The study of psychological trauma has been accompanied by an explosion of knowledge about how experience shapes the central nervous system and the formation of the self. The study of trauma has probably been the single most fertile area in developing a deeper understanding of the relationship among the emotional, cognitive, social, and biological forces that shape human development.
BT10 Workshop 23 - Frontiers of Trauma Treatment - Bessel van der Kolk, MD
The study of psychological trauma has been accompanied by an explosion of knowledge about how experience shapes the central nervous system and the formation of the self. We have learned that most experience is automatically processed on a subcortical level, i.e. by “unconscious” interpretations that take place outside of awareness. Insight and understanding have only a limited influence on the operation of these subcortical processes. When addressing the problems of traumatized people who, in a myriad of ways, continue to react to current experience as a replay of the past, there is a need for therapeutic methods that do not depend exclusively on understanding and cognition.