Transform Trauma Solutions
Individuals. Organizations. Communities.
Who I Am and
What I Do
A peaceful world: One Person, One Organization and One Community at a Time.
I am a stress and trauma specialist who supports individuals, organizations, and communities who are facing the effects of living and working in high-stress or high-risk environments, or have been exposed to traumatic events. This includes first responders, medical personnel, peacebuilders, human rights defenders, law enforcement, military personnel, humanitarian aid workers, journalists, and others with difficult or hazardous jobs.
I believe that by managing our stress and addressing our trauma, we gain more control of our lives, experience more ease, joy and health, and transform our relationships with ourselves, others and the communities in which we live.
I provide one on one stress relief and management coaching and peer support sessions, as well as educational programs on stress and trauma. I facilitate group sessions for participants to support one another, heal together, and build resiliency as a team. I facilitate dialogue where there is division to foster a better understanding of one another. I work with leaders so they can create the space for their teams to heal while at the same time creating a supportive culture that permeates the entire organization.
My work is informed by the neurobiology of stress and trauma, including Somatic Experiencing, a body-oriented approach to the healing of trauma, chronic stress and their impact. Following a three year Somatic Experiencing International training program, I received a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) Certificate.
Why I Do What I Do
Having worked for a nearly a decade in the state and federal justice systems, including as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, and two decades working in war-affected countries around the globe as a peacebuilder, I have experienced firsthand the stress and trauma involved in working in uncertain, high-pressure, and dangerous environments.
Knowing the importance trust and open dialogue plays in establishing peace in conflict-affected communities, I helped create what has become known as Justice and Security Dialogue, or JSD. JSD is a process that brings together people from across society, including civil society and community members, human rights defenders, religious and spiritual leaders, police, and political leaders to build trust, address and overcome divisions, and facilitate the reform processes needed to remedy past wrongs and build just institutions.
While my initial focus was on addressing structural and institutional issues within a criminal justice system that threatened justice, peace and security, it was while facilitating JSD that I learned the missing component of much of peacebuilding today is the human component. This recognition led me to explore the various human aspects that often thwart efforts to bring people together and make meaningful change--factors like fear, hurt and trauma. I learned that, at a fundamental level, transformative change must start first with the individual.
While necessary and important, I discovered that technical, top-down solutions to conflict and injustice are far too often not successful by themselves, but also require holistic strategies that embrace the human dimension. It was this recognition that led me to explore the emotional and neurobiological facets of conflict and trauma. As a result, I shifted my focus to exploring the connection between neuroscience and peacebuilding and how intergenerational trauma, intergroup conflict and implicit bias impact peacebuilding.
All of these experiences inspired me to work directly with individuals, organizations and communities on issues related to stress and trauma.
Services
Individuals. Organizations. Communities.
I offer services designed for individuals, groups, organizations and communities. Each service is tailored for the specific needs of the individual or organization.
Relieving & Managing Stress: Individual Coaching, Peer Support Sessions, and Group Training
Chronic stress can overwhelm our nervous systems and interfere with our ability to feel safe and bounce back from adversity. And trauma can occur not only when we directly experience it ourselves, but also when we are exposed to trauma by witnessing it or even hearing about it in the course of our work.
During one on one individual stress coaching and peer support sessions, you get the tools and perspective you can use to create more ease in your life, have more control over your day and focus on and accomplish what is important to you. You can get relief from the physical, emotional and mental effects of chronic stress and trauma, strengthen your resilience, and improve your overall sense of well-being.
Through my stress and trauma training course for groups, I help you learn about the effects of chronic stress and trauma in your individual, group and organizational lives, how to be resilient after experiencing it, how to prevent it, and how individuals, groups and organizations can manage stress and address trauma so they can have more vibrant, meaningful, productive relationships, groups, and organizations.
Stress affects not only individuals but also their families, colleagues, workplaces, and communities. When we are significantly stressed or anxious, it is difficult for the thinking part of our brain, the prefrontal cortex, to stay focused and cognitively engaged. Our system becomes more concerned with survival than with absorbing information and making rational decisions. As a consequence, productivity and efficiency suffer. Eventually, individuals may suffer burnout and be unable to perform their duties.
But there are ways that individuals, groups, and organizations can manage and address stress to help foster individual and institutional health and resilience, as well as help the thinking part of our brain stay engaged.
Using my training in the neurobiology of stress and trauma, as well as my experience working internationally with police, military, nonprofit organizations, and civil society groups in conflict-affected societies, I help individuals and teams learn about how stress affects them and what they can do to manage it. I do so by working one on one with individuals or by conducting small-group educational sessions to develop tailored stress management strategies. These sessions can be done in person or via video conferencing. (See “Appointments".)
Please note: My work is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any medical problem or psychological disorder, nor is it intended as a substitute for seeking professional health care advice before making any health decision.
Becoming Neurobiologically Informed:
Programs for Organizations on Group Dynamics and Performance
I help you create more impactful programs through a better understanding of how neurobiology affects your programs.
By themselves, technical, top-down solutions cannot solve the complex organizational and societal challenges we encounter in today’s ever-changing world. Human neurobiology plays a major role in group dynamics, decision making, problem solving, and creativity.
Numerous aspects of an organization’s life, from strategic planning to leadership development, are strengthened by taking a neurobiology informed approach. I can help you identify how issues such as trauma, conflict, and bias can impact the success of your initiatives. Further, I can help you use this knowledge to inform and improve the different stages of the planning process, from assessment to design to implementation.
Successful organizations consider how trauma and stress can impede constructive decision-making processes, conflict resolution efforts, and intergroup relations. Taking a neurobiological approach enhances processes that require individuals and groups to work together to achieve project goals.
I can help you strengthen your programs by advising you on how best to integrate knowledge about trauma and neurobiology into your existing programs. This includes helping you better understand how they impact your projects and how you can take a trauma-sensitive approach to project development and implementation.
Building Resiliency: Resiliency Groups
I help you create resiliency groups so you can create more ease in your work environment, strengthen group cohesion, enhance compassion and respect, and build the foundation for collaborative and creative relationships.
We often need support when we are going through difficult times. We may want to be heard and share our thoughts and feelings. We may feel, however, that we should keep them to ourselves, especially if our job or role requires us to "suck it up" and carry on. Coming together to share our thoughts and feelings with others who listen deeply and without judgment is a constructive way to help manage stress and strengthen resiliency (i.e., adaptability and bounce-back-ability). It is a moment that allows us to pause and focus on taking care of ourselves. Without these moments, it is difficult to have the emotional and physical reserves to be there for others.
I facilitate resiliency groups within teams and organizations. Resiliency groups can be conducted either in person or through a video-conferencing platform that allows team members working remotely to participate.
Resources: Somatic Experiencing
The following links are to peer-reviewed research related to Somatic Experiencing.
Somatic Experiencing for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Outcome Study
Somatic Experiencing: Using Interoception and Proprioception as Core Elements of Trauma Therapy
Effect of Somatic Experiencing Resiliency-Based Trauma Treatment Training on Quality of Life and Psychological Health as Potential Markers of Resilience in Treating Professionals
Non-pharmacological and non-psychological approaches to the treatment of PTSD: results of a systematic review and meta-analyses
The information on this site is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any medical problem or psychological disorder, nor is it intended as a substitute for seeking professional health care advice before making any health decision.
Resources: Coronavirus, Stress and Trauma
The following links are to various materials that discuss the relationship between coronavirus and trauma, stress, and Somatic Experiencing.
Video: Dr. Stephen Porges on Supporting the needs of the nervous system while social distancing
Quarantine Care Package
The Discomfort You're Feeling Is Grief
Coping with Fatigue, Fear, and Panic During a Crisis
Embracing Distance: Coping with the Lack of Physical Touch During COVID-19
The information on this site is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any medical problem or psychological disorder, nor is it intended as a substitute for seeking professional health care advice before making any health decision.
Resources: Tools to Mitigate Stress and Trauma
The following links are to sites that provide tools to support the nervous system affected by stress and trauma.
Videos: Tools and Exercises to Help Support Your Central Nervous System under Stress
Crisis Stabilization and Safety Aid from the Somatic Experiencing (SE) Trauma Institute
Secondary Trauma in the Workplace:
Tools for Awareness, Self-Care, and Organizational Response in Montana
The information on this site is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any medical problem or psychological disorder, nor is it intended as a substitute for seeking professional health care advice before making any health decision.
Working to Support Well-Being
Individuals. Organizations. Communities.
These photos show a variety of my trauma- and stress-related workshops, consultations, and other activities for civil society members, medical personnel, police, lawyers, military personnel, and policymakers in the Philippines, Liberia, Yemen, Nepal, Libya, and Washington, D.C.
Appointments
Schedule an Appointment: Individual Stress Relief & Management Coaching and Peer Support Sessions
Please Note: All sessions are currently held via a secure video or teleconference platform due to coronavirus
Each session is tailored to your individual needs. It can be primarily an education session on understanding the neurobiology of stress, its effects on us, and tools for managing it. It can be a coaching session on identifying specific tools that work for you and we can practice them together. It can be a combination of education and coaching. We can also schedule shorter check-in sessions when you feel the need for extra support during challenging times.
Or we can approach our time together as a peer support session, with its own rhythm, as we listen to the autonomic nervous system, note where there is strength and ease, and help to expand that. We can also identify where there is distress or unease and help attend to it by working to slowly release built-up or stuck emotions and physical tensions. We work with your system with the idea of releasing stress and trauma and building your own resilience and capacity to feel safe, connected, and full of vitality.
Contact me for more information or to schedule an appointment
301-244-9536