Your Autonomic Nervous System apprenticeship starts here. Veterans, children who have experienced abuse or neglect, and others who have suffered single event trauma are often left with emotional and psychological scars. Despite decades of effort, there are no clear-cut answers about how to heal them.Pills, talk therapy, and support groups help some people but not … Continue reading How to bring safety to the body after trauma
Fragmentation: A pantomime of parts
Do you ever feel that life with your adopted or foster child feels like a pantomime where you never know who is going to turn up on stage next? Your child may be playing contentedly and a moment later, he is a raging Hulk, or a spacey otherworldly creature, or a collapsed vagrant who "deserves" … Continue reading Fragmentation: A pantomime of parts
Marisa Peer: How to effectively use language to help our children (and ourselves) thrive!
If you have adopted or are fostering a child with attachment wounds as a result of early trauma, daily life offers many challenges, detours, and seeming dead ends. These can stop you in your tracks, causing you to get stuck in the morass of feeling overwhelmed, or they can act as the impetus to a … Continue reading Marisa Peer: How to effectively use language to help our children (and ourselves) thrive!
Iain McGilchrist: Language and the “divided brain”
© ted.com There has been a lot written about the effects that prolonged exposure to traumatic events–particularly in the early years–is thought to have on brain development. On the whole science tells us, children exposed to neglect may be more vulnerable to general delays in cognitive and language development. However there has been very little … Continue reading Iain McGilchrist: Language and the “divided brain”
Lying: The truth rests in the body
One of the most common points of frustration for caregivers of children who have attachment wounds is how to respond to lying. All children – in fact, all of us – lie sometimes. But for kids with developmental trauma or disorganized attachment, this is part of survival. What does it look like? Crazy lying (“No, … Continue reading Lying: The truth rests in the body
Pat Ogden: Dealing with angry children
Caregivers often first discover their child is having problems with anger when they get sent home from school or a teacher makes contact about aggressive behaviours. In some cases, defiance presents in the home, perhaps in the form of tantrums or refusing to do simple tasks requested by parents. In many cases, the child doesn’t … Continue reading Pat Ogden: Dealing with angry children
Hello anger? Can we talk?
What is your response to anger: to fear it, avoid it, or express it in destructive ways that you later come to regret? Let’s face it, few of us have learnt how to have a healthy relationship with anger. (c) Pixar What is anger and its function? From an evolutionary standpoint, the role of anger … Continue reading Hello anger? Can we talk?
Trauma vs. Trust: Who dares win?
Trust. It’s a simple five letter word. It’s meaning is clear and employed the world over. There is no grey when it comes to trust. It’s as black and white as words come. Then why is it such a tough word for children impacted by developmental trauma to comprehend? All relationships begin with trust. … Continue reading Trauma vs. Trust: Who dares win?
the trauma initiative 