Trauma
Distressing events aren't inherently traumatic, but the way we process them and with whom greatly influences our long-term well-being. In some cases, we may remain stuck in painful patterns of emotional overwhelm, avoidance, and hypervigilance. Exploring these with our clients is among our most sacred and challenging work. Here, you'll read perspectives on PTSD, collective trauma and communal healing, moral injury, and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES). These articles examine what constitutes trauma-informed care and how we can best hold space for our clients. Learn from Bruce Perry, Bessel van der Kolk, Janina Fisher, Peter Levine, Nadine Burke-Harris, Jack Saul, Frank Anderson, Babette Rothschild, Bruce Ecker, Dick Schwartz, Gabor Maté, and other trauma experts.
Finding Choice in the Dissociative Process
Grounding, Somatic Resourcing, and Other StrategiesAdverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), from abuse and neglect to poverty and witnessing violence, can profoundly impact clients' long-term mental health and life trajectories. ACE studies continue to reveal how childhood trauma can increase risks for chronic disease, addiction, and mental illness. The good news is that when we align resources to assess and understand ACEs, we can help heal and even prevent them. These articles explore leading research in ACEs, the health implications of early trauma, and more. Learn from Gabor Maté, Nadine Burke Harris, and more.
Collective Trauma & Communal Healing
Mass violence, systemic oppression, and other forms of collective trauma have created shared wounds in many of our clients. To treat these wounds effectively, we must look beyond individual treatment to address the social roots of suffering and mobilize community resilience. From processing school shootings and police shootings to rebuilding in the COVID-19 aftermath, healing collective trauma requires honoring cultural wisdom, fostering connection, and recognizing that recovery happens not just individually but together. These articles explore mass tragedy response, decolonizing mental health, community-based healing, and more. Learn from Esther Perel, Bessel van der Kolk, and other leaders in the field.
Complex Trauma
Because complex trauma results from prolonged or repeated traumatic events, it can fundamentally alter development, attachment, and sense of self in clients. It often involves pervasive relational wounds, fragmented identity, and emotional dysregulation. Understanding the invisible legacies of complex trauma requires moving beyond symptom management to address how early relational violations shape every aspect of functioning. These articles explore complex PTSD, dissociative identity disorder, intergenerational trauma, and more. Read more to discover approaches for healing deeply embedded relational wounds.
Dissociation
Dissociation manifests in many forms, from mild "spacing out" to more extreme presentations of dissociative identity disorder (DID). Often misunderstood or overlooked, dissociative symptoms can sometimes signal trauma too profound to process in real time. Recognizing dissociation in children and adults requires us to understand how the mind may fragment for survival, and how to gently facilitate reintegration without retraumatizing. These articles offer thoughtful reflections on the role of grounding in treating dissociative disorders, busting common myths around dissociation, the debate around IFS and integration, and understanding dissociation's protective function. Discover specialized approaches for navigating this complex state from Janina Fisher, Frank Anderson, Ruth Lanius, and Bethany Brand.
Intergenerational Trauma
Some traumas reverberate through families and communities. Oppression, family violence, and other sources of pain can leave biological, psychological, and relational imprints that can pass from parent to child. These events have the power to shape future generations, even when they didn't directly experience the original wounds. Understanding how unhealed trauma lives in bodies and family dynamics helps therapists address patterns that seem mysterious until viewed through a multigenerational lens. These articles explore historical trauma legacies, embodied healing, and creating new family narratives. Learn from Linda Thai, Frank Anderson, and others about breaking intergenerational cycles.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD extends far beyond combat trauma, affecting survivors of violence, abuse, accidents, and other overwhelming experiences. But despite our growing understanding of its sources and presentations, some traditional therapeutic frameworks continue to miss critical dimensions of effective treatment. Effective PTSD treatment requires understanding both the neurobiological impacts and the existential dimensions of living through events that shatter assumptions about safety and meaning. These articles explore moral injury, trauma myths, and what diagnostic criteria leave out. Discover evolving approaches to helping clients reclaim their lives after traumatic experiences.
Trauma-Informed Care
Trauma-informed practice challenges us to more deeply explore and understand how traumatic experiences reshape clients' bodies and minds. Effective trauma work extends beyond talk therapy, encompassing body-based interventions, creative expression, and careful attention to safety and pacing. Recognizing blocks to processing and knowing when to push or hold back are essential skills for helping clients move from survival to genuine healing. These articles explore trauma treatment approaches, post-traumatic growth, humor in trauma work, and other essential topics. Learn from Bessel van der Kolk, Janina Fisher, Gabor Maté, Frank Anderson, and others.
Dissociation in our sessions isn’t obvious—one trauma expert has learned through trial and error how to sense it and respond. Read more
Years ago, neuropsychiatrist Dan Siegel’s client recovered from DID—and now she’s showing therapists what’s possible for their own clients. Read more
Trauma treatment pioneer Janina Fisher gives a brief history of a misunderstood trauma symptom—and shares practical tools for spotting and treating it. Read more
Two leading experts in trauma and dissociation have figured out what’s getting in the way of trauma recovery—and what to do about it. Read more
How do we shift from grieving the past to creating the future we want? Read more
A therapist reflects on intergenerational trauma, silence, and inherited stories. Read more
For adult children of addicts who've distanced themselves from their painful pasts, interventions that require them to show rather than tell can be... Read more
Healing doesn’t always start with crying. Sometimes it begins with a snort-laugh in a quiet office. Read more
Linda Thai takes a holistic approach to healing from trauma, addiction, and attachment wounding—one that includes reverence for our bodies, nature, and time... Read more
One psychiatrist and 14 grandmothers in Zimbabwe access a vital, untapped resource for providing mental health support. Read more
A renowned trauma expert tracks the historical contours of our culture's ambivalent relationship with trauma—and shares his hopes for the field. Read more
What does it mean to forgive, anyway? And do trauma survivors really need to forgive their abusers in order to heal? Read more
How do you navigate toxic positivity, and other forms of spiritual bypass, when it’s a block to processing trauma? Read more
A bicultural daughter of immigrants struggles to make sense of her identity as she mourns a grandmother she barely knew. Read more
The stories of four teenagers in the Muscogee Nation illustrates the power of community, myth, and spirituality in healing trauma. Read more
How do we empower kids in the midst of big environmental challenges? Read more
For one trauma therapist, parenting turned out to be the ultimate trial by fire—and a path to healing and wholeness. Read more
James Gordon shares about a clinician's powerful mental health work on the frontlines of the war in Gaza. Read more
From his Symposium workshop, Bessel van der Kolk singles out the one question therapists should be asking their traumatized clients. Read more
Partners who associate love and intimacy with the painful family dynamics of their formative years can get stuck in a familiar bond that’s hard to shake... Read more
Learn more about leading trauma expert Frank Anderson and how he's taking his insight and expertise to new places. Read more
Two leading trauma experts discuss the power of enduring relational work and how our current medical model creates a moral injury for therapists. Read more
Research shows that the bigger driver of suicide amongst veterans isn’t PTSD, but moral injury. Understanding what moral injury is and how it’s distinct... Read more
A pioneer in somatic trauma treatment reminds us that humans have recovered from trauma for thousands of years without our favorite therapy approaches. Read more
Because moral injury—one of the most significant contributors to the high rate of suicide among U.S. veterans—is rooted in conscience, not fear... Read more
We all dissociate in some way to cope with the uncertainties of life, so why are people with dissociative identities often feared and misunderstood, even by... Read more
Janina Fisher reflects on the beginning of her career and how differently we've viewed trauma in psychotherapy through the years. Read more
When his wife texts to say she’s running late to pick him up at the airport, a renowned trauma expert reexperiences a life-altering moment from his past. Read more
Therapists may feel overwhelmed by how little it seems they can do for clients suffering within large, oppressive systems. Read more
Join Dr. James Gordon as he discusses how you can help people even before they are out of the storm. Read more
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