Many core life issues stem from early experiences of trauma.

The presenting issue may be a current relationship, or low self-esteem, or conflicts with authority figures… and yet we know that before too long something about childhood will come up.

Because the past casts a long shadow over the present.

It’s very moving when your client trusts you enough to tell some of those early stories. Yet simply recounting the incidents and reliving the emotions only goes so far. It’s as if the adult sitting in the therapy room somehow “is” the vulnerable, overwhelmed child. What we need to do is invite the client to be his/her strong adult self, and to be with the inner traumatized child.

In a sense, the trauma is still happening now.

The IRF view of trauma is that it is “stopped process.” An aspect of self (“part”) has been left behind, frozen, in the field of the trauma. Other parts patrol the borders of the frozen area, ready to send sleepiness or distraction, convinced that contact with the pain of the trauma would be too much for the person. Being caught up in distressed emotional states does not strengthen the person’s core self.

Your client doesn’t have to be at the mercy of past events.

The clinician can offer interventions that support the client in shifting into an inner healing relationship with even the most intense emotional states. This can happen even when the tendency otherwise would be to control the emotions, distract from them, or repress them

Healing from trauma is possible within a supportive inner relationship.

The clinician informed by IRF supports and encourages the client to build his/her ability to be Self-in-Presence with parts that are stuck at younger life stages. This enables attachment needs to be filled in by the client’s own secure, compassionate inner relationship with his or her distressed emotional states. It also gives clients the self-worth-enhancing experience of being able to regulate their own affect.