HEW research

Tue Mar 30 01:48:01 CDT 2010

Dear Eric:
I really think that all of this is totally in the wrong direction. This is a
way of building a more efficient machine and not anywhere near what or who
we are.

What is desperately needed here is the provision of safe spaces in which
real grieving can take place for the horrible destructiveness of war now and
in the past causing the continued invasion of future generations with that
grief if it is not adequately expressed.

All of the forms of dealing with PTSD are about in one way or another
resolving the overwhelming experiences that can and do continue to haunt the
lives of those who survive both the warriors and the civilians. No where are
we talking about grieving which is what humans are meant to do and do
completely. We are not meant to get better at surviving the horrors of war
and killing.
Indigenous cultures understand this and we are wiping them out left and
right in the name of progress and losing more and more of our connection to
what really matters in life.
I was fully trained in EMDR and was and still am quite adept at dealing with
PTSD as a therapeutic maneuver, however this pails in comparison to what
happens when real serious grief can be expressed so that when you are done,
you look bad, some hair torn, clothes ripped voice hoarse, totally
exhausted. We have forgotten how to do this and need to retrain ourselves in
doing so.
We have been wrenched away from this essential process and unless we find a
way to return this to the forefront in dealing with these wars, they will
continue to invade our lives and the generations after.
As a great beginning, I suggest you listen to the CD of Martin Prechtel
"Grief and Praise." purchaseable here:
http://www.floweringmountain.com/ORDER.html   Prechtel is one of the few
remaining true carriers of the ancient wisdom of our ancestors. The stuff
that makes us human and not like machines that can be tweaked here and there
to do a better job. Soon, we will have better and better robots doing the
fighting and we will continue to suffer even more. We already have some
where young men and women in pleasant sterile surroundings drop bombs or
fire rockets from thousands of miles away while the victims of their video
games suffer horribly and their families are rocked with pain for
generations. Those  operating the machines have become ghosts while alive
and are passing the grief along without ever really touching it.
My best, Bud Weiss
On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Eric Rutberg <ericrutberg at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I am following this discussion with great interest. The following is an
> excerpt from an article I am seeking to get published. I think it pertains
> to this discussion. I welcome your feedback !
>
>  *The Psychobiology of Treatment*
>
>
>
> Informed by a wealth of knowledge about the psychobiology of PTSD, the
> implications for role-play as a form of exposure therapy become better
> defined. van der Kolk (2006) proposes one may unlearn previous conditioning
> by revisiting situations that were previously fear provoking, and act upon
> the stimulus they fear. Currently, Madigan Army Medical Center is in the
> process of fine-tuning a new therapy for combat-related PTSD that involves
> recreating the sites, smells, sounds, and feel of Iraq with the use of a
> virtual reality helmet. “The new technology provides a tool for veterans to
> vividly, yet safely, confront war experiences and allow reintegration of the
> parts of the self that were unable to tolerate the trauma when it originally
> occurred” (Paquette, 2007, para. 3). While virtual reality therapy is being
> fine-tuned and likely unavailable to most, role-play can be an effective
> tool for engaging imagination in a way not dissimilar to that of virtual
> reality technology.
>
> Our inner world is like a virtual reality and action methods enable us to
> externalize or project this virtual reality into the room where we are
> working. Senses are the gateways through which we take in all the
> information that is processed by the brain/body system. Dayton (2006)
> explains, the more senses involved in an experience, the more the brain will
> remember the experience. Role-play allows the repeated and powerful pairing
> of the fear-producing situation with a positive experience of improved
> management of somatic sensations, validation, support and essentially, the
> creation of an alternate memory that brings open-ended tensions to a close.
>
> *The Biology of PTSD*: Using role-play, clinicians may address trauma at a
> biological level by “eliciting the release of endogenous, stress-responsive
> neurohormones, such as cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine (NE),
> oxytocin and endogenous opioids” (van der Kolk, 1994, p. 3). The counselor
> then “assists clients in focusing on the regulation of affective states and
> the experience of intense emotion” (Fosha, 2003, p. 9). To best understand
> the workings of exposure therapy, one must be versed in the biological
> underpinnings of PTSD. PTSD is the result of repeated, autonomic
> misinterpretations of current events with disturbing psychological and
> somatic symptoms ensuing. Specific symptoms can be correlated to the release
> of certain neurohormones or a combination thereof. For instance,
> norepinephrine is an activating agent, responsible for initiating fight,
> flight or freeze behaviors while “cortisol, allows a person to think clearly
> in the midst of a triggered fight, flight or freeze response” (Sturgeon,
> 1999, pt. 2). Sturgeon (1999) cites studies that show the
> hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis may be conditioned to release
> lower levels of cortisol in those who experience a traumatic event. While
> more research is needed, the result of reduced cortisol production and the
> conditioning of the HPA axis, in cases of repeated trauma, is a likely
> explanation for the increased feelings of anxiety in patients with PTSD.
>
> Post-traumatic symptoms such as physical and psychic numbing, fragmented
> memories and dissociation may well be correlated to the conditioned release
> of endogenous opioids dispatched to defend against perceived or real
> emotional or physical pain. This powerful biological reaction occurs at the
> time of the original traumatic event, as well as each time the feared
> memories are triggered. Each time these responses misfire, the conditioned
> response becomes ever more engrained.
>
> *The Psychology of PTSD:* In addition to the mechanical release of
> neurohormones, “alterations in memory form an important part of the clinical
> presentation of patients with PTSD” (Bremner, 1999/2002,para. 5). Beyond
> the reconditioning of an individual's response to anxiety provoking stimuli,
> role-play may directly impact the way one remembers the past trauma. Various
> aspects of memory are processed by different brain structures. “Factual
> memory mainly involves the hippocampal formation whereas the emotional
> component of learning involves the amygdaloid complex” (Desmedt, Garcia, &
> Jaffard, 1998, p. 1). “The architecture of the brain gives the amygdala
> the priviledged position as an emotional sentinel” (Goleman, 1995, p. 17),
> allowing quick response in an emergency. “For individuals diagnosed with
> PTSD the hippocampus and amygdala malfunctions which result in the
> distortion and fragmentation of memories, dissociation and even amnesia”
> (Departments, 2002, p. 1).
>
>             Role-play “gives us the opportunity to suspend (trauma) in
> time, allowing one to study a memory in its concrete form” (Dayton, 1994, p.
> 3). Guided by a clinician, role-play offers an experience that engages the
> many senses, so one can recall memories at the somatic level, as well as the
> opportunity to process the scene on a cognitive level, In their article,
> Nijenhuis, van der Hart and Steele (2004) report patients with PTSD often
> present with cognitive distortions resulting from an inability to integrate
> the facts and implications of a traumatic event. Role-play facilitates the
> recall of memories, emotions or thoughts and integrates them into ones
> personal, current-day narrative. As such, memory becomes as much an act of
> creation as a vestibule for trauma.
>
>
>  ------------------------------
> *From:* T. Treadwell <ttreadwe at grouptalkweb.org>
> *To:* Jenny Wilson <jenny at blennerhassett.gen.nz>
> *Cc:* "list at grouptalkweb.org" <list at grouptalkweb.org>
> *Sent:* Sun, March 28, 2010 9:25:31 PM
> *Subject:* Re: HEW research
>
> ron and jenny
> Have not heard of the research you mentioned.  However, you might want to
> look at this article...it may be the one ?
>
> Kipper, David A. & Ritchie, T. D. (2003). The effectiveness of
> psychodramatic techniques: A meta-analysis. Group Dynamics: Theory,
> Research and Practice, 7, 13-25.
>
> Tom
>
>
> > Hi Ron
> >
> > I have been keeping an eye out for research comparing or combining CBT
> > and Psychodrama for the last year or two (and have searched for these
> > articles on good search engines and databases). I have not seen the
> > research you mention and am really keen to hear about it if someone has
> > a reference. I guess it may not be specifically about psychodrama but
> > more about experiential methods in general. There is a good recent
> > review article supporting the efficacy of experiential therapy methods
> > in general but not comparing it with CBT- I will post the reference once
> > I find it.
> >
> > What is HEW by the way?
> >
> > There are two papers by Hamanci that may be of interest. The 2006
> > research has results that suggest that psychodrama enhances the
> > effectiveness of CBT by increasing motivation and may help prevent
> > relapse.
> >
> >> Hamamci, Z (2002) The effect of integrating psychodrama and cognitive
> >> behaviour therapy on reducing cognitive distortions in interpersonal
> >> relationships. Journal of Group Psychotherapy, Psychodrama & Sociometry,
> >> Spring, 3 -14.
> >> Hamamci, Z. (2006) Integrating psychodrama and cognitive behavioural
> >> therapy to treat moderate depression. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 33,
> >> 199-207.
> >
> > Regards
> > Jenny
> >
> >
> >
> > Ronald Anderson wrote:
> >> Arlene Story, TEP, when speaking with my students 5 or 6 years ago, said
> >> that while doing graduate work, she had come across a research project
> >> from HEW comparing the outcome of experiential methods compared to more
> >> cognitive/behavioral approaches, with preliminary conclusions that using
> >> experiential methods had more efficacy, with more long-lasting
> >> results.    In asking Arlene about where she found that research, as I
> >> couldn't find it online, she protested that when she had just moved to
> >> Florida, to become clinical director at The Refuge, it was somewhere
> >> hidden in boxes she hadn't gotten around to go through yet.
> >>
> >> Is anyone else in our group aware of such a government-sponsored
> >> research project, and where to get hold of it?
> >>
> >> Appreciate.
> >>
> >> Ron Anderson
> >>
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
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> >
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> >
>
>
> Thomas Treadwell        CompSoc - GraphPlot              Computerized
> Dept. of Psychology            \ /                        Sociometry
> West Chester Univ.            __/ \__                  Phone-610-436-2723
> West Chester, Pa.    ttreadwe at grouptalkweb.org        FAX-610-436-2846
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