“So it’s very important to be very aware that these reactions emanate from your body, and so the big challenge of treating trauma is, how do you help people to live in bodies that feel fundamentally safe?”
— Bessel van der Kolk
In this video, Bessel van der Kolk discusses
1) Psychotherapy
2) EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
3) Yoga
4) Theatre & Movement
5) Neurofeedback
6) Psychedelics
“Part of what has kept me so busy all these years is, how can we find a treatment that allows the basic sense of defectiveness and self-loathing to be controlled, and now it looks like we have found something that has found a very substantial drop in PTSD… But what is important here is that one size doesn’t fit all. Different people need very different things. What worked for my last patient may very well not work for you. Everything is an experiment in life, and healing from trauma is an experiment.”
— Bessel van der Kolk
Smuggling Grace 
Renee,
I’m curious why the YouTube is titled “6 ways to heal trauma without medication | Bessel van der Kolk” because the 6th method is psychedelics and he seems to be saying it might be the best trauma treatment. Your thoughts?
PB&J … MaryBeth Ingram (she/her) Peace (Shalom) Blessing (Giving thanks for unknown blessings already on their way – Native Indian Saying) JOY (Trusting that goodness is at work in whatever is at hand) Until ALL truly and finally means ALL
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Great question! First, I probably should say that I also think medication can be very helpful for some people because anti-anxiety meds have made a big impact for me.
But I do think he’s right that trauma lives most in the body, and while medication can treat symptoms, or bring a person to a more level place to do that work, the root, foundational place of healing is the body. I’ve also benefited greatly from a number of things on that list of 6, and I think they made the biggest difference. Haven’t done psychedelics though, but I know people who have, and it’s changed their lives!
Having read his books, when the video is titled that way, I think it’s saying that these are six treatments outside of daily medication regimen.
And since he’s talking here as part of a series called “Big Think,” he probably didn’t choose the title either.
Always great to hear from you!
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