This session will explore how the brain works and the speed with which it reacts to its surroundings in order to keep us safe. The discussion will focus on how, at times, our brain’s efforts to quickly process information and keep us safe can lead to errors or biases in the ways we experience and understand the world, the predictions we make, and what we focus our attention on.

This session will consider the long- and short-term differences in how stress affects our bodies and explore the brain’s response to fear and threat (e.g., fight, flight, and freeze); the body’s responses associated with a trauma-related disorder; and, the disruptions in our brain’s ability to communicate with our body effectively following the experience of severe trauma (why this happens, its potential consequences, and what we can do about it). 

The discussion will revolve around the different ways in which we can cope with the negative emotional states we might experience when distressed or after trauma. This will include talking about coping mechanisms that might have the unwanted effect of adding to our stress or negatively impacting our health (e.g., substance use or risky behaviors) and potential alternatives that could provide the same short-term relief to our distress without a negative impact. This session will also touch upon the role avoidance (including avoidance of fear and shame) plays in maintaining trauma-related symptoms long after the threats are gone, as well the role of self-conscious emotions, such as guilt, play in feeding negative thoughts about ourselves that might result in isolation and a decreased ability to connect with available support people and/or systems. The session will also introduce grief as a reaction to loss—not just the loss of loved ones but the loss of spaces, roles, and dreams—and how sometimes this grief can lead to hopelessness. 

This session will discuss how experiencing stress and trauma can impact our ability to trust others, to accurately decipher their intentions, or to rely heavily on past experiences rather than on present evidence when interacting with others. Symptoms can impair our ability to do the tasks that are required day to day, causing us problems (e.g., at work, in relationships, etc.), which in turn create new stressors we must now contend with.