The study of trauma has probably been the single most fertile area in helping to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship among the emotional, cognitive, social and biological forces that shape human development.
Starting with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults and expanding into early attachment and overwhelming attachment and social experiences in childhood (“Developmental Trauma”), this endeavor has elucidated how certain experiences can “set” psychological expectations, bodily experiences and biological selectivity.
When addressing the problems of traumatized people who, in a myriad of ways, continue to react to current experience as a replay of the past, there is a need for therapeutic methods that do not depend exclusively on drugs, talk or understanding. We have learned that most experience is automatically processed on a subcortical level of the brain; i.e., by “unconscious” interpretations that take place outside of conscious awareness. Insight and good intentions have only a limited influence on the operation of these subcortical processes, but synchrony, movement and reparative experiences do.
This recording will present both basic research about the impact of trauma over the life cycle, and a range of effective interventions that are being practiced in clinics, schools, prisons, families, and communities around the world.
Workshops included in this recording:
Three Decades of Explorations in Trauma: Welcome & Introduction – Bessel A. van der Kolk, MD
Me Too: At the Intersection of Sexual Violence and Racial Justice— A Fireside Chat with Tarana Burke – Tarana Burke
Psychiatry Under the Influence: Institutional Corruption, Social Injury and Prescriptions for Reform – Robert Whitaker
Panel Discussion & Questions – Faculty & Conference Participants
Trust and Meaning Making in Parent-Child Interactions – Edward Tronick, Ph.D.
The Enduring Neurobiological Effects of Abuse and Neglect – Martin Teicher, MD, Ph.D.
Panel Discussion #1 – Faculty & Conference Participants
The Evolution of Developmental Trauma Disorder – Julian Ford, Ph.D, ABPP
Panel Discussion #2 – Edward Tronick, Ph.D., Martin Teicher, MD, Ph.D., Julian Ford, Ph.D., Ruth Lanius, MD, Ph.D., & Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D.
Expressive Arts as Healing Engagement – Cathy Malchiodi, Ph.D.
DE-CRUIT: Treating Trauma in Military Veterans through Shakespeare & Science – Stephan Wolfert, MFT
Panel Discussion #3 – Faculty & Conference Participants
Dealing with Trauma in the Heart of the Community: Implementing a Comprehensive Yoga Program in a Large Public School System – Ali Smith, Atman Smith, & Andres Gonzalez
