87 of 88 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Curing PTSD nonverbally, October 25, 2008
This review is from: The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process: Transcend Your Toughest Times (Paperback)
I have two military sons that have served in Bosnia and IRAQ. Both have returned with stong symptoms of PTSD but were unwilling to seek out professional pshychological help. They will not discuss their war time experiences with anyone. After hearing about Dr Berceli's Trauma Release Process and learning that physical exercises were the key, not years of verbal dialogue with therapists, I immediately ordered books for my entire family. Although we have all benefitted greatly from the exercises it was the psychological improvement of both military sons that was absolutely astounding. Being soldiers, they had no problem doing the exercises and both saw improvements within weeks. What a miracle! They continue to do the exercises and are amazed at the results. I can not thank Dr. Berceli enough for bringing peace back into their lives.
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71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The New Wonder 'Drug': Trauma Release Exercises, November 3, 2008
This review is from: The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process: Transcend Your Toughest Times (Paperback)
As a clinical psychologist, I have been trained to believe that if we assist the client with changing the way that they think, they will change the way that they feel. In essence, the mind can be taught to control the stress and tension of the body. Dr. Berceli provides convincing theory to support the contention that this is not a viable first line intervention for those who have experienced significant stress or trauma. In these circumstances, the body freezes and the resulting physical tension prevents the emotional tension from being released, which maintains the negative thought patterns. Consequently, to attempt the release of physical tension by talking about it, is likely to be a very slow process. I was struck by the truth of this from my own experience with my clients who have suffered from chronic stress and/or trauma.
Dr. Berceli's book offers a simple self-help solution. He has developed a set of physical exercises which release deep chronic tension from the body by creating a vibration in the body. I have been teaching the exercises to my clients and they are consistently reporting an increase in the relaxation response, deeper breathing, increased energy, better sleep, and significantly fewer negative thoughts. In essence, as they are thawing the physical tension, their thoughts are also thawing, thereby permitting easier access to rational thinking. They are healing their minds by first releasing the tension from their body. By using this intervention as the starting point with chronically stressed clients, I am noticing a significant decrease in the number of reported symptoms and an increase in feelings of well-being. It is a therapeutic short-cut to healing!
Don't be fooled by the title of this book. You do not need to have experienced trauma to benefit from the technique. In fact, if you are stressed and no matter how many times you talk about it, the tension continues to be felt, these exercises are for you. In my experience, the sooner we take the time to learn and practice them, the more alive and healthier we will feel. Joan Wright, PhD Psych.
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74 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For myself and adopted child, December 10, 2008
This review is from: The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process: Transcend Your Toughest Times (Paperback)
I am using these exercises to relieve my own stress and "soft trauma" of adopting a child from Russia. I also am adapting these exercises for my son who is 6 years old.
I have done the TREs about 10 times for myself now and wow, can't believe the relief I feel. It's like an after massage "glow" that last for a couple of days until I do the next exercise. This is helping me be a better person and calmer parent.
I believe that my son also carries within his body the trauma of his early beginnings of being separated from his birthmother and being in an orphanage for 6 months. I am adapting the exercises to keep my son's
attention. I am trying some creative ways to do this:
- naming the exercises "swaying tree", "flamingo" "waterfall"
- adding tempo by counting by the days of the week/months, singing twinkle,twinkle, little star, reciting a bible verse;
-using 6 beads and a bowl to count down the exercises.
-using a visual timer on the last two (longest) exercises so he knows how much longer the exercise will be.
The first time I did these with my son, it was a bit chaotic because he didn't know what to expect. The second time, he did start to tremor (we call it wiggling) a bit and said "wow, that feels really good."
It wasn't until the 3rd time that it all came together for him. His
tremors were very slight, but after about 10 minutes, he said "Mom, I
feel really tired." That night he fell asleep in 10 minutes---usually takes him 45 minutes because of overarousal, and he slept through the whole night! He told me in the morning that he had a really happy dream during the night.
The fourth time I did the exercises, at the very end when he put his feet forward to finish the tremors, he fell asleep for 5 minutes. He was totally relaxed. We have done many therapies, but I have never seen that kind of result.
For about 24-36 hours after the exercises I can tell that he is much calmer and not as anxious or angry. We are doing the exercises every other day and I am hopefull that they will systematically heal the past and the affects will be long lasting. I am sure it will take some time and we will be doing tune ups after the more intense beginning phase.
When you think about trauma, it comes in so many forms that I believe these exercises have great potential of being adapted for adoptive parents and children.
Rene Campagna
Portland, Oregon
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