Recently, I attended an online training with Dr. Bessel Van der Kolk, a well-known psychiatrist, researcher, and educator, as well as author of the acclaimed book The Body Keeps the Score. In this training, Dr. Van der Kolk presented scientific research regarding how early childhood trauma impacts the brain and what treatments are most effective.
The data from brain studies comparing brain activity in traumatized and non-traumatized individuals shows that early and complex trauma cause long-term changes in how the brain functions, changes which dramatically interfere with healthy adult functioning.
Specifically, Dr. Van der Kolk discussed three areas of the brain which are much less easily “activated” in adult survivors of early trauma than in non-traumatized individuals:
The cerebral cortex, which allows people to maintain a higher level of emotion regulation and recover from activation of the fight/flight brain
The thalamus which filters and prioritizes input, sorting out what input matters and what input can be ignored
The insula cortex which helps us connect with and sense our inner experiences, what we feel inside ourselves
Greater access to and increased activation of all three of these areas of the brain can be helped by learning emotion-based skills.
Dr. Van der Kolk himself emphasized that one of the best things therapists can do to help their clients who suffer from complex trauma is to teach them how to regulate their emotional states.
Thanks, Dr. Van der Kolk, I couldn’t agree more! This is why I started Emotion Wise: to help adults teach youth emotion-based skills like emotion regulation.
I think Dr. Van der Kolk would agree that emotion-based skills start with understanding and activating the body, as through breath, movement and emotional expression. That’s why I created Maimou’s Island: The Active Feelings Game, a game which encourages the embodiment of emotions. In this game, the players explore embodied self-expression within safe boundaries.
Maimou’s Island facilitates a deeper understanding of emotions through the physical expression of emotions, as well as interpreting the emotions of others.
There’s even a safe zone to retreat to – Maimou’s Island! – if anyone playing the game feels triggered or needs to take a break from expressing feelings.
Check out Maimou’s Island in our store today, and reach out if you have any questions about the game, or to share your experiences about the importance of emotions – we’d love to hear from you!
How are you teaching others about emotions? How did you come to learn and understand your own emotions?
– Cheryl Simons, MA, MFT Emotion Wise Founder
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