Curtis Buzanski, LMFT, CCDS

09/10/2023

Many recovery programs stress the importance of giving up self will and trusting in others and a power greater than yourself.
Consciously choosing self will can be helped by consciously choosing to surrender. But subconscious self will that stems from a defense response is much more difficult.
Those who have experienced childhood trauma, especially trauma at the hands of their caregivers, have a shattered sense of trust and the knowledge that seemingly good people can be harmful for their own benefit. At a young age the subconscious defense mechanisms engage a survival mechanism of self protection, or self will. This can be adaptive at first but if it becomes prolonged and rigid it can be maladaptive and make it quite conflicting to ask for help, be fully honest, take suggestions, and trust fully. Even those who truly want to surrender often find themselves still holding back or operating from a rigid sense of self will.
Thankfully, by resolving the trauma that drives this and other defense responses, one can experience more agency and control in their bodies defense responses.

08/21/2023

A regulated nervous system does not mean the absence of stress. But it does mean we have a greater ability to stay within our window of tolerating stress and if pushed beyond we are able to rebound quicker.
Building a regulated nervous system takes a balance of enough stress that it pushes us. Ideally external and internal resources then help us navigate said stress, and this leads to adaptation. Adaptation means we can then tolerate a little more stress than before.
Those suffering with unresolved trauma will struggle with this as they usually have experienced too much stress, little to no resources, and maladaptation.
Neuroplasticity allows this mechanism to be corrected though! The right type of mind/ body/ brain therapies can help teach the nervous system to be regulated.

04/20/2023

Dr. Bruce Alexander led some groundbreaking research on this topic. In his research he found that when rats were placed in a cage alone with a bottle of regular water and a bottle of co***ne water, they drank the co***ne water to the point of illness and even death. When placed in a cage with the same water but toys and other rats, the majority avoided the co***ne water. Visit any 12 step meeting and you will also hear story after story of individuals growing up feeling out of place, misunderstood, different, and alone. Other research has backed up the biggest predictor of long term sobriety is finding a community where they feel seen and understood.

03/30/2023

Whether discussing deaths associated with addiction, su***de, violence, or health- statistically they increase year to year; despite laws, education, awareness, and a desire for change.
The change must come from within on a personal and societal level or it will continue.

03/13/2023

03/08/2023

When we hold unresolved trauma our mind, body, and brain continue to act as if there is still clear and present danger.
Additionally, when wounding is re-experienced later in life the reaction will be exaggerated because we’re reacting to ALL the wounding.
This trauma response can be effectively quieted with the right willingness, dedication, and help. Neuroscience has confirmed our brains are and remain flexible.

02/15/2023

Pass along to someone in recovery… respect! ❤️🙏🏼

01/14/2023

Historically the therapeutic relationship has been considered a primary aspect to healing attachment wounding. However, with advances in the field, modalities like The Comprehensive Resource Model (CRM) are able to help process and resolve insecure attachment and facilitate healthy secure attachment to self and others. Beyond that, CRM is able to accomplish this at a much more rapid rate than traditional modalities and approaches. All the therapists at Resolve are trained in CRM and are passionate about helping work through all varieties of trauma; from attachment wounding to CPTSD.

11/04/2022

What an inspiring experience to see my colleague, mentor, and friend Dr. Michael Parr receive the “Courage Tribute” award. This award honors a professional who has empowered the recovery and mental health communities through advocacy, leadership, and courage. He is a great man who leads with love, compassion, and humility. ❤️🙏🏼

10/20/2022

It’s important to know both healthy and toxic people are drawn to us, it’s about being able to identify the signs and respond accordingly. However, this is impacted by unresolved trauma.

The beauty in recognizing how present day patterns stem from past experiences is there are therapies now that go deeper than talk therapy that help the brain and nervous system reorganize these experiences.

This will shift how people feel at a physiological level, bring balance to their moods, shift internal negative beliefs, improve accessing and listening to intuition, and being able to trust oneself.
These shifts then change who people will be drawn to and begin discovering healthy meaningful relationships.

10/12/2022

Unresolved trauma keeps our nervous system in a trauma response.

This in turn shifts our brain and body’s priority from attachment and connection to safety and protection.

This can manifest as insecure attachment styles, subconscious and conscious attempts at “control,” and fear of abandonment/ fear of vulnerability, to name a few.

Until the psyche can know these mechanisms don’t need to engage they will continue to do so. Fortunately there are trauma modalities that can do just that and bring about dynamic shifts at the mind-body level. Healing is possible! ❤️🙏🏼

09/29/2022

When we have experienced a profound and shocking sense of real or perceived loss of control it creates a shock to the nervous system.

The response to this is an attempt to restore order.

This happens by seeking ways to assert control where we can, called a “center of power shift.”
Common centers of power include, but aren’t limited to, using intellect to control, using emotion to control, caregiving/ taking care of others, using sexuality, and perpetrating on others first.

When the trauma can be processed that drives the center of power shift these trauma responses will quiet because internal order has been restored.