“The definition of trauma is losing the ability to hear Yourself”.
~Dr Amber Elizabeth Gray~
Supporting Research Links
1. Trauma, Chronic Pain, and Somatic Work (Dr. Peter Levine)
These sources highlight the body's role in storing trauma and the somatic approach to healing chronic pain and dysregulation.
Connections Between Trauma, PTSD, and Chronic Pain with Peter Levine, PhD:
Finding: Discusses the strong, physiological link between trauma, PTSD, and chronic pain, asserting that trauma gets stuck as contracted energy in the body, which fuels chronic pain syndromes.
SE 101 - Somatic Experiencing® International:
Finding: Explains how Somatic Experiencing (SE) releases trapped survival energy (fight, flight, freeze) and restores the natural balance of the nervous system using concepts like titration and pendulation.
2. Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) & Chronic Conditions
This research validates the structural necessity of a trauma-informed approach when working with individuals facing chronic health challenges.
Trauma-Informed Care: Helping Patients with a Painful Past:
Finding: Confirms that life trauma is highly correlated with chronic disease and outlines the six key principles of TIC (Safety, Trustworthiness, Empowerment, etc.) as essential for effective care.
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307999978_Trauma-Informed_Care_Helping_Patients_with_a_Painful_Past1. Nervous System Regulation & Meditation
These papers demonstrate how meditation and body-mind practices modulate the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), decreasing stress and increasing calm.
3. Impact of Meditation on Autonomic Nervous System:
Finding: Shows meditators have significantly more parasympathetic activity (rest/digest) and less sympathetic activity (fight/flight) compared to non-meditators.
Central and Autonomic Nervous System Interaction is Altered by Short-Term Meditation:
Finding: Even short-term (5 days) of integrative body-mind training (IBMT) led to better regulation of the ANS and changes in brain regions associated with self-regulation.
Meditation Induces Changes in Deep Brain Areas Associated with Emotional Regulation:
Finding: Meditation leads to changes in the activity of the amygdala and hippocampus—key brain areas involved in fear, emotional regulation, and memory.