Distinguished Faculty Chair Presentation: PTSD - Somatic Experiencing (SE©), Students, Society, Reve
Here is the You Tube link to my Convocation Presentation:
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The following Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 are the PowerPoint that I presented on Tuesday, August 16, at the Moorpark College Convocation. You have access to the presentation with my notes to myself. You can see what I said or did not say for each slide. When you see the word silent, it means I did not speak. Below the photo of the two young men holding the "abrazos gratis" (free hugs) signs, you will find bibliographical information and video links.
My nephew mentioned in my presentation loved comic books and superheroes. It was a passion we shared together. He loved to debate who would win in a fight against each other: Batman or Superman? He believed that the trauma Batman experienced (witnessing the murder of his parents) made him a crafty survivor. My nephew died five days before the US release of the film. My fearless nephew had a constant smile and a heart so big that we all felt loved by him. I did not have time to mention mythical traumatized superheroes in my presentation but in honor of my nephew I have included a link to: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes: Harnessing Our Power to Change the World
Dr. Peter Levine &
the Foundation for Human Enrichment (FHE)
- Website: www.traumahealing.com
- The FHE Bookstore: https://store.traumahealing.org/bookstore/
FHE Books Used for Presentation:
- Beyond the Trauma Vortex: A Guide for Diplomats and NGOs, Gina Ross, MFCT, SEP
- Beyond the Trauma Vortex: A Guide for Psychology and Education, Gina Ross, MFCT, SEP
- The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease, Robert Scaer, M.D.
- Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of Your Body;
Peter Levine, Ph.D.
- In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness,
Peter Levine, Ph.D.
- Trauma and Memory: Brain and Body in a Search for the Living Past,
Peter Levine, Ph.D.
- Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma, Peter Levine, Ph.D.
Other Books:
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma,Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.
- Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal,
Belleruth Naparstek, Ph.D.
Dr. Peter Levine on Video: Trauma, PTSD, &
Somatic Experiencing
Other Video
- Freeze Response in an Opossum
Sebastian Junger, Journalist
- http://www.sebastianjunger.com/
- Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
- War
- Documentary: RESTREPO
Operation Bushmaster - Photos by Evan Baines
Operation Bushmaster is made up of leadership military personnel in The Uniformed Services University. Most of the participants are future doctors and nurses.
I have a hard copy of the book in my office. I bought it from a silent auction for the People's Centers (medical) of Minneapolis. I will have the book for a while and then I am to gift it to a veteran. Here is a link to the PDF of the Book
There is nothing like Operation Bushmaster in all of the USA Medical Training and I find it quite emotional. Even the idea that we humans have to train for providing battlefield medicine is heartbreaking. Here is a video:
Websites
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Up Close
Also:
The Epigenetics of PTSD:
Approximately 20 years ago, a psychologist on the faculty of The American Jewish University in Los Angeles, told me there was anecdotal information that trauma was inherited. In their work with children and grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors, they were seeing evidence that it was inherited but how it happened was a mystery to them at the time. The mystery is now on the path to being fully discovered through biological research. My friend Susan Willson, a nurse practitioner and midwife practicing in New York, recently informed me that epigenetics reveal how trauma is inherited. She gathered the following resources for you.
Defined in Google: "ep·i·ge·net·icsˌ
epəjəˈnediks/noun
BIOLOGY
the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself."epigenetics has transformed the way we think about genomes."
- Article about Mark Wolynn's book and an interview with him: It Didn't Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle
- Link to A Tunable Mechanism Determines the Duration of the Transgenerational Small RNA Inheritance in C. elegans, Leah Houri-Ze’evi, Yael Korem, Hila Sheftel, Lior Faigenbloom.
Some Key Points from Mental Health 101: Recognizing and Responding to Students with Trauma Exposure and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Helping them to Succeed by Dr. Peggy Mitchell Clarke,
M. Ed & Ph.D. in Psychology:
- Dr. Clarke currently serves on the Behavioral Intervention Team at Community College of Aurora and is President/CEO of Living Well Press, LLC, a mental health and wellness consulting firm and publishing company.
- You should keep an eye out for webinars by her through Audio Solutionz.
- The copyright on her work is so strict that I can just share a few of my notes. The books I provided in the above cover all the same information. Dr. Clarke has refined information about PTSD to address the circumstances of children and college students.
- She talks about mass school shootings, movie theatre shootings, and 9-11 in the news as causing PTSD in students.
- She tries to identify students who have been recently traumatized. She calls their trauma acute stress disorder. Her hope is by early identification of students with trauma, she and her team can help them not develop PTSD.
- She cites research which is really strong in showing the high number of college students who have been traumatize or have PTSD.
- From reading what she wrote about college veterans, we might want to have someone on a weekly basis conduct a stress reduction session for veterans. We should go out of our way to accommodate their needs.
- She says our students with addictions, depression, mental disorders, conduct disorders, ADHD, or needing behavioral intervention are students who more than likely are suffering from trauma or PTSD. Her information implies that even when seeing a student related to BIT, we need to hold in mind they probably have trauma in their history.
- She says that students who take speech such as our COMM M01 are vulnerable because due to the anxiety that most people have with public speaking, they can actually find their trauma issues coming to the surface. Speech classes are a good place to identify students with trauma or PTSD.
- She says it is common for students to not finish assignments across subjects that trigger anxiety in them.
- When we are aware that a student is having a panic attack we should call 911 or our campus health center. She said to use gentle tones of voice and get our students to breath when in a panic.
- She says it is OK to challenge students in their irrational thinking. They need it to rethink their negativity.
- One the best things students can do for self-care in relation to trauma is to walk outdoors daily and to build fun activities into their schedules.
- Another self-care strategy is one that I mentioned in my presentation. Belonging to a caring tribe/community. Students need to be involved in groups where they are well treated. We can encourage them to even get involved in spiritual groups if they are so inclined. Also, helping them avoid constant exposure to traumatic events in the news would help.
- I suggest that whatever you do in your personal life to avoid being bombarded with traumatic events that you share it with your students. I don't own a TV, for example. I let students know it. All of us need to daily find a moment to remind our students to engage in healthy behaviors such adequate sleep and eating.
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Remember to use www.smile.amazon.com and put in Shared Hope International as your charity.
A footnote: Since delivering the presentation a few people have shared their trauma stories with me. I have been deeply moved. What has been told to me helps me to remember that we don't know with what others are dealing and to give them the benefit of the doubt. Wow! Thank you for sharing.
I will soon build up the chronic stress/PTSD section of my website to provide additional resources for our campus community.