When bad things happen.....
Jun 10, 2022
Did you know that when bad things happen, when we experience trauma because we felt a threat to our life, the brain’s biology changes to protect us from experiencing the same threat again.
We become hardwired to react with the fight, flight or freeze response whenever a similar stimulus presents itself.
This can play havoc with our autonomic nervous system by sending signals to fight or fly or freeze in inappropriate situations. The autonomic nervous system can become over sensitised to these stimulus overtime.
For a pregnant person who has experienced birth trauma previously the triggers/stimuli are many.
Hospital appointments, midwives, suppressed and forgotten memories resurfacing, all triggering the autonomic nervous system into action, flooding the body with adrenalin, cortisol and other stress hormones over and over again.
The pressure builds as the due date approaches and parents find themselves increasingly unable to cope and desperate for support.
Part of the work that I (and hundreds of TBR Practitioners) do when supporting parents recovery after a traumatic birth (or miscarriage, or injury, or breastfeeding experience) is to help the autonomic nervous system to stand down, to relax and reset.
Practicing relaxation is a vital part of the 3 steps because it helps parents condition this parasympathetic response, so that they can remember and reintegrate the trauma of what happened without causing more harm (retraumatising them).
I am fascinated by how the brain is constantly responding to environment, learning, forgetting and re-learning.
When we have experienced trauma it’s very common to layer on extra meaning about why we have suffered or have been the victim of abuse and of course it is important for those thoughts and feelings heard and validated.
But really it is often this meaning making habit of the mind that keeps us stuck in behaviour patterns that can leave us vulnerable to experiencing more trauma, more anxiety and more low mood.
With the right support it is possible to play the brain at its own game and re-wire the old trauma responses so they no long fire the nervous system into action.
We can use the mind’s meaning making ability to tell a new story. One where parents are the heroes and not the victims. Where they show strength and courage, not sadness and anger.
This is the three steps in action: Listen (acknowledge, validate), discover a new story (using a solution focused approach) and use rewind to re-programme that new story.
Do you want to learn this gentle, incredible and transformative process?
There are just 4 places left on September’s live training on the 19th and 20th.
Book your place here and learn why so many perinatal professionals have added TBR 3 Step Rewind to their services.
I would love to see you on the training.
