Trauma in the Media
Representation and discussion of trauma in the media.
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Book recommendation: “You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism”
This fall, we were pleased to be able to offer the workshop “Do No Harm: Utilizing an Anti-Racist Lens as a Psychotherapist” with Richla Davis. The two part workshop addressed many aspects of the ways in which white supremacy and racism show up in the therapy space. Though I am not a therapist myself, I benefited…
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How Our Nervous Systems are Impacted By Everything Going On In the World
I’m sure I don’t need to tell anyone that there is a lot going on in the world right now. COVID-19, the uprising that is happening in response to police brutality and white supremacy and violence; politics and the upcoming election and the state of our democracy and the soul of country. Just to name…
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An Evidence-Based House of Cards
Here is my bias: I believe that therapy is unavoidably complex. How could it be otherwise, encountering as it does all manner of human experience? Wrestling as we do, both client and therapist, with suffering and meaning? It stands counter to reason and intuition alike that formulaic clinical practices would result in solid treatment outcomes. …
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Food, The Body, and Trauma and Attachment
The Body Isn’t the Problem; it’s the answer. – Rachel Lewis-Marlow In our CCIH Study Group in August we decided to change up our usual routine and discuss a podcast. We choose Food, The Body, and Trauma and Attachment with Guests Paula Scatoloni & Rachel Lewis-Marlow from the Therapist Uncensored podcast series. I have often…
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A Tale of Three States
We live in a story that originates in our autonomic state, is sent through autonomic pathways from the body to the brain, and is then translated by the brain into the beliefs that guide our daily living. The mind narrates what the nervous system knows. Story follows state. (The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy, p. 35)…
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The Politics of Mental Health
As therapists we cannot deny that our work, our clients, and ourselves are directly impacted by the context in which we live. The work we practice daily in our offices is affected by the political systems around us–systems that often have been oppressive to the most vulnerable in our communities. Bessel van der Kolk poignantly…
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Trauma Outside the Box
These days we hear more and more about services and programs that call themselves “trauma-informed”. I often find myself curious about what that actually means. When we use the word trauma, we are calling to mind the worst of what we as human beings suffer and do to one another. The consequences of trauma occupy…
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Trauma Brain Project
The Trauma Brain Project is a beautifully written, beautifully performed play about the powerful effects of childhood trauma and the incredible wisdom of the body in the healing process https://www.thetraumabrainproject.com. I had the honor of participating in the expert panel discussion after the performance last night. I was again moved by the performance and grateful…
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Somatic Trauma Therapy and The Trauma Brain Project
“…I’m ten years old, and it’s happening again. Another seizure and there’s nothing I can do. Unwillingly, I retreat into the bubble once more… safe and secure inside this space while my brain lets go, throws its angry tantrum, spits at the world, then subsides. My head spins, I am filled with a dizzy feeling…
