(20 min CLASS) Depression, Trauma, & the Body w/ Kevin McCarthy

Depression turns down the volume on feelings that are overwhelming to our nervous system to make us feel less, which helps us become more functional for a time. It can become chronic when overwhelming emotions persist without an ability to work with them. When we turn down the volume on our emotions, we mute our lives.

This may cause:

Less joy or engagement in activities that we previously would have found enjoyable
Less ability to experience life as safe, gratifying, and engaging
Bodily experiences like depressed appetite, increased sleep, depressed attention (a malfunctioning of the parasympathetic nervous system)

This video will help guide us to understand depression as a compass to guide us towards deep healing of our trauma.

Outside Support:

At some point in our lives, we will all experience a situation that is beyond our ability to cope. When this happens, it is important for us to lean into an outside resource in the form of a loved one, a therapist, a doctor, etc. to help us process through the emotions that are overwhelming to our own nervous system. Finding a person who we feel safe with can help guide us to feel safe within ourselves.

Our bodies need consistent, repetitive goodness in the face of overwhelming emotion to really believe that it’s going to be okay. Learn how to do this in therapy and practice it in real life - self work is important, but we don’t have to do it alone!

Reflection:

Identify where depression IS and where it ISN’T in the body.

What does depression feel like in my body? Does it have a name? A color? A location? A size? A shape?
Can we feel something different? Somewhere else? What are the sensations around that new feeling?
Where can I put support in place to process through my depression? Who can I ask for help?

If depression isn’t overwhelming all of us, then it is simply a part of us. We can grow the parts of us that are more whole & healthy so that the depression we experience aren’t incapacitating.

Find a Therapist::

Find a Psychotherapist: www.psychologytoday.com⁣

Find a Somatic Experience Trauma Therapist: www.traumahealing.org ⁣

Find an EMDR Trauma Therapist: www.emdria.org

Crisis Hotlines:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Crisis Text Line: text TALK to 741741

SAMHSA Treatement Referral Hotline (Substance Abuse) 1-800-662-HELP

(4357) RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-HOPE (5673)

Trevor Lifeline (suicide hotline for LGBT youth) 1-866-488-7386

OR Google "crisis line [the county you live in]”

International: http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html

MEET YOUR TEACHER

Guest Instructor, Kevin McCarthy is a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP) and Advanced Rolfer™(CAR), specializing in the effects of trauma and chronic pain on the body. Kevin’s 12+ years of experience, along with these many and diverse skills are combined into powerful sessions dedicated to helping people find depth and meaning in their own healing experience. Kevin’s sessions are a surprising and effective mix of talk therapy, manual intervention and movement exploration structured to support the client’s realization of their emotional, mental and physical health in a safe and welcoming environment.