Chapter 10 Finding the Way Home: an Interdisciplinary Perspective on Trauma and Trauma Resolution Practices
In: Where To From Here? Examining Conflict-Related and Relational Interaction TraumaSearch for other papers by Stefanie Marie Margarete Dinkelbach in
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Abstract
This chapter proposes a perspective that focuses on the loss of a sense of connection as an effect of trauma, thereby facilitating a comparison between individual psychology and the micro – and macro-social levels. Studies from a variety of disciplines including neurobiology, psychology, psychotherapy, sociology, and history will be combined to show how a sense of interconnectedness on a personal, social, and collective level can become disturbed by trauma or trauma-like experiences. Interconnectedness on a personal level is facilitated through the ability of the brain to fluently adapt to change, which is disrupted by the persistent and out-of-context nature of traumatic memory. In the group related and societal context it is a sense of social connection and belonging that can become disturbed by experiences of grief, shame, and humiliation as well as by social alienation and dislocation. The link between such disruptions of connectivity and violence shows the need for processes that facilitate a reconnection and a variety of approaches will be discussed ranging from therapy methods to group based and societal interventions including representational processes. Drama productions that use the element of absurdity and ‘Butoh’, a contemporary Japanese dance format, are discussed as examples in this context. Restorative processes that aim to facilitate reconnection through recognition can make a most relevant contribution by turning the disruptive potential of the experience into an opportunity for personal growth and awareness. However, it is argued that a sustainable prevention of retraumatisation can only be achieved through a fundamental change in perspective towards a world-view that is based on a sense of interconnectivity rather than on fear. To revise the fear-based perspective that informs our society and has caused experiences of disconnection that can be traced through European history, Marshall Rosenberg’s concept of Nonviolent Communication is proposed as a possible approach.