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February 2013
The Institute Insider
Keeping you connected ~ Nurturing your professional growth
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Meet Our Faculty
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Yehuda Bergman,
PhD, RDT
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Yehuda is the creator of "Tikkun Trauma Therapy," a three stage treatment approach utilizing Expressive Therapy modalities to facilitate the healing process for trauma survivors. He received a B.A. in Drama and Theatre Directing and in 1985 from Kibbutzim College in Tel Aviv Israel. In 1987 he graduated from the Expressive Therapies program at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he majored in Psychodrama and Drama Therapy. During this time under the guidance of Peter Rowan and Jonathan Fox, the founder of Playback Theatre in the USA, he acquired training and extensive experience working with adolescent and young adult trauma survivors.
Yehuda will present |
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Message from Lisa Ferentz LCSW-C, DAPA
Founder and President
Dear Friends, I hope you have been staying warm as winter finally makes her shivery appearance! Although thoughts of hot chocolate and a roaring fire seem most fitting right now, I would be remiss if I did not begin to plant the seeds of Spring's renewal and the beginning of our wonderful new semester of professional learning and personal growth at the Institute. Please check out our calendar and start registering for what promises to be a great next chapter in our mission to provide you with first-rate continuing education! Since I am always looking for new ways to educate and inspire, I am delighted to announce that starting in March, I will be hosting a weekly, live, Internet-based talk show that I am calling, "Inspired Journeys: Overcoming Adversity and Thriving." On VoiceAmerica.com, under their health and wellness programming, I will be interviewing authors, clinicians, celebrities, and everyday people who have an expertise in powerful life-changing experiences that cause trauma and pain. We will educate the public about the impact of issues such as intimate partner violence, childhood abuse and dissociation, bullying, cybersex and infidelity, and living with mental illness. But just as importantly, we will also explore the resiliency and courageousness of the human spirit. We will offer hope, inspiration, and resources, while reframing these adversities as opportunities for remarkable growth and change. Therefore, it seemed fitting to dedicate this month's newsletter to the idea of overcoming adversity. Enjoy the articles, videos, and book suggestions that all highlight the power of never giving up, and instead, finding meaning and inspiration in life's inevitable trials and tribulations. I look forward to seeing you all agai  n soon!
Warmest Regards, Lisa Ferentz |
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Overcoming Adversity
by Lisa Ferentz, LCSW-C, DAPA  There have been many times in my life when I've been asked, "How can you do the work you do, listening to such upsetting stories about the terrible things that people endure?" My answer is always the same- it is a joy and a privilege to bear witness to someone's healing journey. I feel so inspired, on a daily basis, by the courage, resiliency, and grace that my clients exhibit. Their goal for treatment is not merely to 'survive" but rather, to thrive. Like other clinicians, I am sometimes astonished by a client's determination to overcome seemingly impossible odds and overwhelming difficulties. Traumatized clients often have an additional unfair vulnerability towards subsequent abuse and pain. If they have not yet learned how to listen to and trust their own instincts or don't know how to use their own voice to self-advocate and self-protect then they are often taken advantage of by toxic people who have radar about their fragility. As a result, these clients have a long list of adverse and life-changing experiences that can create a state of learned helplessness, perpetuating the cycle of being mistreated and misunderstood by others. Click here to read the rest of this article.
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Hard Times: Overcoming Adversityby Brian Tracy
Published Sept. 2, 2010
If you haven't already heard, actor Michael Douglas announced his current battle with throat cancer during his appearance on The David Letterman Show this past Tuesday. Douglas is battling the same type of cancer that I've been battling for the past few months. His optimistic outlook during this difficult challenge has inspired me to post the article below. I know that your kind words and support, combined with my positivity is a significant reason why, today, I'm cancer free. I hope you enjoy the article. To read the rest of this article, click here. |
Clinician ResourcesPublicationsOnline - Essential Life Skills.net
Nice website that offers tips for overcoming adversity, how to strengthen external resources and a sense of resiliency - Examiner.com / America Inspired
"No limits to life and laughter with Kathy Buckley"
A terrific article about a woman who overcame an extraordinary legacy of abuse and pain and is paying it forward and helping others in a profound way. -
A great resource for positive thinking and imagery to overcome difficulties.
Video - Are you going to finish strong? (2:41)
This is an amazing video that will inspire you, and move you to tears. I often show it to trauma survivors, as it is a beautiful example of how faith, a positive attitude, humor, and determination can trump any disability. - Powerful, inspirational true story...don't give up (3:15)
Moving example of how determination and the support of a loved one can help get you to the finish line.
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Self-Care and Counseling Tips
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 COUNSELING: Help clients to specifically "name" the adversity. This may sound obvious, but when clients feel relentless pain they are quick to overgeneralize. Suddenly everything and everyone is against them or out to get them. Sometimes, they can gain better clarity about what the true obstacles are by separating out the past from the present. Or it may be a matter of finally giving a voice to the painful experiences that were forced underground and not safe to talk about. Often, clients need reality checks about what really is an obstacle and what is a potential resource or relationship that can actually be helpful to them. Once the adversities have been clearly identified, clients feel less overwhelmed and can begin to formulate an action plan for addressing and dealing with them. This is the difference between being stuck and frozen in time versus doing something with the experience. This can include: fully processing and emotionally connecting to the experience; letting go of self-blame or guilt; changing boundaries; taking healthy risks; or re-defining a sense of self or purpose.
SELF-CARE: There are many tools for self-care that you are probably well versed in- partly because you spend a good deal of time teaching them to your clients! One additional way to decrease feelings of pessimism and burnout is to make sure that YOU believe in your clients' abilities to overcome adversity and thrive. If you've seen the same client for years, deal with issues of co-morbidity, work with symptoms that have high relapse rates, interact with clients who have very limited resources, work with young kids who live in toxic families, or help seriously depressed clients, the light at the end of the tunnel can get awfully dim! It's a challenge to retain a sense of hope and continually communicate your belief that things will get better. When you feel this way, consciously return to your best go-to resources for comfort, faith, and clinical guidance. Get feedback from colleagues who can still objectively see the forest through the trees. Remind yourself of your clients' strengths. Turn things over to your higher power. Use humor to lighten your thoughts. Re-visit even their smallest successes and creatively build upon them. Remind yourself that no matter where we start-we all have the capacity to finish strong!
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Featured Spring 2013 Trainings
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The Institute for Advanced Psychotherapy Training and Education, Inc. is an approved sponsor of the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners for continuing education credits for licensed social workers in Maryland. CEU approval for all trainings is also granted to Psychologists, LCPC's and MFT's. In addition, reciprocity has been granted for clinicians in Washington, D.C., Virginia,
and West Virginia.
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