PTCSD - ricknotesricknotes

PTCSD — Post Traumatic Childhood Stress Disorder

During our early years we are subject to various types and intensities of stress and trauma. We internally resolve many of these and continue life unharmed.
However some incidents create deeper trauma and significantly shape our psychological, emotional, physical and spiritual selves. The results of these traumas continue to influence our stance in life and shape our future.
Like adult PTSD the influences can be devastating, and challenging to resolve.

There appear to be two important components required for resolution, and both must happen simultaneously.

First is the acknowledgement of the trauma.
This requires inquiry into the nature and impact of the trauma and the form of its manifestation within. As difficult as it may be to re-encounter a childhood trauma it is important to do this for two reasons. Firstly, so the child that experienced the trauma is acknowledged and “validated”. Even though, when re-encountering a traumatic experience it may not seem like a “big deal” to you as an adult, it is important to acknowledge that it was a “very big deal” to you as a child. And, some traumatic experiences are horrific no matter what age or experience level we have when we encounter them. Secondly, so we can sense where in our body the physical and emotional “remnants” of the trauma reside.

Second is the release of the trauma.
The trauma is usually “trapped” within our physical and emotional bodies and for healing to occur, must be released. It is important that this release be incremental and effective, otherwise re-traumatization can easily occur and things may worsen. Lasting release can be achieved through some focused somatic methods that slowly allow the “energy” of the trauma to be re-experienced and released, often through trembling, quaking or shaking. The use of the voice at different frequencies and volumes to move and release the trauma can also be effective. Slow and steady work is the key, especially if challenging and painful memories accompany the re-encounter with the trauma, despite a desire to “get it finished”.

Different inner manifestations of trauma require different approaches for resolution. In all situations it is important to express gratitude and compassion to the child who experienced the trauma. No matter how “disruptive” the results of the trauma has been on our life, the child who initially experienced and dealt with the trauma almost certainly responded in the best way they could.

Once the trauma has been acknowledged, and gratitude and compassion truly felt for the child that experienced it, and the process of vibrational release has been initiated, then progress toward resolution and re-integration can begin.

There can be at least three different manifestations of childhood trauma, each with different possible approaches to resolution and re-integration. Much could be written about each – this writing is simply to present an overall context and general principles for resolution.

Younger aspects of ourselves that seem to control our lives. When we are young and encounter trauma we often discover effective ways of protecting ourselves from further trauma. The young aspects of ourselves that learn these ways of “coping” still reside within us and in times of perceived “threat” they often seize the steering wheel of our life and engage in the behaviours, often defensive, they have learned. This behaviour may or may not be effective in the situation but it is the best they can do. They believe that they need to take action, since they do not trust that our mature selves either will realize what is going on, or act to protect them. Our younger selves do not usually have a very large repertoire of responses so when they take control we will often notice that we are very un-resourceful in how we respond, and repeat similar patterns. When we recognize these patterns, and the younger aspect of ourselves who is enacting them, we can begin to communicate with them. The process of communication begins with building trust that our mature selves can and will handle situations and protect them. As stated previously it is important to acknowledge and express gratitude for them acting to protect us over the years and be both firm and soothing in establishing that our mature selves can now handle situations with skill and resourcefulness. This process may take some time, dialogue and negotiation – see number 2 below for more detail regarding the negotiation process.
Soul loss. In this case an aspect of the soul of the person “splits” from them as a result of a traumatic experience, and stays absent or remote. These “soul parts” can remain connected to us, so we often have a vague sense of them and a sense of both “loss” and “missing something”. Unlike the situation where younger aspects of ourselves seize control, the result of soul loss is often an inability to respond to situations, or a “paralyzing” fear of doing the right / wrong thing. We have often lost the part of us that would learn and gain this wisdom and with it we have lost confidence in ourselves. In order to resolve and heal from this condition we need to recognize when we lost a part of ourselves then retrieve and re-integrate what we have lost. If there is still a viable connection to the soul part then we can often ask it to come forward into our awareness. When we re-connect with a soul part, as stated previously, acknowledgement and gratitude are useful initial responses in establishing a dialogue. We often want to rush the process of re-integration when we re-connect with lost aspects of ourselves, however it is important that we recognize that the soul part has very low trust in us (or anybody else) and it is likely to take some time, dialogue and negotiation before a soul part will fully return and re-integrate. Most of this dialogue and negotiation often involves situations that will test us and allow us to prove our maturity to the soul part. This negotiation can take some time and result in stress to both us and the soul part, hence it is important to be aware of the level of stress and re-assure both ourselves and the soul part that we are making progress. For example, a soul part may only agree to reintegrate if we end an unhealthy or abusive relationship, work situation or behavior. Ironically, many of the “demands” of the soul parts are often in the best interest of the mature person as well, but making significant changes in our lives can be challenging. In addition, the soul part will often “create” a situation in our life to test our ability to do what we have negotiated, and prove our “worth”. It is important not to rush the process of re-integration. In cases where severe soul loss has occurred, and we cannot make a connection, then classic soul retrieval by a skilled shaman may be necessary. And, after the shaman has done their work, the ongoing dialogue and negotiations may be quite protracted.
Trauma can result in intense damage to an aspect of ourselves, and extreme soul loss can result in the creation of an energetic opening for foreign energies to enter into us. This damage or entry can result in the creation of an “unredeemable” aspect within us that is bent on destruction (of ourself and others) and is not “willing” to be rehabilitated. When engaging in work to reconnect with ourselves we may encounter one of these “sub personalities”. When negotiating with them, we will start to recognize false promises and other “sociopathic” type behavior. It is important to be patient, in case we are actually dealing with a difficult expression of 1 or 2 above, and also be clear when we are being deceived. In this case the unredeemable aspect can be removed using classic shamanic extraction techniques.

An often unknown aspect of this work is the work of the goddess within, often represented / disguised as a younger aspect of ourselves. Although it may appear that this aspect of ourselves is acting in ways that are not in our best interest, this can be deceiving in a surprising way. Often the goddess will work to bring our awareness to something in our lives that is not in our current best interest, and then work to remove this from our life (behaviors, beliefs, situations). If we are attached to whatever is being “reviewed” we often misinterpret this as one of the three things above. However it is important that we distinguish (inquiry needed) between something that is trying to destroy us, and something that is trying to destroy some aspect of our life that needs to end in order for us to break free. This is often particularly true for those who have “committed” to a spiritual path and asked for divine guidance. As usual, be careful what you ask for.