The Healing Power of Mandalas Finding Meaning from Trauma.

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The Healing Power of Mandalas Finding Meaning from Trauma

Individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual's functioning and physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being. What is Trauma

The Event or CircumstanceThe individuals experience of the eventThe long-lasting adverse affects of the individuals experience Perception of trauma varies vastly among individuals.Our response to a traumatic event is the significant factor, not the event that caused it.

(SAMHSA, 2012)Hyperarousal: sleeping and concentrating, being easily startled, irritability, anger, agitation,panic, and hypervigilance (being hyper-alert to danger).2) re-experiencing: intrusive memories, nightmares, flashbacks, exaggerated reactions to reminders of the event, and re-experiencing (including re-experiencing physical symptoms when the body remembers).3) avoidance/numbing: on automatic pilot disconnected from feelings and from vitality, which is replaced by a sense of deadness. Symptoms of numbing/avoidance include: loss of interest in life and other people, hopelessness, isolation, avoidance of thoughts and feelings associated with the traumatic event, feeling detached and estranged from others, withdrawal,depression, and emotional anesthesia.2

Fragmented memories of the traumaTraumatic EventChanges beliefs about yourself, the world, and other people

FearSense of Threat

Avoidance Understanding TraumaAvoidance means that the beliefs go unchallengedAvoidance means that the memories remain unchangedBrain lateralization: Brain scans show that when discussing trauma, significant parts of the left hemisphere (Brocas Area) shut down and the right hemisphere becomes activated. Difficulty expressing thoughts/memories:The prefontal lobe (responsible forlanguage) is adversely affected by trauma, which gets in the way of its linguistic function.Difficulty regulating emotion:The amygdala (responsible for emotional regulation) is in such overdrive that in often enlarges.brain goes through this chemical rewiring to survive the traumaimpact memory storage and disrupt communication between the left and right hemispheres, an essential process in the cognitive and affective mastery of traumatic material3Hyperarousal: difficulty sleeping concentrating.Re-experiencing: intrusive memories, flashbacks, physical symptoms.Avoidance/numbing: disconnected from feelings.Deficits in verbal declarative memory function.Alexithymia: difficulty identifying and expressing emotions. The Effects of TraumaHyperarousal: sleeping and concentrating, being easily startled, irritability, anger, agitation,panic, and hypervigilance (being hyper-alert to danger).2) re-experiencing: intrusive memories, nightmares, flashbacks, exaggerated reactions to reminders of the event, and re-experiencing (including re-experiencing physical symptoms when the body remembers).3) avoidance/numbing: on automatic pilot disconnected from feelings and from vitality, which is replaced by a sense of deadness. Symptoms of numbing/avoidance include: loss of interest in life and other people, hopelessness, isolation, avoidance of thoughts and feelings associated with the traumatic event, feeling detached and estranged from others, withdrawal,depression, and emotional anesthesia.4 Trauma and the Brain

The pre-fontal lobe (responsible forlanguage) is adversely affected by trauma, which gets in the way of its linguistic function. Verbal ExpressionThe amygdala (responsible for emotional regulation) is in such overdrive that in often enlarges. Emotional RegulationWhen discussing trauma, significant parts of the left hemisphere (Brocas Area) shut down and the right hemisphere becomes activated. Brain LateralizationBrain lateralization: Brain scans show that when discussing trauma, significant parts of the left hemisphere (Brocas Area) shut down and the right hemisphere becomes activated. Difficulty expressing thoughts/memories:The prefontal lobe (responsible forlanguage) is adversely affected by trauma, which gets in the way of its linguistic function.Difficulty regulating emotion:The amygdala (responsible for emotional regulation) is in such overdrive that in often enlarges.brain goes through this chemical rewiring to survive the traumaimpact memory storage and disrupt communication between the left and right hemispheres, an essential process in the cognitive and affective mastery of traumatic material5Healing from Trauma InvolvesInterrupting the natural cycle of avoidance.Discharging pent-up fight-or-flight energy.Making connections between feelings and symptoms.Learning how to regulate strong emotions.Processing and integrating trauma-related memories and feelings.Understanding of self and the world in light of the trauma.Restoring relationships, connections, boundaries, and trust.

Processing and integrating trauma-related memories and feelingsReconnecting implicit (sensory) and explicit (declarative) memories of trauma.Discharging pent-up fight-or-flight energy (calming the nervous system)Learning how to regulate strong emotionsRestoring a sense of safety and boundariescalming the nervous systemInterrupting the natural cycle of avoidance making connections between feelings and symptomsmaking sense of what happened and how it affected themunderstanding themselves and the world again in light of the traumaRestoring relationships and connections.

6Mandala Drawing

In therapy, the mandala is any drawing made within the framework of a circle

7Mandalas The Sacred CircleCultures from around the world have used circle drawings to express universal aspects of the human experience.

At the root of all mandalas is the human longing to understand oneself, experience harmony, and grasp ones place in the universe

Cultural Uses of the MandalaTibetan Mandalas: Part of a monks training and journey toward enlightenmentRose Window: Stained glass windows with intricate biblical symbolsNative American Medicine Wheel: used to demonstrate the periodicity and cyclicality of nature, change, life andlifecycles, interdependence, relationships and the union of Earth and the Universe.Labyrinth Walking Meditation: Walking among the turnings, one loses track of direction and of the outside world, and thus quiets the mind.Hindu Yantra: Represents the various divine powers at work in the universe. Celtic Knots: We cannot see a beginning or and end, and therefore we are reminded of the timeless nature of our spirit, and the infinite cycles of birth and rebirth in both physical and ethereal realms.Mayan Calendar:

Natural Mandalas

9Carl JungThe mandala represents the center of personality from which the Self develops.Mandalas in Therapy

Joan KelloggOur unconscious draws us toward certain symbols, colors, shapes, etc. which reflect our mental state or tasks related to our psyches current stage of development.Carl Jung: Credited for bringing a Western version of the mandala to psychotherapy. Saw the mandala as.The psychic nucleus, the center of personality from which the Self develops. Reflection of the process of individuation. A space for the unconscious to surface through archetypal symbols.Show an inborn urge to grow toward wholeness or full expression of ones potential The self governs the psychic growth processMandalas compensate for disorder by centering the individuala natural attempt at self-healingJoan Kelloggs Great Round of the Mandala: The psyche develops through twelve stages encompassing different developmental tasks. Symbols surface when an individual experiences unconscious conflict related to corresponding stage. Schema representing the cyclical pattern of personal growthMandalas are associated with the natural cycles of human experience

Jung recognized that the urge to make mandalas emerges during moments of intense personal growth. Their appearance indicates a profound re-balancing process is underway in the psyche. The result of the process is a more complex and better integrated personality. "The mandala serves a conservative purposenamely, to restore a previously existing order. But it also serves the creative purpose of giving expression and form to something that does not yet exist, something new and unique10Mandalas in Practice

Creating and interpreting mandalas to develop insight. Drawing or coloring mandalas as a meditation tool.Creating mandalas as a form of self-expression and healing11 Creating a MandalaLet yourself go....the object of mandala drawing is not to make a picture of anything in particular, but rather to let the drawing unfold without conscious direction.Allow the colors to pick youThere are no mistakes!

See handout of Mandala Exercise12Take a moment to reflect upon the following questionsMandala Drawing: The ProcessSummarize what you have reflected upon thus far.What themes are resonating from your mandala?How is your mandala representative of who you are, and your current situation in life?Give your mandala a title based on your reflectionsList the shapes used in your mandalaWhat associations do you have for each color, if any (words, feelings, images, memories)?List the colors you usedWhat associations do you have for each color, if any (words, feelings, images, memories)?Imagine yourself inside your mandalaHow does it feel to be inside?Where is it the most comfortable?What do the symbols look like from this perspective?

13ColorsBlack/WhiteShapesNumbersThickness and Thinness of LinesStrokesBorder of CircleLocation of Symbols/Shapes BackgroundWhat feelings does the client attach to

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Examples of Client-drawn mandalas15The Healing Power of Mandalas

Circles are centering and provide a protective boundary for memoriesReconnect implicit (sensory) and explicit (declarative) memories of trauma.Access trauma memories through right-brain symbolic communication.Practice relaxation and self-soothing.Bridge sensory memories and narrative.Presents the trauma as outside of oneself (externalized) rather than part of the self.The client unknowingly sets the pace of healing.Not biased by culture, class, gender, etc.Suggestive mandalas: Cognitive reprocessing of the trauma providing alternative more empowering outcomes

Creating mandalas helps stabilize, integrate, and re-order inner lifeMandalas don't rely on the purity of language but on the abstract (a more right-brained activity)Trauma makes is difficult to verbalize states of distress, through mandalas they can identify the unknown triggers to that distressed state and thus decrease heightened levels of anxiety.Reconnecting implicit (sensory) and explicit (declarative) memories of trauma.Mandalas allow us to access and release the trauma-related emotions without speaking or reliving them.Access trauma memories through right-brain symbolic communicationGive voice to the unconsciousPractice relaxation and self-soothingBridge sensory memories and narrativeImaginal exposure: trauma is experienced through the art and therefore outside of oneself (externalized)Suggestive mandalas: Cognitive reprocessing of the trauma providing alternative more empowering outcomes illustrative coding of traumatic events in drawings allows clients to be self-interpretation.Centering effect of the circleBoundary of the circle provides a safe container for memoriesProvide the individual with the opportunity to process their trauma.Drawing safe space imagesBy-bass the cognitive processes that can prevent self-expression.Centering, bringing order to psychic confusion.

16ReferencesCurry, N. A., & Kasser, T. (2005). Can coloring mandalas reduce anxiety? Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 22, 81-85.DeLue, C.H. (1999). Physiological effects of creating mandalas. In C. Malchiodi (ed.), Medical art therapy with children (pp.33 49). London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Ltd.Elkis-Abuhoff, D., Gaydos, M., Goldblatt, R., Chen, M., & Rose, S. (2009). Mandala drawing as an assessment tool for women with breast cancer. The Arts in Psychotherapy, (36), 231-238.Fincher, S.F. (1991). Creating mandalas for insight, healing, and self-expression. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, Inc.Henderson, P., Mascro, N., Rosen, D., & Skillern, T. (2007). The healing nature of mandalas: Empirical study of active imagination. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 1, 148-154.Jung, C. (1959). Mandala Symbolism: Translated by R.F.C. Hull. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Kellogg, J. (1991). Color therapy from the perspective of the great round of the mandala. The Journal of Religion and Psychical Research, 15(3), 138-146. Consciousness Korn, M. (2007). Trauma related disorders: Conversations with the experts - An interview with Bessel A. van der Kolk, MD. Medscape Mental Health. Retrieved on 4/16/12 from http://www.traumacenter.org/resources/bvdk_interview.phpNormand, M. (2008). How to meditate when you cant sit still. Retrieved on 2/5/12 from http://www.articlesbase.com/alternative-medicine-articles Polt, N. (2005). Coloring mandalas with adults in a short-term inpatient psychiatric hospital. M.A. dissertation. Ursuline College. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from Proquest Digital Dissertation database.Schrade, M.A., Tronsky, L. & Kaiser, D. (2011). Physiological effects of mandala making in adults with intellectual disability. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 38, 109-113.Slegelis, M. (1987). A Study of Jung's Mandala and its Relationship to Art Psychotherapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 14, 301-311.

Mandalas The Sacred CircleArchetypal CircleAt the root of all mandalas is the human longing to understand oneself, experience harmony, and grasp ones place in the universe

Animated series of emerging circles