Key Terms & Definitions
AFFECT - (a) Primary Affect: The somatic representation of the state of the organism - a nonverbal representation of the state of the body (4). (b) Categorical Affects: What we typically think of when we talk about emotion. Some of these include shame, sadness, joy, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust. These have been found to be displayed as distinct facial expressions that are uniform across cultures suggesting that they are so crucial for survival that they have evolved into an inherited neurological substrate (4).
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ATTACHMENT - Refers to the degree to which an infant or child feels security within their relationship to their primary caregiver (3,7).
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ATTUNEMENT - A right-brain to right-brain implicit communication of empathic connection through awareness of one's own regulated affect and the somatic state of the other (4).
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DISSOCIATION - A mental process of disconnecting from one's thoughts, feelings, memories or sense of identity. Dissociative disorders are characterized by a disruption of and/or discontinuity in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior frequently found in the aftermath of trauma (2). Dissociation is the essence of trauma. The overwhelming experience is split off and fragmented, so that the emotions, sounds, images, thoughts, and physical sensations related to the trauma take on a life of their own (8).
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DISSOCIATIVE SELF-STATE - Dissociation is an inborn, adaptive, automatic response to a life-threatening event from which there is no escape and which induces terror - overwhelming, painful affect consisting of fear and horror (4).
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DORSAL VAGAL SYSTEM - Neurobiological system devoted to freeze responses, which generates immobilization without loss of consciousness. It serves to conserve energy needed for physical escape and also serves to numb pain through a psychological detachment from self-experience (4,6).
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DYADIC REGULATION - Refers to the ways in which an infant or child relies on their caregiver for regulation of their emotions (4,7).
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FLASHBACK - A dissociative state during which aspects of a traumatic event are re-experienced as though they were occurring at that moment (2).
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HEDONIC TONE - Signals adaptive value - positive/approach or negative/avoid. Intensity signals how much it matters. Accurate appraisal of internal and external stimuli is crucial for adaptive functioning (4).
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HOLDING ENVIRONMENT - Refers to the supportive space a caregiver provides in order for another to feel safe and secure in developing and exploring emotions. In the context of fertility treatment, as in other medical care settings, this can be thought of as an environment in which a sense of physical and psychological safety can be established (7).
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HYPER-VIGILANCE - An enhanced state of sensory sensitivity accompanied by an exaggerated intensity of behaviors whose purpose is to detect threats. Hyper-vigilance is also accompanied by a state of increased anxiety which can cause exhaustion. Other symptoms include abnormally increased arousal, high responsiveness to stimuli, and a continual scanning of the environment for threats. In hyper-vigilance there is a perpetual scanning of the environment to search for sights, sounds, people, behaviors, smells, or anything else that is reminiscent of threat or trauma (2).
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IMPLICIT COMMUNICATION - This is the medium of felt connection between ourselves and our ability to read what is going on in others, often expressed too quickly for consciousness, implicit communication involves body based affect that is expressed automatically through (often momentary) facial displays, the rhythm, intonations, and stresses of speech (parsody) and our posture and gestures. We are wired to match one another's affect states. It is involuntary on a neurobiological level (4).
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LEVEL of AROUSAL - (1) Hyper-arousal: Scanning of the environment for danger. Alerts the organism of danger and supports a fight or flight response. If these are untenable, the freeze response is activated - an instantaneous, systemic state of- (2) hypo-arousal: - wherein there is a complete metabolic collapse and underlying activation of the dorsal vagal system (4,6).
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POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER - A mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault. Personal factors, like previous traumatic exposure, age, and gender, can affect whether or not a person will develop PTSD. What happens after the traumatic event is also important. Stress can make PTSD more likely, while social support can make it less likely (5).
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*Note: PTSD is more prevalent among females than among males across the lifespan. Females in the general population experience PTSD for a longer duration than do males. At least some of the increased risk for PTSD in females appears to be attributable to a greater likelihood of exposure to traumatic events such as rape, and other forms of interpersonal violence (2).
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PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESSOR - Any life event or life change that may be associated temporarily with the onset, occurrence, or exacerbation of a mental disorder (2).
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TRAUMATIC STRESSOR - Any event (or events) that cause or threaten death, serious injury, or sexual violence to an individual, a close family member or a close friend (2).
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TRIGGER - A trigger is something that sets off a memory tape or flashback transporting the person back to the event of her/his original trauma (1).
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