My guest today, Jan Winhall of Focusing on Borden, began her career as social worker and psychotherapist 40 years ago.

[CW for text below: mention of self-harming behaviors]

She began listening with non-pathologizing ears and heard shocking stories of sexual torture, and responses that confused her. Women were cutting themselves, bingeing and purging huge quantities of food, and abusing drugs and alcohol.

As she continued to listen she learned that somehow these self-harming behaviors were “helping” individuals to escape intolerable emotional states. They were shifting their mood from flooding anxiety to numbing deadness, or vice versa.

Because these behaviors were so helpful they were compulsively repeated and often became addictions. They were shifting their mood from flooding anxiety to numbing deadness, or vice versa.

Jan’s book Treating Trauma and Addiction with The Felt Sense Polyvagal Model: A Bottom Up Approach, has integrated the Polyvagal lens Theory to create a more sophisticated way of understanding emotional regulation, where addictive behavior is an embodied response to emotional dysregulation.

 In This Episode

Jan’s websiteJan’s courses The Primacy of Human Presence, by Eugene Gendlin. A PDF download.The Courage to Heal, Ellen Bass and Laura Davis Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-trauma-therapist-podcast-with-guy-macpherson-phd-inspiring-interviews-with-thought-leaders-in-the-field-of-trauma/exclusive-content