Ep. 225: Dr. Peter Levine — The Transformative Power of Healing from Trauma

04/03/24 • 55 min

My guest this week is Dr. Peter Levine, who is well-known for being the developer of Somatic Experiencing. He’s also the author of a new book: An Autobiography of Trauma: A Healing Journey (affiliate link), which we focused on in this very enjoyable and meaningful discussion.

Peter shared about how his own wounds from early in life were a big part of what led him into the field of trauma therapy. We explored how the healing continues, even now in Peter’s ninth decade.

Topics we discussed included:

What Peter means when he describes himself as a modern “Chiron”
Using our own wounds in life as we’re working to help others
Getting to trauma memories and healing through embodiment in somatic experiencing
The horrific trauma Peter experienced early in his life
The dream that led Peter to share this book rather than writing it only for his own healing
The significance of dreams for waking life
Learning to attend to the promptings of the unconscious mind
The relation between somatic experiencing and an approach like cognitive behavioral therapy
The role of the vagus nerve in the trauma response and in healing
Using the body to encounter our traumas in a healing way
Why a union of the body and mind tends to reduce anxiety
The disconnection we so often experience between our minds and bodies
Peter’s reaction to a meditation workshop several decades ago
The idea of “living your dying”
Connections between death and the divine
The promises and pitfalls of psychedelics

Peter Levine, PhD, is the renowned developer of Somatic Experiencing.

He holds a doctorate in medical and biological Physics from the University of California at Berkeley and a doctorate in psychology from International University.

The recipient of four lifetime achievement awards, he is the author of several books, including Waking the Tiger, which has now been printed in 33 countries and has sold over a million copies.

Learn more about:

Peter shared about how his own wounds from early in life were a big part of what led him into the field of trauma therapy. We explored how the healing continues, even now in Peter’s ninth decade.

Topics we discussed included:

What Peter means when he describes himself as a modern “Chiron”
Using our own wounds in life as we’re working to help others
Getting to trauma memories and healing through embodiment in somatic experiencing
The horrific trauma Peter experienced early in his life
The dream that led Peter to share this book rather than writing it only for his own healing
The significance of dreams for waking life
Learning to attend to the promptings of the unconscious mind
The relation between somatic experiencing and an approach like cognitive behavioral therapy
The role of the vagus nerve in the trauma response and in healing
Using the body to encounter our traumas in a healing way
Why a union of the body and mind tends to reduce anxiety
The disconnection we so often experience between our minds and bodies
Peter’s reaction to a meditation workshop several decades ago
The idea of “living your dying”
Connections between death and the divine
The promises and pitfalls of psychedelics

Peter Levine, PhD, is the renowned developer of Somatic Experiencing.

He holds a doctorate in medical and biological Physics from the University of California at Berkeley and a doctorate in psychology from International University.

The recipient of four lifetime achievement awards, he is the author of several books, including Waking the Tiger, which has now been printed in 33 countries and has sold over a million copies.

Learn more about:

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Ep. 224: Dr. Tim Windsor — Midlife 4. How to Have the Best Possible Second Half of Life

My guest this week for part 4 of our series on midlife is Dr. Tim Windsor. Tim has done many research studies on adult development and how we change in midlife and older age. I took so much from this conversation as Tim described what we know about how to have a great second half of life.

Things we discussed included:

My guest’s research in lifespan developmental psychology
Optimizing one’s potential to live well in later adulthood
How Tim came to this area of research
The challenges and opportunities that come with an aging population
The U-shaped curve in happiness across adulthood
The struggles we often face in midlife
The socio-emotional selectivity theory of Laura Carstensen at Stanford
The downturn in happiness that’s typical of oldest old age
Variability in the slopes of well-being across adulthood
Organizing our lives in ways that maximize well-being in the second half of life
Developing psychological immunity in older age
Emotion regulation in older age
The benefits of using “positive reappraisal” to rethink one’s perspective
The goodness-of-fit between situation and emotion regulation strategy
The average increases in mindfulness with older age and the research of Leeann Mahlo
Coping through accommodation or assimilation
Using momentary ecological assessment to measure how mindful acceptance affects one’s reactions to daily hassles
Awareness of losses and gains in older age
How my guest’s research influences his behavior as he looks toward older age

Tim Windsor, PhD, is a Professor in Psychology and Deputy Director of the Flinders Institute of Mental Health and Wellbeing at Flinders University.

His research focuses on examining social and psychological resources that promote well-being in older adulthood, links between views on aging, health and well-being, and developing interventions to promote engagement with life.

He is Director of the Generations Research Initiative at Flinders and is a Distinguished Member the Australian Association of Gerontology, and a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.

Learn more about Tim and his research at his faculty website.

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Ep. 226: Dr. Beth Kurland — Mindful Awareness 1. Finding Peace of Mind When Life Is Difficult

My guest this week is psychologist Dr. Beth Kurland, author of the new book, You Don’t Have to Change to Change Everything: Six Ways to Shift Your Vantage Point, Stop Striving for Happy, and Find True Well-Being (affiliate link). We begin with a calming guided meditation that Beth led.

Topics we discussed included:

The assumption that not feeling at ease is a personal failure
Being with our distress without being swallowed up by it
Cultivating well-being in the absence of happiness
The role of self-compassion in well-being
Recognizing and connecting with a deeper part of ourselves, whether we call is Self, spirit, or soul
Seeing the world from our Wise Self
Living from our head vs. being more connected to and aware of the body
Contraction vs. expansion in the area around the heart
Why we don’t habitually run toward our body and wise Self as refuges
A simple practice for coming back into one’s body
Proper breathing for calming the nervous system

Beth Kurland, PhD, is a clinical psychologist with three decades of experience.

She is also a TEDx and public speaker, a mind-body coach, and an author of three award-winning books: Dancing on The Tightrope; The Transformative Power of Ten Minutes; and Gifts of the Rain Puddle.

Beth blogs for Psychology Today and is the creator of the Well-Being Toolkit online program. She lives in the Boston area.

For more, visit her website.