When kids have trouble paying attention in school, when they’re too emotional, or reactionary, or downright aggressive, what can we do to help them turn it around? Perhaps too often, these behaviors are addressed with medication for ADHD or bipolar disorder. But according to Bessel van der Kolk, MD, the problem (and the solution) may lie in knowing how to recognize the signs and symptoms of childhood trauma. Bessel walks us through the major markers of this kind of trauma in this short video – check it out, it’s just 4 minutes. Click here to sign up. Bessel will tell…

It’s common knowledge that caring for someone with PTSD sometimes leads to secondary trauma. But researchers at the University of Utah wondered just how bad that secondary trauma could be. Could the partners of veterans with PTSD suffer just as much, if not more, than the veterans themselves? Catherine Caska, a graduate student in clinical psychology, and her research team studied two groups of male veterans, along with their female partners. In 32 couples, the veterans suffered from PTSD, and in the control group of 33 couples, PTSD wasn’t a factor. The veterans in both groups had been deployed to…

When I saw the pictures of Monday’s tragedy in Boston, my heart went out to all the people in the race – from the runners, to their families and friends, and of course the residents of Boston – all gathered for what should have been a day of celebration and accomplishment. But one person in particular caught my eye: someone in the special jacket that the marathon coordinators use to identify the medical staff on site. Given the nature of the bomb, the quick response of the medical staff probably saved many lives. My late partner, Christine Huda, co-founder of…

Is there a “trauma gene”? Well, let’s back up a bit. We know that genetics can have something to do with vulnerability to trauma. But what if we could find a specific gene that led to PTSD? That’s just what Ya-Ping Tang, MD, PhD, a professor of cell biology at LSU, tried to do. Joined by a research team, Dr. Tang hypothesized that a specific gene called CCKR-2 would increase vulnerability to stress. So they raised a specific strain of mice who exhibited the gene, and compared them with a control group of mice with genes unaltered. Researchers then conducted…

With more than 5,000 practitioners tuning in to my webinar with Ruth Lanius, MD, PhD this week, I expected some really insightful thoughts on our comment boards. And you didn’t disappoint. I’d like to take a moment to share a few of my favorites with you. First, it’s always wonderful to see practitioners drawing links between webinar topics and their own work: “I can’t wait to read the transcripts to review this again and follow up with the research. It seems to directly impact a primary area of my work with chronic immune diseases, chronic fatigue syndrome patients where there…

When people are jarred from sleep because of a nightmare, the disturbing images can be difficult to shake. Even though they’re “just dreams,” nightmares can be very upsetting and can sometimes haunt us long after we’ve awoken. But believe it or not, there may be a good reason for them. Nightmares are part of the brain’s attempt to help us resolve traumatic experiences. But when they wake us up too soon, a key process for healing gets interrupted. So how can we finish what the brain is trying to start? Francine Shapiro, PhD, the originator of EMDR, shares how this…