Post by the Sarcastic Autist on Oct 1, 2018 22:51:03 GMT
1)van der Kolk describes ‘letting [catatonia] run its course’. Do you feel like you have to just let your [fear, anxiety, anger, flashbacks, etc] run their course? Do you see that as effective or counterproductive? Why or why not?
2)Often we are caught in a cycle of focusing on the negative aspects of our lives instead of the positive components. van der Kolk takes this a step further and talks about the “ecology of their lives”. How would you rate the importance of knowing your own personal ecology in terms of healing/recovery compared to controlling your symptoms? Is it more important? Less important? Equally so? Why?
3)In what ways does allowing ourselves to ‘know what we know and feel what we feel’ free us to heal/recover, regardless of diagnosis or labels? Do you agree with the quote “You can be fully in charge of your life only if you can acknowledge the reality of your body, in all its visceral dimensions.”? Discuss why or why not.
4)van der Kolk talks about the electroshock dog experiment and how the dogs had to be physically shown they could escape, even if the path to freedom was unobstructed. He goes on to talk of an experiment where a loud noise was played to mice and it didn’t matter if the mice were from a safe and secure nest or from a noisy and chaotic nest, they went home. What is your own interpretation of this?
5)Do you believe that ‘traumatic reenactments’ are an attempt to gain control, or do you think that ‘re-exposure to stress’ relieves anxiety? Discuss.
6)Why do you think that "even the placebo patients improved" in the double blind?
7)van der Kolk states “ if they [antidepressants] were as effective as have been led to believe, depression should by now have become a minor issue in our society”. Discuss why or why not you agree with this statement.
8)Do you believe in the four fundamental truths ({1}our capacity to destroy one another is matched by our capacity to heal one another. Restoring relationships and community is central to restoring well-being; {2} language gives us the power to change ourselves and others by communicating our experiences, helping us to define what we know, and finding a common sense of meaning; {3} we have the ability to regulate our own physiology, including some of the so-called involuntary functions of the body and brain, through such basic activities as breathing, moving, and touching: and {4} we can change social conditions to create environments in which children and adults can feel safe and where they can thrive.) ? Which ones? Discuss why or why not.
2)Often we are caught in a cycle of focusing on the negative aspects of our lives instead of the positive components. van der Kolk takes this a step further and talks about the “ecology of their lives”. How would you rate the importance of knowing your own personal ecology in terms of healing/recovery compared to controlling your symptoms? Is it more important? Less important? Equally so? Why?
3)In what ways does allowing ourselves to ‘know what we know and feel what we feel’ free us to heal/recover, regardless of diagnosis or labels? Do you agree with the quote “You can be fully in charge of your life only if you can acknowledge the reality of your body, in all its visceral dimensions.”? Discuss why or why not.
4)van der Kolk talks about the electroshock dog experiment and how the dogs had to be physically shown they could escape, even if the path to freedom was unobstructed. He goes on to talk of an experiment where a loud noise was played to mice and it didn’t matter if the mice were from a safe and secure nest or from a noisy and chaotic nest, they went home. What is your own interpretation of this?
5)Do you believe that ‘traumatic reenactments’ are an attempt to gain control, or do you think that ‘re-exposure to stress’ relieves anxiety? Discuss.
6)Why do you think that "even the placebo patients improved" in the double blind?
7)van der Kolk states “ if they [antidepressants] were as effective as have been led to believe, depression should by now have become a minor issue in our society”. Discuss why or why not you agree with this statement.
8)Do you believe in the four fundamental truths ({1}our capacity to destroy one another is matched by our capacity to heal one another. Restoring relationships and community is central to restoring well-being; {2} language gives us the power to change ourselves and others by communicating our experiences, helping us to define what we know, and finding a common sense of meaning; {3} we have the ability to regulate our own physiology, including some of the so-called involuntary functions of the body and brain, through such basic activities as breathing, moving, and touching: and {4} we can change social conditions to create environments in which children and adults can feel safe and where they can thrive.) ? Which ones? Discuss why or why not.