The Trauma Therapist | Podcast with Guy Macpherson, PhD | Inspiring interviews with thought-leaders in the field of trauma.

This week we return to the veteran podcast series with Josh Izenberg and his film Resurface which explores the question, How can surfing change the lives of military veterans?

I love this series and the individuals who are working to help veterans heal.

Josh (along with his colleague Wynn Padula) is a documentary film director based in San Francisco. His most recent film, SLOMO, was featured on the New York Times, was short-listed for an Academy Award, and was the recipient of the prestigious International Documentary Association award for Best Short Documentary, as well as notable awards from SXSW, Sheffield/Docfest and AFI/Docs.

Josh has also worked on commercial documentaries for clients on topics covering auto design, green energy, and race car driving. Struggling with trauma and depression after his military service, Iraq war veteran Bobby Lane wanted to cross surfing off his bucket list before taking his life.

Resurface tells Bobby's story and explores the question: How can surfing change the lives of military veterans?

More and more research has demonstrated the healing effects of surfing on the brain and body. Organizations like the Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation, Operation Surf and Surf Action are now acting on this research, turning to ocean therapy to help active duty Marines and vets cope with physical and mental trauma. Resurface focuses on these vets and how surfing and the ocean are helping them heal.

When I invited this week’s guest on to the podcast, he emailed me back and said, Sure, I’d love to. But I have to tell you that my specialty isn’t trauma. I’m not a trauma therapist.

I responded and said, Mike, yes, I mostly have individuals who are specializing in the treatment of trauma. But I also have other folks on, as well. I have yogis, and practitioners who focus on mindfulness. Trauma is the commonality, certainly. One of my objectives is to have inspiring people on the podcast, too. And you’re definitely inspiring.

So, let me introduce you to Mike Shook.

Mike is husband to Becca and father to John. He has lived in China since 2007, where he worked for an NGO caring for children with medical needs before beginning a career in mental health counseling with expatriates living in Beijing.

Mike holds an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Palo Alto University and serves on the leadership team of his Chi Sigma Iota chapter.  He also serves as a leader and elder in his church, Oasis Christian Fellowship in Beijing. Mike loves Jesus, his family, reading, beer, good food, and the outdoors. Mike is also the host of The Thoughtful Counselor podcast.

In this episode, I continue my interviews with members of my membership community, Trauma Therapist | 2.0, and speak with Jessica Culp.

Jessica is a graduate student at Lincoln Christian University in Lincoln, Illinois. As part of the University's Seminary program, she hopes to achieve her Masters in Arts Counseling Degree in 2018. 

This will be Jessica's second career, after receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Communications in 2003 and working in the marketing and resource development field for three local nonprofit organizations that included a foodbank, a children's home and a crisis nursery. 

Jessica has been listening to the Trauma Therapist Podcast since she began her studies in counseling in September of 2015, and joined Trauma Therapist 2.0 in December 2016.

This week Kathy Steele returns to The Trauma Therapist | Podcast and I couldn’t be more happy, and honored.

Kathy returns with the 2017 ISSTD Pierre Janet Writing Award under her arm she received for her new book, Treating Trauma-Related Dissociation: A Practical, Integrative Approach.

Kathy has been offering consultation and training for the past 30 years in the areas of complex trauma, dissociation, and attachment.

She is a sought after consultant, supervisor, and international lecturer and trainer.

Kathy is a Past President and Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), and has served on the Board of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), as well as served on the International Task Force that developed treatment guidelines for Dissociative Disorders.

Currently. Kathy is in a Joint Task Force that is developing treatment guidelines for Complex PTSD.

Kathy has authored and co-authored numerous book chapters, journal articles, and two award-winning books on trauma and dissociation with Dutch colleagues: The Haunted Self: Structural Dissociation and the Treatment of Chronic Traumatization (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology), and her most recent work, Coping with Trauma Related Dissociation Skills Training for Patients and Therapists. This most recent work just won The Pierre Janet Writing Award from the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation last week. One of her current projects is a third book on treatment of trauma-related dissociation focused on the issues that clinicians often bring to supervision.

Today I’m speaking with Dr. Patricia Sherman. Patricia contacted me several weeks ago to invite me to take part in a telesummit she was putting together. She explained that it was going to be specifically geared to trauma therapists, new and experienced alike. I was honored and jumped at the chance to take part!

The list of individuals she’s put together is pretty inspiring, as they cover a wide spectrum of influences and modalities.

You can access the telesummit by clicking here.  

Dr. Sherman earned an MSW and PhD in social work from Rutgers University.  She has been a social work educator for 35 years and has presented numerous workshops on culture, ethics, grieving, and self-care.  She also had a private practice for 20 years specializing in the areas of trauma, adoption, and grief.  She is President of Healing Is Possible, LLC, an education and training company.

Rachel Goldsmith Turow is a clinical psychologist, research scientist, and adjunct faculty member at Seattle University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

In her clinical work, she has provided a range of treatments for trauma and related challenges, including “Self-Talk” therapy groups that integrate lovingkindness meditation and cognitive behavioral skills to transform self-criticism into self-encouragement.

Dr. Turow’s research program addresses the ways that emotion regulation, self-compassion, trauma appraisals, and social contexts influence trauma recovery. As a faculty member of Rush University Medical Center, Dr. Turow started the hospital’s Dialectical Behavior Therapy-based program, supervised psychology and medical trainees, and trained military medical personnel to manage others’ trauma responses during deployment.

Dr. Turow has written dozens of scientific articles and chapters, along with the book Mindfulness Skills for Trauma and PTSD: Practices for Recovery and Resilience (Norton Professional Books). She is a reviewer for several professional journals and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.

In 2007, Rachel Mann left her tenured position as a faculty member and administrator at the University of Virginia to start a private practice working in the fast emerging, alternative field of shamanic energy medicine, a form of treatment in part adapted from the indigenous peoples of the Amazon and Andes. She continues to work in Academia as a faculty member at Atlantic University which offers an online MA in Transpersonal Psychology.

Rachel has 2 decades of experience doing anti-racism and anti-violence training and education and was the co-director of The Art of Surviving, a traveling and digital exhibit of art, poetry and personal narratives by survivors of sexual violence sponsored by the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Action Alliance funded by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities in 2002-03.

Today, The Trauma Therapist | Podcast shifts a bit.

Today I’m interviewing world-renowned designer Debbie Millman who shares her story of courage, healing, and hope.

I first heard Debbie on Tim Ferriss’ podcast and was struck by her candor, strength, and vulnerability. She was on Tim’s show to speak about her illustrious design career. However, at a specific point in the interview, the tone definitely changed when Debbie began sharing the story of her childhood. It was at that point that I was drawn in by the courage with which Debbie spoke about her past, her journey, and the hope she’s hung on to all these years.

My hope is that we all can not only learn from her experience but as trauma workers, be inspired by the strength and hope in her words.

Debbie Millman was named “one of the most influential designers working today” by Graphic Design USA, Debbie Millman is also an author, educator, brand strategist and host of the podcast Design Matters.

As the founder and host of Design Matters, the first and longest running podcast about design, Millman has interviewed nearly 300 design luminaries and cultural commentators, including Massimo Vignelli, Milton Glaser, Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Pink, Barbara Kruger, Seth Godin and more. In the 11 years since its inception, the show has garnered over a million downloads per year, a Cooper Hewitt National Design Award and—most recently—iTunes designated it one of the best podcasts of 2015. 

Debbie’s written and visual essays have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, New York Magazine, Print Magazine, Design Observer and Fast Company.

She is the author of two books of illustrated essays: Look Both Ways and Self-Portrait As Your Traitor; the latter of which has been awarded a Gold Mobius, a Print Typography Award, and a medal from the Art Directors Club.

Her artwork has been exhibited at the Boston Biennale, Chicago Design Museum, Anderson University, School of Visual Arts, Long Island University, The Wolfsonion Museum and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art. 

Debbie is the author of six books, including two collections of interviews that have extended the ethos and editorial vision of Design Matters to the printed page: How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer and Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits. Both books have been published in over 10 languages.

For 20 years, Debbie was the President of the design division at Sterling Brands, where she worked with over 200 of the world’s largest brands, including the redesign of Burger King, merchandising for Star Wars and the positioning and branding of the No More movement. She is also President Emeritus of AIGA, one of five women to hold the position in the organization’s 100-year history and a past board member and treasurer of the New York Chapter.

Currently, Debbie is the Editorial and Creative Director of Print Magazine, the oldest magazine about design in the United States, and a board member of actor and activist Mariska Hargitay’s Joyful Heart Foundation, Legendary Performance Space 122 and the venerable Type Directors Club.

Rachel Grant is the owner and founder of Rachel Grant Coaching and is a Sexual Abuse Recovery Coach. She is also the author of Beyond Surviving: The Final Stage in Recovery from Sexual Abuse.  She works with survivors of childhood sexual abuse who are beyond sick and tired of feeling broken, unfixable, and burdened by the past. She helps them let go of the pain of abuse and finally feel normal.

Her program, Beyond Surviving, has been specifically designed to change the way we think about and heal from abuse. Based on her educational training, study of neuroscience, and lessons learned from her own journey, she has successfully used this program since 2007 to help her clients break free from the past and move on with their lives.

Robyn Mourning, MS, MFTC holds a Masters of Counseling in Marriage, Family, and Child Therapy and is the founder of Revolution Trauma Recovery Services, LLC in Westminster, CO.

She provides holistic and evidenced-based counseling and therapy services to individuals and families experiencing the effects of relationship trauma. Robyn specializes in intimate partner violence/domestic abuse, sexual violation/abuse, emotional abuse/neglect and traumatic family system disruptions.

Robyn works from an attachment and social justice lens which allows her to work with clients at the intersection of cultural barriers and their traumatic experiences.

She provides therapeutic parent coaching for adult survivors of abuse and neglect and for parents whose children are healing from trauma. Robyn also provides trauma recovery coaching packages for recovery preparation, recovery mindset and thriving after the recovery stage of healing. Through the Creating Safe Communities Initiative, Robyn collaborates with community members and leaders to further enrich the recovery experiences of abuse/neglect survivors."