Dear Chris,
I think that it is important to address biographic trauma first, before
one looks too deeply into the systemic perspective. Soldiers in wartime
become physiologically hyper-alert and hyper-responsive. As a result
their wartime memories tend to be extremely vivid and when recalled, the
arousal can be quite high. A trauma therapist can work with the images
that often vividly return to soldiers and others with trauma. A good
resource is Babette Rothschild, 'The body remembers.' If he has
children, they are at risk for inheriting his stress patterns.
Knowing what Hellinger said on the topic about guilt and soldiers may
not be particularly helpful for your client. Like any teaching, they
were given in a specific context and may not be transferable. His
statements may or may not apply to the specific individual in question.
Each trauma is unique and each person processes their perceptive inputs
differently and needs to be treated in that way.
Soldiers who are more susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder are
those who are carrying the burden of both biographic trauma before their
wartime experiences and the burden of systemic trauma. A therapist who
is versed both in trauma therapy as well as in systemic work would be my
preference in the case of overlapping sources of trauma. If you are
interested in learning more about the interplay of somatic experiencing
and systemic constellation, there is an interview with Karin Schoeber
from Vienna who studied personally with Peter Levine and is a skilled
systemic therapist as well. The interview is in the Portuguese and
Spanish magazines Conexao Sistemica Sul and will be published this year
in the German and English speaking magazines.
Best wishes,
Thomas Bryson
On 8/23/2011 11:13 AM, Chris Millar wrote:
Hi Liz,
Peter Levine!
http://www.somaticexperiencing.com/images/stories/Peter_A_Levine-Thesis.pdf
But actually what I was seeking on this list was a position statement, so to
speak, from a Constellation POV, about the guilt of soldiers in war.
Does anyone know if Hellinger has written something about this?
best regards
Chris
