Session: In Depth with Peter Levine PhD: In an Unspoken Voice; How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness ---Implications for the treatment of Eating Disorders (iaedp™ Symposium 2011: Evidence-Based Treatment and Treatment-Based Evidence)

Saturday, March 5, 2011: 2:00 PM-3:30 PM

Point Hilton at Squaw Peak

Dr Levine will continue the topic of his keynote offering more indepth understanding and interaction. Trauma is neither a disease nor a disorder, but is rather an injury caused by fright, helplessness and loss. By engaging the innate capacity of the body/mind to self-regulate high states of arousal and intense emotions, trauma can be transformed. In trauma, the basic instincts of survival, attachment and sexuality become distorted and our relationship to our bodies becomes compromised. The inability to self-regulate promotes eating disorders and other addictions.

Child Development and Trauma
1. How different development cycles are affected by Trauma
The Physiological Responses to Trauma
The Naturalistic Mechanisms of Trauma
1. Flight, fight, freeze and collapse
2. Polyvagal underpinning
  1. Dorsal Vagal – Shutdown
  2. Sympathetic/adrenal – mobilization
  3. Ventral vagal - social engagement
Resolving Traumatic Reactions
1. Basic Strategies
  1. Containment
  2. Pendulation
  3. Titration
2. Renegotiation of active for passive responses
3. Self-Paced termination
4. Restoration of self-regulation
Specific body-oriented approaches beginning to treat eating disorders and other addictions.

Trauma is neither a disease nor a disorder, but is rather an injury caused by fright, helplessness and loss. By engaging the innate capacity of the body/mind to self-regulate high states of arousal and intense emotions, trauma can be transformed.

When (and to what degree) children are neglected, abused and traumatized, the basic instincts of survival and sexuality become distorted. This leads to disembodied sexuality, a lack of capacity for self-regulation and alienation from the living-sensing-feeling body which can lead to various eating disorders.

Traditionally, therapies have attempted to change perceptions of the world by means of reason and insight: with conditioning and behavior modification, along with drugs and medications. However, perceptions remain fundamentally unchanged until the internal experience of the body changes. Even after abuse, neglect, the death of a loved one, physical injury, rape or assault, people can learn to have new bodily experiences and can then come to heal and accept what has happened and create new lives imbued with positive self-image, vitality and resilience.

Primary Presenter:

Peter A. Levine, PhD

Dr. Levine was a Stress consultant for NASA for the early space shuttle flights. He served on the International Initiative on responding to large scale disasters and ethno-political warfare. His internationally best selling book, Waking the Tiger, Healing Trauma, (published in 22 languages) introduces the somatic approach to trauma that he has developed over the past 40 years. His recent interests include prevention of trauma in children.

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