MONDAY
MAIN AUDITORIUM & 3 WORKSHOP AREAS
- 17 Jun MAIN AUDITORIUM
- 17 Jun LAGANVIEW WORKSHOP AREA
- 17 Jun MADRONA WORKSHOP AREA
- 17 Jun HEMLOCK WORKSHOP AREA
Registration Opens on the Ground Floor
Tea, Coffee & Scones - Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Welcome and Introductions
Welcome - Clive Corry - Founder and Director
Opening Remarks - Minister of Health
Welcome from Visit Belfast - Jackie Geddis
What can you expect over the two days? - Karen Hamilton - Director
Presentation One with Q & A - Dan Siegel - Cross-Generational Trauma and Personality: How overwhelming experiences, genetics, and epigenetic inheritance shape who we are and who we can become
This presentation will explore the Patterns of Developmental Pathways (PDP) framework of personality and how traumatic
attachment experiences may interact with innate temperament—influenced by both genetic and epigenetic factors shape
the enduring patterns of emotion and its regulation, thinking and meaning-making, and behavioral habits that we call
“personality.” Understanding the role of subcortical influences on motivation and affect can greatly help in gaining insights
into how overwhelming experiences early in life may impact the cortical learning that contributes to our adaptive strategies
of survival. Practical applications of this PDP approach to working clinically with those who’ve experienced various
challenges to secure attachment including developmental trauma will be explored. Cultural influences on how each of
these patterns of personality express themselves in life will be discussed.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Outline three sub-cortical motivational networks underlying patterns of developmental pathways
2. Name three forms of “attendency” that shape the direction of attention
3. Describe how traumatic attachment influences the intensity of temperament
4. List nine patterns of developmental pathways
5. Identify the relationship between attachment and temperament in the formation of personality
Dan Siegel
Break - Tea, Coffee & Fruit Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Presentation Two with Q & A - Alex Howard - How to Decode Your Trauma
Alex Howard, Founder of The Optimum Health Clinic, will outline a powerful framework to help decode your trauma and map effective pathways to healing. He will outline the ECHO model of trauma, along with the three core emotional needs which are at the heart of why we experience childhood trauma, and why learning to meet them for ourselves is so important to healing. Alex will also share the story of his own childhood trauma and the key principles which were critical to his own healing.
Learning Outcomes:
The ECHO model of trauma
1.The 3 core emotional needs
2.The impact of trauma on our nervous system
3.Why focusing on the outcomes of trauma is not enough
Alex Howard
Lunch - Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Presentation Three with Q & A Richard Schwartz - The Treatment of Trauma & The Internal Family Systems Model
Developed over the past four decades, the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model offers both a conceptual umbrella under which a variety of practices and different approaches can be grounded and guided and a set of original techniques for creating safety and fostering Self-to-Self connection in couples and families. This presentation will provide an introduction to the basics of the IFS model and its use with attachment and trauma. An overview of IFS and its clinical applications will be presented.
Educational Objectives:
1. Identify the basic theory and principles of Internal Family Systems therapy
2. Know how to access their clients’ Self- a core of compassion and other leadership qualities
3. Deal with client “resistance” more effectively and with less effort
4. Know how to utilize the clients’ Self to repair attachment injuries
5. Recognize the IFS model as an internal attachment model
6. Identify the parallels between external and internal attachment styles
7. Identify the effects of trauma on parts and Self
8. Utilize the model in treating trauma
9. Gain an awareness of their own parts and how those parts impact therapy
10. Apply IFS principles to transference and counter-transference
Richard Schwartz
Presentation Four with Q & A - Betsy Polatin - Fascial Unity And How Trauma Interferes
In this experiential exploration we will look at ways to discover the unity of the system, including body, mind and spirit. At the same time, we see how trauma and overwhelm can interfere. You will learn simple explorations to enhance sensory skills by exploring the musculoskeletal, respiratory, nervous, and fascial systems. As you increase awareness of support, suspension, and breath, you can change inefficient habits, so that you can return to yourself, while moving and breathing
with ease
Learning outcomes:
1. Understand the fascial system.
2. Experience the elasticity of the physicality.
3. Recognize traumatic bracing patterns.
4. Transform breathing patterns
Betsy Polatin
Tea, Coffee & Biscuits - Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Presentation Five with Q & A - Fritzi Horstman - Trauma Separates - Community Heals. The Journey of Connecting to Self and Others
We will explore the transformative power of compassion and vulnerability in the work we do at prisons at Compassion Prison Project. Fritzi shares her experiences working with incarcerated individuals, highlighting the healing that occurs within groups and communities. We will also explore the idea that trauma is a "virus" which perpetuates violence and
compromises our authentic selves. By spreading trauma awareness throughout society, we can interrupt the cycle of
trauma transmission. By fostering curiosity and an understanding of the effects of trauma, we can unpack the stories we've told ourselves and find our authentic voice.
“When we heal something in ourselves, we heal it for the world.” — David R. Hawkins
Learning outcomes:
1. Trauma is a virus and it is urgent that Trauma Awareness “spreads” to all parts of our society, so we can interrupt
passing trauma to one another.
2. Trauma can anchor us to the past where grievances can interfere with our creativity, imagination and forward motion.
3. We can’t heal what we don’t know exists. Trauma awareness is the first step to “Stop the Spread.”
4. Gandhi says: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Birthing a nonviolence, compassionate and peaceful world will take vision and commitment from all of us.
Fritzi Horstman
Conference Finish and Closing Thoughts
Delegate Dinner (Booking Essential)
Workshop One - Lisa Schwarz - The Comprehensive Resource Model®: Healing Perpetrator Patterns Across Timelines and Lineages
The Comprehensive Resource Model® (CRM®) is a system of healing that engages multiple internal, neurobiological resource scaffolds across numerous brain structures simultaneously.
These arrays of stacked resources allow clearing of the traumatic truths of our lives, our beliefs systems and fears that drive our choices and behaviors.
The work addresses these themes across our biological and spiritual generational lineages in the context of the catalysts, experiences and consequences of perpetrator imprints, energies, behaviors and beliefs that create a state of incoherence, imbalance and disharmony in the current timeline; our "real life now". As the authors of our life, we are consistently facing the choice points that provide the opportunities to create or un-create the patterns in our mind-body-spirit complex that either enrich our evolution or perpetuate our dissociation from dissociation.
This model bridges neuroscience, consciousness and the attachment-disconnection paradigms which allow for safe, deep, multi-dimensional clearing and transformation of the perpetration experiences and wounds that influence our choices.
Choices are the spark that ignite our work as therapists, our courage as clients and alignment to our true, authentic self.
CRM® provides the opportunity for an alchemical transmutation of trauma through a therapeutic process that is safe, gentle and thorough.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Recognize the neurobiological imperative of robust internally developed resources as well as the forgotten resources.
2. Develop a clear understanding of therapeutic interventions associated with experiences of perpetrator behaviors and beliefs.
3. Apply the concepts of healing perpetration across timelines to the opportunity for change in how we manifest our choices.
4. Summarize a paradigm of trauma healing that attends to the mind-body-spirit complex across the fractal of human experience.
Lisa Schwarz
Workshop Two - Panel Discussion Trauma Modalities - Exploring Healing Opportunities
Join us for an insightful panel discussion on 'Trauma Modalities: Exploring Healing Approaches and Therapeutic Paths.' In this enlightening session, experts in trauma recovery will share their perspectives on various modalities and techniques used to address and heal trauma.
From traditional therapies to innovative approaches, we'll explore the diverse landscape of trauma treatments.
Gain valuable insights into the strengths and limitations of each modality, and discover how they can be tailored to meet the unique needs of individuals on their journey towards healing. Take this opportunity to ask questions to our panel and learn from these world leading experts.
Break - Tea, Coffee & Fruit Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Three - Georgie Oldfield Why and How a trauma-informed approach can help resolve chronic pain
There is growing evidence demonstrating the benefits of an emotionally-focused approach to the treatment of chronic pain once any tissue damage has been ruled out.
Georgie will explain how and why a trauma-informed approach, which addresses the physiological changes due to past trauma and chronic stress, can result in the resolution of chronic pain and other persistent symptoms.
She will also go through some of the main psychosocial factors involved in the predisposition, precipitation and perpetuation of chronic pain.
With this understanding, Georgie will explain how, by identifying and addressing them, we can help individuals relieve the pain and gain agency over their body.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Why we need to treat the underlying causes of chronic pain, not just the symptom itself.
2. To understand why a trauma-informed approach can improve outcomes when treating chronic pain.
3. To be aware of factors involved in the predisposition, precipitation and perpetuation of chronic pain.
4. To learn what factors should be considered when using an emotionally-focused approach for chronic pain.
Georgie Oldfield
Workshop Four - Gary Symington Life After Loss
‘Life After Loss’ will focus on the work of Lighthouse, a community based charity in the heart of North Belfast, an area heavily impacted by conflict related trauma.
Set up over 20 years ago in response to the extensive rise in deaths by suicide.
Lighthouse works to support those bereaved and to prevent further suicides.
Gary will also explore a specific piece of inspirational group work, borne out of tragic loss.
Delegates will be treated to a powerful film, ‘In Memory of Carl’, where young men talk openly about losing their friend and how hope overcame emotional adversity.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Effectiveness of peer to peer support and the power of human connection.
2. How creating the right environment nurtures hope with young people.
3. The need for a trauma informed approach in education.
Gary Symington
Lunch - Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Five - Amber Benziger Breaking Through: Addressing Avoidance and Safety Behaviors in Trauma-Related Anxiety
This session delves into the complex landscape of trauma-related anxiety, with a particular focus on avoidance and safety behaviors.
Attendees will explore the underlying mechanisms driving these behaviors and their impact on maintaining anxiety symptoms.
Drawing from cognitive-behavioral principles and trauma-informed care, this presentation offers practical strategies for clinicians to address avoidance and safety behaviors effectively.
Through case studies and interactive discussions, participants will gain insights into the challenges clients face in confronting their fears.
By the end of the session, attendees will be equipped with evidence-based techniques to support clients in reclaiming agency and fostering resilience in their healing journey.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Understand the role of avoidance and safety behaviors in perpetuating trauma-related anxiety.
2. Recognize common avoidance and safety behaviors exhibited by individuals with trauma-related anxiety.
3. Apply cognitive-behavioral interventions to challenge and modify avoidance behaviors in therapy.
4. Implement trauma-informed approaches to create a safe therapeutic environment and support clients.
Amber Benziger
Break - Tea, Coffee & Biscuits Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Six - Benjamin Fry - Can You Have Trauma And A Great Relationship?
Trauma, especially in childhood, creates difficulties with attachments and interpersonal relationships.
Attachment wounds can themselves become traumatic as they start to leave lasting difficulties on all of our relationships, nowhere more so than in our romantic relationships, where arguably the stakes can be highest. So can we ever have a truly great, safe and healthy relationship if we have trauma and attachment wounds? This session answers that question with a message of hope, and suggests a path from relationship difficulties that cause failure to sustainable and incredible success for those who still suffer from the ongoing effects of trauma and attachment issues.
Learning Outcomes:
1. To understand the origins and meaning of trauma; that it is in the body and creates involuntary reactions to life’s events (triggers) based onunfinished reactions to the past (baggage).
2. To understand how trauma creates attachment wounds; how the legacy of involuntary reactions to life, which can be too big or too small, changes.
3. To create a specific map of how parenting failure in childhood towards us creates exaggerated needs in the three specific domains of power, love and money; and how these relate to what we manifest in our relationships.
4. To learn a method to inventory what similarities and differences there are for couples in what makes them feel safe, loved and is fun; and how to process these inventories collaboratively to make the whole greater than the sum of any conflictual parts.
Benjamin Fry
END OF WORKSHOPS FOR DAY ONE
Workshop One - Lesley Carroll Developing a trauma and resiliency informed approach at the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery
The Independent Commission for Reconciliation & Information (ICRIR) exists in statute to respond to those people, particularly victims and survivors, who are seeking information about and investigations of incidents and harm during the Troubles/Conflict in NI.
To support people engaging with the Commission and an effective investigation, the Commission is developing a bespoke trauma and resiliency approach.
This session will share information about how the Commission is developing its TRIM approach and seek learning from participants.
Dr Lesley Carroll
Workshop Two - Marlee Liss Restorative Justice for Sexual Harm: Why I Fought for a Circle, Not a Courtroom
In 2019, Marlee's sexual assault case became the first in North America to conclude with restorative justice through the courts.
She fought for the man who raped her to go to therapy instead of criminal trial and eventually they met in an 8-hour restorative circle. In this program, Marlee takes a vulnerable and educational approach to talking about this alterntive to the punitive system.
The focus throughout the program is to create a vision of justice that is synonymous with healing.
In an environment rooted in hope and empowerment, listeners learn about this justice pathway that breaks cycles of harm and ignites cycles of healing.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Attendees will be able to distinguish between punitive and restorative approaches to justice.
2. Participants will understand the transformative potential of a restorative justice process.
3. Participants will create a vision of trauma-informed justice that is a catalyst, not an obstacle, to trauma survivors healing.
4. Attendees will be able to define and implement practices of survivor-centred care and justice.
Marlee Liss
Break - Tea, Coffee & Fruit Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Three - Aimie Apigian Trauma Biology: What's Happening In The Body and How To Support Our Clients
Discover the fascinating world of The Biology of Trauma with Dr. Aimie Apigian.
In this session, she will take you deep into the tissues where trauma and its instinctual responses happen, and showing its connection with what your clients experience emotionally and psychologically.
Learning to identify when a person has stored trauma in their body and gain tools to start building safety, repair and resilience at the cellular, tissue and systems level of the body.
This is not just a lecture, this is an experiential journey into the body to give you practical knowledge and tools to to better support your clients on their healing journey.
Learning Outcomes:
1. The Instinctual Body's Trauma Response.
2. The Different Levels in which a trauma response happens.
3. How to recognize stored trauma in the body.
4. How to create safety at the cellular level for trauma recovery.
5. How to support resilience at the cellular level.
Dr. Aimie Apigian
Workshop Four - Caroline Welch “Inner-Compassion and Purpose: Two Essential Pillars of Well-being and Healing Trauma”
An engaging exploration of how to cultivate more Inner-compassion—which can be difficult for us to do.
Given that the “self” is a center of experience, and that this center is not only the body of the individual, we can use the term “inner-compassion” to focus on how we provide can bolster not only your own well-being, but also that of the trauma population you serve.
You’ll leave this presentation with concrete, small steps you can take to be on your way to living with more inner-compassion.
You will also discover how inner-compassion, combined with being able to articulate your purpose as a mental health care practitioner, can get you through the most discouraging days.
Cultivating meaning and purpose in our lives is a key way to transform trauma from a distressed state to long-lasting growth.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Discover how cultivating more inner-compassion can support well-being through connection, resilience and healing from trauma.
2. Learn sustainable, inner-compassion practices that can be integrated into your work to transform trauma from a state of distress to growth.
3. Articulate your purpose as a mental health practitioner and cultivate the confidence that you can meet whatever challenges come your way.
Caroline Welch
Lunch - Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Five - Felicity De Zuleta Healing the Fractured Mind, a Revolutionary method to treat addictions and more
Most of us working in the field of trauma often find ourselves struggling to achieve a successful ending with our clients.
So imagine how I felt when one of my most difficult patients suffering from BPD or EUPD said to me 25 years ago, having agreed to the use of my new procedure, the Traumatic Attachment Induction Procedure: “It is now my turn to tell you something that you need to do: you must write about the way you enabled me to live as a normal person.”
The book is the story of how Dr Felicity de Zulueta and her co-authors, Monique Notice, Jayshree Unadkat and Leonor de Escoriaza found themselves exploring unchartered unconscious phenomena with clients suffering from addiction, unresolved grief, complex PTSD and violent behaviour: they ended declaring that they felt “normal”.
Felicity De Zulueta
Break - Tea, Coffee & Biscuits Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Six - Pat Ogden and Tony Buckley - The Sequelae of Embodied Trauma: Perspectives from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
Trauma survivors often experience repetitive states of bodily dysregulation that can disrupt their lives and wreak havoc on their relationships.
Utilising the movies as metaphor this presentation will illustrate the sequence of activation/arousal through mind and body from first detection of threat stimulus right through to completed adaptive actions based on optimal survival at the time of trauma.
Tracking the sequence of activation can lead to new empowering capacities towards resolve the debilitating effects of trauma.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy achieves this by optimising three interventions to engage instinctive networks in metabolising fixated traumatic pattern: orienting, reinstating active defence and sensorimotor sequencing.
Practitioners can incorporate these interventions into their trauma skills repertoire.
These skills draw on directed mindfulness to support the body’s innate wisdom enabling the system to reactivate in order to harness survival energy towards resolving the residue of trauma.
Tony Buckley will present elements of this process through metaphor for trauma practitioners.
Pat Ogden will present video excerpt and discussion of method in action to illustrate key points.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Develop understanding of trauma related patterns and how to release them.
2. Differentiate various somatic indicators of traumatic activation.
Pat Ogden and Tony Buckley
END OF WORKSHOPS FOR DAY ONE
Workshop One - Kate McAlpine Trauma Informed Yoga
How to feel safe in the body, let go of fear and manage anxiety, using posture and breath work. Recognise the places tension is held unnecessarily and find new ways being by managing the stress response.
Kate will be highlighting the mechanisms in the body that are responsible for communicating safety or lack thereof to the brain.
She will be teaching a range of yogic and somatic practices which enable the safe release of stored tension and manage the fight flight response, resorting equilibrium to body, mind and spirit.
Kate McAlpine
Workshop Two - Reflection Time
Delegates are invited to pause, recharge, and engage in moments of introspection.
Take a break from the whirlwind of sessions and networking. Whether you seek quiet contemplation, journaling, meditation, or simply a moment of respite, this time offers an opportunity to reconnect with yourself and recharge.
Feel free to unwind, reflect on the insights gained, and nurture your well-being as you continue your journey of growth and discovery at the conference.
Break - Tea, Coffee & Fruit Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Three - Dawn Harris Reorganising neurocircuitry within a relational context; a revolutionary and empirically based model for psychological and physical healing
This workshop will demonstrate how to use the increasing understanding of neuroplasticity to engage in an innovative and highly effective new way of healing from trauma. The therapeutic technique is known as neurofeedback, a neurotechnology which can regulate, change, and strengthen the brain at any developmental stage. Within this workshop, I will talk you through a way of working that is evidence based, highly effective, relational, mind-body focussed and aims to work with not just the presenting symptoms but also the root causes of trauma. We can’t heal unless we dig down to the root cause and find a way of gently releasing what it holds. Neurofeedback provides the foundation to get to this stage of healing quicker and can be used with all forms of presentation from someone experiencing a one-off traumatic event, to working with people with more complex presentations including cPTSD, addiction, rage/anger, dissociation/dissociative disorders, neurodivergence, grief, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, arthritis, anxiety, TBI, concentration, brain fog and so much more.
Neurofeedback helps guide the brain towards self-regulation with minimal effort, providing individuals with the ability and foundation to engage in therapy more easily, obstructions are reduced, dissociation decreased leading to increased embodiment, and the use of other trauma focussed therapies made easier. By using a neuro-technological approach interwoven within a trauma informed relational connection, people can experience healing that transforms their lives. I’ve personally used neurofeedback to successfully help people of all ages, problems, and concerns.
Attending this workshop will be illuminating, transformative, engaging, hope-inspiring and thought provoking. I will use case studies, videos, and other interactive means to help attendees leave the workshop inspired and hopeful for how they can help the people they work with. There will also be a chance to try out neurofeedback in a stand we have at the conference.
Learning Outcomes:
1.Understand what neurofeedback is, and what it is not.
2.Learn about the empirical basis for neurofeedback with a complex array of symptoms including cPTSD, anxiety, addictions, depression, pain, neurodivergence, concentration, TBI, brain fog and much more.
3.Understand that regulating a dysregulated brain can lead to a reduction in psychological and physical symptoms.
4.Learn how to use neurofeedback with other therapies you may use to treat a range of presenting symptomatology and complex difficulties.
5.Provide hope for change.
Dawn Harris
Workshop Four - Jane Shaw - SIMPLE Listening™ for regulation, rest, and recovery.
In this workshop Jane Shaw will take you through SIMPLE Listening™ embodiment practices to give you an experience of how effective short accessible exercises can be in many different, sometimes complex, situations.
SIMPLE Listening™ is a Polyvagal-informed programme developed to promote biological safety and nervous system regulation, based on the principles of neurobiology, Jungian psychology and biodynamic craniosacral therapy. It uses the anagram SIMPLE to denote a series of accessible, simple practices that stimulate the cranial nerves involved in the social engagement system, fostering safety in the autonomic nervous system. SIMPLE stands for Somatic awareness, Intuitive inquiry, Mindful Movement, Play and creative practices, whole body Listening and Effortless action.
Learning Outcomes:
1.Learn simple embodiment practices to promote nervous system regulation as self-care
2.Identify the felt-sense awareness of different autonomic states, including the difference between a shut-down, immobilised state and present non-doing
3.Understand how to best foster a safety state through practices that suit your unique self
4.Learn how to develop resources to promote adaptability and resilience
Jane Shaw
Lunch - Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Book Signing - Authors to be confirmed
Break - Tea, Coffee & Biscuits Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Six - Panel Discussion Compassionate Justice
Join us for an enlightening panel discussion on 'Compassionate Justice': Exploring Paths to Healing and Recovery.
In this thought-provoking session, experts and advocates will delve into the transformative power of compassion within the realms of justice and law.
We'll navigate through the complexities of trauma-informed approaches, restorative practices, and community-driven solutions, all aimed at fostering a more humane and equitable justice system.
Discover how compassion can serve as a catalyst for positive change, empowering both survivors and society to heal, grow, and forge paths towards true justice and reconciliation. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with inspiring voices and explore pathways towards a more compassionate and just world."
END OF WORKSHOPS FOR DAY ONE
TUESDAY
MAIN AUDITORIUM & 3 WORKSHOP AREAS
- 18 Jun MAIN AUDITORIUM
- 18 Jun HEMLOCK WORKSHOP AREA
- 18 Jun LAGANVIEW WORKSHOP AREA
- 18 Jun MADRONA WORKSHOP AREA
Help Desk - New registrations/updates to tickets or delegate queries
Tea, Coffee & Scones - Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Welcome and Reflections - Clive Corry
Opening Remarks - Benjamin Fry from Khiron Clinics - Sponsor
Presentation One Part One with Q&A - Gabor Mate - Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture
Half of North American adults suffer from chronic illness - a fact Western medicine views largely in terms of individual predispositions and habits. Western medicine imposes two separations, neither tenable scientifically. First, it separates mind from the body, largely assuming that most illnesses have nothing to do with people's emotional and psychological experiences. And yet, a large and irrefutable body of research has clearly shown that physiologic and behavioural functioning of human beings can be understood only if we integrate our body functions with those of the mind: functions such as awareness, emotions, our interpretations of and responses to events, and our relationships with other people. This talk shows how a society dedicated to material pursuits rather than genuine human needs and spiritual values stresses its members, undermines healthy child development and dooms many to chronic illness, from diabetes to heart disease, from autoimmune conditions to cancer.
Gabor Mate
Break - Tea, Coffee & Fruit Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Presentation Two Part Two with Q&A - Gabor Mate - Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture
Second, Western practice views people's health as separate from the social environment, ignoring social determinants of health such as class, gender, economic status, and race. Such factors, in reality, are more important influences on health and longevity than individual predispositions and personal factors such as genes, cholesterol levels, blood pressure and so on.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Identify two separations imposed by Western Medicine on the health and well-being of the population
2. Name three chronic conditions that are correlated with stressful social environments
3. Describe one shift in focus that would support a healthier population
Gabor Mate
Presentation Three with Q & A - Rachel Yehuda Intergenerational Trauma As Ancestral Wisdom:Reframing Of Epigenetic Changes Following Trauma And Treatment Approaches
Intergenerational trauma carries profound implications for individuals and society. However, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are not well understood, and certainly, their interpretation has been challenging. This presentation will explore biological and clinical findings of trauma and intergenerational trauma, highlighting epigenetic mechanisms, which likely reflect mechanisms of resilience and adaptation. We'll discuss how this knowledge may inform mental health treatment, including how novel approaches, like psychedelic therapy, might be used to provide meaningful perspectives for trauma survivors and those feeling the burdens of intergenerational trauma.
Learning Outcomes:
1.Understand the complexities of intergenerational trauma and its biological underpinnings
2.Explore the concept of resilience in the context of trauma and epigenetic adaptations
3.Discuss implications for mental health treatment, including emerging therapies like psychedelic-assisted therapy
4.Consider the societal implications of intergenerational trauma as ancestral wisdom, and potential pathways for social change.
Rachel Yehuda
Lunch - Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Presentation Four with Q&A - Anthony Gorry & Stephen Porges - Polyvagal Music - An Innovative Genre of Music Composed to Support a Journey of Healing
Throughout human history, the profound impact of music on biobehavioral state has been widely recognised.Intuitively, we experience music as
calming when tempo is predictable and slow. In contrast, muic activates andmobilizes us when tempo is fast, less predictable, and conveyed by instruments or voices with lower frequencies. Polyvagal Music (PVM) builds upon this historical foundation, incorporating a novel element of 'rhythmicity.' This new genre of music is not only informed by the relationship between temp and auditory frequencies, but also integrates the intrinsic rhythms of the body, including heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, vascular tone, and cerebral spinal fluid. The features of these endogenous bodily rhythms (e.g., heart rate variability) reflect the status of the neural regulation of visceral structures. In instances of illness, chronic
stress, or trauma, these bodily rhythms become dysregulated, losing amplitude and periodic features. This innovative form of music serves as an acoustic platform to send signals to the brain that synchronize with the body's rhythms, promotinghomeostasis. By entraining physiological systems, Polyvagal Music fosters relaxation, enhances overall well-being, and offers a unique approach to optimizing aspects of bodily functioning.
Through insights based on the science of the Polyvagal Theory, Anthony and Dr Porges have been empowered to create a new technology and music to retune brainstem circuits that optimize the regulation of visceral function.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Distinguish between music that engages and promotes sociality through the ventral vagal complex and music
that supports homeostatic function through optimizing the healthful attributes of the dorsal vagal complex.
2. Understand how music signals the nervous system to dampen defenses and promote homeostatic processes
3. Document how music can be used to calm the autonomic nervous system to enhance the client’s accessibility
for therapy.
Dr Stephen W. Porges & Anthony Gorry
Presentation Five with Q&A - Deb Dana - Coming Home to Regulation: A Polyvagal Perspective on Healing our Polarized World
The autonomic nervous system is at the heart of our lived experience. What begins with our biology leads to the behaviors and beliefs that shape our days. Anchored in the safety of a regulated nervous system, pathways of connection come alive and we can travel those pathways in service of healing. Guided by Polyvagal Theory we can find our way home to regulation and engage the power of the nervous system to hold ourselves and others in care and compassion. Explore the qualities of autonomic regulation and discover how we can heal the world one nervous system at a time.
Learning Outcomes:
1.Develop an understanding of how the autonomic nervous system shapes behaviors and beliefs
2.Assess your autonomic profile
Categorize the distinct stories that emerge from autonomic states
3.Utilize micro-moments to resource regulation
Deb Dana
Tea, Coffee & Biscuits - Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Presentation Six with Q & A - Ruth Lanius - Reunited: Healing the Mind-Body Disconnect After Trauma
In this presentation, we will explore the clinical and neurobiological signs of the disconnection between the brain and body following trauma. We will also delve into strategies for bridging this gap through an integrative method that combines bottom-up and top-down therapeutic techniques. Throughout the lecture, we will use case studies and practical exercises to illustrate these concepts and develop essential skills.
Learning Outcomes:
1.To describe the clinical signs of the mind-body disconnect after trauma
2.To illustrate the brain correlates of the mind-body disconnect after trauma
To describe case examples illustrating the mind-body disconnect after trauma
3.To demonstrate strategies for bridging the mind-body disconnect through an integrative method that combine bottom-up and top-down approaches
Ruth A. Lanius, M.D., Ph.D
Conference Finish and Closing Thoughts
Workshop One - Kate McAlpine Trauma Informed Yoga and Gong Bath
Ground your awareness into the body using somatic movement and conscious breath work, tapping into elevated emotions and rejuvenating the mind and body.
Kate will be highlighting the importance of the quality of our thoughts. Learn how to manage the mind and stimulate the release of feel good hormones to raise your vibration, amplify your energetic field and boost your immune function.
The practice will help shed the stories that hold us back. Releasing what does not serve, letting go of what is no longer helpful, reminding us how we have the power to change how we feel.
Finishing with a gong bath relaxation.
Kate McAlpine
Workshop Two - Kati Taunt & Panelists: Nichola Green, Mark Maidens, Sophie Mulvana - The Driving and Restraining forces relating to the Implementation of Trauma-Informed Practice in a variety of settings using the ARC Framework
This workshop will provide an overview of the well respected and evidence-based approach to
working with developmental trauma that is the ARC Framework (Attachment, Regulation and Competence).
A panel of experienced professionals from 3 different contexts (adolescent psychiatric in-patient services,
specialist education provision for primary aged children and social care secure unit) will share their reasons
for choosing to become trauma-informed, what drew them to the ARC framework. The panel will also share
their experiences of the driving forces to implementation and restraining forces within their contexts and
wider systems that needed to be undone to enable this.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Will have an understanding of The ARC framework and how it supports children and families to get back on
track and integrate their experiences of trauma.
2. Will have gained insight as to how the model can be adapted for a variety of educational, social care and
health settings.
3. Will have been able to understand the nature of driving and restraining forces in relation to implementing
Trauma-Informed Practice in a variety of settings
4. Will have knowledge of how some restraining forces can be undone.
Sophie Mulvana
Dr Nicola Green
Mark Maidens
Kati Taunt
Break - Tea, Coffee & Fruit Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Three - Jane Shaw - SIMPLE Listening™ for regulation, rest, and recovery.
In this workshop Jane Shaw will take you through SIMPLE Listening™ embodiment practices to give you an experience of how effective short accessible exercises can be in many different, sometimes complex, situations.
SIMPLE Listening™ is a Polyvagal-informed programme developed to promote biological safety and nervous system regulation, based on the principles of neurobiology, Jungian psychology and biodynamic craniosacral therapy. It uses the anagram SIMPLE to denote a series of accessible, simple practices that stimulate the cranial nerves involved in the social engagement system, fostering safety in the autonomic nervous system. SIMPLE stands for Somatic awareness, Intuitive inquiry, Mindful Movement, Play and creative practices, whole body Listening and Effortless action.
Learning Outcomes:
1.Learn simple embodiment practices to promote nervous system regulation as self-care
2.Identify the felt-sense awareness of different autonomic states, including the difference between a shut-down, immobilised state and present non-doing
3.Understand how to best foster a safety state through practices that suit your unique self
4.Learn how to develop resources to promote adaptability and resilience
Jane Shaw
Workshop Four - Reflection Time
Delegates are invited to pause, recharge, and engage in moments of introspection. Take a break from the whirlwind of sessions and networking.
Whether you seek quiet contemplation, journaling, meditation, or simply a moment of respite, this time offers an opportunity to reconnect with yourself and recharge.
Feel free to unwind, reflect on the insights gained, and nurture your well-being as you continue your journey of growth and discovery at the conference.
Lunch - Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Five - Nomfundo Walaza - Reflections on the Impact of Trauma In Our Work As Practitioners
Evidence is rife that we each carry some measure of trauma with us as we approach our vocations. Whether our trauma is personal, familial, generational or whether it is because we are part of a group that has been the victims of ongoing violence, torture, genocide, racism or oppression, we bring the remnants of that trauma and our woundedness into our everyday work. We carry the scars of those who walked the path before us, and we have the capacity to pass those scars consciously or unconsciously to the next generations.
As a Black South African woman who grew up in an apartheid society and served the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa in various roles, I am constantly aware of how these experiences shape my approach to the work I do today. There is much to consider in why and how I approach these issues in 2024, in the world that is so beleaguered with trauma and suffering.
I believe it is important to continue asking these questions: how do we understand the impact of our own trauma and experiences and how do we understand the impact of the trauma of those who sit across the table from us? What does it truly mean to be compassionate as we look at ways of healing trauma in a world that is so divided and deeply impacted by historic and cultural backgrounds? If we dare to sit with people who come from vastly different worldviews, how can we begin to understand their experiences? In our largely white male dominated community, how do we truly become compassionate and inclusive and open to the ideas of others? I believe we have much to learn from each other so we can contribute to a diverse world that is full of hope and healing.
Of course, we may not obtain the answers we seek, but we can be brave enough to ask questions in a manner that forces us to pause, truly listen and become compassionate practitioners.
As I prepare to join the summit, I think of the following question. How does my own trauma of growing up in apartheid South Africa impact the work I do today? What did I learn from the successes and failures of the TRC? More importantly, how does that impact my work going forward? What do I bring to this table to add to the dialogue acknowledging how marginalized I feel to even be a part of this group? How do I maintain hope and continue to learn and grow enough to create a path forward for my generation and those who will follow us?
Nomfundo Walaza
Break - Tea, Coffee & Biscuits Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Book Signing - Authors to be confirmed
END OF WORKSHOPS FOR DAY TWO
Workshop One - Janina Fisher Unresolved Trauma and Addictive Disorders
Childhood abuse and neglect leave a lasting imprint on the brain and nervous system. With a traumatised brain,
individuals are left with overwhelming memories, little tolerance for emotion or stress, and very limited ability to access good judgment. The result is heightened vulnerability to compulsive behavior and substance abuse. Research tells us that 40-70% of clients in addictions recovery programs have histories of trauma. Inevitably, many therapists find themselves working with individuals whose trauma recoveries are complicated by substance abuse and patterns of self-harm. Often, we are told that the client has to be sober to undertake trauma treatment or we are
taught that addressing the underlying issuesof trauma should be the first priority. But only treatment strategies that
address both trauma related responses and their addictive behavior simultaneously can adequately address the
challenges faced by these clients.
Learning Outcomes:
1.Articulate the effects of trauma on the brain and autonomic nervous system
2.Assess client symptoms indicative of autonomic dysregulation
3.Evaluate the role of addictive behavior as a response to traumatic activation
4.Utilize interventions that regulate brain and autonomic function in traumatized clients
Janina Fisher
Workshop Two - Mariel Buque Working Through the Wounds of Generational Trauma
In this talk, Dr. Mariel Buqué will offer an exploration of how intergenerational trauma and the historical imprints it leaves
behind, create emotional wounds that remain etched in our minds, bodies, spirits, and cultures for generations.
Mariel will cover how traumas resulting from genocide, famine, erasure, and marginalization can get carried for
generations and can get carried for generations and the necessary multilevel healing frameworks that need to be
instituted in order to carve a path toward sustainable repair at the individual, familal and communal level.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Gather an understanding of what intergenerational trauma is
2. Learn how intergenerational trauma perpetuates as a multi-level wound
3. Understand what needs to be integrated to work with intergenerational trauma with clients
4. Understand how to approach emotional repair at all levels of wounding
Dr. Mariel Buqué
Break - Tea, Coffee & Fruit Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Three - Fritzi Horstman Step Inside the Circle - Experiential Session
Step inside the Circle is a call to action: to spread the word about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). It is a call to recognise the physical, emotional and social impact ACEs have wrought upon society and to stress the importance of care (not punishment) going forward in the prison system. In-depth exploration of the devastating effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on men and women living behind bars.
Fritzi Horstman
Workshop Four - Lisa Schwarz - CRM EQUUS: Partnering with Horses to Expand the Impact and Reach of the Comprehensive Resource Model
Transformational change and growth that is permanent requires that the healing and/or coaching work be done from a
fully embodied state; meaning the client is fully aware and present in his or her body during the process in order for the
positive gains to be maintained. Many of us live disconnected from our bodies and our conscious awareness resulting in
the inability to get to the deepest source of the problem in the mind-body-spirit complex. Consequently, the work can not
be done in the deep brain as needed and positive healing effects are temporary.
The Comprehensive Resource Model (CRM®) or Equine-Assisted Therapy, when used separately, provide the neurobiological,
neurochemical and emotional safety that promotes full embodiment. This allows access to, and transformation of, the
deepest origins and roots of blocks, obstacles and traumatic wounds that impede our highest potential as human beings.
Combined, these two powerful sources of multi-faceted resources allow for a level of embodiment and transformation that is
fast and permanent. Our partnership with horses is one of allegiance, presence and understanding. At CRM EQUUS, we
partner with free-roaming horses who are neither subjugated nor used for human gratification
CRM EQUUS philosophy lies in the knowledge that horses, in their natural habitat, free to fully express themselves, are the
greatest teachers, allowing us to explore and develop ourselves as empowered, embodied and free individuals. We experience
that dominance, constraints, or tools of control are not conducive to relationships with horses. Like any relationship, the
willingness to see ourselves clearly, with trust, courage, compassion and self-honoring, allows the horse freedom to be a
willing partner, pointing us inward, toward our true nature, the Self as the resource.
Lisa Schwarz
Lunch - Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Five - Thomas Hübl Collective Trauma: How the Ghosts of our Collective Past Shape our Lives
In this talk, Thomas Hübl, PhD, will guide us on an interactive journey, diving deeply into the underbelly of our cultures,
that which we might perceive as the “ghosts” of our collective past. What happens when we allow these voices of the
“ghosts” to speak? What are the symptoms of their presence in our lives? Thomas will illuminate the importance of
understanding the impacts of individual, ancestral, and collective trauma on our lives, and the essential tools and
practices needed for collective healing. While individual therapy is important for the healing process, large-scale cultural
and systemic wounds are often at the root of collective pain, which requires collective spaces for integration and healing.
In his more than 20 years of working in this field, Thomas has worked with thousands of people throughout the world as
the world as part of group trainings and other large-scale events, teaching about the critical and urgent need to design a
“collective healing architecture” to meet the colossal challenges of our current time. As part of this talk, Thomas will lead
an interactive experience with participants and audience members, based his integrative approach to healing.
Learning Outcomes:
1.Understand the fluid relationship among individual, ancestral, and collective traumas
2.Explore how trauma originates at the foundation of our cultures and societies
3.Learning tools and practices for developing greater awareness of the needs for cultural healing
Thomas Hübl, PhD
Break - Tea, Coffee & Biscuits Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Six - Sue Carter - The Oxytocin Hypothesis: Science behind the Healing Power of Love
This presentation will examine parallels between the healing power of oxytocin and love. Based on a well-established
association with reproduction, including social bonding, sexual behavior, birth and maternal behaviour, oxytocin has been
called “the love hormone.” However, oxytocin is much more, with effects on every tissue in the body. The shared
functions of oxytocin, the vagus nerve and love have profound implications for health and longevity, including the
prevention and treatment of excess inflammation and related disorders, especially those occurring in early life and during
periods of chronic threat or disease. Awareness of the neurobiology of oxytocin helps us understand both why and how
social attachments and social support can overcome threats and trauma.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Introduction to the basic neurobiology associated with the functions of oxytocin and the vagus.
2. The important role of oxytocin in the management of stress and trauma from developmental and evolutionary perspectives.
3. Understanding why secure attachments are essential for wellbeing, health and longevity.
4. Implications of oxytocin in serotonin-based treatments for mental health.
Sue Carter
END OF WORKSHOPS FOR DAY TWO
Workshop One - Kirkland Newman Why integrative mental health and functional medicine psychiatry are the next frontier in mental health treatment
Why is it that some patients, no matter how much evidence-based-recommended therapy they do, or medication
they take, never seem to get better? Integrative mental health and functional medicine psychiatry offer hope for
sustainable healing to those suffering from mental health issues, their friends, families and health practitioners.
These approaches are designed to diagnose and treat the root causes of mental health issues, whether they are
biochemical imbalances, psycho-spiritual difficulties or poor lifestyle-behavioural habits. Learn what integrative
mental health and functional medicine psychiatry are, how they help diagnose and treat the root causes of
mental health issues and why they are essential for sustainable mental health recovery.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Learn about what integrative mental health and functional medicine psychiatry are, how they can be essential
to sustainable mental health recovery, and how they differ from each other
2. Learn the most common root causes of mental health issues, with a focus on the biochemical imbalances
which lead to depression, anxiety, adhd, insomnia, memory loss
3. Learn the key basic treatments for mental health issues, with a focus on the biochemical treatments that can
help with depression, anxiety, adhd, insomnia, memory etc…
4. Learn about the best diagnostic tools and training programmes in integrative mental health and functional
medicine psychiatry
Kirkland Newman
Workshop Two - Paul Miller - The Mind’s Healing Journey: Exploring the Potential of Psychedelics for PTSD
Professor Paul Miller delves into the ground-breaking realm of psychedelic-assisted therapy as a transformative
treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This talk looks at the history and science behind
psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA, and their ability to facilitate profound emotional and cognitive
breakthroughs. Drawing from clinical trials and patient testimonials, it highlights the potential for these
substances to reshape therapeutic approaches to mental health, offering new hope to those burdened by
trauma. By bridging traditional treatment gaps, this exploration invites a re-evaluation of psychedelics' place
in modern mental health, emphasizing safety, ethics, and the path towards healing. It will also draw on the
research underway at the Mirabilis Health Institute in Northern Ireland using methylone, a variant of MDMA,
for the treatment of PTSD.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Understand the neurobiological mechanisms by which psychedelics influence psychological healing
2. Discuss current evidence from clinical trials on the efficacy & safety of psychedelic-assisted therapy in treating
PTSD.
3. Identify the ethical considerations & potential risks in using psychedelics for therapeutic purposes
4. Recognize the broader implications of psychedelic research for future mental health treatments and the
destigmatization of these substances.
Paul Miller
Break - Tea, Coffee & Fruit Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Three - Ronia Fraser - Rise from the Ashes - An Introduction into Narcissistic Abuse Recovery
Despite having become a social media buzzword, Narcissistic Abuse remains one of the most common, yet least
acknowledged forms of abuse, which without fail has a detrimental and life-altering impact on the survivor's
(mental) health and quality of life.
Learning Outcomes:
1. What Narcissistic Abuse really is
2. Why it is so dangerous
3. How to spot it in your clients, family & friends or yourself
4. How we can facilitate the recovery from Narcissistic Abuse
Whether you are a therapist/coach and would like to help your clients better, have a family member or friend
affected, are a survivor yourself or simply are curious what all this hype is about.... this if for you!
Insightful, eye-opening and truly mind blowing. Plus your chance to get all your questions answered!
Ronia Fraser
Book Signing - Authors to be confirmed
Lunch - Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Five - Derek Farrell Compassion-Focussed EMDR therapy in the treatment of Moral Injury and Shame-based Trauma
Many of the symptoms experienced by traumatised individuals are insufficiently captured by the existing
ICD-11/DSM 5 criterion for PTSD, particularly those symptoms include feelings of shame/ guilt, loneliness, social
isolation, fear of recrimination, and moral injury. Addressing these specific elements, particularly regarding
moral injury/ is increasingly important. Moral injury refers to the psychological distress resulting from events
that transgress an individual's moral or ethical beliefs. Compassion Focused Eye Movement Desensitization and
Reprocessing (EMDR) is an emerging treatment approach for individuals experiencing moral injury. The approach
integrates EMDR with compassion-focused techniques to target the shame, guilt, and self-criticism often
associated with moral injury/ trauma. This presentation explores the core components of moral injury and
shame-based trauma using both individual and political case studies, through the lens of Adaptive Information
Processing (AIP). Specific skills within Compassion-Focussed EMDR therapy (CF-EMDR), will include CF EMDR
informed case conceptualisation, psychoeducational frameworks, trauma regulation, strategies, compassion
focussed interweaves, and addressing vicarious traumatisation and self-care.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Participants will consider the core components of Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) and how this
applies to vulnerable & complex populations with a specific focus on moral injury and shame-based trauma
2. Participants will explore various theoretical frameworks to explicate the trauma landscape of the client’s
lived experience through a moral, and compassion-focussed lens
3. Theoretical, empirical, and clinical case examples to underpin knowledge, understanding and application
Derek Farrell
Break - Tea, Coffee & Biscuits Networking with delegates and exhibitors
Workshop Six - Stephen Porges - Polyvagal Theory in a Challenging World: reclaiming our evolutionary heritage as a connected and benevolent species
Polyvagal Theory provides a new understanding of normal and atypical behavior, mental health, psychiatric
disorders, and chronic illness. By incorporating an evolutionary perspective, the theory explains how regulation
of autonomic function forms the neural “platform” upon which social behavior and the development of trusting
relationships are based. The theory explains how experiences of abuse and trauma may retune our nervous
system to respond to friends, caregivers, and teachers as if they were enemies. Moreover, the theory explains
how signals of safety reverse these challenges by optimizing autonomic state to promote homeostatic processes
that support health, growth, restoration, resilience and sociality
Learning Outcomes:
1. To illustrate how a Polyvagal perspective provides insights into the assessment and treatment of mental health.
2. To describe how autonomic regulation is linked to mental health, behavioral problems, learning processes,
and sociality.
3. To describe strategies to retune autonomic nervous system state via signals of safety to optimize mental and
physical health
4. To describe a neural process (neuroception) that evaluates risk in the environment and triggers adaptive neural
circuits that promote either social interactions or defensive behaviours.
Stephen Porges
