Childhood trauma in the context of "Primal therapy"

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⭐ Core Definition: Childhood trauma

Childhood trauma is often described as serious adverse childhood experiences. Children may go through a range of experiences that classify as psychological trauma; these might include neglect, abandonment, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and physical abuse. They may also witness abuse of a sibling or parent, or have a mentally ill parent. Childhood trauma has been correlated with later negative effects on health and psychological wellbeing. However, resilience is also a common outcome; many children who experience adverse childhood experiences do not develop mental or physical health problems.

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👉 Childhood trauma in the context of Primal therapy

Primal therapy (also known as primal scream therapy) is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov during the 1960s, who argued that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma. Janov argued that repressed pain can be sequentially brought to conscious awareness for resolution through re-experiencing specific incidents and fully expressing the resulting pain during therapy. Primal therapy was developed as a means of eliciting the repressed pain; the term Pain is capitalized in discussions of primal therapy when referring to any repressed emotional distress and its purported long-lasting psychological effects. Janov believed that talking therapies deal primarily with the cerebral cortex and higher-reasoning areas and do not access the source of Pain within the more basic parts of the central nervous system.

The phrase “Primal Scream Therapy” is something of a misnomer and is often used misleadingly by journalists, critics and even some therapeutic imitators. A scream or screaming “may” occur during the therapeutic process but it is not an essential part of the journey nor is it the goal. Clients are extremely unlikely to access early pain by just screaming. The process is better thought of as a felt journey, starting in the present and following the trail of pain back into early childhood pain. It has been described as like peeling an onion, layer by layer. There are no shortcuts.

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Childhood trauma in the context of Identity formation

Identity formation, also called identity development or identity construction, is a complex process in which humans develop a clear and unique view of themselves and of their identity.

Self-concept, personality development, and values are all closely related to identity formation. Individuation is also a critical part of identity formation. Continuity and inner unity are healthy identity formation, while a disruption in either could be viewed and labeled as abnormal development; certain situations, like childhood trauma, can contribute to abnormal development. Specific factors also play a role in identity formation, such as race, ethnicity, and spirituality.

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Childhood trauma in the context of Kathy Acker

Kathy Acker (April 18, 1947 [disputed] – November 30, 1997) was an American experimental novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, critic, performance artist, and postmodernist writer, known for her idiosyncratic and transgressive writing that dealt with complex themes such as childhood trauma, sexuality, language, identity, and rebellion. Her writing incorporates pastiche and the cut-up technique, involving cutting-up and scrambling passages and sentences; she also defined her writing as existing in the post-nouveau roman European tradition. In her texts, she combines biographical elements, power, sex and violence.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Identity formation ← Primal therapy ← Kathy Acker
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Adverse childhood experiences → Psychological trauma → Child neglect → Child abandonment → Child sexual abuse → Child abuse →