S2 Ep 3 - Healing Traumatic Stress with Modern Science and Ancient Principles of Chinese Medicine: Interview with Guest Alaine Duncan
When a word like trauma is used frequently in society and in the media, we think we know what it means. But, when we apply more than one medical model to understand trauma, it’s an opportunity to go “back to the drawing board” to understand and treat trauma more compassionately and effectively. As we emerge from the pandemic’s toll of loss and isolation, a growing mental health crisis surrounds us. The status quo for treating mental illness is no longer sustainable. This crisis is the best time for reflection and integrative approaches to healing.
In this episode, I sit down with my guest, Alaine Duncan, to discuss her innovative and integrative approach to understand and treat complex trauma. Alaine Duncan is a licensed acupuncturist, a Somatic Experiencing practitioner, and a very gifted educator. She has a unique approach to acupuncture that integrates modern understandings of the neurobiology of traumatic stress with ancient healing principles from Chinese medicine. She co-authored the book, The Tao of Trauma: A Practitioner’s Guide for Integrating Five Element Theory in Trauma Treatment.
Chinese and Western medicine operate from different foundations, but they are compatible with each other to give the best possible outcomes for your health. The journey to understand Chinese medicine starts with an introduction to two major principles called Yin-Yang theory and Five-Element theory. Alaine Duncan and I discuss these two principles in this episode as well as the influence of Taoist philosophy on Chinese medicine’s approach to health.
The Impacts on Your Third Opinion
There is an inseparable relationship between two parts of a whole. One part of your body cannot be well unless the other part is thriving. This is why you have to understand the big picture, and not just your illnesses as separate conditions on a list. The mind, body and spirit are connected to define your state of health, which is why mental illness should be treated in the context of the whole person.
In this episode, Alaine Duncan and I discuss:
- Acupuncture’s core value in restoring essential regulation in the body that becomes dysregulated from disease
- The introduction of Chinese medicine principles of Yin-Yang and Five-Element theories
- Taoist philosophy and how it pertains to the Chinese medicine principles
- Polyvagal theory and the role of the autonomic nervous system in responding to a perceived threat, which includes
- Sympathetic nervous system
- Parasympathetic nervous system (dorsal and ventral vagus nerve)
- The definition of complex trauma, sympathetic arousal and parasympathetic collapse
- The zone of resiliency and regulation that all people have and the zone that healthy people operate within
- The five steps to the self-protective stress response and how any of these steps can be thwarted from completion with experiencing complex trauma
- The role of epigenetics in creating transgenerational trauma and re-establishing resilience and growth in future generations
Resources
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The Tao of Trauma: A Practitioner’s Guide for Integrating Five Element Theory and Trauma Treatment, by Alaine D. Duncan with Kathy l. Kain, Berkley: North Atlantic Books, 2019. You can purchase through this link (supports independent book stores) or anywhere you choose to shop online.
Review and Join Alaine Duncan’s Newsletter: News & Views on acupuncture and integrative medicine, bridging worlds for trauma survivors.
Linear and Circular thinking explained: Western Medicine’s philosophical approach is partly influenced by Aristotle’s concept of noncontradiction. An example would be how the concepts of A (presence) and non-A (absence) cannot exist at the same time. This differs from the Eastern medical model that embraces a more circular perspective and understands duality in a more complex way around the laws of Yin and Yang.
· For more information on Aristotle and his law of noncontradiction, review: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_noncontradiction.
For more information on the laws of Yin and Yang, see my blog on this topic, entitled: How the Yin and Yang Principles Apply to Your Health
Trauma effects can be inherited and potentially reversed: Here is the article mentioned in the episode by Andrew Curry called “A Painful Legacy.” This citation mentions the research conducted by Isabelle M. Mansuy, professor of neuroepigenetics at the University of Zurich and the Department of Health Science and Technology of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland.
