Free event: Trauma Super Conference

[Snowdrop]

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

[Kizzie]

Tks for this link Snowdrop    Looks like a lot of good info. I especially like that there's a whole day about relational trauma.    There was a time the term was not used and it's important IMO so that we are a seen as a distinct trauma group. I also love that there's a lot about both the psychological/emotional but also physical impacts of trauma - signals a lot of progress in current thinking.       

[Snowdrop]

The sessions today look fantastic. I'm currently watching Frank Anderson's session on healing CPTSD with IFS, and I'm finding it so helpful and validating.

[Snowdrop]

Some notes...

=====
Frank Anderson, Healing Complex PTSD with IFS
Complex PTSD is relational trauma. Relational violations. It's unique because if its repeated nature. It can also trigger relational wounds in the therapist, making it harder to treat.
Present day stuff triggering past events takes us to the origin of our wounding. It is an opportunity to heal both the present and the past.
Most people have parts who downplay their trauma, or compare their trauma to others. This is protective.
Need to focus on the perception of the part who went through the trauma. The impact can be profound.
Parts are normal. Not pathological.
Any symptom e.g. overworking can indicate parts. They have a positive intent.
Anxiety is a way of getting away from the present. "Let me think about something in the future."
Spending 5 minutes a day checking in with parts is helpful. It lets parts know they don't have to carry everything by themselves.
There are different entry points you can use to check in with parts. Not just meditation or being quiet, but also emotions, movement. Be creative, see what works for you.
Compassion and empathy use different parts of the brain. Both are important.
Compassion is where you have care and concern for others and want to help. It's about the other person, holding space for them.
Empathy is when you resonate with how someone else is feeling "I'm feeling my feelings while you feel yours."
Sometimes parts need compassion and for you to hold space for them. Sometimes they want empathy, so you feel what they feel.
Frank's book is called Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems Therapy.
=====

Other sessions were useful too. There were demos of Somatic Experiencing, Tapping and Havening (Paul McKenna has a follow-along video on YouTube). The session on microaggressions was also helpful.

[Hope67]

Hi Snowdrop,
I am happy that you've highlighted this Conference, and I've been watching some of the sessions.  Your notes are really good.  I hope to write up some of my notes as well - but maybe later in the weekend or next week, as I'm tired at the moment.

I found Paul McKenna's talk very interesting, and he has got lots of free resources on his website, and mentioned some interesting podcasts too.  So I hope to look at some of those. 

I also enjoyed the talk by Peter Levine.
Frank Anderson's was good too.

From yesterday's sessions I watched Arielle Schwart's talk (really interesting) and half of one by Rafaella Fiallo about 'how trauma and PTSD can impact your sex life' - I would have liked to watch it all, but I was interrupted, and couldn't complete the session, but it was good.

Anyway, thanks for sharing the details of the conference and sharing your notes too. 

Hope 

[Snowdrop]

Thank you, Hope. I'd love to see your notes. When I'm able, I'll add more of mine too.

I found Paul McKenna's talk interesting too. I started using his hypnosis tracks a few years ago, and I find them really helpful. They're currently available for free here, along with the Havening video: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs7Cr5XcUTF1VOCUTjwn-0QOuDTOYA8QC

I kept dissociating during Arielle Schwartz's talk on dissociation but I've just remembered it's one of the free gifts for signing up so I can watch it again.

[Hope67]

Hi Snowdrop,
I'm glad you put that link there for the Paul McKenna stuff, as I'd like to watch more of his sessions. 

I'm going to share my notes for one of the talks, and hope to add further notes at a later point.

Dr Peter Levine's talk which I think was called "Self-Regulating for Trauma Healing."

Trauma is a disorder of not being able to be in the here-and now.
Trauma held in the body - state of freeze and shut-down - collapse response.
Peter Levine collaborated with Stephen Porges in the 1970's.
Require both regulation and co-regulation.
Trauma to flow.
Vagus nerve ("wanderer" nerve) largest nerve in the body.
Brain stem to the viscera.
Another part takes the viscera information back to the brain and amplifies it.

Peter Levine demonstrated a useful exercise to regulate the breath and vagus nerve.
Breathing out and making a 'Voooo' sound
(Interested that when I tried this, it brought up tearfulness and emotion, but I kept with it, and it did calm)
Titration and Pendulation mentioned - both helpful to prevent over-whelm.
Feel into every contraction - greater expansion follows.  Hold them both without judgement.

Learn to trust the body.  It knows how to navigate it's way through the unprocessed aspects.
Learn to listen to the promptings of our body.
Interoceptive awareness.  Listen to their messages.

Shame - where it is registered in our body.  Become aware of it in their body.  Shift body out of it, in and out of that posture.
Resolve physically, somatically, internally.

New-born - unable to regulate anything.  Need someone to hold and soothe them.   Rocking motions - vestibular - calming.  Hammock - parent and child. Regulating together.

Toddler - more independent.  Exploring.  'Stop' - "we love you, but you can't do that, it's dangerous"  Co-regulation.
Upset - crying - discharging emotion.
If unable to co-regulate, symptoms (e.g. anxiety) can surface.

Non-ordinary aspect of vagus nerve.
True selves.
First sense of self - from viscera.
Pre-egoic sense of self.
Connecting to deeper sense of ourselves.
Unfolding and emerging process.
Evolution over time.

Surrender to the body sensations.
Feeling our body sensations as they are in their primary form.
Wisdom is beyond words.

(I hope those notes make sense - I literally just copied what I wrote during listening to the talk).

Hope 

[Hope67]

Notes from talk by Arielle Schwartz "Becoming Free from Dissociation".

Becoming free from dissociation.  Dissociation = a continuum.  Symptom as access point to whatever we couldn't be with in the first place.
Offer our curiosity and compassion for these experiences.
Persona - shell of a self
portraying 'looking OK'
underneath - different
Authentic self got smaller.

Dissociation disorders develop before the age of 12 years.
DDNOS - different parts all feel like me.
DID - also mentioned
Upper brain centres = over-developed and dimmed down sensori-motor
Therefore calming nervous system not necessarily way to cope.
Use more activating practices to engage more sensori experience.  Poly-vagal.
Trauma work - awareness practices.

Phases
Stabilising  and building resources.
Befriend our sympathetic nervous system and our stress.
Buoyancy.
Original experience was over-whelming.

Presence of supportive adult to ideally help with exposure to something scary.
But absense of this supportive help.
What happens to it then?
What do I need to show that is acceptable to this family?
Complicated if source of support is actually the source of the distress.
You're scary
To uphold my need to attach, I have to push away that unwanted/unsupported emotion.

Metabolize that stuff?
Do I have sufficient support now to be able to look at past events?
Dual awareness.

Body is your inner child.
Your access points.
Body holds the memory of what happened and what wanted to happen
Mentioned Peter Levine.
Inability to flee, to express myself, to yell/scream.
Needed responses.

No right or wrong to expression, but dual awareness is important.
Stay present.

Co-=regulating other and external witness - help us see ourself in a new way.
Externalising mirror.  Reflected back.
Gave a powerful example of child being told to wipe that look of your face when getting upset.

Neuro-plastic change.
Create new habits and experiences in the body.

Re-direct creativity and intelligence of dissociative patterns into new creative areas of life.
Needs long-term work to change.
Ongoing commitment over some years.

(I'll admit this gave me hope)

Different parts of self that take over.
Develop capacity within to care for and nurture other parts.
My job to do this, but I don't have to do it alone.

Peter Levine: somatic experiencing and titration.
Open up slowly.
Turn toward feeling slowly.
Alexithymia

Dr Arielle Schwartz has a website, and this is Drarielleschwartz.com and she has a utube page and has written several books.

Hope 

[Snowdrop]

Your notes are great, Hope. Thank you.

I'm currently watching the session by Vimalasara Mason-John on recovering from sexual assault. It's really good.

[Blueberry]

Thanks Hope for the notes, especially on Arielle Schwartz's. I watched it too but promised myself I wouldn't take notes and especially not try to put them on here. That's just me though.

[Blueberry]

I thought I 'should' be getting on with my steps and not watching conferences, but I've just found a conference talk that is very helpful for me. While listening to it, some mbrs on here and some of their recent steps crossed my mind.

The talk is Trauma and Oppression by Kimberly Weeks. Surprisingly, the first half is about oppression in personal relationships, not oppression of groups of people. And how to get out of that oppression. It really speaks to me where I am in recovery and where I feel stuck. For those on here who have been taking big steps like leaving toxic workplaces 

[Snowdrop]

Thank you for mentioning this talk, Blueberry. I watched it and found it very helpful too.

[Blueberry]

I just watched another really good one, at least good for me: "The Science of Stuck" by Britt Frank.

She explains trauma and trauma responses from the physical side and physiologically. "Mental health" is a misnomer in her opinion because all that's going on is physiological. Actually in the language of my country "mental health" translates to "soul health" or "psychological health". Still, it was useful for me to hear the distinction she was making. Being or feeling stuck is a protective mechanism made by your body so you can't just decide to snap out of it. Depression should actually be called "nervous system compression" because you're using all that energy to hold back, hold down. Like a beach ball under water was the example.

She (and the host) talked about how simply getting out of bed and moving to the sofa can be huuuge when you're stuck. One way out: be aware that one opposite of trauma is choice. We had no choice when we were traumatised so it helps to realise that now you have a tiny choice. Not between staying in the trauma response or anything huge like that but simply feeling you have a tiny choice, like leaving your bed and moving to sofa.  Not that they said this but probably also between opening your eyes or leaving them closed. I remembered back to a time when I'd say to myself in the morning: "I don't have to get up" and repeat that for a while till eventually I'd feel and then say "but I want to" and then I'd do so, at least mostly. That was showing myself I had a choice.

I'm not sure if this is making sense for anybody else but it does for me.

These conferences are often overwhelming in the number of sessions available. I don't try to watch them all anymore. They're becoming more frequent so I trust I'll watch what's really helpful to me now and see the others some other time when the time is right for me. I hope it's the same for everybody else on here.

[rainydiary]

I'm just responding to what you have written here and haven't seen the presentation you are referencing. 

I appreciate you sharing this language.  I've been thinking a lot about how much of common knowledge or approach seems rooted in talking about our mind only.  Like mind over matter.  Like we should be able to just think differently and things will be different. 

For me it is also helpful to consider the whole body and whole being experience. 

For me, when we can connect to that whole experience, we can begin to consider choices. 

I personally find it helpful to understand the physiology of what is going on because  it isn't only in our mind. 

[Not Alone]

I appreciated what you shared about choice, Blueberry. I don't think about that for the "small" things. Maybe it would be helpful for me to frame small decisions that way, "I get to choose. . ., " because as you said, choice is the opposite of truama.