Acupuncture Treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Transcription

1 Force Health Protection Conference Acupuncture Treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder August, 2008 Alaine D. Duncan, M.Ac., L.Ac., Dipl.Ac.

2 Disclaimer Statement The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author's and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs or the U.S. Government.

3 Our Qi Is With Us All The Time Qi is the energy behind: our muscle movements our thoughts our prayers. Qi helps us cope, find comfort, heal.

4 Qi Helps Us Maintain Health Qi provides power necessary for Growth Development Movement Maintenance of body temperature Protection against illness Overall regulation of the body Our health is influenced by the quality, quantity and balance of our qi.

5 Acupuncture Maximizes Our Healing Capacities Patients look to acupuncture for help to find: Quiet for jangled nerves Clarity for navigating the obstacles in their process Compassion for themselves and others Support for digesting the gristle that remains from difficult life memories Inspiration that helps them let go.

6 My Thanks To Dr. Engel Assessing Acupuncturist Dr. Engel s Acupuncture and PTSD Study, Deployment Health Clinical Center, Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Staff Acupuncturist War-Related Illness and Injury Study Center, Washington, DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center Executive Director Crossings HealingWorks

7 Crossings HealingWorks To bring ancient healing traditions that restore and renew the body mind spirit of people touched by trauma creating peace for one family, one community, one world one person at a time.

8 Restore & Renew Wellness Clinic Our Restore & Renew Wellness Clinic has treated over 1,000 WRAMC staff with complementary medicine, helping them cope with compassion fatigue. We offer reduced fee, sliding scale services to members of the military, their families and caregivers in our private practices.

9 Acupuncture Is Energy Medicine Acupuncture nourishes, soothes transforms, unwinds, and supports the body s qi by stimulating discrete points on the surface of the skin with needles.

10 Qi Moves With Rhythm, Inside A Boundary YANG sympathetic Day, summer Awake and alert parasympathetic Rest and digest Night, winter YIN

11 Trauma Releases A Shock Wave Stuck On sympathetic Day, summer Night, winter Awake and alert Rest and digest Stuck Off

12 Trauma Creates A Massive Disruption To Our Qi Every aspect of our body, mind, and spirit is affected: Our organs, our tissues, our cells Our thinking, cognition and mental focus Our fundamental experience of God

13 Acupuncture Restores Balance Our Qi can remain disturbed even after our minds have fully evaluated a traumatic experience. Disturbed Qi will: engage in re-enactment behaviors get triggered by remotely similar circumstances wreck havoc with sleep, digestion, autoimmune function and pain patterns sometimes years after a traumatic event.

14 Our Biological Inheritance Our response has nothing to do with valor, honor, dignity or choice it s the Qi we ve been given.

15 We Are Hard Wired To Survive Acupuncture accesses the primitive impulses that inform our fight, flight, and freeze responses functions modern neuro-science would put in the brain stem.

16 Our Qi s Natural Vector Is Towards Balance Acupuncture helps restore balance, creating a foundation for the body s own healing capacity to flourish. Acupuncture tends our whole body, mind and spirit.

17 Acupuncturists Play Well With Others Acupuncture often improves cognition, helping psychotherapy clients to integrate and embody their insights. Acupuncture brings Qi to physical injuries and can support the work of physical therapists. Acupuncture may help mitigate side effects of necessary medications. Some patients are able to reduce or eliminate medications for sleep or pain for example.

18 Principles for Acupuncture Treatment of PTSD 1. The acupuncturist s presence and relationship are critical elements to healing PTSD. It is not enough to choose the right points; a relationship needs to be created, the right points need to be offered, and they need to be offered at the right time. 1.

19 Principles For Acupuncture Treatment Of PTSD 2. Acupuncture can help reconnect broken or disturbed pathways. It works below the level of cognition and helps people feel more embodied, and become more present and self-aware. It is a helpful adjunct to other therapies. 2.

20 Principles For Acupuncture Treatment Of PTSD 3. PTSD creates a massive disorganization in a person. Naming people s symptoms as disorganization and affirming their body s capacity to restore order creates a foundation they can build healing on. The increased order, balance, and coherency that acupuncture brings transforms trauma symptoms. 3.

21 Principles For Acupuncture Treatment Of PTSD 4. PTSD is a vibrational illness. Acupuncture is vibrational medicine. Acupuncture speaks the same language as PTSD -- it brings ordered Qi to disordered Qi. Helping individuals with trauma symptoms brings a healing vibration to their families and friends also. 4.

22 Presence and Relationship Are Key 1. The acupuncturist s presence and relationship are critical elements to healing PTSD. It is not enough to choose the right points; a relationship needs to be created, the right points need to be offered, and they need to be offered at the right time. 1.

23 Finding Safety Soothes Stuck Fight Responses The Liver and Gall Bladder Meridians mediate the fight response and help us see new possibilities. Gall Bladder Meridian Liver Meridian 1.

24 Rage and Terror Are Always Present The Kidney and Bladder Meridians mediate the freeze response and our sense of safety. Bladder Meridian Kidney Meridian 1.

25 The Heart Spirit Shines Through The Eyes Peace in our hearts brings peace to our minds. 1.

26 Acupuncture Helps Connect What s Disconnected 2. Acupuncture can help reconnect broken or disturbed pathways. It works below the level of cognition and helps people feel more embodied, and become more present and self-aware. It is a helpful adjunct to other therapies. 2.

27 The Gift of Dissociation Acupuncturists appreciate Qi s gift of dissociation. It stops energy from coming through when there is a risk of burning our mind to the ground. Heart Meridian Governor Vessel Meridian 2.

28 Healing Is A Mystery Did acupuncture help with the trauma symptoms associated with his head injury? Did acupuncture help with the organic injury to his brain tissue? Did acupuncture simply bring order to his Qi, making the other therapies he was using more effective? 2.

29 Healing Is Built On Education And Hope 3. PTSD creates a massive disorganization in a person. 3. Naming people s symptoms as disorganization and affirming their body s capacity to restore order creates a foundation they can build healing on. The increased order, balance, and coherency that acupuncture brings transforms trauma symptoms.

30 Naming Internal Chaos As Disorganized Qi Stuck On 3. sympathetic Day, summer Night, winter Awake and alert parasympathetic Rest and digest Stuck Off

31 Clients Can Work With Their Qi Between Sessions 3. Stuck On sympathetic Day, summer Night, winter Awake and alert Rest and Digest Stuck Off

32 There s A More Solid Person Navigating Now 3. My states come and go, I m more aware of them. I can slow myself down and pull myself back into my zone. YANG sympathetic Day, summer parasympathetic Awake and alert Rest and digest Night, winter YIN

33 PTSD Is Vibrational Illness 4. PTSD is a vibrational illness. Acupuncture is vibrational medicine. Acupuncture speaks the same language as PTSD -- it brings ordered Qi to disordered Qi. Helping individuals with trauma symptoms brings a healing vibration to their families and friends also. 4.

34 Acupuncture Brings Ordered Qi To Disordered Qi Ear-acupuncture: helps people sleep and think more clearly increases energy and ability to focus helps people tap into their own reserves for balance and rejuvenation initiates a soothing process that helps people find quiet and comfort inside 4.

35 Group Ear Acupuncture Sympathetic - for balance in the autonomic nervous system Shen Men - for settling and bringing comfort to the heart and to the mind Kidney - to warm a freeze response and help people find a sense of safety in themselves Liver - to soften anger, help the eyes see new possibilities, to unwind the fight response Hippocampus - to ease the mind s grip on traumatic memory to bring relief to over-charged sensate memories that manifest as nightmares and flashbacks complete with odors and images. 4.

36 Acupuncture Is Vibrational Medicine What is better than: helping a 16-year-old girl have a meaningful relationship with her Dad keeping a veteran out of jail helping a transient community on a subway car get where they want to go in peace keeping a veteran off the front pages of the newspaper? 4.

37 Acupuncture Can Help Soldiers Get Home Safe Acupuncture, by balancing and tending Qi, helps: the mind find a place to rest the body release trauma s imprint the spirit come back home. We help Soldiers get home safe.

38 My Thanks Robert Duggan, M.Ac., L.Ac., and the faculty of the TAI Sophia Institute who taught me how to be an acupuncturist. Kathy Kain, RMT, and the faculty of the Foundation for Human Enrichment who taught me basic neurophysiology and trauma healing. Bonnie Benetato, Ph.D., Associate Director, War-Related Illness and Injury Study Center, Washington, DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center who directs their Complementary and Alternative Medicine program. Gail Chinoy, MSN, RNC, Program Director, and all my colleagues of the Restore & Renew Wellness Clinic at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

39 Contact Information Alaine D. Duncan, M.Ac., L.Ac., Dipl.Ac. Executive Director, Crossings HealingWorks x Fenton Street, Suite 202 Silver Spring, MD 20910