19.A. M. Krantz, and J. W. Pennebaker, “Expressive Dance, Writing, Trauma, and Health: When Words Have a Body.” Whole Person Healthcare 3 (2007): 201–29.
20.P. Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory (London: Oxford University Press, 1975).
21.Theses findings have been replicated in the following studies: J. D. Bremner, “Does Stress Damage the Brain?” Biological Psychiatry 45, no. 7 (1999): 797–805; I. Liberzon, et al., “Brain Activation in PTSD in Response to Trauma-Related Stimuli,” Biological Psychiatry 45, no. 7 (1999): 817–26; L. M. Shin, et al., “Visual Imagery and Perception in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Positron Emission Tomographic Investigation,” Archives of General Psychiatry 54, no. 3 (1997): 233–41; L. M. Shin, et al., “Regional Cerebral Blood Flow During Script-Driven Imagery in Childhood Sexual Abuse–Related PTSD: A PET Investigation,” American Journal of Psychiatry 156, no. 4 (1999): 575–84.
22.I am not sure if this term originated with me or with Peter Levine. I own a video where he credits me, but most of what I have learned about pendulation I’ve learned from him.
23.A small body of evidence offers support for claims that exposure/acupoints stimulation yields stronger outcomes and exposures strategies that incorporate conventional relaxation techniques. (www.vetcases.com). D. Church, et al., “Single-Session Reduction of the Intensity of Traumatic Memories in Abused Adolescents After EFT: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study,” Traumatology 18, no. 3 (2012): 73–79; and D. Feinstein and D. Church, “Modulating Gene Expression Through Psychotherapy: The Contribution of Noninvasive Somatic Interventions,” Review of General Psychology 14, no. 4 (2010): 283–95.
24.T. Gil, et al., “Cognitive Functioning in Post‐traumatic Stress Disorder,” Journal of Traumatic Stress 3, no. 1 (1990): 29–45; J. J. Vasterling, et al., “Attention, Learning, and Memory Performances and Intellectual Resources in Vietnam Veterans: PTSD and No Disorder Comparisons,” Neuropsychology 16, no. 1 (2002): 5.
25.In a neuroimaging study the PTSD subjects deactivated the speech area of their brain, Broca’s area, in response to neutral words. In other words: the decreased Broca’s area functioning that we had found in PTSD patients (see chapter 3) did not only occur in response to traumatic memories; it also happened when they were asked to pay attention to neutral words. This means that, as a group, traumatized patients have a harder time to articulate what they feel and think about ordinary events. The PTSD group also had decreased activation of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the frontal lobe area that, as we have seen, conveys awareness of one’s self, and dampens activation of the amygdala, the smoke detector. This made it harder for them to suppress the brain’s fear response in response to a simple language task and again, made it harder to pay attention and go on with their lives. See: Moores, K. A., Clark, C. R., McFarlane, A. C., Brown, G. C., Puce, A., & Taylor, D. J. (2008). Abnormal recruitment of working memory updating networks during maintenance of trauma-neutral information in post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 163(2), 156–170.
26.J. Breuer and S. Freud, “The Physical Mechanisms of Hysterical Phenomena,” in The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud (London: Hogarth Press, 1893).
27.D. L. Schacter, Searching for Memory (New York: Basic Books, 1996).
CHAPTER 15: LETTING GO OF THE PAST: EMDR
1.F. Shapiro, EMDR: The Breakthrough Eye Movement Therapy for Overcoming Anxiety, Stress, and Trauma (New York: Basic Books, 2004).
2.B. A. van der Kolk, et al., “A Randomized Clinical Trial of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Fluoxetine, and Pill Placebo in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Treatment Effects and Long-Term Maintenance,” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 68, no. 1 (2007): 37–46.
3.J. G. Carlson, et al., “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EDMR) Treatment for Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,” Journal of Traumatic Stress 11, no. 1 (1998): 3–24.
4.J. D. Payne, et al., “Sleep Increases False Recall of Semantically Related Words in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott Memory Task,” Sleep 29 (2006): A373.
5.B. A. van der Kolk and C. P. Ducey, “The Psychological Processing of Traumatic Experience: Rorschach Patterns in PTSD,” Journal of Traumatic Stress 2, no. 3 (1989): 259–74.
6.M. Jouvet, The Paradox of Sleep: The Story of Dreaming, trans. Laurence Garey (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999).
7.R. Greenwald, “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): A New Kind of Dreamwork?” Dreaming 5, no. 1 (1995): 51–55.
8.R. Cartwright, et al., “REM Sleep Reduction, Mood Regulation and Remission in Untreated Depression,” Psychiatry Research 121, no. 2 (2003): 159–67. See also R. Cartwright, et al., “Role of REM Sleep and Dream Affect in Overnight Mood Regulation: A Study of Normal Volunteers,” Psychiatry Research 81, no. 1 (1998): 1–8.
9.R. Greenberg, C. A. Pearlman, and D. Gampel, “War Neuroses and the Adaptive Function of REM Sleep,” British Journal of Medical Psychology 45, no. 1 1972): 27–33. Ramon Greenberg and Chester Pearlman, as well as our lab, found that traumatized veterans wake themselves up as soon as they enter a REM period. While many traumatized individuals use alcohol to help them sleep, they thereby keep themselves from the full benefits of dreaming (the integration and transformation of memory) and thereby may contribute to preventing the resolution of their PTSD.
10.B. van der Kolk, et al., “Nightmares and Trauma: A Comparison of Nightmares After Combat with Lifelong Nightmares in Veterans,” American Journal of Psychiatry 141, no. 2 (1984): 187–90.
11.N. Breslau, et al., “Sleep Disturbance and Psychiatric Disorders: A Longitudinal Epidemiological Study of Young Adults,” Biological Psychiatry 39, no. 6 (1996): 411–18.
12.R. Stickgold, et al., “Sleep-Induced Changes in Associative Memory,” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 11, no. 2 (1999): 182–93. See also R. Stickgold, “Of Sleep, Memories and Trauma,” Nature Neuroscience 10, no. 5 (2007): 540–42; and B. Rasch, et al., “Odor Cues During Slow-Wave Sleep Prompt Declarative Memory Consolidation,” Science 315, no. 5817 (2007): 1426–29.
13.E. J. Wamsley, et al., “Dreaming of a Learning Task Is Associated with Enhanced Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation,” Current Biology 20, no. 9, (May 11, 2010): 850–55.
14.R. Stickgold, “Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation,” Nature 437 (2005): 1272–78.
15.R. Stickgold, et al., “Sleep-Induced Changes in Associative Memory,” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 11, no. 2 (1999): 182–93.
16.J. Williams, et al., “Bizarreness in Dreams and Fantasies: Implications for the Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis,” Consciousness and Cognition 1, no. 2 (1992): 172–85. See also Stickgold, et al., “Sleep-Induced Changes in Associative Memory.”
17.M. P. Walker, et al., “Cognitive Flexibility Across the Sleep-Wake Cycle: REM-Sleep Enhancement of Anagram Problem Solving,” Cognitive Brain Research 14 (2002): 317–24.
18.R. Stickgold, “EMDR: A Putative Neurobiological Mechanism of Action,” Journal of Clinical Psychology 58 (2002): 61–75.
19.There are several studies on how eye movements help to process and transform traumatic memories. M. Sack, et al., “Alterations in Autonomic Tone During Trauma Exposure Using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)—Results of a Preliminary Investigation,” Journal of Anxiety Disorders 22, no. 7 (2008): 1264–71; B. Letizia, F. Andrea, and C. Paolo, Neuroanatomical Changes After Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Treatment in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 19, no. 4 (2007): 475–76; P. Levin, S. Lazrove, and B. van der Kolk, (1999). What Psychological Testing and Neuroimaging Tell Us About the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder by Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 13, nos. 1–2, 159–72; M. L. Harper, T. Ra
solkhani Kalhorn, J. F. Drozd, “On the Neural Basis of EMDR Therapy: Insights from Qeeg Studies, Traumatology, 15, no. 2 (2009): 81–95; K. Lansing, D. G. Amen, C. Hanks, L. Rudy, “High-Resolution Brain SPECT Imaging and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing in Police Officers with PTSD,” The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 17, no. 4 (2005): 526–32; T. Ohtani, K. Matsuo, K. Kasai, T. Kato, and N. Kato, “Hemodynamic Responses of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Neuroscience Research, 65, no. 4 (2009): 375–83; M. Pagani, G. Högberg, D. Salmaso, D. Nardo, Ö. Sundin, C. Jonsson, and T. Hällström, “Effects of EMDR Psychotherapy on 99mtc-HMPAO Distribution in Occupation-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” Nuclear Medicine Communications 28 (2007): 757–65; H. P. Söndergaard and U. Elofsson, “Psychophysiological Studies of EMDR,” Journal of EMDR Practice and Research 2, no. 4 (2008): 282–88.
CHAPTER 16: LEARNING TO INHABIT YOUR BODY: YOGA
1.Acupuncture and acupressure are widely practiced among trauma-oriented clinicians and is beginning to be systematically studied as a treatment for clinical PTSD. M. Hollifield, et al., “Acupuncture for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial,” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 195, no. 6 (2007): 504–513. Studies that use fMRI to measure the effects of acupuncture on the areas of the brain associated with fear report acupuncture to produce rapid regulation of these brain regions. K. K. Hui, et al., “The Integrated Response of the Human Cerebro-Cerebellar and Limbic Systems to Acupuncture Stimulation at ST 36 as Evidenced by fMRI,” NeuroImage 27 (2005): 479–96; J. Fang, et al., “The Salient Characteristics of the Central Effects of Acupuncture Needling: Limbic-Paralimbic-Neocortical Network Modulation,” Human Brain Mapping 30 (2009): 1196–206. D. Feinstein, “Rapid Treatment of PTSD: Why Psychological Exposure with Acupoint Tapping May Be Effective,” Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training 47, no. 3 (2010): 385–402; D. Church, et al., “Psychological Trauma Symptom Improvement in Veterans Using EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique): A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 201 (2013): 153–60; D. Church, G. Yount, and A. J. Brooks, “The Effect of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) on Stress Biochemistry: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 200 (2012): 891–96; R. P. Dhond, N. Kettner, and V. Napadow, “Neuroimaging Acupuncture Effects in the Human Brain,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 13 (2007): 603–616; K. K. Hui, et al., “Acupuncture Modulates the Limbic System and Subcortical Gray Structures of the Human Brain: Evidence from fMRI Studies in Normal Subjects,” Human Brain Mapping 9 (2000): 13–25.
2.M. Sack, J. W. Hopper, and F. Lamprecht, “Low Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia and Prolonged Psychophysiological Arousal in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Heart Rate Dynamics and Individual Differences in Arousal Regulation,” Biological Psychiatry 55, no. 3 (2004): 284–90. See also H. Cohen, et al., “Analysis of Heart Rate Variability in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Patients in Response to a Trauma-Related Reminder,” Biological Psychiatry 44, no. 10 (1998): 1054–59; H. Cohen, et al., “Long-Lasting Behavioral Effects of Juvenile Trauma in an Animal Model of PTSD Associated with a Failure of the Autonomic Nervous System to Recover,” European Neuropsychopharmacology 17, no. 6 (2007): 464–77; and H. Wahbeh and B. S. Oken, “Peak High-Frequency HRV and Peak Alpha Frequency Higher in PTSD,” Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback 38, no. 1 (2013): 57–69.
3.J. W. Hopper, et al., “Preliminary Evidence of Parasympathetic Influence on Basal Heart Rate in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,” Journal of Psychosomatic Research 60, no. 1 (2006): 83–90.
4.Arieh Shalev at Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem and Roger Pitman’s experiments at Harvard also pointed in this direction: A. Y. Shalev, et al., “Auditory Startle Response in Trauma Survivors with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Prospective Study,” American Journal of Psychiatry 157, no. 2 (2000): 255–61; R. K. Pitman, et al., “Psychophysiologic Assessment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Imagery in Vietnam Combat Veterans,” Archives of General Psychiatry 44, no. 11 (1987): 970–75; A. Y. Shalev, et al., “A Prospective Study of Heart Rate Response Following Trauma and the Subsequent Development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,” Archives of General Psychiatry 55, no. 6 (1998): 553–59.
5.P. Lehrer, Y. Sasaki, and Y. Saito, “Zazen and Cardiac Variability,” Psychosomatic Medicine 61, no. 6 (1999): 812–21. See also R. Sovik, “The Science of Breathing: The Yogic View,” Progress in Brain Research 122 (1999): 491–505; P. Philippot, G. Chapelle, and S. Blairy, “Respiratory Feedback in the Generation of Emotion,” Cognition & Emotion 16, no. 5 (2002): 605–627; A. Michalsen, et al., “Rapid Stress Reduction and Anxiolysis Among Distressed Women as a Consequence of a Three-Month Intensive Yoga Program,” Medcal Science Monitor 11, no. 12 (2005): 555–61; G. Kirkwood et al., “Yoga for Anxiety: A Systematic Review of the Research Evidence,” British Journal of Sports Medicine 39 (2005): 884–91; K. Pilkington, et al., “Yoga for Depression: The Research Evidence,” Journal of Affective Disorders 89 (2005): 13–24; and P. Gerbarg and R. Brown, “Yoga: A Breath of Relief for Hurricane Katrina Refugees,” Current Psychiatry 4 (2005): 55–67.
6.B. Cuthbert et al., “Strategies of Arousal Control: Biofeedback, Meditation, and Motivation,” Journal of Experimental Psychology 110 (1981): 518–46. See also S. B. S. Khalsa, “Yoga as a Therapeutic Intervention: A Bibliometric Analysis of Published Research Studies,” Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 48 (2004): 269–85; M. M. Delmonte, “Meditation as a Clinical Intervention Strategy: A Brief Review,” International Journal of Psychosomatics 33 (1986): 9–12; I. Becker, “Uses of Yoga in Psychiatry and Medicine,” in Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Psychiatry, vol. 19, ed. P. R. Muskin PR (Washington: American Psychiatric Press, 2008); L. Bernardi, et al., “Slow Breathing Reduces Chemoreflex Response to Hypoxia and Hypercapnia, and Increases Baroreflex Sensitivity,” Journal of Hypertension 19, no. 12 (2001): 2221–29; R. P. Brown and P. L. Gerbarg, “Sudarshan Kriya Yogic Breathing in the Treatment of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression: Part I: Neurophysiologic Model,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 11 (2005): 189–201; R. P. Brown and P. L. Gerbarg, “Sudarshan Kriya Yogic Breathing in the Treatment of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression: Part II: Clinical Applications and Guidelines,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 11 (2005): 711–17; C. C. Streeter, et al., “Yoga Asana Sessions Increase Brain GABA Levels: A Pilot Study,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 13 (2007): 419–26; and C. C. Streeter, et al., “Effects of Yoga Versus Walking on Mood, Anxiety, and Brain GABA Levels: A Randomized Controlled MRS Study,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 16 (2010): 1145–52.
7.There are dozens of scientific articles showing the positive effect of yoga for various medical conditions. The following is a small sample: S. B. Khalsa, “Yoga as a Therapeutic Intervention”; P. Grossman, et al., “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Health Benefits: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Psychosomatic Research 57 (2004): 35–43; K. Sherman, et al., “Comparing Yoga, Exercise, and a Self-Care Book for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized, Controlled Trial,” Annals of Internal Medicine 143 (2005): 849–56; K. A. Williams, et al., “Effect of Iyengar Yoga Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain,” Pain 115 (2005): 107–117; R. B. Saper, et al., “Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain in a Predominantly Minority Population: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial,” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine 15 (2009): 18–27; J. W. Carson, et al., “Yoga for Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer: Results from a Pilot Study,” Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 33 (2007): 331–41.
8.B. A. van der Kolk, et al., “Yoga as an Adjunctive Therapy for PTSD,” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 75, no. 6 (June 2014): 559–65.
9.A California company, HeartMath, has developed nifty devices and computer games that are both fun and effective in helping people to achieve better HR
V. To date nobody has studied whether simple devices such as those developed by HeartMath can reduce PTSD symptoms, but this very likely the case. (see in www.heartmath.org.)
10.As of this writing there are twenty-four apps available on iTunes that claim to be able to help increase HRV, such as emWave, HeartMath, and GPS4Soul.
11.B. A. van der Kolk, “Clinical Implications of Neuroscience Research in PTSD,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1071, no. 1 (2006): 277–93.
12.S. Telles, et al., “Alterations of Auditory Middle Latency Evoked Potentials During Yogic Consciously Regulated Breathing and Attentive State of Mind,” International Journal of Psychophysiology 14, no. 3 (1993): 189–98. See also P. L. Gerbarg, “Yoga and Neuro-Psychoanalysis,” in Bodies in Treatment: The Unspoken Dimension, ed. Frances Sommer Anderson (New York, Analytic Press, 2008), 127–50.
13.D. Emerson and E. Hopper, Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga: Reclaiming Your Body (Berkeley, North Atlantic Books, 2011).
14.A. Damasio, The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness (New York, Hartcourt, 1999).
15.“Interoception” is the scientific name for this basic self-sensing ability. Brain-imaging studies of traumatized people have repeatedly shown problems in the areas of the brain related to physical self-awareness, particularly an area called the insula. J. W. Hopper, et al., “Neural Correlates of Reexperiencing, Avoidance, and Dissociation in PTSD: Symptom Dimensions and Emotion Dysregulation in Responses to Script‐Driven Trauma Imagery,” Journal of Traumatic Stress 20, no. 5 (2007): 713–25. See also I. A. Strigo, et al., “Neural Correlates of Altered Pain Response in Women with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder from Intimate Partner Violence,” Biological Psychiatry 68, no. 5 (2010): 442–50; G. A. Fonzo, et al., “Exaggerated and Disconnected Insular-Amygdalar Blood Oxygenation Level-Dependent Response to Threat-Related Emotional Faces in Women with Intimate-Partner Violence Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,” Biological Psychiatry 68, no. 5 (2010): 433–41; P. A. Frewen, et al., “Social Emotions and Emotional Valence During Imagery in Women with PTSD: Affective and Neural Correlates,” Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 2, no. 2 (2010): 145–57; K. Felmingham, et al., “Dissociative Responses to Conscious and Non-conscious Fear Impact Underlying Brain Function in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder,” Psychological Medicine 38, no. 12 (2008): 1771–80; A. N. Simmons, et al., “Functional Activation and Neural Networks in Women with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Related to Intimate Partner Violence,” Biological Psychiatry 64, no. 8 (2008): 681–90; R. J. L. Lindauer, et al., “Effects of Psychotherapy on Regional Cerebral Blood Flow During Trauma Imagery in Patients with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” Psychological Medicine 38, no. 4 (2008): 543–54 and A. Etkin and T. D. Wager, “Functional Neuroimaging of Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis of Emotional Processing in PTSD, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Specific Phobia,” American Journal of Psychiatry 164, no. 10 (2007): 1476–88.
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