Trauma Training Tip
I confess when CoVid first came, I experienced a lot of fear and desire to isolate… that grew into despair as I witnessed the burden it was placing on people challenged to quarantine – elders in nursing homes and those living on the streets and in prisons, the disproportionate deaths in Black, Brown and Indigenous people, and the many migrants who, without access to paltry support from the federal government, were forced to choose between dying of CoVid and dying of starvation or exposure.
Then George Floyd was murdered. African Americans who were dying of CoVid at unconscionable rates found their voice. They have been joined by young people and old people of all colors whose future is being truncated by an economy in free fall and a failed health care system – on top of the now fully exposed social contract on race.
When a friend said “Look at the beautiful arousal we are seeing on our streets” – I woke up to see America through my lens as a trauma healer. When our arousal is repeatedly thwarted, we are pushed into a freeze or immobility response. The movement towards healing involves accessing those hidden-away places where that freeze is lodged in a survivor’s body and helping it thaw, move, mobilize, and find voice.
Then I went to one of the BLM gatherings and saw the sign “Silence is Violence” and I realized I needed to speak up, particularly in white circles, in support of the arousal in the streets as a sign of the creation of a new world in America. I needed to offer classes and workshops to other healers on ways we could offer healing to survivors of the trauma of CoVid and for activists engaged in creating our new social contract. (see: Covid19, George Floyd, and the Kidney-Heart Axis) I needed to celebrate the dismantling of our economy, our health care system, and our social contract that has until now, included implicit support for white supremacy.
We are living in a precious and precarious time. The opportunities for re-creating America are alive, right here, in front of us. The time is ripe for white people to bear witness, be humbled by, explore and transform our implicit bias, embrace that silence is violence, cultivate opportunities to use our privilege, and take action in support of our Black, Brown and Indigenous brothers and sisters in the creation of this new world order. Let’s sort out how and do it all!
Alaine’s Two Cents
Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central uses his voice and his presence well to explore what may be giving rise to the calls to action we are witnessing on our streets after the murder of George Floyd. I think it’s worth a listen.
And I invite you to meet and listen to Resmaa Menakem’s reflections on the murder of George Floyd.
In My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies, Resmaa Menakem artfully presents the complex dynamics of racialized trauma in our society. His capacity to speak the depth and breadth of its impact and the absolute necessity to transform its violent expression with neither blame nor shame for any of its players illuminates his expansive, wise, and compassionate character.
Menakem combines the science of neuro-biology, a critical scrutiny of history, and the extraordinary voice of his heart to provide a new framework for the transformation and healing of white bodies, black bodies, police bodies – and ultimately the American psyche. He implicitly affirms the gift of transformation and healing that resides in our bodies – taking us out of our tortured heads and into the powerful capacity our bodies have for digesting the gristle of life and harvesting the lessons inherent in that same stew.
I highly recommend My Grandmother’s Hands as a must-read for clinicians, activists, educators, public servants, policy-makers and all lovers of life. America is fortunate to have the thoughtful voice and guidance of Resmaa Menakem addressing the critical need for healing racialized trauma.
Order in audio, Kindle or paper form here.
Check This Out!
I recorded this Qiological Podcast episode on World Grief–Transforming Trauma Through the Five Phases before May 25, 2020. It explores CoVid 19 through the lens of PolyVagal theory.
Michael Max is a great thinker and a creative interviewer!
Clinical Curiosity
Q. I find myself feeling alternately angry, fearful, grief-stricken and profoundly sad – as are many of my clients. What are some ways I can take care of myself?
A. Oh my. So important. Our own regulation is our most important tool. More important than point selection, pulse reading, or any other diagnostic skill in our toolbox.
My own self care includes walks in nature – where I can experience a sense of regulation that supersedes all other vibrations in my life. It also includes responding to my sense of call for the creation of a new world order with various actions – attending demonstrations, participating in community dialogues, donating money to organizations engaged in the work of transforming our nation – and good food, regular sleep, washing my hands frequently and wearing a mask! I do my best to forgive the small hurts that have come – everyone is a wee bit dys-regulated! I try my best to instead focus on the experiences of connection and care I have with family and friends. I want to consciously build my ventral vagus as my primary neurological platform.