All uncontrollable stress can have some biological impact. PTSD accompanies all traumatic wounds, such as accidents, random violence, chronic pain and surgery and all developmental wounds such as injuries which occur in dysfunctional family dynamics. PTSD is a cluster of behaviors developed in response when a person receives an overwhelming life threatening event––such as rape or conditions in a war zone––from which they perceive they cannot successfully escape. Or they can appear in a family, over time, where a naturally evolving growth process is impaired. PTSD can mean a nightmarish few months to a lifetime of misery.

Stress is created when individuals experience cultural pressures such as meeting financial obligations, job pressures, seeking work in an increasingly down sized job market, family demands, health concerns, emotional problems and lack of rest and leisure. Violent, prolonged and/or chronic stress, which places tremendous demands on the mind or body, causes PTSD. Much research work has now been done to identify the brain functioning of traumatized people. Studies show that trauma is interwoven with the ordinary perceptions of people who have PTSD. The past can be relived with immediate sensory and emotional intensity that makes victims feel as though the event is occurring all over again. Kardner, author of Traumatic Neurosis of War, says that PTSD is located in people's bodies, and he called "physio-neurosis", like fibromialgia, the core issue. He said, in 1941, that what these people suffer from is the fact that their bodies are constantly alert for the return of the trauma and we now know that the brain chemistry involved keeps it that way.

A PTSD patient perceives reality as threatening and healers must be willing to enter that world and acknowledge it as real. In a talk given by Bessel van der Kolk, MD, in July of 2001, he stated it has been shown that people with PTSD are lead by their feelings, and not by their cognition and that "traumatized people suffer from unsymbolized, undigested, non-personalized memories which are not attached to other experiences." Healers need to develop philosophical stands which address the validity of the patient's feelings in those times of trauma, while encouraging them to recognize their helplessness of the past and their resources of the present. In the case of a patient who does not know what they feel, even though they are driven by feeling, we need to teach them how to think more clearly about what they feel. We are uniquely qualified to help the patient gain an understanding of the mythology and the symbols of the distress.

One example of how brain chemistry works with PTSD is that people with PTSD continue to overreact. Research shows that this response is a function of the cortisol system. When you are stung by a bee and your body overreacts, you may need a shot of cortisone to reduce the swelling. When the body overreacts to a challenge, it either responds with internal cortisol to shut down the allergic response and prevent anaphylactic shock, or it doesn't respond properly and you need a shot of cortisone in order to shut down the allergic response. When people become traumatized after they see something terrible happen––or after an injury––the cortisol response is the basic way the body responds to trauma. Studies have shown that low levels of cortisol are associated with prior stress/trauma, and that the low levels are cumulative. People with PTSD cannot shut down their body's stress response, and they continue to react as though the trauma was happening again. People with PTSD cannot modulate their own arousal system. Healers need to help their patients learn to modulate their level of arousal. Imagery, breath and the magical energy of our touch, are just a few of the techniques we can use with our patients and teach to our patients.

A PTSD series of six meetings will be held at the School For The Shamanic Arts in Glendora, California starting Monday evening, May 12th, 7 - 9:30 pm. The cost is $25 each evening or $125 in advance. These classes will provide a background for understanding the physiological nature of the disorder, some of the brain chemistry involved, the belief systems affected, what behaviors are evoked by various traumatic events, and how PTSD can be treated. It is likely present with every emotional, physical, mental or spiritual disease that healers treat and must be addressed during treatment. Finally, we will explore the pure power of human contact to heal deregulated brain chemistry.

Chris Faulconer is a gifted healer, an ordained minister, counselor, dynamic teacher, spiritual mentor and coach. Founder and director of the 21st Century Mystery School. She developed and lectured for Rosalyn Bruyere"s International Crucible Program for ten years. Chris has a private healing practice in Pine Mountain, CA. To sign up for this series please contact Rev. Esther Miriam Jenkins, 626-335-1018 or e-mail: esthershaman@earthlink.net