The Trauma Tool Kit Healing PTSD from the Inside Out

by Banitt, Susan Pease

• ISBN13: 9780835608961
• ISBN10: 0835608964
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-05-01
• Publisher: Quest Books

Summary

In 2010 the Department of Veterans Affairs in the United States cited 171,423 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans diagnosed with PTSD, out of 593,634 total patients treated. That's almost 30 percent; other statistics show 35 percent. Nor, of course, is PTSD limited to the military. In twenty years as a therapist, Susan Banitt has treated trauma in patients ranging from autistic children to women with breast cancer; from underage sex slaves to adults incapacitated by early childhood abuse. Doctors she interviewed in New York report that, even before 9/11, most of their patients had experienced such extreme stress that they had suffered physical and mental breakdowns. Most people, Banitt says, experience trauma as a terminal blow to their deepest sense of self. Her techniques restore a sense of wholeness at the core level from which all healing springs. The uniqueness of her book lies in its diversity and accessibility. She assesses the values and limitations of traditional and alternative therapies and suggests methods that are universally available. Almost anybody can grow some lavender in a pot, she notes, or find a tree to sit under, a journal to write in, or Epsom Salts in which to soak. They can learn exercises of the mind and breath work to regulate the body. She closes with a look at public policy and public health issues and the need for new therapeutic models. "If trauma is the disease of our time, then healing from trauma individually and globally can pave the way for a brighter future. This book provides the tools."

Author Biography

Susan Pease Banitt, LCSW is a Harvard-trained psychotherapist with over thirty years experience in mental health work. She has worked in a variety of settings with hundreds of diverse clients over the years, including: residential childcare, child abuse prevention, inpatient psychiatric hospitals, outpatient clinics, medical hospitals and private practice. Her clients have included individuals, couples and groups, including children as young as 3 years and adults into their 80s. Since a very young age, Susan has been aware of her spiritual nature. After a Catholic upbringing, she spent her late twenties studying yoga and meditation and obtained her certification as a teacher of hatha yoga in her thirties. Over the years, Susan has come to see that traumatic stress and experiences are behind the vast majority of suffering in the mind and body. Her gifts of empathy and intuition became fully engaged when she began formal work with a shaman in 2000. At the same time, she delved deeper into yogic philosophy through intensive study of Vedanta, ancient Indian spiritual wisdom. As a healed survivor who has taken a deep journey into early traumatic abuse, Susan acts as a compassionate guide for those struggling to free themselves from the effects of traumatic stress. Because Susan has worked with so many gifted psychiatric and alternative practitioners, she has collected a large toolbox of interventions to offer clients and colleagues. Susan currently co-chairs the Mental Health Council for the National Association of Social Workers, Oregon chapter and sits on the board of Street Yoga, an organization that brings yoga techniques to disadvantaged youth in a variety of settings.

Table of Contents

What to Do in Case of an Emergency	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Introduction: The User's Manual	p. 1
Operating Instructions	p. 4
Letting Go of "Should"	p. 8
Disclaimer	p. 9
Tips and Troubleshooting	p. 10
Implementing Change	p. 12
Road Map for Healing from Trauma	p. 15
Trauma Shock	p. 18
Rebooting	p. 20
Acceptance	p. 21
Feeling and Releasing	p. 23
Integration	p. 25
Restoration	p. 26
Forgiveness	p. 28
First Aid for Psychological Trauma and Shock	p. 33
Grounding	p. 33
Clearing	p. 40
Restoring	p. 46
Altering and Suppressing	p. 52
The Treasure at the Core	p. 59
The Deepest Wound	p. 61
The Core beneath the Core	p. 63
Spiritual Diversity	p. 65
Finding Your Cosmology	p. 68
A Yogic Model for Healing	p. 73
The Infinite Monkey Theorem	p. 74
Local versus Nonlocal Consciousness	p. 76
The Rishis	p. 78
The Adhara System	p. 79
The Annamayakosha: Mending the Physical Body	p. 91
Nutrition	p. 93
Supplements	p. 98
Medicinal Plant and Herbal Healing	p. 101
Essential Oils	p. 106
Naturopathic Medicine	p. 109
Massage Therapy	p. 113
Chiropractic Care	p. 115
Eye Movement Desensitization Response	p. 118
Psychiatric Medication	p. 119
Biofeedback	p. 123
Heat Therapies	p. 126
Music	p. 127
Unwinding the Body	p. 129
The Pranamayakosha: Healing Your Energy Body	p. 133
Chinese Medicine	p. 136
Thought Field Therapy and Emotional Freedom Technique	p. 144
Energy Healers	p. 145
Crystals and Stones	p. 147
Smudging	p. 153
Homeopathy	p. 155
Animal Therapies	p. 159
Healing in Nature	p. 161
Yoga	p. 164
Blessing Food and Water	p. 171
The Manomayakosha: Enlisting Your Thinking Mind	p. 175
Counseling	p. 177
Finding Safety	p. 178
Mapping Triggers	p. 182
Creating a Timeline	p. 186
The "I Want" Exercise	p. 188
Expressive Therapies	p. 190
The Work of Byron Katie	p. 191
Loving-Kindness Meditation (Metta)	p. 194
Eckhart Tolle Now	p. 196
The Jnanamayakosha: Mining the Wisdom Mind	p. 199
Core Beliefs and Quantum Physics	p. 201
Raising the Opposite Wave	p. 204
Giving What We Need to Receive	p. 206
Shamanic Practices	p. 209
Past-Life Regression Therapy	p. 219
Wisdom Teachings	p. 222
Prayer and Mantra	p. 223
Meditation	p. 226
The Anandamayakosha: Ecstasy and the Bliss Body	p. 233
Fishing	p. 239
Dolphin Encounters	p. 240
Extreme Sports	p. 241
Collective Ecstasy	p. 243
Ecstatic Dance	p. 244
Nature	p. 246
Darshan	p. 247
Divine Inner Bliss	p. 248
Embracing Wholeness: The Motivation to Heal	p. 251
The Effects of Untreated Trauma	p. 253
Why Should I Talk About It? The Risks and Benefits of Disclosing Trauma	p. 260
A New Vision for Healing	p. 266
Changing Your Own Outcome	p. 270
Acknowledgments	p. 273
Notes	p. 275
Bibliography and Recommended Reading	p. 281
Index	p. 293
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