I work with a child with attachment trauma who manages anxiety by being oppositional. Often in trouble in school and without parental attunement, this child requires lots of co-regulation in the session but is slowly developing some skills to self-regulate to start to feel safe and secure. On the other hand, I see clients grow and flourish in new areas of their lives after a trauma experience. One individual with a tragic story, which, for this person, started at day three when placed in an orphanage, is now a powerful executive for a Manhattanbased company. While working with how the past lives in the body, this person proudly acknowledged an ability to access “a divine place” to seek refuge in, and which, drives this person’s experience of spiritual and career successes. This person actively seeks out people to connect with to relieve distress, a characteristic of the anxious insecure attachment style. Somatic Psychotherapy Today | Fall 2015 | Volume 5 Number 4 | page 108
Exposure to trauma at later points in life activates the internalized attachment system. As aforementioned, the implicit attachment patterns play a role on how one copes and self-regulates. Mental health issues related to trauma may or may not develop. Trauma may lead to transformation or what is known in the literature as, posttraumatic growth (PTG). Secure attachment is a protective factor in PTSD and PTG is more common with the securely attached. People may feel stronger, wiser, selfconfident, and more spiritual following a trauma. Attachment theory in trauma treatment can inform us about differences among attachment styles and differentiate new clinical applications in the real world today. Resources to recover from the many forms of trauma (i.e., post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, depression, anxiety) may vary individually. Personality, social relationships, and world-view may contribute to resiliency – stress regulation and coping strategies when faced with traumatic stress. In addition, severe trauma may lead to dissociation, and is more common with insecure attachments. Dissociation protects a survivor with overwhelming fear, pain and helplessness. School Shootings School violence is horrific and sadly continues to affect our communities in the United States and throughout the world. The present Finnish study –The role of attachment in recovery after a schoolshooting trauma shares interesting information about attachment and posttraumatic growth. In this longitudinal study, the school shooting was the independent variable and mental health outcomes, the dependent variables, were measured at three follow-up points. While post-traumatic stress symptoms, including dissociation, were discussed, post-traumatic growth (PTG) was as well. University-student mental health at four, 16 and 28 months were examined following a school-shooting incident that occurred in Finland in 2008. The authors’ hypothesized that secure attachment was associated with lower PTSD and dissociative symptoms and higher levels of posttraumatic growth. Conversely, the opposite was expected to be true of those with an insecure attachment style. The sample consisted of 236 students. The attrition rate was approximately 70% at T2 and 50% at T1. In this sample, the distribution of attachment styles, as measured by the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ), was: 43% secure, 35% avoidant, and 22% preoccupied (with avoidant, preoccupied and anxious categorized as insecure). The study measured the severity of the trauma exposure, which was based on life threat and losses suffered. In addition, participants were assessed for previous and later traumas. Posttraumatic stress was measured with the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and dissociative symptoms were measured with the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES). The Post Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) measured growth and transformation following trauma. The actual results fell into two categories: attachment style on post-traumatic and dissociative symptoms and attachment style on post-traumatic growth. As such, the study found that, compared with the preoccupied, the securely attached had lower levels of PTSD. This result was stable longitudinally, at four months (T1) and 16 months (T2). Those with avoidant attachment style did not differ from the securely attached at T1 or T2 but did differ at 28 months (T3) in terms of having higher intrusive and arousal symptoms. The two insecure attachment styles (preoccupied and avoidant) differed in time lapse following the trauma. In the long-term survivors with avoidant attachment style seem to suffer the most. Somatic Psychotherapy Today | Fall 2015 | Volume 5 Number 4 | page 109
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Our Usual Fare 10 From the IBPJ Man
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Our goal is for every baby to recei
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The very effort of delivering two i
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Rae Johnson and Christine Caldwell
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fear” (personal communication, 09
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Self-Regulation “A number of tech
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“understanding why you feel a cer
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Stephen W. Porges PhD is Distinguis
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included methods have wide-reaching
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lean on “evidenced-based” or
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Empathy is: An interpersonal skill/
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we could somehow screen, or measure
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An answer came in 2010 in the form
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To sum up in the word of the surviv
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What is EFT? EFT or tapping, develo
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Table One: Evaluation Tools Used Ev
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number of treatment modalities, whi
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“Another case stands out in my mi
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Page 111 and 112: Contemplations Diane Doheny M.Ed.,
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