May News! Honoring Mental Health Month
May 12, 2023
As usual, there is a lot going on! In this edition of our newsletter, we will cover all of our happenings including:
- Mental Health Awareness Month Highlight: Dissociative Identity Disorder + Other Specified Dissociative Disorder
- Student Graduates!
- Mother’s Day
- Retreat in Italy
- Athena’s presentation at the Attachment + Trauma Congress in Rome
- Free Upcoming Webinar
May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD) are misunderstood and misrepresented trauma-generated conditions.
Dissociative Identity Disorder is a condition that most agree generates because of pervasive childhood trauma that persists throughout the developmental years. For those who develop DID, trauma had typically begun around the age of 5 years or younger and continued in the context of absent or abusive caregiving environments. OSDD presents itself in many of the same ways as DID with fewer experiences of day-to-day amnesia.
Keep your eyes on social medial for more posts about trauma and dissociation throughout the month. For example, here is a link to a recent blog post on this misunderstood and under diagnosed disorder rooted in childhood trauma:
https://www.theorendaproject.org/blog/DissociativeIdentityDisorder
Student Graduates!
Several of our students have completed the curriculum and are rapidly approaching certification! This group is Orenda’s inaugural cohort and what an honor it has been to learn alongside them.
Keep an eye on their progress! If you or someone you know needs a trauma coach, below is their information. Our coaches will continue to be listed on our resource page here: https://www.theorendaproject.org/resource
Congratulations to:
Laura Oakes
Orenda Trauma Coach
Founder, Renew, A New You
Website: www.renewanewyou.com
Instagram: @renew_anewyou.
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Andrea Bell
Dr. Andrea Bell
Orenda Trauma Coach
Founder, Write On! [Through to the Other Side]
Website Coming Soon!
Email: [email protected]
Alexis Sheehan,
Orenda Trauma Coach
Certified Reiki Practitioner
Integrative Trauma Treatment Center
Jenna Adams
Orenda Trauma Coach
Integrative Trauma Treatment Center
Mother’s Day
Most importantly, Happy Mother’s Day to all of those who are busy with their kiddos and please know your work does not go unnoticed. It is important to Orenda to recognize that there are all kinds of mamas out there and that families are diverse. BIPOC Mamas, LGBTQIA+ Mamas, and Mamas all over the globe – we see you!
Mothering is a such uniquely challenging experience and is simultaneously mundane in that there is no place on earth where mothers don’t exist. A mom can talk to a mom from anywhere in the world and relate this experience that just changes you in fundamental ways.
Mother’s Day can also be painful for those who have lost their mother, who don’t have relationships with their mother, or who have lost a child. Please know that you are not alone.
And moms, in case no one has said it to you recently, thank you for all your hard work.
Events
We have a lot going on!
Retreat-Style Trauma Coach Training: Casperia, Italy
The first thing is WE’RE GOING TO ITALY!!! Our delegation for the retreat-style coaching training has been confirmed, so we will be heading out early September. This delegation has a lot of interest and is filling up quickly. We will bookend the trip with time in Rome with the remainder of our time being at the retreat center in Casperia.
If you are interested in joining us, early bird pricing ends in July. If you would like to learn more, click here: https://www.theorendaproject.org/italy-itinerary
Attachment and Trauma Congress: Rome, Italy
For mental health providers interested in going to Italy, Athena will also be presenting at the Attachment and Trauma Congress in Rome immediately following the retreat. The topic of her presentation will be Dissociation and Ketamine: A Case Study of Heather, where she will discuss several of her client’s responses to ketamine treatment, highlighting the potential risk and reward of this intervention. If you are interested in attending, here is a link to register:
https://isc.training/en?ref=4556
If you are a mental health care provider, join us for the retreat, too! You can brush up on the skill-building component of working with trauma or learn how to integrate a coach into your practice.
Free Webinar with Athena Phillips, LCSW + Lexi Sheehan, Orenda Trauma Coach
Trauma Therapist + Trauma Coach: An Adjunctive Approach
We are starting to implement trauma coaching into our work and are piloting utilizing it adjunctively at Athena’s clinic, Integrative Trauma Treatment Center (ITTC). It’s going so much better than we could have imagined! As a therapist, it’s a luxury to be able to share experiences of clients with another person. It is so much less isolating. It’s also nice to share the responsibility of this important work with another professional and to work as a team with the client, coach, and therapist in pursuance of the client’s goals.
Trauma coaching combined with therapy is going to be a game changer in the delivery of mental health care, decreasing cost to the client while increasing support and likely decreasing the amount of time someone needs to spend in therapy to feel better.
If you want to hear how it’s going, join Athena + Lexi for their presentation on July 14th from noon-1pm. Here is the registration link:
https://www.theorendaproject.org/offers/gVoUM6aL
That’s all for now! Thank you for your ongoing support in this important work. Orenda continues to have our eye on the globe in effort to expand capacity for trauma-informed supports all over the world. We have a big vision that is supported by all of you with big hearts.
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