Emma.ratcliff@gmail.com

The Senses

Our sensory systems tell us about Ourselves – internal Our environment – external Other people- relational Our senses are our window to the world, and where we ourselves are in that world.

Internal / external senses – ourselves and the world

• Internal Touch – deep pressure [internal form]

Proprioception – movement / eyes of our body

Vestibular / balance [ gravitational]

Gustatory

*life sense

Tell us about ourselves – our state of well being

•External Touch – (light)

Vision

Auditory

Smell – [memory]

Taste

Tell us about the environment /the other person [relational]

• Rudolf Steiner Model of the 12 senses

• We can only know ourselves, our environment and the people around us through our own perception.

We form concepts about what we perceive as we seek to understand the world.

• Our only perception of the world is through our senses, and the way we make sense of that information - the processing and concepts we make of and from sensory input.

We can only act on our world through our movement.

We perceive the outside world through sensations coming into our sense organs, and various experiences arise within us.

• [from percept to concept]

For children, because the faculty of thinking and judging is not fully developed, the sense impressions come right into the body, leaving impressions in a direct way on the whole body.

‘The confusing kaleidoscope of impressions.. From the busy or noisy world….penetrate right into our being”

• Self-Regulation (Cortical Modulation) Once the cortex is developed, it can control lower levels of the brain. Manages impulsive, reactive behaviour.

• Pharmacological Regulation – drugs alter the processing sites of input and therefore can change brain states.

• Relational Regulation - Having a person who we feel safe with – relationship / feeling / limbic.

• Somatosensory Regulation – using sensory input as a way of changing the brain state – breathing / movement/ touch/ auditory / music

•Quietening down the stress response – the stress response is activated low in the brain (brainstem / midbrain) and therefore input must target this area

Decrease the demands on the outer senses Support the inner senses to find regulation and tell the brain the person is safe:

Touch Movement / balance

*life sense – breathing / heart rate / digestion / sleep

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/man-missing-most-of-his-brain-challenges-everything-we-thought-we-knew-about-consciousness/

Arousal / regulation

A typical nervous system is where all aspects of the brain (brainstem, midbrain and cortex) work together in an integrated manner to

• maintain optimum arousal

• adapt to changes in the environment (including people)

• Recover from stress

• Arousal levels – Alertness to learn & engage.

• Regulation / Dys-regulation of the nervous system

• Anxiety affect

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/man-missing-most-of-his-brain-challenges-everything-we-thought-we-knew-about-consciousness/

Regulated Nervous System

• Can maintain optimum arousal

• Can adapt to changes in task and environmental demands

• Can recover (get back to optimum arousal) reasonably quickly

Dysregulated Nervous System

• Sensitive to specific sensations.

• Does not tend to make full recovery or as easily – takes more time.

• Gradually accumulates stress within the system due to slow build up of ‘defensive chemistry’ through the day.

• Finds it hard to adapt to task and/or environmental demands – due to time taken to return to optimum arousal level.

• Finds seemingly typical sensations threatening- due to over active nervous system and processing.

Trauma healing, says Perry, requires 6 R’s; it must be:

• Relational (safe)

• Relevant (developmentally-matched to the individual)

• Repetitive (patterned)

• Rewarding (pleasurable)

• Rhythmic (resonant with neural patterns)

• Respectful (of the child, family, and culture)

https://www.123rf.com/photo_13699569_human-brain-regions-illustration-of-regions-in-human-brain.html

http://www.steepedinmeaning.com/tea-trauma-and-the-triune-brain/2016/4/12/tea-trauma-recovery-and-the-triune-brain

http://slideplayer.com/slide/7432738/

Arousal & Regulation

Arousal / Regulation continuum

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Shutdown

Terror

Fear

Alarm – NEEDS based, talking won’t help

Alert – a ‘good amount’ of “anxiety”

motivation/challenge/reward

Calm

Don’t take much in, no memories stored, not a great deal of perception

• “To change any neural network in the brain, we need to provide patterned, repetitive input to reach poorly organized neural networks involved in the stress response. Any neural network that is activated in a repetitive way will change,” Perry explains.

• “Patterned, repetitive, rhythmic somatosensory activity… elicits a sensation of safety. Rhythm is regulating. All cultures have some form of patterned, repetitive rhythmic activity as part of their healing and mourning rituals — dancing, drumming, and swaying.

• “The first step in therapeutic success is brain stem regulation… Start with the lowest undeveloped/ abnormally functioning set of problems and move sequentially up the brain as improvements are seen…

Bruce Perry http://childtrauma.org