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.
In the early days of the trauma field, clients were seen as one-dimensional bundles of dysfunction and pain, who needed to relive their trauma before progress... Read more
To create deep change, we need to help people mine the sources of intense pleasure in their lives, wherever they may find them. Read more
When a client has been sexually abused, it can be difficult to find the balance between creating safety and challenging old patterns. Read more
In this brief video clip, Mary Jo explains why bringing the family into therapy should be our first stop when treating trauma. Read more
Pioneering trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk shares his thoughts on the differences between public and private trauma. Read more
If we don’t open up the one-on-one therapeutic cloister, trauma sufferers may never learn how to engage in the give and take of real-life relationships. By... Read more
Twenty-five years ago, we believed that helping trauma survivors dig into dark and unspeakable horrors would set them free. But in this new age of trauma... Read more
Mary Jo talks about the first stage of trauma treatment, where she teaches clients about the natural cycle of growth in order to discover how they prefer to... Read more
Mary Jo Barrett talks about grounding during session to be in the moment. Read more
My intent in sharing my story was to help therapists understand the needs of a trauma victim and to suggest techniques and strategies to meet these needs at... Read more
Contrary to popular opinion, resilience isn't so much an innate quality as a feature of human connectedness. Read more
For more than 20 years, Bessel van der Kolk has been in the forefront of research in the psychobiology of trauma and in the quest for more effective... Read more
We have clues about what makes some people prevail over psychological adversity... Read more
From the May/June 1994 issue IN THE SPRING OF 1991, MY MOTHER, A MENNONITE AND a nurse-midwife, called me from rural Pennsylvania. “Can you give me... Read more
.svg)