About this Episode:
This episode covers a lot of ground! As Taruno says “trauma & addiction” are two sides of the same coin and in order for successful treatment both have to be addressed in the individual.
Taruno speaks in depth about how trauma is an incomplete cycle of energy that resides in the body and needs to be discharged for the person in need to not be driven by the primal trauma responses of “fight or flight” or shut down ”immobilization” response. He says “all addiction is an attempt to regulate the nervous system” and this is at the root of why addiction occurs.
He shares practical tools and tips as well shares many other modalities that one can begin to implement to not be at the mercy of trauma symptoms and live happily in your body.
Key Points:
10:20- The GOAT (greatest of all time) of trauma healing Bessel van der Kolk
11:11- The issues are in the tissues
12:00- Trauma & Addiction – two sides of the same coin
16:18- Addiction arises as survival strategy
17:42- The addiction always does something for the addict
19:14- Heroine and a mothers love
21:30- The biological effect of trauma -Trauma equals lack of support
28:40- The arousal cycle of trauma
30:00- The short term solution for the addict
30:33- Addiction is always an attempt to regulate the nervous system
42:48- Feeling safe in your own skin
44:28- The relationship between trauma and addiction
50:28- “They lost nearly all” from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous
52:30- Some insight into the life of Bill Wilson (the founder of AA) and trauma
53:20- Without healing the trauma, the addiction just changes forms
55:02- Step 8 & 9 – Bill Wilson womanizing
55:37- Our partners want to know when we are unfaithful – was Bill gaslighting?
57:03- Eckhart Tolles’s quote on addiction
57:55- What’s lacking with the 12 steps – we really aren’t addressing the pain & trauma
About Taruno Steffensen:
aruno Steffensen has personally been in recovery for over 28 years and made it his life’s work to help others in recovery to experience healing from the root cause of addiction— trauma. Taruno is a licensed alcohol and drug counselor, certified sex addiction therapist and Somatic Experiencing (SE) practitioner. Taruno has personally studied and learned from the of the best doctors, researchers, practitioners and healers such as Peter Levine, Bessel van der Kolk, Pia Melody and many more. Taruno worked for The Meadows, a world renowned facility in Arizona for the treatment of addiction and trauma. He currently works as part of Bessel Van der Kolk team in Boston and also supports his clients in his private practice in Brookline, MA. He is happily married and has two dogs that he loves dearly.
Connect with Taruno Steffensen:
Website: https://steffensenconsulting.com
Somatic Experiencing link: https://directory.traumahealing.org/practitioner/taruno-steffensen/
