Download: CS-For-Trauma (33)
Not only can trauma be healed, but with appropriate guidance and support, it can be transformative. Trauma has the potential to be one of the most significant forces for psychological, social and spiritual awakening and evolution.
Peter A Levine, Waking the Tiger
Although of benefit to all people no matter their life circumstance, CS is very effective when used as a Therapeutic tool. For many of the most disadvantaged people in our society the simple act of communicating with others is a difficult and traumatic experience. Building on the use of Six Creative Elements, Circular Sounds uses many of the same techniques to develop healthy social skills in those suffering the impact of trauma, physical displacement or poverty. It leads participants through a cumulative experience aimed at lessening the negative effects of their life circumstance, as well as increasing their ability to conceive of, and to create, positive alternatives. Discovering a deeper understanding of the way they are triggered by the behaviours of others, participants learn skills to enable them to diffuse situations arising from perceived threat and misunderstanding. Playing and creating in a group demonstrates that interaction with others can be a pleasurable experience rather than a traumatic one and that it can lead to increased happiness through co-operation. This in turn leads to a new way of viewing situations and empowers participants to make healthier choices in the way they live their lives.
THE CIRCULAR SOUNDS PROCESS
The CS Process answers the question “Is there another way to look at this” by inviting you to apply it to any aspect of your life that challenges or holds you back. With the use of our six elements
LANGUAGE – COLOUR – SHAPE – SOUND – MOVEMENT – FEELINGS
you explore these challenges by transforming them from one element to the other through different creative media. This enables you to gain new insights with each successive activity. These include:
Guided imagery – visualisation and relaxation techniques access thoughts and ideas you never knew you had.
Games – assimilate new skills and ideas through play and laughter, relaxing the nervous system so that creativity flows.
Mandala – uses shape and colour to draw upon inner awareness and represent the creative flow of ideas by literally building your transformation within the circle before you.
Exploring as a group
The focus of this process is individual exploration, but a great part of the value of CS is that this occurs in a group setting, allowing you to experience your creative contribution in successive levels of interaction with others. We work with the premise that action is fundamental to learning and once you have experimented with bringing your skills to a joint activity you will really understand how you can make a difference in the wider world.
An integral component of Therapeutic CS programmes is the availability of helpers to facilitate the small groups and manage the logistics of caring for the needs of the participants during the process. Ideally these would be carers the participants are familiar with from the Organisation we are visiting.
NEEDS MET
People who have been affected by the trauma of violence, physical displacement or poverty often exhibit emotional, psychological and biological effects, which exacerbate social, family and interpersonal difficulties. Unsafe environments foster a belief that open ways of expression are dangerous and can lead to punishment, judgment and criticism, leading people to “act out” in many ways. Whether Children, Teenagers or Adults, people suffering from the affects of trauma are all stuck in modes of reaction that they cannot control.
HOW CIRCULAR SOUNDS WILL MEET THESE NEEDS
Circular Sounds provides both a space and an environment of emotional and psychological freedom within which the participants can experiment in safety and without judgment or criticism. They are given tools that allow different forms of expression that lead them to focus beyond their trauma. For example, guided imagery exercises allow them private access to their emotional states and the power to change them.
People learn with their whole body and all their senses. CS therefore focuses on stimulating the usual five senses as well as on developing an awareness of a sixth sense, the intuitive knowing that every individual has. Throughout the workshop playful exercises and guided imagery are used to provide experiences through all the different senses. This meets the needs of the participants in the following areas:
Biological
The tools used by Circular Sounds – guided imagery, games, music, movement and mandala – have a beneficial effect on the physical manifestations of trauma.
- Games can be used to control hyperactivity and to stimulate those who are depressed;
- Music helps to regulate heart and respiration;
- Rhythmic Movement helps to co-ordinate control over physicality;
- Creating a Mandala stimulates both left and right brain functions, which has a developmental and balancing affect over the use of the body in general.
- Guided Imagery prepares the individual to enjoy the maximum benefit from the above elements by calming the nervous system, slowing the heart rate and regulating the breath. From this state, participants are more able to actively explore their own life stories. Actively changing our stories and telling them in new ways allows us to change our attitudes towards situations that are holding us back, creating a positive feedback into the nervous system, changing ourselves at the cellular level.
Psychological
Our psychological development as creatures with higher cognition may be the reason we as humans find it harder to recover from traumatic events than animals. Complex human emotions such as guilt and shame and cultural conditioning can compound the “fight/flight” responses of anger and fear, creating psychological feedback loops that prevent us discharging trauma energy from our systems. Common psychological symptoms are; lack of trust, loss of self confidence, self belief and self respect, lack of motivation, loss of cognition, de- personalization, poor concentration, avoidance, detachment and depression. CS is particularly effective at addressing the psychological symptoms of trauma through its use of creative arts processes. Work with art can address these issues very directly, not as goals in themselves, but holistically. Trauma fragments and de-personalizes us, whilst work with art reinforces our identity.
Social
Circular Sounds takes place within a group environment and is structured in such a way that it builds from an individual experience to a small group experience to the whole group experience. This takes the participant into a greater awareness of their place in community, but in a way that does not overwhelm. CS provides a space and a place in which fragmented communities may come into harmony with each other and reunite with renewed trust.
PROJECTED OUTCOMES
Despite the trauma of violence, physical displacement and poverty that may be their experience of life, Circular Sounds provides participants with a awareness of alternative ways of being, creating and experiencing the world. This in turn leads to a new way of viewing it and the choices they have. Answering the questions “Is there another way of looking at this?” inspires them to think of other parts of their lives in a different way and make creative choices for change.
