Trauma and Attachment Essentials

Professor Jeremy Holmes, MD, FRCPsych, BPC, was for 35 years consultant psychiatrist and medical psychotherapist at University College London and then in North Devon, UK. He was chair of the Psychotherapy Faculty of the Royal College of Psychologists 1998-2002. He is visiting professor at the University of Exeter, and lectures nationally and internationally. In addition to 200+ papers and chapters in the field of psychoanalysis and attachment theory, his books, translated into 9 languages, include John Bowlby and Attachment Theory (2013, Routledge), The Oxford Textbook of Psychotherapy (2005, co-editors Glen Gabbard and Judy Beck), Exploring in Security (2010, Routledge, winner the 2010 Canadian Psychological Association Goethe Award), The Therapeutic Imagination (Routledge, 2014), Attachment in Therapeutic Practice (with Arietta Slade, SAGE 2017), and The Brain has a Mind of its Own (Confer Books, 2020). He was recipient of a New York Attachment Consortium Bowlby-Ainsworth Founders Award, Music, gardening, green politics and grand-parenting are gradually eclipsing his lifetime devotion to psychoanalytic psychotherapy and attachment theory.

Stephen W. Porges, PhD, is a distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University, where he is the founding director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium within the Kinsey Institute. He holds the position of Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina and Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Maryland and is a founder of the Polyvagal Institute. Dr. Porges served as president of both the Society for Psychophysiological Research and the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences and is a former recipient of a National Institute of Mental Health Research Scientist Development Award. He has published approximately 400 peer-reviewed scientific papers across several disciplines including anesthesiology, biomedical engineering, critical care medicine, ergonomics, exercise physiology, gerontology, neurology, neuroscience, obstetrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, psychometrics, space medicine, and substance abuse. His research has been cited in more than 50,000 peer-review publications. In 1994, Dr. Porges proposed the Polyvagal Theory, a theory that links the evolution of the mammalian autonomic nervous system to social behavior and emphasizes the importance of physiological state in the expression of behavioral problems and psychiatric disorders. The theory is leading to innovative treatments based on insights into the mechanisms mediating symptoms observed in several behavioral, psychiatric, and physical disorders.

He is the author of The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation (Norton, 2011), The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe (Norton, 2017), Polyvagal Safety (Norton, 2021), co-author with Seth Porges of Our Body Polyvagal World (Norton, 2023), and co-editor with Deb Dana of Clinical Applications of the Polyvagal Theory: The Emergence of Polyvagal-Informed Therapies (Norton, 2018). Dr. Porges is also the creator of a music-based intervention, the Safe and Sound Protocol™, which currently is used by approximately 3,000 therapists to improve spontaneous social engagement, to reduce hearing sensitivities, and to improve language processing, state regulation, and spontaneous social engagement.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Stephen Porges is a Courtesy Professor with the University of Florida College of Medicine, a Distinguished University Scientist of Indiana University, and a Professor with the University of North Carolina. He receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Porges is co-owner of Polyvagal Music, LLC. He receives a speaking honorarium, book royalties, and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He receives royalties and is a stockholder with integrated Learning Systems/Unyte.
Non-financial: Dr. Stephen Porges is an emeritus member of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Society for Psychophysiological Research. He holds a patent on Televagal equipment.

Dr. Anne Aiyegbusi is a group analyst, forensic psychotherapist and mental health nurse.  Her nursing career in the NHS saw her gaining experience in the range of roles ‘from ward to board.’ However, her clinical practice was based in forensic mental health services, including 15 years as a consultant nurse in secure services for women. After taking early retirement she returned to the NHS on a part time basis and manages a clinical network offering training and consultancy to build workforce capacity for supporting people with the diagnosis of personality disorder.  Anne is also a director, psychotherapist and consultant nurse for Psychological Approaches, a community interest company providing training and consultancy to public sector agencies working with complex needs and offending. Anne has published and presented widely in areas relating to complex trauma and attachment issues, especially as related to forensic services, ‘personality disorder’ women’s mental health and racism. 

 

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Dr. Anne Aiyegbusi is a practicing psychotherapist, consultant nurse, and group analyst. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. and receives royalties as a published author. She is an instructor at the Queen Mary University of London. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.

Non-financial: Dr. Anne Aiyegbusi is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Institute of Group Analysis and serves as the Chair of the Training Committee for the Governance Working Group, Diversity in Training Group, and Forensic Psychotherapy Society.

Janina Fisher, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and former instructor at The Trauma Center, a research and treatment centre founded by Bessel van der Kolk. Known as an expert on the treatment of trauma, Dr Fisher has also been treating individuals, couples and families since 1980.

She is past president of the New England Society for the Treatment of Trauma and Dissociation, an EMDR International Association Credit Provider, Assistant Educational Director of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, and a former Instructor, Harvard Medical School. Dr Fisher lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics related to the integration of the neurobiological research and newer trauma treatment paradigms into traditional therapeutic modalities.

She is co-author with Pat Ogden of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Attachment and Trauma (2015) and author of Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation (2017) and the forthcoming book, Working with the Neurobiological Legacy of Trauma (in press).

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Janina Fisher is an international expert and consultant on Trauma and Dissociation. She is a consultant for Khiron House Clinics and the Massachusetts Department of MH Restraint and Seclusion Initiative. Dr. Fisher receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording royalties and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. Dr. Fisher has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Janina Fisher is on the advisory board for the Trauma Research Foundation. She is a patron of the Bowlby Center.

Michael Soth is an integral-relational Body Psychotherapist, trainer and supervisor (UKCP). His work and teaching is oriented towards a full-spectrum integration of all therapeutic modalities and approaches. Inheriting concepts, values and ways of working from both psychoanalytic and humanistic traditions, he is interested in the therapeutic relationship as a bodymind process between two people who are both wounded and whole.
 

Michael Soth is an integral-relational Body Psychotherapist, trainer and supervisor (UKCP). His work and teaching is oriented towards a full-spectrum integration of all therapeutic modalities and approaches. Inheriting concepts, values and ways of working from both psychoanalytic and humanistic traditions, he is interested in the therapeutic relationship as a bodymind process between two people who are both wounded and whole.
 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Michael Soth is the founding member and training director of Oxford Therapy & Self-Development and maintains a private practice. He receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Michael Soth is a contributor to CPD organizations in the UK.

Pat Ogden, PhD, (she/her), Is a pioneer in somatic psychology, the creator of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy method, and founder of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute. Dr. Ogden is a clinician, consultant, international lecturer, and the first author of two groundbreaking books in somatic psychology: Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment (2015). Her third book, The Pocket Guide to Sensorimotor Psychotherapy in Context, advocates for an anti-racist perspective in psychotherapy practice. Her current interests include couple therapy, child and family therapy, social justice, diversity, inclusion, consciousness, and the philosophical/spiritual principles that underlie her work.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Pat Ogden maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute. She receives compensation as a consultant and royalties as a published author. Pat Ogden receives a speaking honorarium and recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Pat Ogden is on the advisory board for the Lifespan Learning Institute, Trauma Studies Center of the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy, G.A.I.N.S. (Global Association of Interpersonal Neurobiology Studies), and The Dukar Center for Human Rights and Mental Health.

Kathy Steele, MN, CS, is Clinical Director of Metropolitan Counseling Services, a psychotherapy and training center, and is in private practice in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a past President of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. She frequently teaches about trauma and dissociation around the world, and has authored or co-authored numerous publications in the field. Kathy has received several awards for her work, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. She is co-author of The Haunted Self: Structural Dissociation of the Personality and Treatment of Chronic Traumatization (2006) and Coping with Trauma-related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists (2011). She is currently writing a practical clinical manual on treatment, resistance, and impasses in dissociative disorders with Suzette Boon, PhD, and Onno van der Hart, PhD.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Kathy Steele maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. Kathy Steele receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Kathy Steele is a member of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.

Diane Poole Heller, Ph.D., At a time when psychotherapists trained primarily in the “talking cure” are increasingly recognising the need to “read” clients’ nonverbal communications, particularly those buried in early attachment issues, Diane Poole Heller has been a leader in addressing the unconscious issues that clients are often unable to express. With an approach grounded in Attachment Theory, Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing method of trauma resolution, and spiritual healing techniques, she’s travelled around the world teaching integrative mind-body methods that deepen the resonance of the therapist–client bond. 

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Diane Poole Heller is the owner of Trauma Solutions. She is a published author and receives royalties. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Diane Poole has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Ruth Lanius, MD, PhD, FRCPC, Professor of Psychiatry is the director of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research unit at the University of Western Ontario. She established the Traumatic Stress Service and the Traumatic Stress Service Workplace Program, services that specialize in the treatment and research of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and related comorbid disorders. She currently holds the Harris-Woodman Chair in Mind-Body Medicine at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario.

Her research interests focus on studying the neurobiology of PTSD and treatment outcome research examining various pharmacological and psychotherapeutic methods. She has authored more than 100 published papers and chapters in the field of traumatic stress and is currently funded by several federal funding agencies. She regularly lectures on the topic of PTSD nationally and internationally She has recently published a book The Impact of Early Life Trauma on Health and Disease with Eric Vermetten and Clare Pain.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Ruth Lanius has employment relationships with Western University of Canada, McMaster University, St. Joseph's Health Care, University of Western Ontario, Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research, Robarts Research Institute, and the Lawson Health Research Institute. She receives grants from MIND, the Trauma Research Foundation, and the Canadian Institute of Health Research. Dr. Lanius receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Ruth Lanius is a fellow with the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, a member of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, and the Ontario medical Association. She is a journal reviewer for several publications, to see a complete list contact PESI, Inc.

Gail Parker, PhD, C-IAYT, is an author, psychologist and a yoga therapist educator.

She is the author of Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma (2020) and Transforming Ethnic and Race-Based Traumatic Stress with Yoga (2021) and is currently the president of the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance (BYTA) Board of Directors. Dr. Parker is a faculty member in the Kripalu School of Integrative Yoga Therapy. Her broad expertise in behavioral health and wellness includes forty years as a practicing psychologist. She is a lifelong practitioner of yoga and is well known for her pioneering efforts to blend psychology, yoga, and meditation as effective self-care strategies that can enhance emotional balance and contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of practitioners. She teaches yoga therapists, yoga teachers, and health care professionals how to utilize Restorative Yoga to support stress reduction and resilience in the face of ethnic and race-based traumatic stress.

Dr. Parker has appeared as a psychologist expert on local and nationally syndicated talk shows, including numerous appearances on the Oprah Show.

She was a faculty member in the Beaumont School of Yoga Therapy in the department of Integrative Medicine at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak Michigan. She was also a faculty member in the groundbreaking Co-Curricular Yoga Therapy Program at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan, teaching Yoga Therapy to first- and second-year medical students as part of their academic curriculum. She was an adjunct faculty member in the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

She is married and the mother of one son.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Gail Parker has an employment relationship with Conscious Living, LLC. She receives royalties as a published author and compensation for her work as a media psychologist. She serves as a consultant for the Highland Project and Shay's Warriors. Additionally, she receives speaking honoraria and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. Gail Parker has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Gail Parker is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Michigan Psychological Association, Association of Black Psychologists, Imago Relationships International, Yoga Alliance, International Association of Yoga Therapists, and Black Yoga Teachers Alliance.