It’s been a while. Between waiting for my new laptop, public access training with Azula, The Wisdom of Trauma courses, the International Trauma Research and Recovery Network, writing project proposals, trying to get information from organizations and having houseguests, writing took a backseat. Especially the public access training took its toll. For someone who suffers from hypervigilance and body armoring, being out and about is incredibly tiring. But this training is necessary in order for me to be able to (hopefully) one day be able to get treatment abroad. Body armoring flare up – a sudden trigger After the past…
Author: Julie
Julie is a renaissance woman. Mental health patient advocate. Certified compliance professional. Avid reader. Amateur writer. Passionate dancer. Animal friend. Life-long student. Free speech proponent. Human rights champion. Devil’s advocate debater. Dutch by birth and nationality, international by blood, previous residency, education, mind and heart. Fluent in English and Dutch - with a smattering of Papiamento and Spanish. Spoke Mandarin and French at one point.
The Wisdom of Trauma featuring Gabor Maté Recommended Watch
This week I watched The Wisdom of Trauma featuring Gabor Maté. Maté is a Canadian physician, renowned speaker and author, who is a well known expert in the trauma community. His compassion, research and knowledge of topics such as addiction and the effects of childhood trauma on both the body and the mind, is vast, and he has the ability to talk about incredibly complex and difficult subject matter in understandable and relatable ways. I urge anyone who’s interested in trauma and trauma recovery to watch The Wisdom of Trauma. Whether you are a medical professional, a trauma survivor, an…
Introducing Ron, the first Chairperson of the Supervisory Board for the Jeffry Stijn Foundation
We’re proud to announce that Ron has agreed to be our first chairperson of the Supervisory Board for the Jeffry Stijn Foundation for Mental Health and Patient Advocacy. Ron’s strong ties to the community, extensive experience in health care management and passion for information management and technological advances, makes him an awesome addition to the team. His strong dedication to information driven (management) decisions and effective solutions for health care providers keeps us striving for evidence based problem identification and problem solving. We’re looking forward to his input in this area, as well as his ability to keep the Foundation…
International Trauma Conference 2023 – Impressions Day 1
Today the 34TH ANNUAL BOSTON INTERNATIONAL TRAUMA CONFERENCE began, and it’s left a mark. From Empathic Distress to Compassion: Building Resilience in the Face of Trauma “From Empathic Distress to Compassion: Building Resilience in the Face of Trauma” was this morning’s first session. It was presented by Tania Singer and Ronald Siegel. Especially Tania’s research and work with the ReSource Project was incredibly interesting. I may not be a scientist, but I am a researcher at heart. So to be provided with the brain scans and studies done was like catnip to me. A friend of mine was sitting next…
The Body Keeps the Score 4 – Looking into the Brain
Chapter 3: Looking into the Brain. The Neuroscience Revolution Previous post keeping a journal while reading: The Body Keeps the Score 3: Mind and Brain People have physical reactions during Flashbacks. Heart rate and blood pressure go up. The fear center of the brain gets activated. Being able to speak goes out the window. Images flash by as if they are happening here and now. Not in the past. It feels like losing ones mind. There are brain scans made 30 years ago at Harvard University that show why this is. I recommend that anyone who experiences flashbacks, has loved…
Sometimes you’ve got to force the issue
Week in Review 8 – Sometimes you’ve got to force the issue. I really don’t like it, but sometimes you’ve got to stand up for yourself. And force people to take notice. It goes against my nature, but if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Jeffry Stijn Foundation We finally got our draft articles of incorporation. It’s riddled with errors, but at least we’re in the final stages of the legal basis of the foundation. I got my draft articles of incorporation for Just A regular Julie before the Foundation’s. Even though I started that process…
The Body Keeps The Score 3 – Mind and Brain
Chapter 2: Revolutions in Understanding Mind and Brain The Body Keeps the Score 3. Yesterday I finished writing about Chapter 1: Lessons From Vietnam Vets. This morning I finished reading Chapter 2. It’s an incredibly interesting chapter about the physical manifestations of trauma and stress. It discusses similarities between behaviors of patients with traumatic histories, regardless of their respective diagnosis. Hallucinations versus memories. Attitudes towards psychiatric patients by medical professionals. The DSM, drugs such as anti-depressants and anti-psychotics, placebos and hormone levels. This chapter has exactly the kind of information I have been looking for, written in understandable English. I’ve…
The Body Keeps The Score 2 – Lessons from Vietnam Vets
Chapter 1 – Lessons from Vietnam Vets The Body Keeps the Score 2. Yesterday I started reading The Body Keeps the Score and keeping a journal of what touches and triggers me as I read. I’ve just finished reading Chapter 1. I’m tense, shaking, anxious. My brain feels like mud. And grief is battering at my dam of numbness. It’s a terrible and odd sensation. My instinct is to turn away from it. To keep the grief at bay no matter the cost. For an endless few moments tears stream down my face, and then my brain does what it…
The Body Keeps the Score & Healing Trauma: A First Step
Over the past 4 and a half years I have been slowly but surely learning about complex trauma and complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. During that journey, one of the names that consistently kept popping up in articles, dissertations and studies was Bessel van der Kolk, MD. One of the first things that caught my eye was that ‘van der Kolk’ is a very Dutch name. I put his book “The Body Keeps The Score” on my list of books to purchase once I was well enough to start reading again. And stuck to various articles and studies van der Kolk…
We’re Attending the 34th Annual Boston International Trauma Conference
Thanks to a scholarship from the Trauma Research Foundation, Dr. Fleur and I will be attending the 34th Annual Boston International Trauma Conference virtually. Its theme is Psychological Trauma: Neuroscience, Embodiment And The Restoration Of The Self. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to expand our knowledge where psychological trauma is concerned. Stay tuned for our take on the following subjects! 17 May 2023 7 pm- 9 pm EDT Screening From Shock to Awe. This award-winning documentary chronicles the experience of two combat veterans who engage in the therapeutic use of psychedelic agents to heal. Virtual Live Q&A with Producer Janine Sagert…
