When it comes to treating trauma, it’s safe to say that one intervention does not fit all. Knowing how to apply different approaches can be critical to reducing symptoms and accelerating recovery time. But, perhaps equally important is understanding the overarching themes that can be essential in the treatment of trauma, and learning the most effective practices that are common across even a diverse group of experts in the field. Ron Siegel, PsyD picked up on quite a number of these among the experts featured in our recent Treatment of Trauma series – he outlines quite a few in the…

Trauma’s impact on the body can often be readily apparent, but what does trauma look like from inside the brain? According to David Berceli, PhD, there’s a specific sequence to how the brain processes trauma . . . . . . and knowing how it works could be essential to honing our approach to the treatment of trauma. David takes us through the process in the short video below. Check it out – it’s just 3 minutes. Click here to sign up. The webinar with David is a special bonus for Gold Members, and in it, he’ll give us an…

There are people who are working hard, day in and day out, to discover the breakthroughs that can improve trauma treatment . . . And then there are the people, including many of you, who work hard to learn the latest so you can make a difference in the lives of your patients – trauma survivors who just want to get their lives back. As this year’s Treatment of Trauma series comes to a close, I’d like to take a moment to look back and reflect on what we’ve learned. It has been quite a journey as we added to…

Your body is constantly in motion, but how often do you pay attention to what these movements convey? Focusing on the way people move their bodies can actually show us a lot about the trauma they’ve experienced. But how can we help people learn to recognize what their bodies are reflecting about their trauma? By mastering the art of contact statements, we can let patients interpret their own movements. In this video, Pat Ogden, PhD explains what contact statements are and the right way to use them to open a critical crack in the door to self-awareness. Check it out…

Why is it that 33% to 53% of HIV-infected people have histories of childhood sexual abuse? Just take a look at the symptoms of childhood sexual abuse – helplessness, low self-esteem, dissociation, denial, self-destructiveness . . . these psychological difficulties that can result from childhood sexual abuse are often related to HIV risk behavior. Studies show that childhood sexual abuse is associated with avoidant coping, which can lead to increased traumatic symptoms . . . so perhaps changing the coping strategy of people who experienced childhood sexual abuse could be useful? Duke University professor Kathleen J. Sikkema, PhD conducted a…

If a single traumatic experience can change a person’s life for years to come, what must an average day be like for someone who faces traumatic events on a routine basis? For people affected by war or natural disaster, where entire populations from infants to the elderly have been exposed to so much suffering, what can we possibly put in place to help them cope? Researchers wanted to see whether the Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) program could be one effective resource for this population. TRT is a skills-based cognitive behavioral therapy program that has significantly reduced symptoms of PTSD in…