Hippocampus

The hippocampus is responsible for the formation, organisation, storage and retrieval of memories and coverts them from short-term to long term. Trauma disrupts this by preventing the process leaving the memories to remain in an activated short-term state which prevents them being properly integrated so their effects diminish. In some cases the hippocampus has been shown to shrink which causes the ability to discriminate between past and present experiences or interpret environmental contexts correctly. We can often see this in short term memory of young children and their ability to retain information.

During trauma we cannot access our Neo-cortex (thinking brain) which is in charge of executive functioning, impulse control, working memory and cognitive flexibility. Trauma becomes stored in the Limbic System which controls our survival behaviours, emotional expression, and instinctive defences and has a profound influence on the way memories are processed. The activation of our instinctual reflex feels danger and withdraws blood from the brain stem or Reptilian Brain which manages all vital bodily functions such as heart rate, breathing, temperature and balance. The Reptilian overrides the whole brain for survival. Trauma takes the neurological functioning away to feel safe.

The Neural Circuitry of Stress

The hippocampus, the pre-frontal cortex and the amygdala complete the neural circuitry of stress.

The body holds onto trauma by:

Emotional dysregulation – self-harm, anger
Altered attention & consciousness – Dissociation Amnesia, spacing out
Somatic Distress – Headaches, nausea, inflammation and pain
Hyper-Arousal – On the edge, jumpy, irritable, trouble sleeping
Avoidance – Avoiding reminders and triggers
Re-experiencing – Nightmares, flashbacks
Affected belief systems – Loss of faith, negative cognitions
Relationship problems – As above

Treatments we offer (NHS approved treatment for Trauma)

EMDR (Eye-movement De-sensitisation Re-Processing) is one of the approved psychotherapy treatments for trauma. It works by stabilisation, emotional regulation which enables the brain to come back ‘online’, it resumes blood flow to the brain and re-processes the event through bilateral stimulation to assimilate the memory to break the connection of the emotional charge of the event. An EMDR psychotherapist will conduct a robust assessment to ascertain which part of the brain has been affected and an individual treatment plan developed which is unique to each person.

EMDR recognises that mental health diagnoses are symptom clusters and layers of trauma. An EMDR psychotherapist will use the DSM 5 PTSD checklist amongst many other psychological assessment tools.

References: (Integrated Trauma Solutions Ltd 2021)

Primary Care Network Approval

We are pleased to say that we are an approved organisation working in conjunction with Living Well North Yorkshire who are the contracted provider for the four Primary Care Networks across Harrogate and Rural District to deliver a social prescribing service across seventeen GP Practices. Social prescribing (also known as community referral) allows GPs, nurses and other healthcare workers to signpost patients to support outside of health services, through community organisations, local support groups and holistic hubs. Social prescribing can be accessed through self-referral, mental health and social care services, pharmacists and hospitals.

Primary Care Networks help integrate primary care with secondary and community services, and bridge a gap between general practice and emerging Integrated Care Systems. GP practices are working together with community, mental health, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services in their local areas in groups of practices known as primary care networks (PCNs). PCNs build on existing primary care services and enable greater provision of proactive, personalised, coordinated and more integrated health and social care for people close to home. Clinicians describe this as a change from reactively providing appointments to proactively caring for the people and communities they serve.

Trauma-informed Workshops – Online, Ripon or In house

We are offering a 2 hour trauma-informed workshops for anyone who would like to learn more about how trauma affects behaviour, the brain and the body. We aim to inform around the neurobiology of trauma, symptoms and behaviour, assessment, how to support someone living with the effects of trauma and how to avoid re-traumatisation. Behavioural symptoms (not exclusive) such as hyper or hypo-arousal, self-harm, OCDs, eating disorders or disordered eating, unhealthy coping mechanisms, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, insomnia, anger, violence, withdrawal and feeling stuck.

Useful Reading and Courses

• The Body Keeps The Score – Bessel Van Der Kolk
• The Fawn Response in Complex PTSD
• How to get passed your past – Francine Shapiro
• The Compassionate Mind Approach to Recovering from Trauma
• The Body Remembers by Babette Rothschild
• When the Body says No Dr. Gabor Mate
  
• The Molecules of Emotion by Candice Pert
• Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve by Stanley Rosenberg

• The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity by Nadine Harris Burke

• It’s All in Your Head by Suzanne O’Sullivan

• What Happened to You? – Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey
• Nobody is Broken – Lucinda Gordon Lennox
• The Myth of Normal – Dr. Gabor Mate and Daniel Mate
• Dr. Karen Treisman books and resources
• Waking The Tiger – Peter Levine
• Behind The Mask – Elizabeth Shane (poetry speaking out around child sexual abuse)
• Rewire Therapy online course
• Palouse Mindfulness free online 8 week course (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction)