The Impact of Childhood Trauma
I’ve spent decades helping people heal from stress and trauma. Through my work at Kaiser Permanente, where I collaborated with Dr. Vincent Felitti on the treatment side of the groundbreaking ACE Study, I've seen how childhood trauma can manifest as chronic stress, affecting both mental and physical health.
Practical Tools for Healing
In my book Less Stress Now, I share several fundamental techniques to help anyone begin their healing journey. One of the most powerful is "Going to the Movies." This technique lets you step back from overwhelming emotions and gain a new perspective on challenging situations.
Here’s a quick peek into how it works:
Imagine yourself sitting in a movie theater, watching the story of your life unfold on screen. In the middle of the theater sits your Inner Critic – that judgmental voice we all carry. But in the very last row sits your wisest, truest self – the part of you that can observe with compassion and understanding. By mentally moving to that back row, you can view your struggles with greater clarity and less emotional charge.
Creating Safety in the Healing Process
Another vital technique involves what I call the "Exit Strategy." When working through trauma, sometimes emotions can become overwhelming. The Exit Strategy is simple but effective: focus on your breath. Remember that you can breathe your way through anything. This technique provides a safety valve when memories or feelings become too intense, allowing you to pause and regulate your nervous system before continuing your healing work.
Bringing Healing into the Digital Age
These tools have helped countless individuals in my practice. However, I've always been driven to find ways to make effective trauma-healing techniques more accessible to those who need them most. This passion led to developing our newest initiative: the Enlightn™ app.
Enlightn™ represents the evolution of these proven clinical methods into a digital format available whenever and wherever you need support. The app is specifically designed to help people address the root causes of their stress, anxiety, and depression – particularly those stemming from ACEs.
A Comprehensive Approach to Trauma Recovery
What makes Enlightn™ unique is its comprehensive approach to healing. Rather than just offering surface-level stress management, it provides tools to help users understand and process their ACE-related trauma. The app includes the validated ACE assessment developed by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente and personalized therapeutic techniques based on your specific experiences and needs.
For healthcare providers and organizations working with trauma-informed care, Enlightn™ is a valuable extension of their practice. It offers real-time support between sessions, helping clients maintain progress and develop healthy coping mechanisms. The app's dashboard provides insights into company culture and team well-being, making it a powerful tool for organizations committed to supporting employee mental health.
Hope for Healing
Dr. Deepak Chopra noted that our approach is "effective and well-balanced." We've taken great care to ensure that the app creates a safe, private space for healing while maintaining the human element crucial in trauma work.
In my decades of practice, I've learned that healing from ACEs is possible but requires the right tools, support, and understanding. Whether through the techniques in "Less Stress Now" or the digital support of Enlightn™, my mission remains to help people transform their trauma into growth and their stress into strength.
To learn more about how Enlightn™ can support your healing journey or benefit your organization, visit our website to sign up for updates about the app's release.
Remember, no matter what adversities you've faced, healing is possible. Sometimes, it's just about having the right tools in your hands.
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