“Take your practiced powers and stretch them out until they span the
chasm between two contradictions” Rainer Maria Rilke…
In our often polarized world, we witness the clash between the logical and the
mystical.
Science, logic, and evidence are commonly pitted against mystery, magic, and miracles.
People in academia often rest on peer reviewed studies and proven expertise, while others challenge this paradigm and claim the essence of what makes sense of life is not quantifiable or certifiable.
When the imagined divide between these two paradigms is breached, we can invite in elevated levels of
Connection
Liberation
Revolution
We can envision a new place where we can hold all of these things as important to understanding what it means to be a human in an ever evolving world.
When we get off course and fall into deep suffering, chronic numbing, relational pain, anxieties, and depressions, trauma is often at the heart of this discord. Trauma can be defined as anything that is not processed and remains inside of us creating blockages, stuck-ness, symptoms, or dis-ease. There is a magnitude of well researched studies and theories that explain trauma, its effects on the brain, and how this suffering manifests in crippling symptoms. Yet we live in an imperfect world where often seemly solid research studies are rooted in unconscious bias or leave out entire groups of people. From this place we can fill-in gaps by listening deeply to the lived experiences of hurt and healing, from those people whose voices may often be left out, or the wealth of people that have taken a road less traveled by and found themselves whole.
Trauma-informed care brings together science and heart.
It involves trustworthiness, transparency, and predictability. Evidence-based practice, founded in scientific methods; not only gives therapists tools and context, it helps create a foundation of safety, which is elemental in successful therapeutic relationships. Therapists who are transparent about their training, certifications, and methods in an on-going manner build trust, while maintaining consistent boundaries lends to predictability.
Trauma-informed care also involves giving individual experiences a voice. Both the therapist and the client in a therapeutic relationship enter the work with their own set of values, experiences, beliefs, and ways of being. Though the work is focused on the client, trauma-informed therapists show up fully in their humanness as well. There is no fool-proof scientific formula or equation to predict how these two unique individuals will create movement and healing for the client. Enter in the beauty and power of the 3 M’s: mystery, magic, and miracles.
There is no manual for the liberation and revolution that can be birthed in therapy. It takes both highly skilled, ethical therapists and courageous clients who are willing to enter in to the mystery, lean into uncertainty, cultivate trust, go the distance, and come out on the other side of their pain again and again…
Jennifer DiGennaro MA, LLPC, is a psychotherapist and couples counselor in private practice in Grand Rapids, MI. She is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, Certified Body Trust® Provider and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, as well as the founder of Nourished Energy. She specializes in treating chronic dieting, binge eating disorder, body image concerns, trauma, PTSD, mood disorders and relationship issues. She brings a deep passion for social justice to her trauma-informed, evidence-based and heart-centered clinical work. She is committed to ending the war that is waged against bodies in our culture. Learn more at: www.nourishedenergy.com/meet-jen/
