OUR APPROACH
OUR APPROACH
METHODOLOGY
For many years, the fields of psychology and psychiatry have classified trauma as a psychological or mental health issue. Overwhelming evidence produced in the last 30 years has broadened the field where it is now increasingly understood that if we are not focused on the biological and neurological impacts of trauma, we will be unsuccessful in their treatment strategies. It turns out that the key to healing traumatic symptoms in humans is our physiology.
METHODOLOGY
For many years, the fields of psychology and psychiatry have classified trauma as a psychological or mental health issue. Overwhelming evidence produced in the last 30 years has broadened the field where it is now increasingly understood that if we are not focused on the biological and neurological impacts of trauma, we will be unsuccessful in their treatment strategies. It turns out that the key to healing traumatic symptoms in humans is our physiology.
STRATEGY
To be effective, trauma healing strategies will work with the body. Our principal focus is to assist the individual to process the information that is sent throughout the system in a conscious and aware manner. This moving though the trauma involves mobilizing the energy generated by the trauma response into patterns that do not follow the traumatic cascade of hyper-arousal and dissociation.
We train individuals to recognize when they are becoming symptomatic and to use a variety of tools to modify their responses. Over time, the pathways that have been neglected due to the traumatic state can be put back to use. Information can then be sent to the neocortex and other regions of the brain, while behavioral, thoughtful, emotional and creative capacities once lost can be restored. Fear and hyper arousal can be deeply reduced.
Because human beings do not naturally process and work through the massive energy charge created by traumatic events, we provide an entire system of training that supports the precise processing of traumatic energy. Over time, what once was impossible becomes increasingly natural and instinctive. From this new foundation in the body, mind and spirit, we then transition our participants into economic, education and training opportunities that empower a deep sense of purpose and belonging in the world.
STRATEGY
To be effective, trauma healing strategies will work with the body. Our principal focus is to assist the individual to process the information that is sent throughout the system in a conscious and aware manner. This moving though the trauma involves mobilizing the energy generated by the trauma response into patterns that do not follow the traumatic cascade of hyper-arousal and dissociation.
We train individuals to recognize when they are becoming symptomatic and to use a variety of tools to modify their responses. Over time, the pathways that have been neglected due to the traumatic state can be put back to use. Information can then be sent to the neocortex and other regions of the brain, while behavioral, thoughtful, emotional and creative capacities once lost can be restored. Fear and hyper arousal can be deeply reduced.
Because human beings do not naturally process and work through the massive energy charge created by traumatic events, we provide an entire system of training that supports the precise processing of traumatic energy. Over time, what once was impossible becomes increasingly natural and instinctive. From this new foundation in the body, mind and spirit, we then transition our participants into economic, education and training opportunities that empower a deep sense of purpose and belonging in the world.
WHAT WE DO
WHAT WE DO
We provide a unified, holistic and empirically-based system of trauma healing solutions designed to transform the current tragic landscape for former service members suffering from helplessness, rage and collapse to one overflowing with stories of healing, self-confidence and a renewed sense of purpose.
As we progress in our research and education, while demonstrating replicable results, we will scale both our methodology and process to the broader service member community, the general public and to the US and UK military.
We provide a unified, holistic and empirically-based system of trauma healing solutions designed to transform the current tragic landscape for former service members suffering from helplessness, rage and collapse to one overflowing with stories of healing, self-confidence and a renewed sense of purpose.
As we progress in our research and education, while demonstrating replicable results, we will scale both our methodology and process to the broader service member community, the general public and to the US and UK military.
HOW WE WORK
Everything we do is taught in a manner designed to catalyze a rapid integration of new information and new ways of thinking in the mind and expanding through the body. With the introduction of each new tool and practice, we move through four stages: Explain, Demonstrate, Imitate and Practice. This approach builds immediate confidence, and supports deeper integration with the level of accelerated healing that is required when dealing with the severe and often debilitating impacts of trauma.
Everything we do is taught in a manner designed to catalyze a rapid integration of new information and new ways of thinking in the mind and expanding through the body. With the introduction of each new tool and practice, we move through four stages: Explain, Demonstrate, Imitate and Practice. This approach builds immediate confidence, and supports deeper integration with the level of accelerated healing that is required when dealing with the severe and often debilitating impacts of trauma.
Programming Structure:
Three in person retreat intensives over the six month period, at two month intervals. Weekly one-on-one remote session per week for each participant as baseline Each participant will be paired with a healing buddy to connect with as needed. Training space will be provided that participants can access 24/7 for the duration of the program.
Programming Structure:
Three in person retreat intensives over the six month period, at two month intervals. Weekly one-on-one remote session per week for each participant as baseline Each participant will be paired with a healing buddy to connect with as needed. Training space will be provided that participants can access 24/7 for the duration of the program.
Phase One (8 weeks):
Freedom / Spaciousness
In Phase One we build the capacity to make different choices under the pressure of trauma. We develop more agility and ability to move through fear, terror and debilitating negative thinking. We carve out more space in our minds and in our bodies.
We learn the symptoms of trauma, name them, and develop a deep sensitivity to their movement in our bodies. We begin to master a grouping of exercises that generate a felt sense of what is happening in our bodies, particularly when we are under pressure and stress. We then learn to use this felt sense to redirect trauma energy in our body.
We learn a new language that supports our growth in understanding and helps us to articulate what is happening to us in trauma to others, especially those closest to us.
Phase Three (8 weeks):
Alignment / Transformation
In phase three, we can begin to stand in alignment with the world in a way that felt impossible 4 months ago. Now that we have begun to experience alignment, both internally and externally, we can begin to expand our will and intention into the world.
Just as a a person suffering from trauma can lose higher brain functioning, especially under pressure, so too can this person lose the functioning of the will and intention. When a body is in a near constant state of hyper arousal, fight, flight, and freeze, the muscles of will and intention atrophy and become inaccessible.
With the will and intention back on line, we can begin to experience a level of confidence we have likely never felt before; both in ourselves and in the world. Our bodies are getting healthy again, our minds more clear and our internal dialogue significantly less aggressive and negative. We leverage all this new capacity to chart a course into the future that feels expansive and transformative.
Phase Two (8 weeks): Threshold
Now that we have some training under our belts, we can prepare to make the leap from survival to possibility. After years, and sometimes decades, of living in a near constant fight or flight state of hyper stress we are in a position to envision a new set of possibilities for our lives.
It is hard to overstate the beauty and power that emerges from this transition. We start to experience a growing sense of opportunity for growth in the body and mind. We even begin to develop a tentative state of optimism about the future. We navigate this movement into a greater field of future possibility together, as a group, in solidarity and trust.
Special forces and special operations service members are well versed in thresholds – that moment where engagement begins – and in our case we cross a different kind of threshold where we start to envision what we can accomplish in the world unburdened by our trauma.
Phase One (8 weeks):
Freedom / Spaciousness
In Phase One we build the capacity to make different choices under the pressure of trauma. We develop more agility and ability to move through fear, terror and debilitating negative thinking. We carve out more space in our minds and in our bodies.
We learn the symptoms of trauma, name them, and develop a deep sensitivity to their movement in our bodies. We begin to master a grouping of exercises that generate a felt sense of what is happening in our bodies, particularly when we are under pressure and stress. We then learn to use this felt sense to redirect trauma energy in our body.
We learn a new language that supports our growth in understanding and helps us to articulate what is happening to us in trauma to others, especially those closest to us.
Phase Three (8 weeks):
Alignment / Transformation
In phase three, we can begin to stand in alignment with the world in a way that felt impossible 4 months ago. Now that we have begun to experience alignment, both internally and externally, we can begin to expand our will and intention into the world.
Just as a a person suffering from trauma can lose higher brain functioning, especially under pressure, so too can this person lose the functioning of the will and intention. When a body is in a near constant state of hyper arousal, fight, flight, and freeze, the muscles of will and intention atrophy and become inaccessible.
With the will and intention back on line, we can begin to experience a level of confidence we have likely never felt before; both in ourselves and in the world. Our bodies are getting healthy again, our minds more clear and our internal dialogue significantly less aggressive and negative. We leverage all this new capacity to chart a course into the future that feels expansive and transformative.
Phase Two (8 weeks): Threshold
Now that we have some training under our belts, we can prepare to make the leap from survival to possibility. After years, and sometimes decades, of living in a near constant fight or flight state of hyper stress we are in a position to envision a new set of possibilities for our lives.
It is hard to overstate the beauty and power that emerges from this transition. We start to experience a growing sense of opportunity for growth in the body and mind. We even begin to develop a tentative state of optimism about the future. We navigate this movement into a greater field of future possibility together, as a group, in solidarity and trust.
Special forces and special operations service members are well versed in thresholds – that moment where engagement begins – and in our case we cross a different kind of threshold where we start to envision what we can accomplish in the world unburdened by our trauma.
Phase One (8 weeks):
Freedom / Spaciousness
In Phase One we build the capacity to make different choices under the pressure of trauma. We develop more agility and ability to move through fear, terror and debilitating negative thinking. We carve out more space in our minds and in our bodies.
We learn the symptoms of trauma, name them, and develop a deep sensitivity to their movement in our bodies. We begin to master a grouping of exercises that generate a felt sense of what is happening in our bodies, particularly when we are under pressure and stress. We then learn to use this felt sense to redirect trauma energy in our body.
We learn a new language that supports our growth in understanding and helps us to articulate what is happening to us in trauma to others, especially those closest to us.
Phase Two (8 weeks): Threshold
Now that we have some training under our belts, we can prepare to make the leap from survival to possibility. After years, and sometimes decades, of living in a near constant fight or flight state of hyper stress we are in a position to envision a new set of possibilities for our lives.
It is hard to overstate the beauty and power that emerges from this transition. We start to experience a growing sense of opportunity for growth in the body and mind. We even begin to develop a tentative state of optimism about the future. We navigate this movement into a greater field of future possibility together, as a group, in solidarity and trust.
Special forces and special operations service members are well versed in thresholds – that moment where engagement begins – and in our case we cross a different kind of threshold where we start to envision what we can accomplish in the world unburdened by our trauma.
Phase Three (8 weeks):
Alignment / Transformation
In phase three, we can begin to stand in alignment with the world in a way that felt impossible 4 months ago. Now that we have begun to experience alignment, both internally and externally, we can begin to expand our will and intention into the world.
Just as a a person suffering from trauma can lose higher brain functioning, especially under pressure, so too can this person lose the functioning of the will and intention. When a body is in a near constant state of hyper arousal, fight, flight, and freeze, the muscles of will and intention atrophy and become inaccessible.
With the will and intention back on line, we can begin to experience a level of confidence we have likely never felt before; both in ourselves and in the world. Our bodies are getting healthy again, our minds more clear and our internal dialogue significantly less aggressive and negative. We leverage all this new capacity to chart a course into the future that feels expansive and transformative.
CORE TRAINING ARCHITECTURE
We are focused upon mastery and self-cultivation. The evolution of awareness and healing is the outcome of practices that challenge us physically, mentally and emotionally. The training is built upon 5 pillars or core principles that weave into all three phases of the curriculum.
We are focused upon mastery and self-cultivation. The evolution of awareness and healing is the outcome of practices that challenge us physically, mentally and emotionally. The training is built upon 5 pillars or core principles that weave into all three phases of the curriculum.
RIGHT
STRUCTURE.
Without the proper foundation, no structure can stand. Without the right physical, emotional, and intellectual structure, humans cannot excel. We begin with tools that teach us the fundamentals of right structure – physically, emotionally and mentally – in the most decisive, replicable, and efficient of ways.
SUPERIOR
FOCUS.
True focus takes place in the neurophysiology, not only in the brain. A weak body produces a weak mind that in turn produces a weak ability to focus. The ability to expand into complexity, ambiguity and fear is the key to health.
BREATHE.
Rare is the person who knows how to bring oxygen into their body to support focus and an expanded ability to tolerate ambiguity, uncertainty, tension, and conflict. Most bodies are collapsed and tight. Heightened levels of oxygen and energy are required to work skillfully with conflict, fear and stress so that new fields of possibilities may emerge.
POWER.
If thought and movement are tight, relationships will be restricted. Solidarity and trust will be limited. Creativity will be constrained. If thoughts and movements are soft, leadership will be hollow. Presence lacks authentic power. We strive to strike the perfect balance between activity and relaxation, assertiveness and reflection, leading and following.
CULTIVATE
SPIRIT.
The measure of human beings is the quality of spirit. The look in their eyes. The health in their body. The poise in their approach. The elevation of their imagination. Their presence in the moment. To become outstanding in spirit is the ultimate goal.
THE ART & CHALLENGE OF TRAUMA HEALING
THE ART & CHALLENGE OF TRAUMA HEALING
WHAT WE
CAN’T FACE
LOOKS FOR US
ANYWAYS
– John Trudell
Trauma healing work is one of the most important and daunting challenges society faces today. There is no silver bullet, and each situation is unique and requires a creative and holistic set of interventions. Not only is trauma endemic with former military service members, it is also widespread throughout society.
As practitioners in the trauma space, we consider that many of society’s ailments – depression, anxiety, fear, rage, violence, polarity, ideology and crippling stress – have unresolved trauma as their root cause. We believe that as the trauma undermining society, community, family and individuals is healed, much of what ails us as a global community will begin to favorably evolve.
At the root, trauma healing shines an extremely disturbing light into society, making visible a level of violence and harm difficult to accept, let alone look at. This truth has made work in the space, particularly innovative practice and research, historically extremely difficult to fund, disseminate and scale.
In this context, it is best to look at the act of healing trauma as part art, part science and part martial art. When we seek to heal our traumas we open ourselves to everything in the world: the past and the future, evil and goodness, power and powerlessness, support and attack. In this way, we see trauma healing as a great and noble path requiring courage, vision and relentless perseverance.
WHAT WE CAN’T FACE
LOOKS FOR US ANYWAYS
– John Trudell
Trauma healing work is one of the most important and daunting challenges society faces today. There is no silver bullet, and each situation is unique and requires a creative and holistic set of interventions. Not only is trauma endemic with former military service members, it is also widespread throughout society.
As practitioners in the trauma space, we consider that many of society’s ailments – depression, anxiety, fear, rage, violence, polarity, ideology and crippling stress – have unresolved trauma as their root cause. We believe that as the trauma undermining society, community, family and individuals is healed, much of what ails us as a global community will begin to favorably evolve.
At the root, trauma healing shines an extremely disturbing light into society, making visible a level of violence and harm difficult to accept, let alone look at. This truth has made work in the space, particularly innovative practice and research, historically extremely difficult to fund, disseminate and scale.
In this context, it is best to look at the act of healing trauma as part art, part science and part martial art. When we seek to heal our traumas we open ourselves to everything in the world: the past and the future, evil and goodness, power and powerlessness, support and attack. In this way, we see trauma healing as a great and noble path requiring courage, vision and relentless perseverance.
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