Trauma-Informed Lens Podcast

Episode 27: Free Will & Trauma

Posted on March 19, 2018

Do we have free will? Do we have the capacity to enact our volition even when our neurobiology and environment support us to continue our habits? Does trauma’s effect on executive functioning make free will even more illusionary for those with unresolved trauma? In this episode, Matt, Curt, and Jerry take on the massive issue of free will and talk about why changes in behavior and thinking are often extremely difficult for those with traumatic pasts.

Discussion questions:

• How does the science on volition affect how we see those we work with?
• Do our policies and approaches make sense in light of this research?
• How could we make shifts in our structures and approaches to better match the evolving research on volition and trauma?

Matt’s post on Quantum Physics and the Brain in honor of Stephen Hawking