Our Research

According to Peter Levine, a leading expert on trauma, “Trauma is the most avoided, ignored, denied, misunderstood, and untreated cause of human suffering. When I use the word trauma, I am talking here about the often debilitating symptoms that people suffer from in the aftermath of perceived life-threatening or overwhelming experiences” (Levine In An Unspoken Voice 7).

I Am Rock

I am rock

cragged and grey

above the water

I am solid

definite

Below the water

I am fluid

changing

eroded by the

current

Swiftly passing by

as if I do not

exist

creating whirlpools

in my cracks

making them go

deeper in

determining my

exterior

without a second

thought

wasting me away

washing me away

downstream

piece

Expressive Writing

Recently, I have felt a level of healing from the traumatic experience of my parents’ deaths so close together, in 2009. I believe an integral part to this healing has come from writing about my experience. Through my writing, I have found a connectedness with others in similar situations and a connection to myself within the time and space of the events. I have also found that being able to control the moments in a safe and mindful way as I write, opposed to them happening to me, allows me to slow them down and unpack them; which brings understanding rather than trying to deny or forget the experience. These connections and control over the moments have led me to a better understanding, acceptance, and release of the trauma I have been carrying in my body since my parents died.

Expressive Art

Various art forms as therapy is a very old method of connecting what is inside of us by using non-verbal techniques such as, drawing, painting and sculpture. Jung “observed that by allowing a mood or problem to become personified or by representing it as an image through dreams or art, we can begin to understand it more clearly and deeply and to experience the emotions continued within it”

(Malchiodi The Art Therapy Sourcebook 9)