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Emotional First Aid.

By Gina Ross – Trauma specialist, founder of the International Trauma Institute and author of the book in progress “The Role of Media in Healing Trauma” and Peter Levine– Author of “Waking The Tiger- Healing Trauma” and creator of Somatic Experiencing, an innovative method for healing trauma”

We humans are extremely resilient and have been able to recuperate from the most horrendous tragedies. Furthermore, through the process of healing, we have the possibility to be transformed by our traumas.


Understanding our response to traumatic events.

By Sarah McMahon


When faced with danger, threat, fear, stress or trauma, why is it that we respond differently to the next person? Why do we engage in different survival-defensive behaviours? Why is it that some of us ‘fight’, some of us ‘flight’, whilst others go into shut down mode? Many of us are familiar with the “fight or flight” response. Stephen Porges’ (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001) ‘Polyvagal theory’ (PVT) takes this theory further and helps to explain and broaden our understanding of the nervous system and how it responds to trauma. According to Porges, each branch of the vagus nerve (ventral and dorsal) is linked with a different behavioural and physiological response in the face of trauma.

The Polyvagal Theory is a new understanding of how our nervous system works, and explains everything from trauma, to the very essence of social behavior; while shedding light on possible treatments for autism and trauma. You’ll never think of your body and brain the same way again.


Johann Hari always wondered if there was more to people’s depression than what was being advertised/normalized. So, he started what turned into a 4,000 mile journey to find the answer. Like many, including celebrities, Hari felt confused when it came to handling his depression.


Sexual Trauma: Healing the Sacred Wound

By Peter A. Levine PhD

It’s a shocking statistic: worldwide, one in four people have been sexually assaulted in childhood— and that’s just the conservative estimate. For females, the likelihood is even greater. Of course, we can only speculate how many people are violated as adults. Sexual trauma is clearly one of society’s most serious unresolved issues.


Acclaimed psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk explores his field's long, complex, and stubborn history with trauma. Dr. van der Kolk explains how psychiatry as a whole avoided progress, often misdiagnosing trauma as hysteria or, in the case of shell-shocked soldiers, malingering. The experiences of abused women and children were more or less ignored for a century. They're still being ignored in ways, he says. Psychiatry is still too focused on abstract diagnoses and not cognizant enough of the traumatic experiences that lead to them. His latest book "The Body Keeps the Score" was written to draw attention to how traumatic disorders can be avoided.


The lifelong cost of burying our traumatic experiences.

Past trauma can mean not feeling fully alive in the present.

The trauma caused by childhood neglect, sexual or domestic abuse and war wreaks havoc in our bodies, says Bessel van der Kolk in The Body Keeps the Score

In the busy-ness of our contemporary life, we are drawn into ceaseless activity that often separates us from the deeper dimension of ourselves. With our smartphones and computer screens, we often remain caught on the surface of our lives amidst the noise and chatter that continually distract us, that stops us from being rooted in our true nature. Unaware we are drowned deeper and deeper in a culture of soulless materialism.