Category: Transforming Trauma Podcast

In this episode of Transforming Trauma, NARM Senior Trainer Brad Kammer, is joined by Tina Sacks, PhD. an associate professor in the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley. Her fields of interest include racial inequities in health, social determinants of health, and poverty and inequality; in other words, how people’s experience of being othered affects their well-being overall. Tina’s professional work emerges from her own experience of being othered as a mixed-raced person and member of the Black and Jewish community. At the core of her work is the idea that love is really what matters and that we must care for one another as humans.

As Tina reflects on her familial history and experience, she remembers having a heightened sense that her family was different. However, it wasn’t until recently that she came to understand the history and the differences as complex trauma. In her studies of ancestral trauma, Tina has found that beyond psychological and relational loss, there is also a material loss that can leave individuals and families vulnerable to further harm. When looking at families in the context of intergenerational trauma, the past often plays out in the present.

Tina shares that her focus on racial and gender inequities in healthcare settings is rooted in her experience growing up as she witnessed the different ways her Black mother and Jewish father were treated, and the ways that both sides of her family experienced being different, marginalized and othered. As Tina became more aware of the American context around race and gender, this led her to focus on how ethno-racial minorities have different, and often unequal, experiences in healthcare settings.

When asked how holding two identities that are consistently targeted lives within her as an individual, Tina proudly shares her sense of survivorship. She acknowledges her powerful ancestors – both physically and spiritually – who survived horrific and persistent trauma in order to allow her to survive. And she hopes she can be a powerful ancestor for the future generations to come. 

We are grateful to Tina for the amazing work and awareness she is bringing to the world of healthcare. We invite you to listen to the full episode to learn more about Tina’s lived experience and how she plans to use that experience to promote human connection as a way to create more equality and supportive care for minorities in the American healthcare system.

About:

Tina K. Sacks, PhD, is an associate professor in the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley. She studies racial and gender inequities in healthcare settings, social determinants of health, and poverty and inequality. Professor Sacks’ work has been published in Race and Social Problems, Health Affairs, and MSNBC News. Professor Sacks also frequently collaborates with the photographer and filmmaker Carlos Javier Ortiz on documentary film projects about issues affecting Black and Latino communities in the US and abroad. Their films have appeared in the Tribeca, AFI, and LA International Film Festivals, among others. Their work has also been published in The New Yorker and The Atlantic. Her recent book Invisible Visits, Black Middle-Class Women in the American Healthcare System, published by Oxford University Press is now available. 

Learn More:

Website – Tina K. Sacks, PhD 

Book – Invisible Visits, Black Middle-Class Women in the American Healthcare System

Other News & Publications

In this episode of Transforming Trauma, NARM Senior Trainer Brad Kammer is joined by his old friend and long-time colleague, Anthony “Twig” Wheeler.  Twig is a Trauma Specialist, Environmentalist, Performance Artist, Applied Human Ecologist, Consultant, Educator, and so much more. His interest in how to resolve the conflicts within society, and being introduced to Peter Levine’s work of Somatic Experiencing, led him to branch out into different areas of trauma. While Twig’s interests led him to a variety of studies – such as evolutionary, somatic and ecological psychology, and environmental and cultural anthropology – it was his own therapy that created his focus for advocacy and translating the work for the world as best he can.  

Twig and Brad recollect on their early experiences learning about somatic psychology and specifically connecting to Somatic Experiencing. From the beginning, Twig knew that he wasn’t destined to be a clinician. He learned trauma healing skills, and while we provided direct service to clients, he was focused on finding other avenues through which he could share and explain the work of Somatic Experiencing in a larger way. He realized that he could make trauma work more accessible by taking clinical information and making it colloquial. He found great interest and hunger from people for more down-to-earth, direct application of trauma healing theory and skills.

Twig describes what being a Cultural Animator is all about. He shares how he learned about this societal role during his time in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and that he has been seeking ways to implement this into American society. He has created and presented his work in various formats, including online, on stage, and in professional trainings, and he is currently looking forward to creating a show to take on the road this year where he can do street performances focused on knowing and appreciating the stress response.

Twig and Brad also reflect on the evolving understanding of complex trauma and the various ways to relate to this new understanding. They reflect on their years of being on this learning and healing journey together and appreciate their connection and friendship.

We are grateful to Twig for his dynamic appreciation of the modern human condition and his unique approach to healing. We invite you to listen to the full episode to hear more about Twig’s experience.

About:

Anthony “Twig” Wheeler specializes in the restoration of a participatory relationship between humans and their nature – as in, how to enjoy our biology rather than hate it. As a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and trauma expert, Twig works with individuals, groups and helping care professionals. As an Applied Human Ecologist, he works toward an articulation of the evolutionarily established needs of our species. As a Performance Artist and Cultural Animator, Twig translates his social observation and research for general public audiences with humor, grace and care with the intention to enliven, inspire and catalyze action for good living, respect of self and others and engagement with biodiversity. With his studies and a strong background in social change and ecological preservation efforts, widespread travel and years spent mastering the wilderness living arts, Twig has developed an unusual appreciation of the human species and modern human condition.

Learn More:

Liberation is Possible Website

Twig’s Public Projects

StressLess Guide

Twig’s SE Reflections for Practitioners

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/