Acting IN <<< >>> Acting OUT
The strategy of internalizing instinctive, defensive procedures is a form of a re-enactment. We could call it ‘acting in’. To commit violence on oneself is the method preferred by our culture for various reasons.
One of the positive aspects in the recent escalation of violence ‘acting out’ is that it is forcing us to face the fact that post trauma stress, whether it manifests as ‘acting in’ or ‘acting out’, is a major health issue.
It is humbling to know that a significant portion of human behavior is performed from hyper aroused states due to incomplete responses to threat.
Arousal becomes chronic as a result of overwhelming emotions that have an internal source. Therefore, trauma must be transformed by working with it internally.
We learned that humans are vulnerable to traumatization in a way that animals are not. The key to the exit from this seemingly unsolvable predicament lies in the characteristic that clearly distinguishes us from animals:
Our ability to be consciously aware
of our inner experience.
Conscious awareness accessed through the felt sense faculty provides us with a gentle energetic discharge, whereas the animal accesses it by action.
This is called re-negotiation.
