In this engaging conversation, Dr. Jacob Ham, a clinical expert in trauma, shares profound insights from his work at the Center for Child Trauma and Resilience. He discusses the importance of therapeutic relationships and how feeling seen can aid healing. Dr. Ham explains the significance of mentalization and the balance between self-love and love for others. He intriguingly connects the Incredible Hulk to our emotional struggles, highlighting the need for compassion and vulnerability in therapy, ultimately paving the way for deeper personal growth.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Monastery Story
Dr. Ham's mother told him a story about a monk predicting his future.
This, along with other influences, inspired his path toward becoming a therapist.
insights INSIGHT
Trauma's Significance
Dr. Ham views trauma as the root of many mental health disorders.
Trauma acknowledges suffering as a source of mental illness, unlike other diagnoses.
insights INSIGHT
Mentalization and Trauma
Early childhood trauma disrupts a child's ability to mentalize.
This means struggling to understand their own and others' minds.
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In this book, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma reshapes both the body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores various treatments, including neurofeedback, meditation, sports, drama, and yoga, which activate the brain’s natural neuroplasticity to aid in recovery. The book emphasizes the power of relationships in both causing and healing trauma and offers hope through descriptions of novel approaches to treatment. It is based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists in the field[1][2][5].
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Sometimes part of healing trauma means learning how to be human.
This episode is the last episode of our Mental Health Reboot series to mark Mental Health Awareness Month. Dr. Jacob Ham, who was introduced in Stephanie Foo’s episode earlier this week, helped Stephanie through her case of complex PTSD and discusses how to live with the hardest things that have happened to you.
Dr. Ham is the Director of the Center for Child Trauma and Resilience and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He sees children, youth, adults, and families across the age range and for a variety of issues.
In this episode we talk about:
What Dr. Ham says may be the “most important thing he’s discovered” as a therapist
Why he shuts down his clients’ attempts to intellectualize their experiences
Kairos versus kronos
Why Dr. Ham says the Incredible Hulk is so important to him
The concept of mentalization
What it means to love exquisitely
And whether or not we have to learn to love ourselves before we can learn to love others
10% Happier with Dan Harris 