In the second of three episodes on moving through difficult experiences, Ukranian theologian and passivist Ihor Kozlovsky talks about his experience recovering from torture and illegal imprisonment.
HR professional Liliya Sayvch hosted an expert panel on July 4th, 2023 to discuss how to remain Unbroken in tradition and spirit. If you haven’t listened to her episode, she provides a short introduction before introducing Ihor. If you have listened to Liliya Sayvch’s episode you can zip through to the nine-minute mark.
Mr. Kozlovsky was one of the panel experts on the July 4th panel . He speaks in Ukranian and interpreter Olesia provides the translation. This conversation is important because dark emotions and trauma can negatively impact decisions, leadership thinking, and our humanity at a time when being human is the primary differentiator from technology.
Surprises that come with abrupt disruption can threaten the worldview each person relies on to make sense of the world and feel secure in it. Trauma is a big topic today and this discussion provides insight into the biological secret to surviving, making sense of one’s experience, and recovering emotional peace.
While it is easy to assume traumatic experiences will go away over time, they do not. An emotional charge gets stored in the body and dashes out when triggered by a sight, sound, smell or repetitive pattern.
Here’s a summary of the minute marks to hone in on specific parts of the conversation.
4:08 Liliya Sayvch provides an update and sets the context for the discussion
9:00 3 things coming out of the expert panel on July 4th, 2023 that motivated the deeper conversation in this episode.
11:42 How has Mr. Kozlovsky processed his experience and made sense of his experience?
20:51 What kind of dark emotions stay with you and what can they teach?
25:46 What motivates soldiers? Hate or love?
28.31 When you are in dark places in your mind or surroundings how do you pull yourself out?
33:41 The three levels of intellectual abilities for overcoming trauma.
39:05 Finding a coherent sense of ourselves in the world around us.
40:51 What can Ihor's experience teach humanity about being compassionate and living on one planet?
46:42 Having survived a torturous experience do you retrieve meaning from the past or start anew?
1 hr 00 The fourth layer of intellectual ability - social
1 hr 06 Why these conversations matter today
1 hr11 The source: Emotional health and its relationship to polarization and conflict. A higher leadership call.
Apart from the fact that Ihor Kozlovsky does not speak English, I have learned that recounting a traumatic event must be done in one’s own language. Emotion is buried in the language we use and choose. The wisdom Ihor shares is timeless and applicable to all traumatic experiences because moving through it follows a common path, neurologically and biologically.
The last episode in this series (so far) will be published this week and then capped with a review of the steps anyone can use to move through a difficult experience while strengthening resilience and emotional/mental health.
Working Directly with Trauma of Torture with Ihor Kozlovsky