{"id":29365,"date":"2015-09-22T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T15:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?p=29365"},"modified":"2015-09-29T13:48:24","modified_gmt":"2015-09-29T20:48:24","slug":"what-pixars-inside-out-can-teach-us-about-trauma-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/what-pixars-inside-out-can-teach-us-about-trauma-part-1-0922155","title":{"rendered":"What Pixar\u2019s \u2018Inside Out\u2019 Can Teach Us about Trauma, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GirlEditor\u2019s note:<\/strong> This is the first article in a two-part series that explores how the Pixar movie <\/em>Inside Out offers a compelling and accessible way to look the impact of <\/em>trauma<\/a> and <\/em>dissociation<\/a>. Part II appears <\/em>here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s rare that I give homework to people in therapy<\/a>. In fact, as a trauma therapist specializing in complex trauma, I find that more often than not some homework assignments can be triggering<\/a>. So it is a very conscious choice when I ask people to do homework in between sessions.<\/p>\n

When I do suggest homework, it is often with the emphasis on increasing their calming and relaxation<\/a> skills, or to provide additional psycho-education surrounding trauma recovery. Structural dissociation theory, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy<\/a>, and the neurological aspects of trauma\u2019s impact on the brain<\/a>\u2014these topics can present as \u201cheady\u201d or \u201ctoo academic.\u201d I always look for a more accessible way to describe such topics. Pixar Animation Studios has provided such an opportunity.<\/p>\n

To me, the most effective, powerful, inspiring homework and psycho-education opportunities are more organic and experiential in nature.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, I recently began asking some people to watch Pixar\u2019s recent movie release, Inside Out<\/em>. While this article is neither a review nor a place for spoilers, it is a testament to the power of Inside Out<\/em> to teach people about trauma and dissociation in an inspiring and open-hearted way.<\/p>\n

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The \u2018Inside Out\u2019 Story<\/h2>\n

In Inside Out<\/em>, a girl named Riley, the 11-year-old main character, is faced with the challenges of moving from her family\u2019s hometown. Her primary emotions, joy<\/a>, anger<\/a>, fear<\/a>, disgust, and sadness<\/a>, are represented as characters by the same names, each with influence over the \u201ccontrol console\u201d of her mind, also known as \u201cheadquarters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Often, we \u201creject\u201d our emotions, or other aspects of the traumas, because it feels too risky or too dangerous to fully realize them at the time of the experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Riley navigates the events surrounding her family\u2019s move and the associated traumatic stressors, the primary emotion of \u201cJoy\u201d is no longer at the helm. \u201cSadness\u201d becomes more prevalent, creating more core memories surrounding her distress at the move. By a variety of methods, \u201cJoy\u201d attempts to bring headquarters back to \u201cnormal,\u201d meaning \u201cJoy\u201d at the controls, but as \u201cAnger,\u201d \u201cFear,\u201d and \u201cDisgust\u201d take over, Riley\u2019s internal world, and the personality islands associated with things she enjoyed\u2014family life, friends, and her love of hockey\u2014disintegrate. She shuts down.<\/p>\n

It is not until all of the emotional states accept and integrate \u201cSadness,\u201d solidifying that each emotion has its place, that new core memories can be built and her healing occurs.<\/p>\n

So what does Inside Out<\/em> have to do with trauma recovery? More than perhaps is clear at the onset.<\/p>\n

Core Memories<\/h2>\n

As I have written in previous articles, it is our unprocessed and fragmented memories<\/a>, the traumas that are \u201clocked\u201d in their state-dependent form, that cause distressing symptoms in our now<\/em>. Our emotions<\/a>, as well as what we saw, believed, and somatically experienced, are \u201cfrozen in time\u201d and contribute to our distressing symptoms in the present.<\/p>\n

Inside Out<\/em> does an exceptional job of showing how our fully integrated, realized, and healed \u201ccore memories\u201d can be stored in our<\/em> headquarters in ways that are adaptive. Our system does have fully processed memories\u2014that is, all aspects are acknowledged and healed. Pixar describes them as core memories symbolized by translucent spheres mindfully placed in a conveyor-like storage system. That said, when traumas are not fully healed, we have memories that are fragmented and displaced, even rejected.<\/p>\n

Rejecting or Banishing an Aspect of Trauma<\/h2>\n

Often, we \u201creject\u201d our emotions, or other aspects of the traumas, because it feels too risky or too dangerous to fully realize them at the time of the experiences. This is illustrated in Inside Out<\/em>, where \u201cJoy\u201d cannot accept \u201cSadness.\u201d \u201cJoy\u201d rejects her. Similarly, as we move forward in time, we, too, can become phobic<\/a> toward some aspects of our trauma(s). In Riley\u2019s case, \u201cSadness\u201d had a very important job and was an important part of her moving from Minnesota. In fact, as Riley moved through her process of daily living, \u201cSadness\u201d kept trying to push through\u2014to touch the other memories in order to be acknowledged and processed.<\/p>\n

It is not until the characters, the other emotions, become more accepting of \u201cSadness\u201d that the full healing can occur. As Riley\u2019s internal system, headquarters, becomes able to fully accept ALL aspects of the trauma, including what was once rejected or deemed dangerous to fully realize, \u201cSadness\u201d is able to take its rightful place.<\/p>\n

In the context of structural dissociation theory, no longer did Riley\u2019s system have to feel phobic of that part of the experience. Riley could not fully realize and heal the trauma of her move until \u201cSadness\u201d was acknowledged by her whole system. \u201cSadness\u201d did have a place, and was key to healing the whole <\/em>memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Watching an animated movie might not sound like typical therapy homework, but \u201cInside Out\u201d makes complex topics such as trauma and dissociation less daunting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,542],"tags":[31,386,226,25],"class_list":["post-29365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-and-movie-reviews","category-featured-articles","tag-psychotherapy-practice","tag-dissociation","tag-posttraumatic-stress","tag-psychotherapy-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29365\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}