Having Both Feet In The Primal Circle

For me, this video defines the essence of the primal process. We forget that trauma happens in a part of the brain that we share with the rest of the animal world. This is why merely talking about our anxiety-related problems cannot lead to healing. We have to find a way to bypass our higher brain and work with a much more primitive part of ourselves….our feeling selves. Although fear conditioning may be forever in the animal world, human beings are evolving (1) a means of turning off their fear conditioned responses. The primal process involves getting survival-related signals into consciousness, giving them access to a response control center: the medial-prefrontal cortex. For the facilitator, this means being able to sit comfortably with someone who is re-experiencing their survival-related feelings. Giving the person the space needed to get these feelings processed.

(1) Joseph LeDoux, The Emotional Brain, P 303.