Survivorship Notes



Survivorship Notes

[pic]

Vol. 188 No. 1 and 2

January and February, 2015

The Notes, formerly called Chart Notes, ISSN 1523-275, is published bimonthly, copyright © 1999-2015 by Survivorship, Family Justice Center, 470 27th Street, Oakland, CA 94612. All rights reserved. The entire contents of this issue are copyrighted by Survivorship and by the individual contributors. Contact Survivorship, or email info@ for permission to reprint. Survivorship is a nonprofit organization.

Dear Survivorship Community,

By the time you receive these Notes, the holiday celebrations will be over and New Year’s resolutions will be on your mind.

While most people think about diets and exercise, survivors think about safety and healing. If you feel you can, you might want to support a survivor with a gift membership



Don’t forget to include the Survivorship Conference in your year’s plans. May 16th-17th, 2015



In this edition we continue an article by Gil Shepard on ‘Why Does Relaxation Sometimes Yield Anxiety or Flashbacks and How to Calm Without That Risk’.

Happy and safe New Year,

From the Survivorship Board of Directors

Micci, Neil, Spence, and Shamai

Survivorship’s blog is at 

Survivorship on Twitter: 

Ritual Calendar 2015- Difficult Days

January

1/1 New Year’s Days. A druid (spirit) feast day (light fires on hill tops) 1/1 Fast of Tevet/Holy Temple (Jewish) AM-PM

1/5 New Moon

1/5 or 1/6 Twelfth Night

1/6 Dionysian Revels

1/6 Epiphany referring to celebrations over the manifestation of the divinity of Jesus

1/6 Kore gives birth/ manifestation of divinity; Kore, Demeter, Persephone.

1/7 St. Winebalt’s Day (blood)

1/7 Eastern Orthodox Christmas

1/12 Birth of both Rosenberg and Goering, Nazi Leaders in WW11

1/13 Satanic New Year

1/14 Makar Sankranti: Hindu: Harvest Festival

1/15,1/16 SKillfest, feast day of St Henry of Coquet Island, noted for psychic perceptions 1/20 Full Moon 1/17 Feast of fools(Old Twelfth Night)Satanic and Demon revels (sex)

1/18 Old Epiphany

1/18-1/22 Dream Festival(Pleiades)

1/19 Martin Luther King Day 1/20 S St. Agnes Eve, patron saint of virgins 1/20-1/27 Grand climax (blood rituals) in Satanic calendar: conjuration of Talal, a warrior demon 1/24 Vasant Panchami: Hindu: Worship of Saraswati, goddess of knowledge, ancestor worship 1/25 Robert Burns Night (Burns night) 1/26 Australia Day

1/29 St Agnes Eve (spells) 1/30 New Moon

1/30 Hitler named Chancellor of Germany

February

2/1-3 Mysteries of Persephone, Groundhog/Imbolg day. A night requiring human sacrifice

2/2 Candlemas (Imbolc/Imbolg), Brigid’s Day/mother goddess (bride) (blood)

2/3 Full Moon 2/4 Tu B’Shevat (Jewish celebration of spring) Begins in the evening

2/12 Lincoln’s Birthday

2/14 Valentine Day, encourages physical lust, 13 days after Imbolc, number of extreme rebellion

2/14 Fertility Rituals

2/15 Lupercalia (she-wolf mother Romulus and Remus: honoring of Pan) 2/15 Shrovetide/Witch Shabbat

2/17 Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras)

2/17 President’s Day

2/17 Washington’s Birthday 2/17 Shivaratri (night of Shiva creator/destroyer) 2/18 New Moon 2/18 Ash Wednesday (beginning of Lent)

2/21, 2/22 Feralia/Terminalia (Roman All Souls)

2/25 Walpurgis Day (blood)

Why Does Relaxation Sometimes Yield Anxiety or Flashbacks and How to Calm Without That Risk (part 3)

Gil Shepard MFT

In the first part, Gil spoke about the relationship between relaxation and anxiety which include physical and emotional experiences, making you feel like you are back in the past trauma.

In the second part he spoke about body memories and memory blocks

In this, the third and final installment, he shares some practical ideas.

Since pain is held in the body, people with trauma usually do not like to be in their bodies. Who wants to feel that pain? Instead, people (especially with DID) usually live in a partial trance state where these memories are cut off (dissociated.) If you have spent a lifetime of being out of your body, you are used to that and may not even be aware of how that interferes with your functioning. Paradoxically, when you are fully in your body you are one with yourself at a deep level and you won’t experience those painful feelings. Each of the movements I outline is designed to help you get into your body more fully. They are designed to focus your mind on your physical body by doing something with your body that demands your full attention. When you do that you unite your body, mind and emotions in harmony without risk of anxiety.

When you rub your feet on a carpet the friction helps you focus on your feet. Doing this takes your attention to your feet (your body), your emotions are ignored and you balance mind, body and emotions. You get INTO your body. When you are in your body you are not spacey or dissociated. Another thing you can do is squeeze and hold yourself tightly, in such a way that you must focus all of your energy to do it. Again, that balances mind, body and emotions and results in being IN your body.

Epsom salts baths create a deep relaxation which could possibly be a cue to past trauma, especially if prior abuse occurred in a bath tub. If that happened you may simply not like to take baths. An Epsom salts bath does supply Magnesium in a way the body can easily absorb. Magnesium is drained by stress and is a calming mineral. This bath also drains toxins out of you and helps you calm. If you find taking a bath triggers you and you are extremely dissociative, you may want to have a safe person around when you do this or simply skip it. Aromatherapy is a physical way to center that many dissociative people find very helpful. Once again these aromas help you focus on a sense, the sense of smell. I often use aromas if someone dissociates in my office and find it helps people calm very quickly. This is very helpful after doing hypnotic work or EMDR when you may be too spacey and not present enough to drive home safely. I have heard that ritual abusers will sometimes use aromas along with their abuse and, if that was done, then the smell of incense that is used in some religious ceremonies may have been deliberately used by abusers to confuse your senses. What in a healthy religious ceremony helps you feel closer to God may have been used to confuse you to associate that smell of incense with pain and evil.

I do find that aromatherapy dramatically helps even those who have been ritually abused especially when fearful, stuck on some thought or memory, panicked, distraught or very angry. If you feel unsure about this, have a friend with you when you try out various aromas until you know from your own experience what aromas help you.

Simply paying attention to your breath as you inhale and exhale is a meditative practice that can be very calming. The following ways to focus on your breath help you focus your attention and therefore can take you out of an abreaction.

-focus on counting aloud inhaling 5 puffs of air as you breathe in deeply, then hold your breath for a count of 5, then exhale all the way with 5 puffs of air and hold your breath out for a count of 5. Repeat this until you are calm. When you are highly anxious or abreacting this can transform your anxiety. The energy and concentration it takes to do this strange and energetic way of breathing makes it a safe way to become centered and calm.

-breathe in quickly and sharply, hold your breath in to a count of 5, then exhale all the way out quickly and sharply and hold your breath out to a count of 5. Continue until you feel calmer, usually 5 to 8 breath cycles. Because this exercise is so active it goes with the way you may feel at such a time. It demands even more attention than the previous exercise, stops hyperventilation because you will be holding your breath intentionally, and this exercise will bring you back to your body even when you have felt totally out of control.

CONFERENCES, WEBINARS, WORKSHOPS, AND TRAINING

PODS

Trauma and the Body: Somatisation and Dissociation

March 21, 2015 Bristol

April 18, 2015 Darlington April 25, 2015 Brighton October 3, 2015 Belfast October 17, 2015 Birmingham

info@pods-.uk



Safeguarding Children Ongoing training North Yorkshire, UK

Reducing the Risk of Child Abuse in the Church

January 11, 2015

Mechanicsburg, PA

February 22, 2015

Wrightsville, PA



First Person Plural Dissociation and the three stages of therapy Jan 20 – Apr 21 2015 Cambridge, UK Understanding Dissociation & Complex Dissociative Disorders Part 1 & Part 2 Feb 27 - Mar 27, 2015 London,UK Trauma, Dissociation and Attachment Mar 20-21, 2015 York, UK Understanding & Working with Dissociation May14- Jun, 19 2015 Manchester, UK

ACC National Conference and Training January 22-25, 2015 Swanwick, UK office@acc- 0845 124 9569 or 0845 124 9570

Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment

Jan 26--29, 2015

San Diego, CA

(858) 966-4972

SDConference@

[pic]

Abuse Prevention Preventing Sexual Abuse in Camps January 27-29, 2015: New Ringgold, PA Sexual Abuse Risk & Prevention in Youth Ministries January 30, 2015: Chattanooga, TN Sexual Abuse Awareness Training February 21, 2015 Austin, TX Preventing Sexual Abuse in Camps February 23-26, 2015: Colorado Springs, CO Sexual Abuse Awareness Training April 14, 2015: Highland Park, TX Skillful Screening – Keeping the Wolf out of the Sheep Pen April 15, 2015 Macon, GA

Multiplicity to Traumatic Dissociation January 31, 2015 Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Trafficking and Abuse of Children for the Purposes of Sexual Exploitation February 4, 2015 London, UK Cara Senouni  mrc@beds.ac.uk

Working with Dissociation Feb 14 & 21, 2015 Auckland 

Bridging Knowledge in Child Sexual Abuse Prevention: Promising Practices in Indigenous Communities web conference February 18, 2015 Pillars of Policy for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention: A Discussion web conference March 18, 2015

Conference on the Prevention of Child Abuse

Feb 23, 2015

Las Colinas , TX

(512) 250-8438

pcatx@

[pic]

Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Training

Las Vegas, NV,

February 24-27, 2015



EMDR India

Understanding and Working with Dissociative Disorders

February 27, 2015 New Delhi, India.



German-speaking Society for Psychotraumatology

February 26 - 28, 2015 Innsbruck, Austria

Trauma Informed Psychotherapy Treating Complex Developmental Trauma: From Dissociation to Integration January 30 - February 1, 2015 Zurich, Switzerland Implicit Conversations: Nonverbal Communication in the Treatment of Dissociative Disorders March 7, 2015       New York, NY Healing the Divided Mind: Practical Approaches to Working with the Dissociative Client March 26 - 27, 2015       St. Paul, MI Attachment Dependence and Collaboration in the Psychotherapy of Complex Developmental Trauma Disorders April 16 - 20, 2015       Orlando, FL Integrative Treatment of Complex Dissociative Disorders May 1 - 3, 2015 Venice, Italy From Resistance to Realization: Integrative Psychotherapy Approaches with Challenging Trauma Patients October 25 - 27, 2015 Rome, Italy

Healing Together January 30 - February 1, 2015 Orlando, Florida,

Survivorship: Support Along the Path

May 16-17, 2015

Oakland, CA



SNAP Conference July 31-August 2, 2015 Alexandria, VA

SMART

August 7-8, 2015

Windsor Locks, CT



Nordic Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect

May 22-26, 2016

Stockholm.



NEWS AND LINKS

EXCLUSIVE: Ex-NBC employee Frank Scotti claims Bill Cosby paid off women, invited young models to dressing room as he stood guard



 

Bill Cosby called a 'serial rapist' as yet ANOTHER accuser comes forward 



 

Organised child sex abuse 'widespread in England', MPs say



 

MP 'told police about VIP paedophile ring's parties 26 years go': Labour’s John Mann claims he handed evidence of abuse over to Scotland Yard but investigation was shelved

 

 

Slavery levels in UK 'higher than thought'   29 November 2014

There could be between 10,000 and 13,000 victims of slavery in the UK



 

Dundee charity reveals terrible toll of ritual sexual abuse



 

Teen sentenced to life in satanic killing

 

Child abuse royal commission: victim recounts being raped during ritual at Satyananda Yoga Ashram

 

Texas judge recommends against innocence finding for ex-day care operators in sex abuse case

 

Dissociative identity disorder: An empirical overview   



ON-GOING MEETINGS AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

More information is available at

Adult Survivors of Child Abuse-ongoing meetings/Beyond Surviving

Second Thursday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM

Embarcadero YMCA, 169 Steuart St., San Francisco, CA



ASCA (Adult Survivors of Child Abuse)

On-going meetings in CA, FL, IL, NE, NJ, NY, NC, RI, and South Africa

info@



Christina Arguello



Intensive Trauma Therapy, Morgantown, WV.

Free Thursday morning Trauma Seminars

info@traumatherapy.us



Survivors of Incest Anonymous

SIA holds 12-step meetings for incest survivors. Those designated “Nothing Too Heavy to Share” meetings are designed for ritual abuse survivors.

410-282-3400



SIA Coming Home phone meeting

Daily at 11:30 am and 9pm eastern time.

1 712 432 8808 code is 742247 then press 5 once you're in.

Trauma Center at JRI

Free lecture each Thursday of the month, 12-1 p.m., Brookline, MA

moreinfo@

617- 232-1303

training/workshops.php

Womencare Counseling Center

Weekly ongoing groups, Evanston, IL

info@

847-475-7003



Women’s Center, 46 Pleasant Street, Cambridge, MA

Weekly and monthly groups for survivors of child sexual abuse, incest survivor’s interfaith quilt project, Survivors of Incest Anonymous, eating disorder support group, emotional healing group, more.

info@

Phone: 617-354-6394

Helpline. 617-354-8807



Dissociation & Trauma Clinical Discussions

The Dissociation & Trauma Clinical Discussions (DissTCD) list has been created to allow for clinical discussions for all licensed mental health counselors and retired licensed mental health counselors around the world. If you have a related license or degree, please write for more information at DissTCD-owner@

Survivorship is presenting this as information and cannot guarantee your safety. If you choose to get involved, please know that you are choosing to do this at your own risk. We advise having a back up support system in place before. If you know of other groups that are active and have been helpful, please do let us know.

The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) 

HOTLINES FAMILIAR WITH RA ISSUES

* Bay Area Women Against Rape (BAWAR): 510-845-7273

* San Francisco Women Against Rape (SFWAR): 415-647-7273

* Women’s Center, Cambridge, MA: 617-354-8807

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download