Our need to understand and heal complex trauma has never been greater, and accessing the NARM Training Institute’s Level 2 NARM Therapist Training has never been easier! In this bonus clip, Transforming Trauma host Sarah Buino shares about a brand new offering from the NARM Training Institute, an online Level 2 NARM Therapist Training, including practical course details and registration information.  The NARM Therapist Training is an advanced clinical training for the healing of complex trauma. Enrollment is open to psychotherapists, counselors, social workers & other mental health professionals who work with trauma. The first online Level 2 NARM Therapist training begins in January 2021. If you're interested in learning more and to register, please visit: www.narmtraining.com/trainings/bay-area

Our host Sarah Buino is joined by therapist, social worker, and author Daniel Shaw to discuss his seminal book Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of Subjugation. Daniel explores the theme of traumatic narcissism from a developmental and trauma-informed perspective. In his work, he connects the challenging symptoms and behaviors of clients diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder to the deeper understanding that they were raised in a highly traumatic environment by narcissistic caregivers. His underlying message for listeners is that, “It's important to understand what's going on in the mind of the narcissistic traumatizer in order to help patients free themselves from those relationships, in order for therapists to help the patient, and in order for the patients to help themselves.” Sarah and Daniel discuss the common thread in Daniel’s work and NARM. Much like in NARM, in which the therapists support clients to reconnect with their own agency, Daniel’s intention in working with people that have experienced narcissistic abuse is to help them “retrieve a faith in themselves that has been taken from them by the narcissistic abuser.” Sarah and Daniel close by discussing the role of the therapist, and how therapists can support the client in this process of self-reflection through being fully attuned and letting them know that we are “in their corner.” If the therapist is able to do this, the therapeutic relationship then becomes a place where the client can begin to feel this unconditional, fully present relationship from another, so that they can begin to feel it for themselves.  About Daniel:  www.danielshawlcsw.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/DanielShawLCSW Twitter: @NyackDanShaw Daniel Shaw is the author of Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of Subjugation. He is faculty and supervisor in New York City at the National Institute for the Psychotherapies. He maintains his private psychotherapy practice In New York City and in Nyack, NY.   To read the full show notes and discover more resources visit http://www.narmtraining.com/podcast *** NARM Level 2 Online Training begins January 2021. REGISTER NOW: https://narmtraining.com/transformingtrauma/level2/ *** NARM Training Institute http://www.NARMtraining.com *** The NARM Training Institute provides tools for transforming complex trauma through: in-person and online trainings for mental health care professionals; in-person and online workshops on complex trauma and how it interplays with areas like addiction, parenting, and cultural trauma; an online self-paced learning program, the NARM Inner Circle; and other trauma-informed learning resources.   *** We want to connect with you! Facebook @NARMtraining Twitter @NARMtraining YouTube Instagram @thenarmtraininginstitute

"Consent is where it’s at… How do I offer that? How do I ask for it? How does it inform who I am to myself in the world?” ~Colleen Millen Our host Sarah Buino welcomes NARM Therapist and Accessible Yoga instructor Colleen Millen to dive into and discuss the theme of consent.  Colleen shares how her understanding of what consent means has deepened through her relationship with yoga and through her ongoing study of the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM).  Colleen shares honestly that at first she was reticent to join the NARM training because of a traumatic experience that she had in a previous training community. She shares that she had been part of a yoga healing community where consent was not represented, and where “there were some cultic dynamics that created power differentials that were very, very difficult and abusive.” She left that yoga community and continued to work as a therapist while she continued to heal from the experience of betrayal. After decades of dedicated yoga practice, she began asking herself “Do I want to teach yoga at all?”  Through this process of self-referencing and self-healing, she discovered the deeper aspects of yoga that continued to call to her, which led her toward trauma-informed yoga, and a new branch of yoga called Accessible Yoga. She describes that Accessible Yoga is specifically designed to place the student at the center of their own relationship with their practice. About Colleen:  Colleen works with complex trauma and regulation at Discovery Counseling Center in Danville, CA, a community mental health center. Accessibility and consent are core values and interests of her work. Colleen is also an Accessible Yoga Ambassador and trauma-informed yoga teacher and trainer. Contact Colleen:  Website: www.discoveryctr.net  Colleen’s Accessible Yoga classes: https://www.tworiversyoga.com/ To read the full show notes and discover more resources visit http://www.narmtraining.com/podcast *** NARM Online Basics Training begins November 13, 2020. REGISTER NOW Online NARM Basics Training: http://www.narmtraining.com/onlinebasics *** NARM Training Institute http://www.NARMtraining.com *** The NARM Training Institute provides tools for transforming complex trauma through: in-person and online trainings for mental health care professionals; in-person and online workshops on complex trauma and how it interplays with areas like addiction, parenting, and cultural trauma; an online self-paced learning program, the NARM Inner Circle; and other trauma-informed learning resources.   *** We want to connect with you! Facebook @NARMtraining Twitter @NARMtraining YouTube Instagram @thenarmtraininginstitute

“Our global future of healing... is in these kind of collaborative fields that we will bring these powers together and learn from each other -- help each other to see the things that we are still not seeing ourselves and be a kind of a global healing force.” ~Thomas Hübl Dr. Laurence Heller, the Creator of the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) is joined by Thomas Hubl, a teacher, author, and founder of the Academy of Inner Science and the Pocket Project. Thomas’ work combines somatic awareness practices, advanced meditative practices, and transformational processes that address both individual and collective trauma. Larry and Thomas discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the similarities between individual and collective trauma responses, and how their work overlaps in seeking to transform complex trauma through therapeutic, collective, and spiritual pathways.  Thomas’ organization found new ways to support his team in co-regulation during this time by offering a space to discuss the difficulties of living in social isolation. Similarly, the NARM Training Institute adapted by moving online and launched the first NARM Online Basics Training, allowing over 130 students to connect to NARM teachings.  The two agree that it’s very important to understand on both individual and community scales the way trauma impacts us all.  This brings the conversation to the ways that individual trauma responses take place within the larger context, or network, of the collective experience. Both Dr. Heller and Thomas have experienced a growing feeling that there is a “global community interest in healing.” To read the full show notes and discover more resources visit http://www.narmtraining.com/podcast *** NARM Online Basics Training begins November 13, 2020. REGISTER NOW Online NARM Basics Training: http://www.narmtraining.com/onlinebasics *** NARM Training Institute http://www.NARMtraining.com *** The NARM Training Institute provides tools for transforming complex trauma through: in-person and online trainings for mental health care professionals; in-person and online workshops on complex trauma and how it interplays with areas like addiction, parenting, and cultural trauma; an online self-paced learning program, the NARM Inner Circle; and other trauma-informed learning resources.   *** We want to connect with you! Facebook @NARMtraining Twitter @NARMtraining YouTube Instagram @thenarmtraininginstitute

“The relational dynamics that NARM is speaking to are so rooted in our biology and our relationships and our everything, our connection to the sacred; everything is informed by these principles.” ~Dr. Mazen Atassi Transforming Trauma host Sarah Buino speaks with Mazen Atassi, naturopath and NARM Practitioner, about how he uses NARM principles to support psychobiological healing in his medical practice. Throughout the episode, Sarah and Mazen explore the idea that NARM is for everyone and they take a closer look at how Mazen has applied NARM in the naturopathic realm.  Mazen is passionate about the relationship between mental and physical wellbeing, a critical link that he says traditional mechanistic traditions often overlook in their response to illness. In his search for additional supportive modalities with which to treat clients, Mazen discovered the NeuroAffective Relational Model, NARM. For Mazen, the NARM model honors the somatic, bottom-up processing of the body, and also brings a needed top-down element that focuses on a crucial component: the relationship to self. He shares his experience utilizing the tools the NARM model provided him and how the tools support two key naturopathic principles: Tolle Totem, treating the whole person, and Tolle Causam, address the root cause of disease.  Sarah and Mazen also discuss the stigma surrounding mental health in the Muslim community, of which Mazen is part. The pair share that within practiced religion, there can often be cultural dynamics, generational trauma, and spiritual bypassing that can fragment a person’s relationship to self within these systems. Mazen shares how he’s been able to employ his NARM skills and shared religious heritage to breach barriers with some of his Muslim patients. Mazen shares with listeners his hope for how NARM can touch more than just those in the clinical space. “I hope [NARM principles] can be underlined and emphasized to the greater population as a way of creating a conscious culture of a healthy civilization…These principles are crucial, and they’re not just for the clinical space.” RESOURCES MENTIONED: Alexander Lowen, MD | The Alexander Lowen Foundation Peter A. Levine, PhD | Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD Brené Brown, PhD Gabor Maté, MD Jalal al-Din Rumi About Dr. Mazen Atassi:  Mazen Atassi is a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine and the founder of Forward To Health, a holistic wellness clinic and educational initiative. Dr. Mazen practices vitalistic natural medicine, weaving together homeopathy, botanical medicine, hydrotherapy, and nutrition with a specialty in somatic trauma therapy (NARM). He has patients and students across the world. He lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter. *** NARM Online Basics Training begins November 13, 2020. REGISTER NOW Online NARM Basics Training: http://www.narmtraining.com/onlinebasics *** NARM Training Institute http://www.NARMtraining.com *** The NARM Training Institute provides tools for transforming complex trauma through: in-person and online trainings for mental health care professionals; in-person and online workshops on complex trauma and how it interplays with areas like addiction, parenting, and cultural trauma; an online self-paced learning program, the NARM Inner Circle; and other trauma-informed learning resources.   *** We want to connect with you! Facebook @NARMtraining Twitter @NARMtraining YouTube Instagram @thenarmtraininginstitute

“I think the only thing we can do is to keep pushing back against these narratives because they're not going to go away...We have to challenge them. We need to do so more visibly and more consistently and more forcefully.” ~Dani Ishai Behan In this next Jewish “High Holiday” episode, NARM Training Director Brad Kammer welcomes author Dani Ishai Behan to Transforming Trauma to discuss the nuances of the Jewish experience in Diaspora, and specifically the challenges around years of ethnic oppression, anti-Semitism and intergenerational trauma. Dani, a writer for the Times of Israel focuses his writing on the post-colonial traumas and anti-Semitism faced by Jews, and has become an advocate for reclaiming Jewish identity, as he advocates for the inclusion of Jews as an indigenous population of the Middle East (specifically, the Judean region, now referred to as Israel by the Jewish people).  This isn’t solely a religious or political aim for Dani, but a deeply personal one. As a child, Dani was largely disconnected from his Jewish identity, associating it through the traumatic retelling of Ashkenazi Jews who recounted the horrors of anti-Semitism in Europe in the 1800 and 1900s, as his ancestors were forced to live in squalid conditions, alienated from the mainstream society, and constantly endured individual and state-organized attacks (“pogroms”) which culminated in the Holocaust where 1/3 of the world Jewish population was murdered.  In his earlier life, Dani was involved in the Punk Rock community and was surrounded by people that were fervently anti-Zionist, the level to which made him question that specific hatred toward one group of people. The unease prompted Dani to look inward to his own relationship to being Jewish, and he started asking questions like: Why did my Jewish family look different from other “white” families? Why did the neighbors treat my Jewish family differently from other “white” families? He realized that something about his “being Jewish” had always nagged at him on a cellular level and he began to seek answers. The conversation comes back to the current day in the United States and elsewhere where there is a strong movement to support and empower BIPOC (Black and Indigenous People of Color) who are fighting for a more equitable future. However, while these efforts to dismantle supremacist policies and systemic obstacles have been accepted on college campuses, within the social justice movement, and in many political groups, one ethnic group is often omitted from conversations centered on these complex traumas: the Jews. In fact, Jews are being labeled the colonizers of a native people (the Palestinians), which according to Dani’s research, is white-washing Jewish lineage and identity. And, yet another form of cultural trauma toward the Jews. While groups are working fervently against anti-Zionism, they are dismissing the right of an indigenous group to their native land and their collective right to self-determination. While this could lead into a larger political discussion of the dynamics between the Palestinians and Israelis, Brad differentiates between the “political and the psychological”, and both Dani and Brad reflect on how these complex cultural and intergenerational traumas have and continue to impact them. And, they share the pain of the constant attack on their Jewish identity and the need for intergenerational trauma healing as a people. CONNECT WITH DANI ISHAI BEHAN: The Times of Israel  *** NARM Online Basics Training begins November 13, 2020. REGISTER NOW Online NARM Basics Training: http://www.narmtraining.com/onlinebasics *** NARM Training Institute http://www.NARMtraining.com *** The NARM Training Institute provides tools for transforming complex trauma through: in-person and online trainings for mental health care professionals; in-person and online workshops on complex trauma and how it interplays with areas like addiction, parenting, and cultural trauma; an online self-paced learning program, the NARM Inner Circle; and other trauma-informed learning resources.   *** We want to connect with you! Facebook @NARMtraining Twitter @NARMtraining YouTube Instagram @thenarmtraininginstitute

“It's about really getting into that experience of compassion for myself, my people, for our journey, for what it means to adjust within… all those different layers.” ~ Lynn Feinberg In this "High Holidays" episode, Sarah Buino welcomes guest Rabbi Lynn Feinberg, the first female Jewish Rabbi in Norway, as well as NARM Practitioner, to reflect on her research into intergenerational trauma for second and third generation Holocaust survivors in Europe.  One of the tenets of NARM training is the idea that a practitioner must first attend to their own trauma before employing the model in practice with clients. For many, that means an exploration of patterns left-over from unresolved early trauma, including any cultural, historical or intergenerational themes.  Lynn, who is the daughter of a Norwegian Holocaust survivor, certainly has been on this journey. While she is a Norwegian  citizen and lives in Oslo, she has spent time living abroad in Israel, Denmark and the US, and has focused professionally on advanced degrees in Judaism, psychology and feminist spirituality.  One of her main areas of focus is on belonging.  Her current research is “really getting into that experience of compassion for myself, my people, for our journey, for what it means to adjust within [to] all those different layers.” In NARM terms, Lynn says she had a “big aha” recognizing that this journey is about “disidentifying” from her historical trauma story.  As she is currently writing her PhD thesis, she states “it’s also about bringing in a larger story so that your story can be held in a larger story. And the more you can contain that larger story, the more you can also relax in your own story.” One of the challenges for Jews living for thousands of years in diaspora has always been the conflict between adaptation to modern ways versus adherence to traditional ways. Having lived and studied in the United States has allowed Lynn to compare and contrast how Jews in Europe and Jews in America have adapted differently to life post-Holocaust amidst undercurrents of antisemitic policy.  The episode concludes with Lynn comparing a cyclical view of intrapersonal and intergenerational healing against the Western notion of a singular, linear fix. “I think that's what's so brilliant with the NARM process,” she says, “is this seeing the hardship for what it is and recognizing the depth of it.” Lynn has found NARM to be an ideal platform with which to explore deeper into her historical and intergenerational trauma and begin to “disidentify” from the unresolved trauma patterns, thereby reclaiming deeper authenticity within herself. For the full show notes plus references and resources, visit us at http://www.narmtraining.com/transformingtrauma ABOUT LYNN CLAIRE FEINBERG:  I am a historian of Religion and Rabbi presently working on a PhD at the University of Oslo. In my thesis, I explore post-traumatic growth and trauma integration in children and grandchildren of Norwegian Holocaust survivors. During the course of my studies, I have completed the NARM training and apply some of the concepts learned through NARM in my approach to my interviews and analysis. I am the daughter of a Norwegian survivor of Auschwitz, (my father) and grew up belonging to the very small post-Holocaust Jewish community of Oslo. This background has brought me on a life-long journey of exploring and seeking healing for my own C-PTSD. I have, therefore, chosen to include autoethnographic perspectives in my PhD work. I work as a Spiritual Director and include a NARM perspective in my work with clients. *** NARM Online Basics Training begins November 13, 2020. REGISTER NOW Online NARM Basics Training: http://www.narmtraining.com/onlinebasics *** NARM Training Institute http://www.NARMtraining.com *** The NARM Training Institute provides tools for transforming complex trauma through: in-person and online trainings for mental health care professionals; in-person and online workshops on complex trauma and how it interplays with areas like addiction, parenting, and cultural trauma; an online self-paced learning program, the NARM Inner Circle; and other trauma-informed learning resources.   *** We want to connect with you! Facebook @NARMtraining Twitter @NARMtraining YouTube Instagram @thenarmtraininginstitute

“It's been really confusing. It's been painful. And trying to sort this all out for myself is my own work in… really helping me become a better therapist and working with people that are dealing with racial, historical trauma, and cultural trauma, and also just trying to make sense of where we are and where we're going in our society.” ~ Brad Kammer, Senior Faculty and Training Director of the NARM Training Institute This special bonus episode of Transforming Trauma welcomes Brad Kammer, NARM Training Institute Senior Faculty and Training Director, to introduce listeners to a series of “High Holiday” episodes featuring two different Jewish leaders advocating for healing of cultural and intergenerational trauma for the Jewish people.  Brad begins by framing the next two episodes that will focus on the psychological journey and struggle for the Jewish people, as well as sharing about his experience coming to terms with his own Jewish identity through the healing of intergenerational and complex trauma. Host Sarah Buino asks Brad to start off by sharing about his own personal experience, something Brad likens to a “coming out”.  Brad recognizes that his career in working with complex trauma has been shaped by his own personal journey in healing from cultural and intergenerational trauma, and through this process, he feels he has been reclaiming his identity. Brad reflects, “I’ve spent my life hiding in many different ways and it's come at a cost. And I guess this is part of my wanting to personally proclaim that I'm ready to address these issues…and not continue to pass it down.” Healing complex trauma can be a vehicle for personal and collective transformation. Brad speaks to his process of reclaiming, contextualizing and decolonizing his own Jewish identity, using the NARM concept of “disidentification”.  This process of transforming his trauma-based identity has not been easy, but it has been affirming, healing and an opportunity for self-compassion and love. Brad also hopes that this can be an opportunity for increasing connection to the humanity within and between us all, despite all our differences.   *** NARM Online Basics Training begins November 13, 2020. REGISTER NOW Online NARM Basics Training: http://www.narmtraining.com/onlinebasics *** NARM Training Institute http://www.NARMtraining.com *** The NARM Training Institute provides tools for transforming complex trauma through: in-person and online trainings for mental health care professionals; in-person and online workshops on complex trauma and how it interplays with areas like addiction, parenting, and cultural trauma; an online self-paced learning program, the NARM Inner Circle; and other trauma-informed learning resources.   For the full show notes including references, podcast episodes mentioned, and a quick glossary of terms, visit us at http://www.narmtraining.com/transformingtrauma *** We want to connect with you! Facebook @NARMtraining Twitter @NARMtraining YouTube Instagram @thenarmtraininginstitute

Listen to Richard Schwartz, founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Laurence Heller, founder of NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM), discuss the focus on the 'Self' in their models despite trauma. They emphasize the undamaged state of the Self and how both IFS and NARM support individuals in returning to their authentic selves for healing. The conversation delves into the similarities between the two models and their approach to addressing complex trauma.

“One of the things I really like about NARM is the fact that there's this massive focus on connection and interconnectedness as something that can be healthy...That actually recognizes the fact that we as humans... we share a certain connectivity when we're at our best.”  ~Cassandra Walker Host Sarah Buino is joined by Cassandra (Cassie) Walker, LCSW (they/them), a Black, queer, activist, entrepreneur, and NARM Master Therapist-in-Training located in Chicago, Illinois. They discuss growth that’s possible throughout the trauma healing process, how the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) supports the resolution of complex trauma issues including systemic and racial trauma, and the critical need for more understanding of intersectionality in the therapeutic field. Cassie takes an anti-oppressive, anti-racist, trauma-informed, relational approach to discussing identity, trauma, mental wellness, and social justice. They highlight the need to address how the legacies of slavery and other unresolved cultural and historical trauma continue to impact current events and social structures. From the levels of societal institutions to our internal experiences, Cassie shares how NARM supports their understanding of how trauma-based adaptive patterns, once needed for surviving familial, cultural, and systemic trauma, lead to perpetuating cycles of oppression and pain. Through providing therapy and education that focuses on embracing compassion, accountability, and authenticity, Cassie hopes to help people open themselves and their organizations to changes that improve personal awareness and institutional inclusion. Sarah and Cassie explore NARM's ability to focus beyond the individual and recognize and address the historically minimized or outright denied layers of intergenerational pain. Cassie shares, “The culture of Whiteness is built on creating coalitions to oppress and thus also disconnects white people from their heritage. And so that's part of how we're all getting screwed.”  This episode also explores the role that community and spirituality play in both NARM philosophy and Black identity. Cassie reflects on the social, emotional, and spiritual need for connectedness, which is an organizing principle of NARM.  Cassie shares their perspective that white supremacy and capitalism have disconnected all people - Black, Indigenous, POC, and White - from their authenticity, and that NARM provides a hopeful approach to help restore connection to self and others through focusing on healing complex trauma. CONNECT WITH CASSANDRA WALKER: Intersections Center For Complex Healing LinkedIn Patreon Intersections FB https://www.facebook.com/IntersectionsCCH/ Twitter https://twitter.com/MentalWoke *** NARM Online Basics Training begins November 13, 2020. REGISTER NOW Online NARM Basics Training: http://www.narmtraining.com/onlinebasics *** NARM Training Institute http://www.NARMtraining.com *** The NARM Training Institute provides tools for transforming complex trauma through: in-person and online trainings for mental health care professionals; in-person and online workshops on complex trauma and how it interplays with areas like addiction, parenting, and cultural trauma; an online self-paced learning program, the NARM Inner Circle; and other trauma-informed learning resources.   For the full show notes including references, podcast episodes mentioned, and a quick glossary of terms, visit us at http://www.narmtraining.com/transformingtrauma *** We want to connect with you! Facebook @NARMtraining Twitter @NARMtraining YouTube Instagram @thenarmtraininginstitute