Today on How We Can Heal Podcast, Lisa Danylchuk talks with Suzanne O'Brien about the part in life that we all shouldn't rush nor fear. In this episode, if there's one ultimate takeaway from Suzanne, it'd be that 'love goes hand in hand with grief.' As a "Worldwide Leader in Healthcare," Suzanne shares how she trains people to care for departing loved ones from start to finish and the type of approach that proves how it's possible to face death with grace.
Doulas in the Pandemic
Physical contact has become standard in the type of work that doulas do. As guides and support, doulas spend time with the clients they work with to provide assistance and care in many different ways. So when the pandemic hit, it was very easy to worry about how a doula could fulfill her role effectively. But, with End of Life, the halt of physical contact was not the end of it all.
Because telemedicine was proven effective at the many fronts of healthcare, End of Life came up with teledoula to address the demand for their services in a 'no-physical-contact' world. To supply the demand, online memorials were held for home wakes. When everyone's emotions heightened, this side of teledoula-ing proved to be an extraordinary way of harnessing the beauty and absurdity of using technology to connect.
About Suzanne O'Brien:
Suzanne B. O'Brien RN is a former Hospice and Oncology Nurse, International Speaker, and bestselling author. She is the Founder and Creator of The International Doulagivers Institute and the award-winning Doulagivers End of Life Doula Trainings. In 2015, Suzanne was Awarded "Worldwide Leader in Healthcare" by the International Nurses Association and named Oprah Magazine Humanitarian Brand Ambassador in 2019.
Suzanne B. O'Brien RN, the creator of Doulagivers, has been at the forefront of the End-of-Life Doula Movement in the United States since it began building momentum nearly a decade ago. She has developed free training designed for everyone based on her years of experience working with over one thousand end-of-life patients as a hospice nurse and palliative care professional to help make the end of life a more positive experience for us all.
The Level 1 End of Life Doula and Family Caregiver Training is a free course designed so that anyone and everyone can understand the basic end-of-life processes and how to suggest and offer comfort to families and patients throughout these processes.
Outline of the episode:
● [02:55] Your calling won't always make sense
● [06:03] When everyone thinks they're right—there's chaos
● [11:49] The Perfect Storm
● [18:12] Suzanne O'Brien – on the three-day home wake
● [24:30] The three (3) phases of caring for a loved one who is at the end of their life
● [29:40] Your body knows what to do
● [36:05] How to support people who can't be there for a departing loved one
● [42:03] Three (3) reasons why people hang on during their last moments
● [48:55] The Deathbed Test
● [54:30] You don't have to fear nor rush death
Resources:
Website: www.doulagivers.com
Creating Positive Passings: End of Life Doula, Level 1, Caregiver Training:
https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Positive-Passings-Caregiver-Training-ebook/dp/B00YWTUSUM
DOULAGIVERS® LIFE CLASS:
We’ve reached the final episode of season 3. Together with the help of my partner Alex, we’re answering listener questions, recalling some of the most important things we’ve learned from our guests about dissociation and trauma, and discussing some of our favorite moments from the past season.
For full transcript: https://howwecanheal.com/podcast/
This episode was produced by Bright Sighted Podcasting.
Across the world, hypnosis is often misunderstood and treated like a gimmick. It’s used for entertainment at shows, overly dramatized in television and movies, and we rarely learn the power it has to help us access our own inner wisdom. Our guest today, Wendy Lemke, has been using hypnosis for decades to support people recovering from trauma in accelerating their healing. Wendy is a licensed psychologist with over 30 years of clinical experience. She now trains, offers consultation, and runs her own practice, Lemke Counseling & Consulting. Wendy is an American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) certified approved consultant, an active member and former Vice President of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH), and an active member of the Minnesota Society of Clinical Hypnosis (MSCH). Wendy is a sought-after presenter for her engaging style and expertise in the fields of clinical hypnosis, ego state therapy, and trauma-related disorders. Wendy is known across the globe for her clinical and teaching skills. Listen as she shares her passion and clinical hypnosis knowledge with us in this episode of How We Can Heal.
RESOURCES:
More about Wendy Lemke:
https://www.wendylemke-psy.com/about
For full transcript: https://howwecanheal.com/podcast/
This episode was produced by Bright Sighted Podcasting.
In the world of trauma recovery you can be an expert, and still find it challenging to navigate your own trauma recovery. In today’s episode Guy Macpherson shares his personal path through earning a doctorate in clinical psychology, treating early psychosis, and sharing expert insights on trauma and healing through his podcast. With all the training and knowledge he has gained, Guy shares that authenticity, connection and “humanness” lay at the heart of healing. He shares how challenging it can be to recognize your own experience of trauma and dissociation. He also shares how, through his own personal experience, he learned that things like bullying and divorce can be traumatic.
In 2014 Guy founded The Trauma Therapist Project to raise awareness of trauma, and create an educational and supportive community for new trauma workers. Now, the associated podcast has hundreds of episodes and an audience in more than 160 countries. As Guy explains, a determined approach to help trauma victims can go a long way, regardless of a therapist’s level of experience.
Why is dissociation so hard for even mainstream psychologists to understand? How can we better diagnose Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Our guest, Dr. Simone Reinders, helps us explore the answers.
Dr. Reinders is a leader and international expert in the neurobiology of dissociation. She was the first to provide evidence that DID is related to early traumatization, and her research has been pivotal in our understanding of it. As a Senior Research Associate & Lecturer at the Department of Psychological Medicine in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London, Dr. Reinders has shown that DID and post-traumatic stress disorder share neurostructural biomarkers. We also talk about how Dr. Reinders’ work can aid the diagnosis of DID, which also points to how machine learning could assist in the diagnostic process.
Resources:
Bio Kings College: https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/a.a.t.s.reinders.html
Article: https://www.maudsleybrc.nihr.ac.uk/posts/2020/december/dr-simone-reinders-on-how-brain-imaging-unravels-theory-on-trauma-based-causes-for-dissociative-identities/
For full transcript: https://howwecanheal.com/podcast/
This episode was produced by Bright Sighted Podcasting.
Disassociation comes in different forms and affects people in different ways. Our guest, Kathy Steele, has been treating people suffering from disassociation since the 1980s.
Kathy is a Past President and Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), and has also served on the Board of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS). She even helped develop treatment guidelines for Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
Her vast work has earned her a number of awards, and has led to her becoming a sought-after consultant, supervisor, and international lecturer on topics related to trauma, dissociation, attachment, and psychotherapy.
Kathy shares her humor, compassion, and vast experience with us in this episode.
Resources:
For full transcript: https://howwecanheal.com/podcast/
This episode was produced by Bright Sighted Podcasting.
Cultural betrayal can have a painful impact on entire groups of people, but there are ways to overcome it. In a continuation of a conversation we started with Dr. Jennifer Gómez, we dive into the concept of “DreamStorming”, and explore the bigger picture of cultural, racial, and gender privileges. At the end, just when we thought we were finished, our producer Christine sparks up a passionate debate on how the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade is a powerful example of cultural betrayal for many women. Please listen to our previous episode with Dr. Gómez, if you haven’t already. Dr. Gómez developed Cultural Betrayal Trauma Theory as a tool for examining the impacts of discrimination and inequality in the wake of trauma. As an Assistant Professor at Boston University in the Clinical Practice department and as a faculty affiliate for the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health, Dr. Gómez has made tremendous contributions to trauma therapies. She’s a black feminist trauma researcher and race scholar dedicated to understanding the effects of physical, sexual and emotional trauma in diverse and marginalized populations. Check out some of her published work below.
Resources:
Dr. Jennifer Gómez's site: https://jmgomez.org/
Her book: https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/cultural-betrayal?tab=1#
For full transcript: https://howwecanheal.com/podcast/
This episode was produced by Bright Sighted Podcasting.
We’re going deep on racism and sexual trauma in this episode. We’re also exploring the theory of cultural betrayal, specifically by members of your same race, culture, or even family. Hear how it’s applied to celebrities, politicians, and everyday people. Our guest, Dr. Jennifer Gómez wrote the book on cultural betrayal (literally). Dr. Gómez published groundbreaking work after she developed Cultural Betrayal Trauma Theory as a tool for examining the impacts of discrimination and inequality in the wake of trauma. As an Assistant Professor at Boston University in the Clinical Practice department and as a faculty affiliate for the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health, Dr. Gómez has made tremendous contributions to trauma therapies. She’s a black feminist trauma researcher and race scholar dedicated to understanding the effects of physical, sexual and emotional trauma in diverse and marginalized populations. There is something interesting for everyone to take away from this conversation.
Resources:
Dr. Jennifer Gómez's site: https://jmgomez.org/
Her book: https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/cultural-betrayal?tab=1#
Link to Jennifer Freyd Episode →https://howwecanheal.com/institutional-courage-with-jennifer-freyd/
For full transcript: https://howwecanheal.com/podcast/
This episode was produced by Bright Sighted Podcasting.
Dr. Mary Anne Kate is a researcher specializing in interpersonal trauma, attachment, and post-traumatic disorders. She talks with Lisa about her research paper published in 2021, titled: Childhood Sexual, Emotional, and Physical Abuse as Predictors of Dissociation in Adulthood.
Hear how Dr. Kate identified predictors of dissociation in adults, and demonstrated that women who disclosed being sexual abused had a 106-fold risk of clinical levels of dissociation.
For her vast amount of work, Dr. Kate was awarded the Chancellor's Doctoral Research Medal from University of New England, and the David Caul Award from the ISSTD for her PhD on childhood maltreatment, parent-child dynamics, and dissociation. In 2021, Dr. Kate won the Morton Prince award for Scientific Research.
She’s currently the Lecturer Practitioner for the Master of Professional Psychology program at Southern Cross University and holds an adjunct research position at the University of New England
Links to items discussed in this episode:
Dr. Kate’s publications and MID-60 resources are available via ResearchGate:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mary-Anne-Kate
Dr. Kate’s free MID Training: Webinar: Dissociation and dissociative disorders
https://novopsych.com.au/news/dissociation-and-dissociative-disorders/
ISSTD Public Resources:
https://www.isst-d.org/public-resources-home/
For full transcript: https://howwecanheal.com/podcast/
This episode was produced by Bright Sighted Podcasting.
Dr. Bethany Brand, one of the leading researchers in the world on dissociative disorders, joins Lisa today to discuss her remarkable work in the field of trauma. Dissociative disorders were long thought to be nearly impossible to study or treat, but Dr. Brand’s research is not only debunking common myths but creating tools for therapists and patients to manage dissociation. She tells us about her groundbreaking TOPDD (Treatment of Patients with Dissociative Disorders) Study, how it was developed, ran its extraordinary results, and what research still needs to be done. Lisa and Dr. Brand also discuss the importance of trauma-informed therapy for patients experiencing dissociation, and the need for dissociative disorders to be a more prominent part of conversations about PTSD. Join us for this fascinating, inspiring conversation.
https://www.towson.edu/cla/departments/psychology/facultystaff/bbrand.html
For full transcript: https://howwecanheal.com/podcast/
This episode was produced by Bright Sighted Podcasting
Licensed Clinical Social Worker and EMDR & complex trauma expert Michael Coy joins Lisa in this episode to continue this season’s discussion on dissociation. Michael tells us how he learned about trauma and what drew him to dedicate his practice to people coping with the impacts of complex trauma and dissociation. We also discuss how dissociation can impact the practice of EMDR and the different modes of thought among practitioners on how to use the treatment with patients experiencing dissociation. Plus, he shares that the most important lessons he’s learned as a therapist are that there are no shortcuts to therapy, and the biggest breakthroughs can come from accepting that there is always more to learn.
https://www.dmcoy.com/main/
For full transcript: https://howwecanheal.com/podcast/
This episode was produced by Bright Sighted Podcasting
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