Healing developmental trauma - NARM®

The originator of NARM®, Dr. Lawrence Heller, is also a long-time trainer for Somatic Experiencing. While Somatic Experiencing is a wonderful method for treating shock trauma – a single event trauma, NARM® is more suited to treating developmental or childhood trauma.

Most of the personality issues, like issues with relating or with work, which clients bring have their roots in their childhood. A child is completely dependent on its parents or its caregivers and however much a child is mistreated, it has no way to see the wrongs of its caregivers; it always makes itself wrong and develops a survival strategy to cope with the situation, in which the caregivers are the heroes and it is the bad one.

These strategies and the associated beliefs and shame are so deep, that they persist in adulthood, when actually they are not needed anymore. These beliefs and shame are referred to as identifications in NARM®, and therefore they are not easy to become aware of and not easy to let go of them.

NARM® is a non-cathartic, non-regressive and resource-oriented approach to developmental trauma, which helps clients to establish a connection to parts of self that are organized, coherent and functional. NARM® uses both the Top-down approach – from the neocortex to the deeper structures of the brain and also the bottom-up approach – from the body up in to the emotions and in to the cognitive understanding.

NARM® is also process oriented approach, in that the dynamics of the survival strategy that the client evolved in the childhood are present right now as the client gets in touch with his or her issues. Therefore it is often not necessary to actually remember or explore the childhood story.

Further information on NARM® can be found on the website of Dr. Laurence Heller

Healing Developmental Trauma
How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation, Self-Image, and the Capacity for Relationship

Laurence Heller
ISBN-10: 1583944893