Trauma & Neglect
Trauma by definition is overwhelming experience, which essentially means the stimulus is greater than what the brain and nervous system are designed to process in their customary way. Neglect is the panoply of essential missing experiences, without which survival and wellbeing may be compromised and possibly threatened. Both can dysregulate the brain, and body and leave their mark on virtually all aspects of human functioning.
The Book
For many years, adult “children of neglect” have lamented, “why did no one ever recognize this before?” or “I could never understand why I felt bad, there was nothing they could point to in their childhoods. They found little to read that seemed to fit or help. Learning about neglect, suddenly they understood what was “wrong” and had a direction for how to feel better. Both they and their partners implored me, “please teach and write about this!” Thus this book.
My most recent book, Working with the Developmental Trauma of Childhood Neglect teaches therapists how to help children of neglect, while also being accessible to the intelligent client population.
Stay tuned to my weekly blog for more information and for dialog.
Topics covered in this book will include:
- What is neglect?
- I had food, clothing and shelter, so what was missing?
- The “three P’s of neglect:” passivity, procrastination and paralysis
- Caretaking: why the “external” focus?
- Isolation: self centeredness or self reliance?
- The conundrum of relationship
- “Knowing” it all
- The koan of sexuality
- The myth of powerlessness
- Healing? Who needs It?
- Steps to healing and growth for the self reliant character
Fields in Boston? Generations, Fields, Genius
I am unquestionably a scrooge about pretty much all holidays. Most of them are riddled with nightmarish childhood memories, partly because many of the Jewish holidays had traditional foods and food rituals, and often involved a lot of eating, which was of course my nemesis. And later because as a
Dark and Light: Boxes, Darkness, Whom to Be
I have often told this story, as a perhaps amusing illustration of attachment terror: I met my now long beloved husband in 1990, and after about 10 months of courting, and much at the urging of my wise old cat, Marti, we decided to move in with him, however, with
Boston City Limits: Ghosts and Shadows, Time, Neglect-Informed Psychotherapy
The first time I heard Bessel speak must have been in 1988 or 89. It was at the grand rounds of a small, local hospital in Berkeley, open to the public. As ever, I went to everything I could find about trauma. There was so little information in those days.