Diane sat down with Thomas Hübl to discuss his new book, Healing Collective Trauma, and his perspective on healing collective trauma. Thomas joined us from Israel and shared his insightful and heartfelt experiences with treating collective trauma, particularly in Germany and Israel, but also worldwide. He shared his observations when healing in a group where the transmission [...]
In Mexico, Valentine’s Day is celebrated as a friendship day as well as a day to honor your romantic partner. I really love that broader focus of Valentine’s Day. I think a meaningful focus for the holiday is looking at how we can enhance our ability to give and receive love. One beneficial thing is understanding [...]
As therapists, when working with clients who grapple with trauma, whether it’s developmental trauma or shock trauma, avoiding retraumatization or emotional overwhelm, poses a challenge. Tempering Language in Therapy It can be tempting to allow clients to “vent” or proceed full-speed into re-enacting or reliving their most traumatic moments and the accompanying emotions. What we truly [...]
We understand through medical studies that certain health conditions, exposures, and lifestyle factors make us more susceptible to diseases and conditions such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. But what makes us more susceptible to shock trauma, an impaired connection in relationships or having less resiliency as adults? While trauma therapy is a growing field with [...]
We have all had plenty of time to reflect as we spent much of 2020 in isolation. I have heard so many of you say you’re really looking forward to 2021 and all of the possibilities it will bring. Our tradition is to set personal and professional goals each New Year, but what if we focused [...]
Happy holidays to all! No matter what you celebrate this time of year, it’s particularly challenging because we cannot gather in-person due to the pandemic and the need to stay safe. I want to remind you that you can still reach out, especially to friends and family who seem more introverted, as this isolation drags on. [...]
Thanksgiving is a time to acknowledge that we are grateful for everything we have, especially the gift of life. The idea that our ancestors (parents) brought us into the world and that alone is a reason to honor them and be grateful aligns with the Family Constellation perspective. The Family Constellation is associated with the Zulu [...]
In this video interview, Diane talks to Andrea Battle, LPC, who works in tandem with the Houston Police Department in an innovative and collaborative partnership program, Critical Intervention Response Team (CIRT). CIRT is a co-responder program which partners a masters-level licensed clinician with a Houston CIT (crisis intervention team) officer who ride together in a patrol [...]
Freud’s definition of trauma included a break in the stimulus barrier, and that characteristic of trauma is still relevant today. Boundaries are ruptured in many ways – from too-loud sound to too much energy, too much arousal, or victim/perpetrator dynamics infringing on your actual physical body with violence. David Wallin says that many therapists have some [...]
Trauma is the emotional and psychological reaction to a negative event. According to Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing, trauma is experiencing fear in the face of helplessness. Fear plus helplessness equals trauma. While many experiences might trigger trauma, individual responses vary dramatically and cause a range of personal suffering. Different financial means, medical conditions, [...]
