Category: Transforming Trauma Podcast

In this special episode of Transforming Trauma, the NARM Training Institute presents a gift to Transforming Trauma listeners: a special topic webinar from the NARM Inner Circle online program. This webinar provides a window into the Inner Circle learning community where helping professionals from around the world come together to learn more about the NARM approach to resolving Complex Trauma.  

In this webinar, NARM and Heartfulness, NARM creator Dr. Laurence Heller and NARM Senior Trainer Brad Kammer, explore the importance of integrating the heart with the mind during the healing process. More specifically, they reflect on the survival functions of disconnecting from and shutting down the heart based on early loss, heartbreak, and the impact of developmental trauma.

Larry and Brad touch on such areas as: 

• Why reconnecting to the heart is essential to the healing process.
• Why the concept of heartfulness is important in working with complex trauma.
• How to differentiate between mindfulness and heartfulness in clinical practice.
• How developmental trauma affects a child’s relationship to their heart.
• How closing one’s heart in an adult intimate relationship affects the capacity for intimacy.
• The role that grieving plays in supporting increased heartfulness and the resolution of complex trauma.

Throughout the episode, they also introduce several self-reflective exercises to support listeners’ learning process on the theme of heartfulness.

If you enjoy this episode, we invite you to explore the NARM Inner Circle online learning program, where we host NARM Topic Webinars like this one every month. An example of webinar topics from the Inner Circle are: Differentiating Shock and Developmental Trauma; Working with Shame, Self-Hatred and Self-Sabotage; Differentiating Depression and Grief; Complex Trauma and Addictions; Relational Trauma, Intimacy and Sexuality; Addressing Burnout in Helping Professionals; and the NARM Approach for Supporting Personal and Spiritual Growth.  

About Dr. Laurence Heller and Brad Kammer:

Dr. Laurence Heller is the creator of the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM), Senior Faculty member, International Trainer, and co-author of Healing Developmental Trauma.

Brad Kammer, LMFT, LPCC, is a somatic psychotherapist, consultant, professor, NARM Senior Trainer and NARM Training Director. He has worked in the field of trauma for over 20 years, specializing in Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD). Brad is the co-author of The Practical Guide for Healing Developmental Trauma.

Learn More:

We invite you to explore the NARM Inner Circle online learning program, where we host NARM Topic Webinars like this every month. For further information and to sign up for a free two-week trial visit: 

www.narmtraining.com/freetrial

In this episode of Transforming Trauma, NARM Senior Trainer Brad Kammer is joined by Clementine Morrigan, writer, podcaster, socialist, and trauma educator. Clementine embodies their teaching, sharing and perspective in the courageous trauma-informed work they are doing, specifically addressing the shame-based dynamics of what is presently referred to as “cancel culture”. Clementine is a strong advocate for a new understanding of the dynamics of cancel culture, and how publicly canceling fellow human beings impacts individuals and communities. In this discussion, Clementine shares about the psychological impact for individuals who are publicly shamed and rejected, and how trauma-informed therapists can play a role in individual healing and relational repair.

Clementine presents the concept of the “Nexus”, which is a synthesis of identitarianism, social media, and cancel culture, and about the traumatogenic nature of this synthesis. Through their research and experience, Clementine has found that leaving the Nexus, and/or experiencing cancel culture, has traumatic effects similar to complex trauma due to the loss of relational connection. Feeling ostracized or excommunicated has long-term effects because it prevents future attempts at creating connection and community. Clementine suggests that in the world of cancel culture, the relational understanding of “rupture and repair” do not seem to exist.

Clementine recounts their own experience in the Nexus which led them to a hypervigilant obsession with social justice culture since they felt fear that if they made mistakes, they’d be defined by them and not allowed to live them down. This time in Clementine’s life felt like walking a fine line between wanting to act from a place of integrity that honors human dignity for all people and the shamed-based behavior of not wanting to get in trouble. They highlight the importance of not defining people by their behaviors, but rather by their human potential; something they learned through their own therapy work and their involvement in twelve-step communities. 

Connection, therapy, and twelve-step programs are what Clementine cites as contributing to their deprogramming of the Nexus-way of thinking. All of the internal work allowed them to create healthy boundaries and live their integrity. It has also allowed them to rebuild a community with shared values; a community that speaks openly about cancel culture and strives for solidarity, freedom and responsibility.

We are grateful to Clementine for sharing their story and their insight to the nexus. We invite you to listen to the full episode to hear more about the adverse effects of cancel culture and how to overcome them.

About:

Clementine Morrigan has been writing and publishing for more than 20 years, having written several zines and books. They are also a podcaster as one half of the podcast F-ing Cancelled. They’re the creator of the popular Trauma Informed Polyamory workshop as well as several other workshops. She is a trauma educator, an opposer of cancel culture, a sex educator, a person living with complex ptsd, a sober alcoholic, and a proud dog mom to Clover “the dog” Morrigan.

Learn More:

clementinemorrigan.com

patreon.com/clementinemorrigan

fuckingcancelled.libsyn.com

In this episode of Transforming Trauma, NARM Senior Trainer Brad Kammer is joined by Bill Lokey, former Clinical Director and Licensed Senior Psychological Examiner out of the Nashville area, and current NARM trainee. Brad reflects on inviting Bill to join him on the podcast due to meeting him in recent NARM Training, and how moved and inspired Brad was by Bill’s journey.  Bill speaks openly and honestly about his cancer journey and how he is attempting to live each day to its fullest.  

Bill shares how he was inspired to sign up for the NARM Therapist Training through trusted colleagues and friends and how NARM is supporting him in his current phase of life.  It has challenged him to walk his talk, which has to do with showing up authentically and living more intentionally.  

When reflecting on his process of becoming a psychotherapist, Bill recalls being inspired by a therapist who seemed to touch many people’s lives by the way he had lived his life and supported others.  Bill wanted to learn how to make that kind of impact on others.  He wanted to live a life full of meaning.  He soon realized that beyond academic and clinical training, receiving his own therapy was a big part of this process. He is a true believer that one can only be honest with others when one is honest with themselves. For Bill, this meant loving better, experiencing more intimacy, and improving all his relationships. 

Bill also shares about his personal experience with overcoming codependency. He attributes the success of his personal and professional relationship with wife Laurie to the ongoing recovery work that they do on their own. This has also contributed to the success they have as they work with individuals and couples dealing with the effects of trauma. Together, they embody their intention for their clients, which is to “awaken to truth and freedom”.

This outlook has created a strong foundation for him and his family as they face his long-term health condition. Bill, however, shares that he believes it is important for everyone, not just those dealing with long-term illnesses, to take stock on how they are living their lives. He encourages others to get support in showing up more for others, as well as themselves, because that is where true connections are made and what makes life truly worth living.

We are grateful to Bill for sharing his wisdom and desire for radical living and connection. We invite you to listen to the full episode to hear more about authenticity, freedom, and living more intentionally.

About:

Bill Lokey is most renowned as a husband to Laurie, a father, and grandfather. Formerly a Clinical Director and Licensed Senior Psychological Examiner, he now gives presentations about trauma, rising through adversity, overcoming codependency, and connection in relationships. Along with his wife Laurie, Bill conducts engaging experiential workshops for couples and large organizations. His personal relationship with God is the thing that sustains him and his family through hardship and guides them in abundance.

Learn More:

https://billandlaurielokey.com/

In this episode of Transforming Trauma, our host Emily is joined by David J. Wallin, Phd. Dr. Wallin is a psychologist who has been practicing, writing, and teaching about psychotherapy for nearly four decades with an emphasis on attachment theory and research into an innovative framework that grounds adult psychotherapy in the facts of childhood development.

In talking about his highly respected book, Attachment in Psychotherapy, Dr. Wallin shares how it is a resource he wished he had when he was starting off as a psychotherapist. Wallin’s interest in relationships led him to explore deeper into the therapeutic relationship, which he says is a developmentally facilitative relationship where psychotherapy intersects with attachment theory.  He highlights the important clinical implications of attachment theory research and how it informs practitioners how they can be of maximum help to the people that come to them for help. A significant part of his work focuses on the idea that therapy heals by providing clients with a new attachment relationship. 

As Dr. Wallin reflects on his experience as a psychotherapist and the necessities of the person as therapist to show up with clients with presence.  He describes the challenges he experienced when he wasn’t fully present with his clients, as well as what he’s learned through his studies into attachment theory. Leaning on the research and influence by Peter Fonagy’s work on mentalization, Wallin came to the conclusion that for therapy to heal, it had to go beyond the therapists’ formal training and theoretical understanding; it must include who the therapist is as a person, and better yet include the therapist’s relationship to their own attachment history. In his words, “What we are able to provide as therapists really has to do with who we are as people as much as anything…”

We are grateful to learn from Dr. Wallin about the ways attachment theory supports depth of understanding and connection for therapists. We invite you to listen to the full episode to hear more about the importance of presence in psychotherapy.

About:

David Wallin is a psychologist who has been practicing, writing, and teaching about psychotherapy for nearly four decades. His most recent book, Attachment in Psychotherapy, has been translated into thirteen languages and he has presented his work to clinicians in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, Canada, and throughout the US. Near retirement, he is currently transitioning from psychotherapy to songwriting.

Learn More:

Book – Attachment in Psychotherapy by David J. Wallin

In this episode of Transforming Trauma, our host Emily is joined by Iya Affo, culturalist and historical trauma specialist. Iya is an executive board member on the Arizona ACES Consortium, serves as the Chair of the Historical Trauma committee, and is the founder of Heal Historical Trauma. Heal Historical Trauma is an organization that offers interactive training in Cultural Competency, ACEs, trauma, and historical trauma, as well as Meditation & Healing. Iya’s work focuses on a cultural and neurobiological perspective of historical trauma. She presents the question, “What happened in the past, and how does that manifest in people today?” She has traveled to more than 25 countries and has lived a life dedicated to cultivating love and inclusivity and facilitating decolonization and subsequent healing of indigenous people.

Exploring cultural expressions historically used to manage adversity, Iya highlights a dance of the White Mountain Apache tribe that would be performed by warriors returning home as a debriefing. “That’s what they did to restore their neurological regulation before they rejoin the community because we know that if we are dysregulated, we have behaviors that are aggressive and abusive and hostile […] so there was a way of doing that through traditional dance and song before people were stripped of their cultural identity.” she says. Iya describes further exploring reconnection to traditional neurologically regulating activities such as the rhythmic healing sound of washing clothes by hand or walking a significant distance to get water during her time living in an ashram in India. 

She and Emily discuss how as society progressed over time, we’ve moved away from these practices and into habits that dysregulate us and start our days with stress. “We can leverage our knowledge of the neurological system to allow us to have more opportunities to have a flood of dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins in our system. And when we do that, it gives us a larger window of tolerance with our stress response.” Iya points to the Cherry Blossom study, underscoring the beginning of one’s biological life as an egg in the womb of our grandmothers. Through the knowledge of epigenetics, we understand that the trauma can be imprinted on us before even the birth of our own mothers but we can also pass down positive experiences, benevolence, and love. “What you do today and how you change your life today has the potential to impact the next 14 generations.”

We are deeply grateful to have Iya discuss reconnecting to traditional ways of being as an act of healing and we invite you to listen to the full episode to hear more about Healing Historical Trauma with Iya Affo.

About:

Iya Affo is a Culturalist and Historical Trauma Specialist. She earned Western certification as a Trauma Specialist and is a descendant of a long line of traditional healers from Benin Republic, West Africa. Iya has visited more than 25 countries around the world and has resided in Native American, Yoruba, Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist communities in various countries. While on pilgramage to Benin Republic, she lived among Medicine Men and Women to learn the ways of the Shaman and understand the truth about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. In China, she lived in the Shaolin Temple, the cradle of Zen Buddhism, and immersed herself in Chinese culture. After a spiritual calling to India, Iya sojourned in a Hindu spiritual community and lived a minimal lifestyle while imbuing Hindu customs and ideology. Serving Navajo Nation and the Gila River Indian Community, Iya found a home among the egalitarian, indigenous people of North America.

After living abroad for several years, Iya returned to the United States and in December 2018. She debuted her presentation of The Symphony of Traditional Medicine and Western Medicine to Heal ACES and Historical Trauma at the 2018 National ACES Conference in San Francisco, California. Iya is the founder of Heal Historical Trauma and the International Historical Trauma Association. 

Learn More:

healhistoricaltrauma.com