Transforming Trauma

Here's a challenge that all mental professionals face: no provider is immune to misdiagnosing a client. This likelihood increases if that client presents with symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Even an accurate, timely diagnosis and treatment of DID isn't without its complications.  On this episode of Transforming Trauma , Emily Ruth welcomes back Erin Lewis-Gibson, MS, LCMHC. Toget...

On this episode of Transforming Trauma, Emily Ruth has the pleasure of chatting with Adriana Leigh, founder and principal consultant at Adriana Leigh Group Consulting (ALG). The pair discuss Adriana's own struggles with generational trauma and institutionalized trauma, trauma in the workplace, and Adriana's work in gender-based violence prevention. Adriana also shares observations from her roles a...

On this bonus episode of Transforming Trauma , host Emily Ruth welcomes Brad Kammer, NARM® Senior Trainer and executive producer of this podcast, to introduce the Complex Trauma Training Center (CTTC). CTTC is a professional organization providing therapist training, consultation, mentorship, and community for psychotherapists and mental health professionals working with Adverse Childhood Experien...

What if we could dispatch somatic resiliency skills to under-resourced neighborhoods, disaster areas, and conflict zones via the same community-focused networks that deliver food, medicine, and other essential supplies?  Emily Ruth has the privilege of speaking with Elaine Miller-Karas, co-founder and executive director emeriti at the Trauma Resource Institute (TRI), a nonprofit organization culti...

NARM Senior Trainer Brad Kammer invites human rights campaigner Yasmine Mohammed to share her experiences growing up in a fundamentalist Islamic household, including her arranged marriage to a member of Al-Qaeda and her subsequent work as founder and president of Free Hearts Free Minds, an organization providing mental health support to free thinkers and members of the LGBTQ+ community who are una...

It's that time of year again! On this episode of Transforming Trauma, Emily Ruth welcomes esteemed NARM faculty members Brad Kammer, Stefanie Klein, and Marcia Black to reflect on developments within the NARM training community in 2023 and offer insight into their goals for the year ahead. It's a joyful and self-aware discussion, offering a transparent assessment of the program's challenges while...

Emily and NARM Training Director Brad Kammer reflect on podcast highlights from 2023, a season filled with vital voices and inspiring ideas. It's the perfect playlist to close out this year or begin the next! Emily and Brad were thrilled to share the mic with influential practitioners, industry luminaries, researchers, thought leaders and more. Conversations traversed a wide range of topics: the m...

On this episode of Transforming Trauma , Emily Ruth chats with Adam Angel, LCSW-C, LICSW, the founder of  Dads With Wisdom , a series of virtual and hybrid groups that provide a welcoming environment where men can navigate the complex pressures of fatherhood. Adam has 15+ years of experience and is uniquely qualified to facilitate conversations around paternal mental health. He suffered a perinata...

On this episode of Transforming Trauma, Emily is joined by Stefanie Klein, LCSW, Faculty and Assistant Training Director at the NARM Training Institute, to preview the Level 1 NARM Online Basics Training (OBT), the live experiential-focused introductory series for helping professionals working in the field of trauma.  In addition to sharing subject matter highlights, personal insights, and practic...

On this episode of Transforming Trauma, Emily Ruth is honored to welcome psychiatrist, researcher, teacher, and author Dr. Judith Herman for a heartfelt discussion centering on the needs of victims of sexual trauma and society's role in individual and collective trauma healing. In her latest book, Truth And Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice , Dr. Herman introduces us to a "fourth stage...

In this episode of Transforming Trauma , Emily Ruth invites Brian Peter Monson, a veteran and graduate student pursuing his clinical mental health counseling degree. Brian Peter shares about his experience serving in the military with unresolved developmental trauma and the paradox of observing one's faith while carrying out methods of interrogation.  From a military standpoint, trauma isn't confi...

Emily is delighted to welcome back Gabor Maté, MD, the esteemed physician and author best known for his breakthrough analysis of addiction as a psychophysiological response to childhood trauma and emotional loss.  Gabor co-wrote his latest work, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture , alongside his son Daniel Maté. It became an instant New York Times bestseller, and t...

NARM Senior Trainer Brad Kammer welcomes Michael Niconchuk, a neuroscience researcher, practitioner, and author working at the intersection of forced migration, trauma recovery, and peacebuilding.  Michael and Brad discuss the critical shortage of culturally competent mental health care in conflict areas, using laypeople to close that gap, and addressing power dynamics in the client-caregiver rela...

What are the defining characteristics of good psychotherapy? Increasingly, the answers arrive filtered through the lens of incomplete research or, worse, via buzzwords popularized by wellness websites. Emily welcomes author, consultant, researcher, and clinical educator Jonathan Shedler, PhD, to discuss the widening chasm between the research conducted by academic psychologists and real-life psych...

Welcome to a special episode of Transforming Trauma featuring NARM creator Dr. Laurence Heller and NARM Senior Trainer Brad Kammer. This webinar provides a glimpse into the NARM Inner Circle online program and invites clinicians, therapists, and helping professionals to explore the foundation of health and trust upon which NARM is built.  Brad and Larry begin this conversation with a reflective ex...

Former NFL player and speaker Gaelin Elmore believes that childhood trauma changes the rules of the game for youth, making interaction with well-intentioned adults difficult. While teachers, therapists, and caregivers are poised to provide the most enduring assistance, the prospect of building sincere, purposeful relationships with children and teens can challenge even the most dedicated professio...

While many spiritual teachers are held in high regard for their wisdom, leadership positions are still overwhelmed by those who've failed to address complex trauma in their personal histories.  In this episode of Transforming Trauma, Emily speaks with Jac O'Keeffe, President and founding member of the Association for Spiritual Integrity (ASI), an organization committed to bringing higher levels of...

These are challenging times to maintain physical and mental well-being, so much so that it's increasingly difficult to encounter someone who isn't struggling with a significant medical and/or psychological challenge. In this episode of Transforming Trauma , Emily chats with award-winning journalist, author, speaker, and workshop facilitator Donna Jackson Nakazawa about her career at the intersecti...

In this episode of Transforming Trauma, Emily is joined by Salman Alawadi, a NARM practitioner and Ph. D. candidate in Research, Measurement, and Evaluation at the University of Miami, for a fascinating discussion about the challenges of developing an evidence-based standard for NARM and distilling that research into accessible data.  In medical terminology, "evidenced-based" is a gold star endors...

Can the art of horse whispering, a perceptive communication technique, work to heal complex trauma in humans? Isabelle Shook, the founder of Equine Guidance in Sedona, AZ, believes that horses possess an empathetic energy––telegraphed via non-verbal cues––that can resolve symptoms of stress, shock, and trauma in those seeking support.  In this episode of Transforming Trauma, Emily discovers how Be...

Forgiveness can transform lives. In this episode of Transforming Trauma, Emily explores the holistic practice of restorative justice with Dr. Elaine Leeder, a professor and prolific writer who's worked in mental hospitals, gerontology, foster care, domestic violence, and drug and alcohol counseling as a social worker and psychotherapist.  Elaine's current pro bono work with incarcerated individual...

Susan Raffo is a cranial therapist, esteemed writer, and cultural worker, sharing her heart's wisdom with the NARM community and the motivation behind her latest book, Liberated To The Bone . Susan's professional approach combines NARM's trauma-informed framework with the nuances of her ancestral lineage as both colonizer and the colonized. In her conversation with NARM Senior Trainer Brad Kammer,...

Extraordinary journeys of self-discovery often begin with a simple invitation. NARM practitioners encourage these explorations by asking clients to set an intention for the work ahead from the beginning. Stephen Gilligan, PhD., takes a similarly powerful approach. At the start of each visit, he warmly receives both the client and their trauma into the therapeutic space.  Dr. Gilligan is a psychoth...

Dr. Sara Rapaport is a Naturopathic Doctor, Massage Therapist, Certified Biofeedback Provider, and NARM Practitioner. Sara deeply appreciates nature and the earth and believes that some of the best medicine in the world is the kindness and compassion we can offer one another. Whenever a client steps into their practitioner's office, be it a doctor or a psychologist, the practitioner is viewed as t...

A licensed psychologist in the Portland area and adjunct faculty member at several universities, Dr. Daniel Schiff is considered an expert in somatic psychology. He is known for his work with Contemporary Orgone (Reichian) Therapy. This relational and emotionally focused, character-based somatic psychotherapy addresses the psychological and physiological underpinnings of emotional distress. Dr. Sc...