I never ask about the past and I never dig into trauma. I focus on what they’re predicting in the present.
^That’s what surprised me about Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s book The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. There’s not an absolute need to unearth and relive the past—doing so can retraumatize people and make recovery more difficult. (Learning people’s stories are so delightful, so I often have to restrain myself from asking prying questions to fulfill my curiosity when I’m intending to help people heal).
Instead, the focus of healing (from many forms of therapy) is more about understanding the present moment and how we relate to it.
^That’s what surprised me about Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s book The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. There’s not an absolute need to unearth and relive the past—doing so can retraumatize people and make recovery more difficult. (Learning people’s stories are so delightful, so I often have to restrain myself from asking prying questions to fulfill my curiosity when I’m intending to help people heal).
Instead, the focus of healing (from many forms of therapy) is more about understanding the present moment and how we relate to it.