Moving Beyond Trauma

CJ Liu interviews Ilene Smith about her book, “Moving Beyond Trauma: The Roadmap to Healing from Your Past and Living with Ease and Vitality.”

What is Somatic Experiencing? // Part 1 of 4

Ilene explains that the foundational work that happens around somatic experiencing is all about trauma healing. She explains that we think of trauma as an event, but it’s really the energy that gets locked in your body around real or perceived threat. What everyone feels is a traumatic experience will vary. As an example, ten people can see the same car accident and maybe three of the people will become totally undone by it, while seven are fine. It has to do with how soon we recover in the aftermath and experience a sense of safety.

Somatic experiencing goes beyond the psychological and restores the body to a sense of safety. It’s helping build the body as a safe container so that the individual can feel some sense of mastery over themselves. They will move through experiences going forward knowing that they will be okay and can survive.

COVID is a societal trauma that all of us are experiencing. Some will adapt after a month, others still are having problems with it or getting re-traumatized. Sadly, a lot of children have not been prepared for this and their sudden life as shut-ins. Their reactions to germs may create a generation of kids with OCD, anxiety, depression, etc. If children are exposed to constant state of survival, there may be some fallout once life goes back to normal.

Coping Through Trauma (COVID) // Part 2 of 4

Many have resorted to numbing and sedating with drugs, food, and alcohol as a way to cope with our de-regulated nervous systems. Ilene, however, talks about the importance of bringing the body into the healing process when trying to resolve issues related to trauma, like COVID. The first line of defense is finding healthy ways to regulate your nervous system as preventative care. Ilene suggests:

1. Breath-work
2. Meditation
3. Exercise
4. Stay connected with other people

There may be times when we may feel “fine,” but really aren’t. Here are three steps to stay connected with the body and finding time to allow the body to discharge tension:

• Step 1: The first is noticing. Most people catch that we are “off” based on behaviors or feels of depression, rage, isolating, and anxiety. If not your emotions, perhaps it will be physical pain. All are signals that you need some time with yourself.
• Step 2: Be honest with yourself. Are you really dealing with your stuff or are you just saying you are okay as you drink your fourth vodka tonic? Are you using other mal-adaptive ways to cope?
• Step 3: Dialogue with your body. Be curious and don’t go instantly into trying to fix it, problem solve it, judge it, or understand it. Just name it and be present with it.

What Happens with Embodied Awakening? // Part 3 of 4

CJ shares with Ilene a weird inexplicable cough that arises in her meditation. While CJ is not trying to fix it, she asks what happens when we become more embodied and awakened.

Ilene explains that we have to surrender to the body and let it do the work. The body organically knows what to do. Ilene explains that CJ’s cough is a way for her nervous system to reset and regulate. While we may naturally want to stop what is happening, it’s better to hold space for our body and not focus on the “why.” The goal is to not have the pain or physical expression distract us from being present and accepting what is happening right now. CJ explains that long ago she would have kriya’s or spontaneous body movements. Ilene explains that this is the body doing a biological completion. Animals in the wild don’t get traumatized because when they have a potentially traumatic event and under threat, they shake off that trauma and reset their bodies and move forward. This is the same biological completion.

Often trauma gets stored into our body through connective tissue via the fascia. Ilene explains the technical detail in the video.

Physical Pain and Multi-Generational Trauma // Part 4 of 4

CJ asks about multi-generational trauma. Ilene talks about epigenetics and even a baby in utero being impacted by its mother’s nervous system. During a session, Ilene walks through themes in your life from childhood and past generations. In identifying physical pain, its less about answering the “why” and more about “what”.

Here are some questions that Ilene asked in our hypothetical example about CJ’s ankle pain, and how she would work in releasing trauma locked in the body:

• Does the injury relate to accident?
• When do you remember the pain starting?
• Can you remember a time when it didn’t bother you?
• Do you remember a time when your ankle didn’t bother you and it felt joyous? (Ilene describes this as a “resource” for a client)
• How does your body feel now with this resource?

The basis of her work is Dr. Peter Levine and the Trauma Healing Institute. It’s about getting the body’s story and its response to something that happened. Ilene explains that this work goes hand in hand with hands on healing like cranial sacral, massage, acupuncture, etc. She cautions that sometimes the body is just not ready to get healed, and to surrender to where the body is and not fight against it.

More on Ilene Smith

Ilene is a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) through the GROW Training Institute, Inc. and holds a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling and a Masters degree in Exercise Physiology. Ilene has passed the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) qualifying her for licensure in Arizona.

Ilene’s work is rooted in the principles of Somatic Experiencing (SE) and attachment theory. Her training in trauma healing provides the foundation to help clients resolve trauma symptoms and relieve chronic stress and pain in the body. Integrating several modalities into her practice including talking, touch work and movement, Ilene is able to support the body tissue memory and nervous system to create synergy between the body and mind. Her work supports clients in developing a deeper and safer relationship within and ultimately greater capacity for resilience and joy. Clients move from states of fixity to a life of fluidity, ease and vitality. Through her extensive studies in physiology and nervous system regulation she has developed techniques and methods to safely bring clients from trauma states back into a new and empowered body. The result of this process is freedom and expansion allowing clients to experience autonomy and self-respect.

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