By Jevon Dängeli (PhD researcher: Exploring how open awareness applied in transpersonal coaching can be of value for post-traumatic growth)
Introduction
Trauma may be a part of life, but it does not have to define it.
Open awareness is a holistic and relational perceptual position that expands one’s self-concept, fostering a sense of interconnectedness while supporting stress reduction (Siegel, 2022; Yates, 2015). Building on research which found that open awareness cultivates compassion, develops resiliency and helps to prevent burnout (Dängeli, 2020), this article will outline its emotional regulating role in trauma care.
The Three Circles of Emotional Regulation
According to the Three Circles of Emotional Regulation Model (Figure 1.), people switch between these three systems/circles for survival and to regulate their emotions (Gilbert, 2009).
Figure 1. (used with permission, www.nicabm.com)
The threat system is activated by perceived threat and danger (Gilbert, 2009). This system has evolved to detect threats and mobilise the person’s survival mode, triggering the nervous system’s fight/flight/freeze response. This state of hyperarousal can be activated by emotional and social threats, such as signals that someone is judging you, feelings of rejection, criticism, exclusion, and isolation.
The drive system’s function is to motivate you to seek out resources for yourself and for those you care about, such as food, shelter, work, and social status. The drive system is focussed on accomplishing goals, reproduction, consumption and pursuing one’s desires.
The soothing system is for regulating/soothing the threat system after the threat is gone, or for returning to equilibrium after pursuing a goal. This system enables you to feel calm, content, at peace, and connected with others. If the threat and drive systems are always activated, the person will be constantly pursuing, fighting or fleeing, leading to exhaustion and the potential of burnout and depression (Gilbert, 2009). The soothing system allows you to slow down, rest and recuperate. Although this system is not for immediate survival, it is vital for long-term survival, as mammals can only survive when they are able to receive care, give care and form social connections.
Traumatized people are frequently caught in the threat and drive systems, which can lead to further distress and becoming stuck in a painful cycle of self-criticism and shame. Trauma care for these people should involve helping them to strengthen their soothing system (Gilbert, 2009). The following sections will describe how open awareness helps to strengthen the soothing system.
The Window of Tolerance
The ‘window of tolerance’ concept was introduced by Dan Siegel (1999, 2022) to describe the ‘optimal zone of arousal’ for a person to function in everyday life. When a person operates within this zone or window, they can effectively manage and cope with their emotions.
When trauma is triggered, the threat system is activated, and it becomes difficult to regulate emotions, as one’s window of tolerance narrows to focus on the perceived threat, initially leading to a state of defensiveness (Siegel, 1999, 2022). The stress of a traumatic memory or trigger may push a person beyond their window of tolerance, often causing a disconnection between the mind and body, leading to states of hyperarousal or hypoarousal (Porges, 2011).
Hyperarousal is a state of threat system activation known as the ‘fight, flight, or freeze’ response. It is when a person’s nervous system goes into high alert, even when danger is not present. The ‘fight & flight’ aspects of this response type are well established in the literature (e.g. Porges, 2011). The ‘freeze’ aspect is a form of hyperarousal with elements of hypoarousal, as the body is in a state of heightened alertness and tension, despite being immobilized. Hyperarousal symptoms include fear, anxiety, panic, anger, overwhelm, hypervigilance, and sleeping problems (Porges, 2011).
Hypoarousal is a state of threat system activation where the person’s nervous system goes into a mode of ‘shutdown’ or ‘collapse’. Symptoms include dissociation, depression, emotional numbness, emptiness, social withdrawal, difficulty to express oneself.
Figure 2. (used with permission, www.nicabm.com)
The open awareness skill set (outlined below) expands one’s window of tolerance. This is helpful in trauma care, as trauma and chronic stress tend to narrow one’s window of tolerance (Siegel, 1999, 2022), reducing it to the limited sphere of tunnel awareness (see Figure 3.). Not only may open awareness help the practitioner and the client to stay within their window of tolerance, but it also enables them to open their ‘shutters of consciousness’ and let light in, illuminating the dark/shadow parts of the psyche and fostering a more interconnected and compassionate mode of perception (Siegel, 2022; Yates, 2015).
Open Awareness
Open awareness skills can help people to down-regulate hyperarousal through slow cyclical breathing and grounding exercises such as Jumi Tree Breathing techniques (https://jumi.live/jumi-tree-breathing-technique), as well as help people to up-regulate hypoarousal through embodiment practices such as Jumi Awarenessing (https://jumi.live/awarenessing). Unlike most of the well-known practices to develop compassion which stem from religious principles, open awareness can be accessed through simple mind-body practices suited to each individual. Numerous ways for individuals and groups to access and use open awareness are covered in the Open Awareness Handbook (Dängeli, 2019) and in the Open Awareness Hub.
Figure 3. indicates that as a person’s ‘aperture’ of awareness opens, their ‘spheres of connection’ expand, leading to compassion and unconditional love. This quality of self-expansiveness cultivates emotional regulation, counteracting the hyperarousal and hypoarousal of trauma activation (Dängeli, 2020).
Figure 3.
My observations over two decades of transpersonal coaching, which includes open awareness facilitation with individuals and groups, is that each presenting issue or trauma trigger ‘locks’ the person’s attention on the problem, which is tunnel awareness. This occurs when the person’s attention becomes narrowly fixated on the trigger, whether it’s an external stimulus or an internal reaction, e.g. trauma memory, resulting in hyperarousal or hypoarousal. This is an understandable defence mechanism to a perceived or real danger when the person’s threat system becomes activated beyond their window of tolerance. Problems arise when the situation is not life threatening, yet tunnel awareness still causes the person to overreact (hyperarousal) or underreact (hypoarousal), typically leading to unnecessary stress and negative rumination or self-criticism. In these situations, people can benefit from being able to reopen the aperture of their awareness, thereby diffusing the trigger and gaining access to a more resourceful state (Dängeli & Geldenhuys, 2018).
Traumatic experiences typically trigger a fear response as the person perceives a direct threat to their physical or emotional well-being. With the support of an open awareness facilitator, clients can learn how to access and embody open awareness in the contexts where trauma might be triggered, thereby enhancing their potential for healing and post-traumatic growth. We can contribute toward collective trauma healing through expanding awareness and cultivating deeper connections for a more compassionate and loving world.
References:
Dängeli, J. (2024). Post-traumatic growth with the support of transpersonal coaching. The Transpersonal Coaching Journal, 3, 7-17. https://iactm.org/tcpj
Dängeli, J. (2023). Trauma-informed coaching: a transpersonal perspective. Transpersonal Coaching Psychology Journal, 2, 8-24. https://iactm.org/tcpj
Dängeli, J. (2020). Exploring the phenomenon of open awareness and its effects on stress and burnout. Consciousness, Spirituality & Transpersonal Psychology, 1, 76-91. https://doi.org/10.53074/cstp.2020.9
Dängeli, J. (Ed.). (2019). Open awareness handbook (2nd ed.). https://jevondangeli.com/product/open_awareness-handbook
Dängeli, J. & Geldenhuys, H. (2018). Open Awareness: Holding the Liminal Space in Transpersonal Coaching and Therapy. Integral Transpersonal Journal, 10, 117-63. https://jevondangeli.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/OA_Holding_Space_Dangeli_Geldenhuys_ITJ.pdf
Gilbert, P. (2009). The compassionate mind: A new approach to life’s challenges. Constable-Robinson.
Porges, S. W. (2011). The polyvagal theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. W. W. Norton & Company
Siegel, D. J. (1999). The developing mind: Toward a neurobiology of interpersonal experience. Guilford Press.
Siegel, D. (2022). IntraConnected: MWe (Me + We) as the Integration of Self, Identity, and Belonging. W. W. Norton & Company.
Yates, J. (2015). The Mind Illuminated. Tucson: AZ: Dharma Treasure Press.