You may recall the October 4, 2010 TIME magazine cover article “How The First Nine Months Shape the Rest of Your Life,” naming the science of fetal origins. I am providing a link to the text of this article if you wish read it: TIME cover story. The line, “cancer, heart disease, obesity, depression – scientists can now trace adult health to the nine months before birth” prompted a lot of worthwhile conversation about the role of our prenatal existence. William Emerson, Ph.D of Emerson Seminars is a world-wide leading expert in the field of prenatal and perinatal (birth) psychology. He contends that during these early times of life, the impacts of shock may be reflected in the completely overwhelming experiences that occur for the prenate/baby who has very primitive defenses at best. Dr. Emerson designates clear distinctions between trauma and shock as noted below from an excerpt in his 1999 publication, now 15 years ago:

“Trauma and shock have traditionally been perceived as the same. However, my clinical research and 30 yearss of experience suggest that it is necessary to differentiate between them. In general: 1) Shock refers to negative and distressing life experiences that are overwhelmingly painful, cannot be coped with and which powerfully affect the physiology and psychology of the victim. In contrast, trauma refers to negative and distressing life experiences that are emotionally painful but which can be coped with and do not surreptitiously affect the physiology and psychology of the victim. Viewed in this way, shock and trauma are both distressing experiences, but shock is more debilitating; 2) Shock stems from highly stressful events in which there is little or no choice or power and in which feel overwhelmed. In contrast, trauma arises from events in which victims have some power to alter their course or intensity; 3) When shock is activated, the whole shock system and all unresolved shocks are simultaneously activated, whether they are thematically related or not. This means that if one shock is restimulated, all other shocks and the entire shock system are also activated, together and at the same time. Activation occurs at unconscious levels, so that clients are not aware of simultaneous shock memories; they are only aware of the distress, of dysfunctional feelings or behaviors, or of memory fragments. In contrast, activation of trauma results exclusively in restimulation of thematically related traumas, but not the entire trauma system.” (Shock: A Universal Malady – Prenatal and Perinatal Origins of Suffering, Emerson)

We may be unaware of the presence of shock in our system, and yet, our bodies and our lives don’t lie. Our bodies and our lives tell the truth of what happens to us if we will but begin to take careful notice. As a prenate, we have little defenses in the face of what may be difficult developmental agendas and the overpowering environmental milieu in which we may marinate, where we are profoundly impacted by our parents’ individual and collective experiences, emotions, beliefs, words – and actions, whether covert or overt in nature, via acts of commission or omission. Also at play, are the collectively-laden historical behaviors, beliefs and woundings from generations past that reach forward through time and have the potential to permeate our vulnerable systems, however minuscule our systems may be. We long for unconditional acceptance and a welcoming embrace, but if our prenatal marinade of sorts includes a sense of overwhelming stress/negativity, this overpowering material may permeate our little systems, and we may subsequently believe in our core that we are literally that which permeates us (e.g. we are the bad; we are the wrong; we are the mistake, etc.) Our negative beliefs about ourselves and the negative self-talk that we may perpetuate in our daily lives may be linked to what may have been the negative-laced and emotionally-layered marinade that held our prenatal structures and consciousness. It’s what happened to us early on by way of prenatal shock that may then be reflected in our negative self-talk that can run rampant in our daily lives. Focusing on what is reflected in our current life is a starting point for the healing that is to come.

Prenatal wounding may feel more deeply impactful given that no one knew what was happening for us as we were inutero, thus accentuating what may be for us a deep sense of aloneness as we live out our life. As we begin to plant seeds of gentle compassion for ourselves for what may have happened for us during our prenatal time, healing properties may surface and spread throughout our bodies, another beginning place that can start now.

11 Oct This entry was published on October 11, 2014 at 9:15 PM. It’s filed under counseling, health, mental health, therapy, wellness and tagged healing, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, shock, trauma, wounding. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.