Trauma is defined as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience. When we are unable to meet a difficult situation effectively we create protective strategies to keep ourselves separated from our wounded places. But in doing so, we are actually holding on to our trauma as part of our identity. And while it’s a normal part of the human condition to experience trauma, how we process trauma can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or addictions long after the causal event occurred. To understand how past traumas can be transformed, Harvesting Happiness Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with Dr. Peter Levine about his landmark work in using Somatic Experience therapy to heal trauma by replacing wounded memories with empowered ones. He shares the central tenets of his books on different types of trauma.

Dr. Peter Levine — The Somatic Experiences:

• Using real-life examples, Dr. Levine explains Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and their triggers. {2:03}
• How somatic experiencing can help people to triumph over their trauma. {10:28}
• Why there are no small traumas. {17:03}
• How somatic experiencing therapy differs from a shamanic approach to healing trauma injury. {20:47}
• Peter explains how our bodies accumulate stress and the importance of acknowledging our traumas. {27:34}
• How addictions to substances or emotions are created through trauma.  {34:22}

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About Lisa’s guest:

Peter A. Levine, PhD holds doctorates in both Biophysics and Psychology. He is the developer of Somatic Experiencing®, a naturalistic and neurobiological approach to healing trauma; Founder of the Somatic Experiencing® Trauma Institute/Foundation for Human Enrichment®; Founder and President of Ergos Institute for Somatic Education®; and author of several best-selling books on trauma, including Waking the Tiger, which is published in over 28 languages. Dr. Levine is currently a Senior Fellow and consultant at The Meadows Addiction and Trauma Treatment Center in Wickenburg, Arizona, and continues to teach trauma healing workshops internationally.

To learn more, visit www.harvestinghappiness.com