KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

• Beatrice Beebe, PhD
• Ruth Lanius, MD, PhD
• Alexander McFarlane, MB BS (Hons), MD
• Pat Ogden, PhD
• Jaak Panksepp
• Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD
• Stephen W. Porges, PhD
• Richard C. Schwartz, PhD
• Stephen J. Suomi, PhD
• Martin H. Teicher, MD, PhD
• Ed Tronick, PhD
• Rachel Yehuda, PhD
• and Faculty of the Trauma Center and Justice Resource Institute

For the past 25 years, we have examined how trauma affects psychological and biological processes, and how the damage caused by overwhelming life experiences can be reversed. This year many of the most important contributors of our generation will summarize their work.

The study of psychological trauma has been accompanied by an explosion of knowledge about how experience shapes the central nervous system and the formation of the self. Developments in the neurosciences, developmental psychopathology and information processing have contributed to our understanding of how brain function is shaped by experience and the belief that life itself can continually transform perception and biology.

The study of trauma has probably been the single most fertile area in helping to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship among the emotional, cognitive, social and biological forces that shape human development.

Starting with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults and expanding into early attachment and overwhelming experiences in childhood, this endeavor has elucidated how certain experiences can “set” psychological expectations and biological selectivity.

We have learned that most experience is automatically processed on a subcortical level, i.e., by “unconscious” interpretations that take place outside of awareness. Insight and understanding have only a limited influence on the operation of these subcortical processes. When addressing the problems of traumatized people who, in a myriad of ways, continue to react to current experience as a replay of the past, there is a need for therapeutic methods that do not depend exclusively on understanding and cognition

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this course is to present current research findings on how people’s brains, minds, and bodies respond to traumatic experiences; how they regulate emotional and behavioral responses; and the role of relationships in protecting and restoring safety and regulation.

We will explore post-traumatic responses at different developmental levels, as well as the treatment implications of these findings. We also will explore how affect regulation and the interpretation of innocuous stimuli as threats require interventions aimed at restoring active mastery and the capacity to focus on the present. Traumatic memories often are dissociated and may be inaccessible to verbal recall or processing. Therefore, close attention must be paid to the development of inner resources to deal with dysregulation and helplessness, as well as to the careful timing of the exploration and processing of the traumatic past.

In closing, the course will examine cutting-edge treatment interventions for various trauma-based symptoms.

THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2014

The Overall Picture:

Trauma, Biology and Environment

8:00 – 8:30 a.m.      Registration

8:30 – 9:15 a.m.      Understanding and Treating Traumatic Stress Over a 25 Year Perspective

Bessel A. van der Kolk, MD

9:15 – 10:00 a.m.    Connectedness as a Biological Imperative: Understanding Trauma Through the Lens of the Polyvagal Theory

Stephen W. Porges, PhD

10:00 – 10:15 a.m. Coffee Break

10:15 – 11:00 a.m. Lessons from Monkeys About Interactions Between Genes, Environment and Attachment Patterns

Stephen J. Suomi, PhD

11:00 – 12:30 p.m. Integration and Discussion

Morning Faculty; Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD; and Alexander McFarlane, MB BS (Hons), MD

12:30 – 1:45 p.m.   Lunch (On Your Own)

1:15 – 1:45 p.m.     Chair Yoga (Optional)

Brain and Physiology of Trauma

1:45 – 2:45 p.m.     The Stress System Keeps Score: Trauma and

Neuroendocrinology Rachel Yehuda, PhD

2:45 – 3:45 p.m.     Language, Transformation and the Revisiting of Trauma

Alexander McFarlane, MB BS (Hons), MD

3:45 – 4:00 p.m.     Afternoon Break

4:00 – 4:25 p.m.     Blunted and Discordant Affect: Studying

Something that Can’t be Seen Wendy D’Andrea, PhD

4:25 – 4:50 p.m.     Defensive Reactivity: The Role of Cumulative Stress and Trauma

Lisa McTeague, PhD

4:50 – 5:15 p.m.     Blunted and Discordant Affect: Multiple Routes to Shutting Down

Greg J. Siegle, PhD

5:15 – 6:00 p.m.     Integration and Discussion

Afternoon Faculty; Martin H. Teicher, MD, PhD; Pat Ogden, PhD; Beatrice Beebe, PhD; and Ed Tronick, PhD

FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014

Trauma and Developing Minds and Brains

8:00 – 8:30 a.m.      Registration

8:30 – 9:15 a.m.      Affective Neuroscience and Trauma

Jaak Panksepp, PhD

9:15 – 10:00 a.m.    Trauma and Brain Development

Martin H. Teicher, MD, PhD

10:00 – 10:15 a.m.   Coffee Break

10:15 – 11:00 a.m.   Neurodevelopmental Model of Treatment Intervention

Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD

11:00 – 12:30 p.m.   Integration and Discussion

Morning Faculty; Stephen W. Porges, PhD; Rachel Yehuda, PhD; and Stephen J. Suomi, PhD

12:30 – 1:45 p.m.    Lunch (On Your Own)

1:15 – 1:45 p.m.      Chair Yoga (Optional)

Trauma and the Shattered Self

1:45 – 2:30 p.m.      Neurobiology of Self-Experience

Ruth Lanius, MD, PhD

2:30 – 3:15 p.m.      Trauma-Related Altered States of Consciousness (TRASC)

Paul A. Frewen, PhD, C.Psych

3:15 – 4:00 p.m.      Integration of Trauma Treatment Models in Clinical Practice

Deborah Korn, PsyD

4:00 – 4:15 p.m.      Afternoon Break

4:15 – 5:00 p.m.      Bringing Self-Leadership to Shattered Inner Systems

Richard C. Schwartz, PhD

5:00 – 5:45 p.m.      Integration and Discussion

Afternoon Faculty; Bessel A. van der Kolk, MD & Jaak Panksepp, PhD

SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014

Development: Interacting Brains, Minds and Rhythms

8:00 – 8:30 a.m.      Registration

8:30 – 9:15 a.m.      Connections and Disconnections: Mother-Infant Face-to-Face Communication 

Beatrice Beebe, PhD

9:15 – 10:00 a.m.    Trust and Meaning Making in Parent-Child Interactions Ed Tronick, PhD

10:00 – 10:15 a.m.   Coffee Break

10:15 – 11:00 a.m.   Sensorimotor Integration Therapy (SMART) with Abused and Neglected Children      

Elizabeth Warner, PsyD

11:00 – 12:30 p.m.   Integration and Discussion   

Morning Faculty; Margaret E. Blaustein, PhD; Stephen J. Suomi, PhD; and Martin H. Teicher, MD, PhD

12:30 – 1:45 p.m.    Lunch (On Your Own)

1:15 – 1:45 p.m.      Chair Yoga (Optional

3:25 – 3:50 p.m.      Integration and Discussion   

Afternoon Faculty; Sebern Fisher, MA, BCN; Ruth Lanius, MD, PhD; and Rachel Yehuda, PhD

3:50 – 4:05 p.m.      Afternoon Break

4:05 – 5:00 p.m.      The Spiritual: An African-American Response to the Trauma of Enslavement

Ysaye M. Barnwell, PhD

5:00– 5:30 p.m.       Closing: Quaker-Style Sharing and Debriefing

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