During the past decade an enormous amount has been learned about the neurobiology of trauma and the nature of memory in trauma survivors. Drawing from his ground-breaking work The Body Keeps The Score, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk will explore the clinical implications of these discoveries and a range of new approaches based on the research.
Recent neuroimaging studies suggest where memories are stored in the brain and the possible mechanisms for the recovery of traumatic memories. While ordinary memory is an active and constructive process, traumatic memories are stored as dissociated sensory and perceptual fragments of the experience. Depending on the age at which the trauma occurs and the social support systems of the victim, memories are constructed differently.
We will cover the profound effects of trauma on cognition, affect regulation, and on the development of “self” and interactions with others. You will learn how trauma and disruptions in attachment bonds affect the development of identity, and how this is expressed socially as difficulties in affect modulation, destructive behavior against self and others and in negotiating intimacy.
We will cover how childhood trauma affects the development of self-esteem, the capacity to identify and negotiate personal needs, and the ability to relate effectively with others. Since traumatic imprints are stored in subcortical brain areas and are largely divorced from verbal recall, the somatic experiencing of trauma-related sensations and affects is a central focus.
You will learn how neurofeedback, yoga, theater, IFS and EMDR can help resolve the traumatic past and discuss the integration of these approaches during different stages of treatment.
This CLA Interdisciplinary Collaborative Workshop seeks to better understand the impacts of traumatic memory upon individualsand societies and to critically engage the issues of how we come to terms with and heal from trauma, seek accountability for humanrights abuses that led to severe trauma, and mitigate future traumatization. The workshop explores the long-term effects oftraumatic experiences as varied as war and dictatorship, terrorist attacks and state terrorism, genocide, captivity, and sexual abuse,with the understanding that an interdisciplinary understanding of memory and traumatization can illuminate the pathwaysbetween artistic production and healing.
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