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This year's Tapping World Summit starts February 27th. Some of the sessions look interesting. There's one on how to quiet the inner critic, for example, and others on anxiety and insomnia.

You can sign up here: https://www.thetappingsolution.com/blog/tapping-world-summit-2023/.

This year's Trauma Super Conference is running February 13th to 19th. You can find out more about it and sign up for free here:
https://www.consciouslife.com/conferences/tsc-3

The snowdrops will soon start appearing in the garden, so I thought today would be a good day for me to (finally!) start a new journal.

I noticed some progress today.

A friend who doesn't know my background started talking about stuff in the news this week about one adult royal sibling hitting the other. "How dare he speak up! Kids fight! I didn't say anything when my sibling attacked me! All perfectly normal!"

I felt shaky when I heard this because throughout my life, the words "all siblings fight" were used to minimise my abuse and silence me. Previously I'd freeze and be unable to say anything in response. This time, however, I was able to say that it's easy to normalise abnormal behaviour when that's what you grow up with, but it doesn't make it normal or acceptable. My friend acknowledged this, and I was heard.

I still feel a little shaky, but I'm pleased I said what I did.

There's free training from the author of The Body Keeps the Score on December 13th and 14th.

Join Dr. van der Kolk for this clinical trauma training so he can show you how to apply the same proven trauma treatment methods he uses in his practice.

You'll discover how to apply approaches like neurofeedback, EMDR, meditation, sensory integration, and more to help clients feel without becoming overwhelmed, enraged, or ashamed...

So you can experience the satisfaction of helping even your toughest clients heal from deep-rooted trauma.

You can find out more and register here: https://landinghub.pesi.com/en-us/bh_w_047325_thebodykeepsthescore_sq

The Trauma Super Conference runs from 3rd to 9th December, and the agenda looks interesting. It includes sessions on relational trauma and CPTSD:

• Day 1 -Impacts of Trauma: Understanding how trauma manifests as symptoms in the brain, body, and behaviors
• Day 2 -Methodologies for Healing Trauma Part 1: Therapies designed to help you feel whole again
• Day 3 -Collective Trauma: Understanding intergenerational, cultural, social, and institutional trauma
• Day 4 -Relational Trauma: When trauma happens in our close relationships and families, it requires a relational approach
• Day 5 -Trauma and the Body: Trauma healing is more than understanding, it requires full body integration
• Day 6 -Methodologies for Healing Trauma Part 2: Cutting edge psychedelics research and somatic approaches for treating trauma
• Day 7 -Functional Medicine: Supporting our healing from the inside out using nutrition, supplements, and mindfulness

https://traumasuperconference.com

The Natural Vision summit isn't about trauma, but I thought I'd post a link to it here as a few people have mentioned vision problems. One of the speakers, Greg Marsh, has previously mentioned a connection between vision problems and trauma, and he's doing an EFT session on Day 4 (Friday).

The full program is here: https://naturalvision2020.com/program, and you can register here: https://naturalvision2020.com/register.

=== TW mention of PA ===

Dear ...

I have always seen you as someone who is kind, caring and compassionate for those in need. Someone I could trust and depend on. You have been there for me so many times in the past.

I last met you a few years ago. I was in emotional pain. Memories of HB had started to surface, and I was just beginning to realise that it was abuse. That I'd been carrying trauma for so many years while thinking it was normal.

I tried to speak. It was hard. And you dismissed what I said. You told me that all siblings fight. And hadn't HB had a tough childhood? The things he says are just him, just his sense of humour. You made me think I was wrong. Mistaken. Ungrateful. Selfish. Stupid for thinking these things. Shamed.

I couldn't say anything more, and sensed you wanted to talk about other things. So we did. I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable.

I want you to listen to me. What I experienced was abuse. It was trauma. It was real. Maybe all siblings fight, but not like that. Mine was much older than me, and not all siblings own weapons. Having a tough childhood is no excuse for what he did. It's unacceptable to say that's just the way he is. It was unfair of you to dismiss and minimise my experiences in this way.

I heard from you recently, a generic "hello" that went out to lots of people. I replied, as I miss the friendship that we had. I've heard nothing since. I don't know if I feel sadness or relief.

I thank you for the support you've shown me in the past, and I wish you well.

Snowdrop

Avaiya University are running a free online Overcoming PTSD conference, starting 1st June. There are sessions on CPTSD, also IFS.

You can find out more and sign up here: https://www.avaiya.com/ptsd/

Copy and pasted from an email from Richard Schwartz:

A lot has changed in a very short period and we are all dealing with tremendous disruption to our lives.  In this unprecedented time, I have reflected on how I can be of service to you all as we shelter in place and practice physical distancing.

Please join me for a FREE community webinar Wednesday, March 25th at 5:30 EST/2:30 PT when I will discuss Wake Up Calls and Trail Heads.

Registration link: http://links.ifscourses.mkt7652.com/ctt?kn=12&ms=MzIwNzE5MjkS1&r=Mjc4ODE0NzQ3MzMxS0&b=0&j=MTY2NDQ3OTI3NgS2&mt=1&rt=0

This scary virus and our mandatory confinements are great tor-mentors. They arouse all kinds of parts of us— exiles, firefighters and managers alike-- that need our attention. We face a choice. We can blend with those parts or we can separate from and heal them.

In choosing to heal we may be heeding the personal wake up call that the virus is bringing us. I believe it is also offering our culture a needed opportunity to reflect on the destructive course we've been on. It remains to be seen whether we will heed the call at that level, but I'm convinced that the more each of us works with and nurtures our own internal system, the more likely it is that we can participate in a transformative moment.

I hope you can join, but if that time doesn't work for you, be sure to register and we will send you a replay.

If anyone's feeling anxious about coronavirus, there's now a free session in the Tapping Solution app on releasing that anxiety. I tried it this morning, and I found it helpful.

The app is available from here: https://www.thetappingsolution.com/blog/tapping-solution-app/

You can find the session in the Library -> First Aid part of the app.

AVAIYA have a free online conference on overcoming chronic pain starting 21st January 2020. Some of the sessions are about chronic pain and trauma.

You can find out more about the conference and sign up here: https://www.avaiya.com/chronic-pain/

I've been having a lot of success with Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS).

I can recommend the book "Internal Family Systems Therapy (second edition" by Richard Schwartz and Martha Sweezy. Here's an excerpt from the Research chapter about using IFS to treat PTSD:

TREATING PTSD WITH IFS This small pilot study (authored by Hodgdon, Anderson, Southwell, Hrubec, & Schwartz, 2018) had promising results. Of the 13 participants who were diagnosed with PTSD and completed 16 sessions of IFS, only one still qualified for the diagnosis at the end of the study and at the 1-month follow-up. That is, 92% of the participants no longer met criteria for PTSD after 16 sessions, which translates into an effect size of 4.46. In addition, there were significant decreases in depression, affect dysregulation, dissociation, disrupted self-perception, interpersonal relationships, and systems of meaning.

There are various videos about IFS on YouTube if you want to find out more. Good search terms are "IFS Schwartz" and "IFS Schwartz Trauma". The following video is a good starting point, as it's part one of four on IFS and trauma: https://youtu.be/2UfmGwENz9M

There's another online conference from AVAIYA University this week, this time on anxiety and depression. The Day 1 sessions are now available, and look very interesting:

• Dr. Richard Schwartz: Using Internal Family Systems to Heal Depression & Anxiety
• Lisa Ferentz: How Unprocessed Shame Can Increase Anxiety & Depression in Trauma Survivors
• Dr. Ann Kelley & Sue Marriott: Insecure-Preoccupied Attachment as it Relates to Anxiety

The classes also seem to have free gifts. The first class, for example, has a link to a free meditation on getting to know your inner critic.

Classes are only available to watch for a limited time. You can watch them and see the full schedule here: https://www.avaiya.com/peace/schedule/

I've had an email about a free online meditation summit starting 1st October. Thursday's session is on trauma and fear. Details of the event are here: https://www.fmtv.com/meditation-summit

I'm a bit nervous about starting a journal here, but I wonder if it might help me make sense of things. I've experienced multiple traumas, starting at a very young age. Some things I remember, some things are vague, some things I remember then forget again. I know there's more to remember, and a lot to work through.

=== Possible TW ===

Something new occurred to me today. My half-brother (HB) is older than me, and we have the same father, different mothers. I grew up knowing that HB's mother hated me. I knew that she had a history of violence, and that she'd made threats against me. I'd been warned at an early age how dangerous she was, and that if she saw me, she might attack me. But I now realise that I didn't know what she looked like, as I'd never seen a photo of her. To little me, this meant that everybody was a potential threat. I can see how this could have contributed to hyper-vigilence, as I had to stay alert in case I was attacked.

"ASSIST Trauma Care is a specialist Third Sector (Not-for-Profit) Organisation offering therapeutic help to adults and children, individuals and families, affected by a wide range of traumatic occurrences. Based at a central clinic in Rugby in the English Midlands, ASSIST therapists have been trained to use evidence-based models to help sufferers rebuild their lives and move on following a traumatic experience that has impacted them. We also have specialist Outreach Therapists located across England and Wales who may be able to provide more local help in some cases. ASSIST therapists work with both the symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and also with Traumatic Bereavement and Grief."

http://assisttraumacare.org.uk/

I'm so pleased this forum exists! I discovered it a few months ago, and a lot of the stories and experiences sound very familiar to me.

I was assessed as having C-PTSD early this year. I have a half-brother who is 8 years older than me, and throughout my childhood he was physically and emotionally abusive towards me. I've recently begun to realise that there was also some SA.

I was in denial about all of this for most of my life and pushed the memories away, but a couple of years ago they started to resurface. Researching trauma and C-PTSD have helped some of the pieces slot into place, and I'm beginning to see the impact that my early experiences have had on my life.