Trauma and MemoryTrauma and Memory

"People have a range of capacities to deal with overwhelming experience. Some people, some kids particularly, are able to disappear into a fantasy world, to dissociate, to pretend like it isn't happening, and are able to go on with their lives. And sometimes it comes back to haunt them." Bessel van der Kolk. In this program, Bessel van der Kolk and others examine how dissociation functions as a defense against overwhelming stress, how the mind processes traumatic events, and how such traumatic memories may be stored as somatic sensations, behavioral enactments, nightmares, and flashbacks. Child abuse survivors describe their experiences of dissociation and memory retrieval. Released 1993.