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Trauma informed group psychotherapy facilitated by trauma specialists at Trauma Recovery Institute Dublin. The advanced group psychotherapy is suitable for psychotherapy students and those who have at least 4 years experience with psychotherapy.The psychotherapeutic approach applied is Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP) which is a very unique blend of interpersonal neurobiology, psychodynamic psychotherapy and transference focused psychotherapy incorporating the poly vagal theory by stephen porges. This group is a very effective platform to work through the neurobiology of trauma with the nervous system always in mind, keeping you safe and in felt sense at all times. Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP) at Trauma Recovery Institute Dublin Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP) is a highly structured, once to twice weekly-modified psychodynamic treatment based on the psychoanalytic model of object relations. This approach is also informed by the latest in neuroscience, interpersonal neurobiology and attachment theory. As with traditional psychodynamic psychotherapy relationship takes a central role within the treatment and the exploration of internal relational dyads. Our approach differs in that also central to the treatment is the focus on the transference and countertransference, an awareness of shifting bodily states in the present moment and a focus on the client’s external relationships, emotional life and lifestyle. Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP) is an integrative treatment approach for working with complex trauma, borderline personality organization and dissociation. This treatment approach attempts to address the root causes of trauma-based presentations and fragmentation, seeking to help the client heal early experiences of abandonment, neglect, trauma, and attachment loss, that otherwise tend to play out repetitively and cyclically throughout the lifespan in relationship struggles, illness and addictions. Individual Consultations are 125/150 and group fee is 250 Euro per month. Trauma can be conceptualized as stemming from a failure of the natural physiological activation and hormonal secretions to organize an effective [...]

Work with a trauma specialist at Trauma Recovery Institute using our unique nuero-scientific approach called Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy.The definition of trauma is experiences that overwhelm our capacity to cope. Trauma effects all areas of the brain. The major impact is on three brain networks called the Default Mode Network, the Salience Network and the Executive Network. A person who experiences early trauma, regardless of its source, does not feel welcomed into the world. When, at the beginning of life, for whatever reason, we do not feel welcomed, we find it difficult to develop a sense of our right to exist, of our sense of self, and of our entitlement to fully live. The life theme of this earliest survival style develops in relation to the issue of connection. Our earliest experiences of life in utero, at birth, and with early attachment shape our relationship to feeling secure in our capacity for contact. When this capacity for connection is in place, it supports our right to be and is the foundation upon which the healthy self is built. Early trauma compromises our sense of safety and existence in the world and our capacity for connection: we do not learn how to connect to ourselves, to our body, or to others. The Default Mode Network is the major rest state network of the brain, when we are in a resting state, the default mode network is most active. The default mode network is composed of three brain regions called the posterior singulate cortex in the back of the brain and is responsible for helping us with self relevance. Often a traumatised person will have difficulty figuring out what is self relevent. For example, if someone was raped in the forest and then goes back to a forest years later, they may think [...]

Lifestyle medicine is a branch of evidence-based medicine in which comprehensive lifestyle changes (including nutrition, physical activity, stress management, social support and environmental exposures) are used to prevent, treat and reverse the progression of chronic diseases by addressing their underlying causes. Lifestyle medicine is often prescribed in conjunction with our trauma recovery programs. Trauma Recovery Institute & Plant Based Academy provide leadership in research, prevention and treatment of lifestyle-related diseases through lifestyle medicine. Lifestyle medicine includes functional health, plant based nutrition and complex trauma recovery. Functional Health addresses the underlying causes of illness & disease, using a systems-oriented approach and engaging both client and Plantrician in a therapeutic partnership exploring diet, lifestyle, trauma history, relationships, body and stress. This is an incredibly effective holistic approach to recovery, incoporating the very latest in gut research and psychobiotics, Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy, conscious relational sexuality via Embodied Tantra and Plant Based nutritional science. Functional Health is a healthy holistic journey out of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, diabetes, cancer, IBS and other gastrointestinal and autoimmune disorders. It is an evolution in the practice of medicine that better addresses the healthcare needs of the 21st century. By shifting the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more client-centered approach, Functional Health addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. Functional Health therapists spend time with their clients, listening to their histories and looking at the interactions among genetic, environmental, relational and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health and complex, chronic disease, we also take a closer look at a clients relationship to food rather than just suggesting a diet, this is very effective for long term change, health and wellbeing. In this way, Functional Health supports the unique expression of health and vitality for each individual. Functional Health offers a powerful [...]

Trauma can be conceptualized as stemming from a failure of the natural physiological activation and hormonal secretions to organize an effective response to threat. Rather than producing a successful fight or flight response the organism becomes immobilized. Probably the best animal model for this phenomenon is that of ‘inescapable shock,” in which creatures are tortured without being unable to do anything to affect the outcome of events. The resulting failure to fight or flight, that is, the physical immobilization (the freeze response), becomes a conditioned behavioral response. In his book, Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self, Allen Schore has outlined in exquisite detail the psychobiology of early childhood development involving maturation of orbitofrontal and limbic structures based on reciprocal experiences with the caregiver. Dysfunctional associations in this dyadic relationship result in permanent physicochemical and anatomical changes, which have implications for personality development as well as for a wide variety of clinical manifestations. An intimate relationship may exist, with negative child/care giver interaction leading to a state of persisting hypertonicity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems that may profoundly affect the arousal state of the developing child. Sustained hyperarousal in these children may markedly affect behavioral and characterological development. Many traumatized children and adults, confronted with chronically overwhelming emotions, lose their capacity to use emotions as guides for effective action. They often do not recognize what they are feeling and fail to mount an appropriate response. This phenomenon is called alexithymia, an inability to identify the meaning of physical sensations and muscle activation. Failure to recognize what is going on causes them to be out of touch with their needs, and, as a consequence, they are unable to take care of them. This inability to correctly identify sensations, emotions, and physical states often extends itself to having difficulty appreciating [...]

Trauma can be conceptualized as stemming from a failure of the natural physiological activation and hormonal secretions to organize an effective response to threat. Rather than producing a successful fight or flight response the organism becomes immobilized. Probably the best animal model for this phenomenon is that of ‘inescapable shock,” in which creatures are tortured without being unable to do anything to affect the outcome of events. The resulting failure to fight or flight, that is, the physical immobilization (the freeze response), becomes a conditioned behavioral response. In his book, Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self, Allen Schore has outlined in exquisite detail the psychobiology of early childhood development involving maturation of orbitofrontal and limbic structures based on reciprocal experiences with the caregiver. Dysfunctional associations in this dyadic relationship result in permanent physicochemical and anatomical changes, which have implications for personality development as well as for a wide variety of clinical manifestations. An intimate relationship may exist, with negative child/care giver interaction leading to a state of persisting hypertonicity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems that may profoundly affect the arousal state of the developing child. Sustained hyperarousal in these children may markedly affect behavioral and characterological development. Many traumatized children and adults, confronted with chronically overwhelming emotions, lose their capacity to use emotions as guides for effective action. They often do not recognize what they are feeling and fail to mount an appropriate response. This phenomenon is called alexithymia, an inability to identify the meaning of physical sensations and muscle activation. Failure to recognize what is going on causes them to be out of touch with their needs, and, as a consequence, they are unable to take care of them. This inability to correctly identify sensations, emotions, and physical states often extends itself to having difficulty appreciating [...]

The Ultimate Brain Program is a biohacking and neurohacking approach to upgrading your body, mind and brain to live long and happy with passion, purpose and unstoppable energy. Book an appointment with us for a consultation to discuss this unique program. For this program we use the latest in gut science, lifestyle medicine, culinary medicine, interpersonal neurobiology and trauma recovery psychotherapy for mastering your nervous system. BioHack Your B.R.A.I.N ( NeuroHacking) B. Breathing R. Relationships A. Aerobic Exercise I. Intermittent Fasting N. Nutrition & Nervous System

Is your brain not working properly, perhaps you have brain fog, struggle getting up in the morning, struggle in real;ationships, struggle with daily tasks or struggle with memory, attention and focus ? We have a world unique holistic bioHacking program for you incorporating the latest research in gut science, neuroscience, and interpersonal neurobiology. This program will focus on culinary medicine, lifestyle medicine, stress management, relationship coaching and trauma recovery with the goal of upgrading all areas of your love, life and career. The Ultimate BioHacking Program. Exposure to extreme threat, particularly early in life, combined with a lack of adequate caregiving responses significantly affect the long-term capacity of the human organism to modulate the response of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in response to subsequent stress. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is primarily geared to mobilization by preparing the body for action by increasing cardiac output, stimulating sweat glands, and by inhibiting the gastrointestinal tract. Since the SNS has long been associated with emotion, a great deal of work on the role of the SNS has been collected to identify autonomic “signatures” of specific affective states. Overall, increased adrenergic activity is found in about two-thirds of traumatized children and adults. The parasympathetic branch of the ANS not only influences HR independently of the sympathetic branch, but makes a greater contribution to HR, including resting HR. Vagal fibers originating in the brainstem affect emotional and behavioral responses to stress by inhibiting sympathetic influence to the sinoatrial node and promoting rapid decreases in metabolic output that enable almost instantaneous shifts in behavioral state. The parasympathetic system consists of two branches: the ventral vagal complex (VVC) and the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) systems. The DVC is primarily associated with digestive, taste, and hypoxic responses in mammals. The DVC contributes to pathophysiological conditions [...]

Join us for the Ultimate Relationship Program and take your relationship to the next level. Our Relationship Coaching sessions & workshops teach scientifically validated ways to build intimacy and dissolve conflict through interactive exercises, role-plays, and new communication skills to help deepen your connection with yourself and your partner. In The Ultimate Relationship coaching session, you will learn thought-provoking information and research on brain neurobiology that can help increase your understanding of the ultimate relationship method. You will also gain a fresh focus for meeting the challenges in your relationship in an intimate safe setting. Our approach is based on research conducted at the Gottman Institute and the research presented from the new field of interpersonal neurobiology incorporating ancient wisdom of tantra and new neuroscience of the polyvagal theory. Appointments take place in a beautiful setting in Dublin Ireland. The 12 Week Ultimate Relationship Program is Life Changing. When our relationships are working, everything else in life works so much better. Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something: they’re trying to find someone who’s going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take. “True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry The Ultimate Relationship Program – From Crazy Making to Love Making A passionate, thriving relationship is a beautiful thing that can give you certainty, meaning, and a powerful source of drive. What’s the secret to enjoying the relationship of your dreams? How do you spark passion and love, even in moments of conflict? Your relationship should be your greatest source of [...]

“The greatest damage done by neglect, trauma or emotional loss is not the immediate pain they inflict but the long-term distortions they induce in the way a developing child will continue to interpret the world and her situation in it. All too often these ill-conditioned implicit beliefs become self-fulfilling prophecies in our lives. We create meanings from our unconscious interpretation of early events, and then we forge our present experiences from the meaning we’ve created. Unwittingly, we write the story of our future from narratives based on the past.” ― Gabor Maté                                                     Addiction is a Response to Childhood Suffering By gabor mate I completely appreciate the 12 steps, and I talk about them in my book where I have an appendix on them. I think where they fail or where they miss something is when they focus on action while tending not to look at the underlying emotions and the experiences that underlie those emotions. You can go to 12-step groups for a long time and never find out how traumatized you were. That’s where the missing piece is and has been for a long time. The patients that I worked with—I’m talking about hardcore, street level drug users, people injecting cocaine and heroin and so on—not a single one of them ever came to me and said, “Doc, I was traumatized, and I’m using that as an excuse to do drugs.” They didn’t know they were traumatized. No doctor had ever pointed it out to them. They thought they were just fuck-ups. They thought they were just bad people. They thought they were just addicts. They didn’t realize that they were using the [...]

Join us for the Ultimate Relationship Program and take your relationship to the next level. Our Relationship Coaching sessions & workshops teach scientifically validated ways to build intimacy and dissolve conflict through interactive exercises, role-plays, and new communication skills to help deepen your connection with yourself and your partner. In The Ultimate Relationship coaching session, you will learn thought-provoking information and research on brain neurobiology that can help increase your understanding of the ultimate relationship method. You will also gain a fresh focus for meeting the challenges in your relationship in an intimate safe setting. Our approach is based on research conducted at the Gottman Institute and the research presented from the new field of interpersonal neurobiology incorporating ancient wisdom of tantra and new neuroscience of the poly vagal theory. Sessions take place in a beautiful safe setting. First Consultation is 150 Euro .The 12 week ultimate relationship program is 2500 Euro. When our relationships are working, everything else in life works so much better. Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something: they’re trying to find someone who’s going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take. “True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry The Ultimate Relationship Program – From Crazy Making to Love Making A passionate, thriving relationship is a beautiful thing that can give you certainty, meaning, and a powerful source of drive. What’s the secret to enjoying the relationship of your dreams? How do you spark passion and love, even in moments of conflict? Your relationship should be [...]

Tantra is a spiritual path for integrating body, mind and soul. It differs from other paths in its honoring of the body, using the senses, sexuality, and feelings to help you evolve spiritually. Tantra assists you in realizing your full potential as a human being. If you choose to live from the tantric perspective, you will transform your life. You will discover bliss. You may apply tantric practices and principles to many areas of life - to relationship and sexual loving, spiritual practice and lifestyle, physical and emotional well-being. Red tantra is the aspect of tantra that relates to the mastery of sexual skills. White tantra relates to the yogic or spiritual aspects of tantric practice and consists of exercises or postures (asanas) combined with special breathing (pranayama), hand or finger gestures (mudras), internal muscular exercises (bhandas), chanting (mantra), and meditation. The skills and benefits of White tantra practices increase ones ability to master Red (sexual) tantra. Pink tantra refers to a heart centered path of tantra that blends many of the elements of White Tantra with some aspects of Red Tantra. Within the path of Pink Tantra, all of the chakras are acknowledged. However, there is an emphasis on the importance of the heart; opening the heart chakra and healing the heart. Compassion, acceptance and forgiveness for others and for our self are central themes to this practice. Pink Tantra teaches us to cultivate love without attachment, ownership or expectation. With Pink Tantra love is seen as the impetus for healing and transformation. Embodied Tantra Coaching with The International Embodied Tantra Institute is a unique blend of red, white & pink tantra. At the Heart of Tantra is Love. The practices and rituals of tantra, both spiritual and sexual, work to create the conditions necessary for love to flourish and endure. When we [...]

Trauma can be conceptualized as stemming from a failure of the natural physiological activation and hormonal secretions to organize an effective response to threat. Rather than producing a successful fight or flight response the organism becomes immobilized. Probably the best animal model for this phenomenon is that of ‘inescapable shock,” in which creatures are tortured without being unable to do anything to affect the outcome of events. The resulting failure to fight or flight, that is, the physical immobilization (the freeze response), becomes a conditioned behavioral response. In his book, Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self, Allen Schore has outlined in exquisite detail the psychobiology of early childhood development involving maturation of orbitofrontal and limbic structures based on reciprocal experiences with the caregiver. Dysfunctional associations in this dyadic relationship result in permanent physicochemical and anatomical changes, which have implications for personality development as well as for a wide variety of clinical manifestations. An intimate relationship may exist, with negative child/care giver interaction leading to a state of persisting hypertonicity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems that may profoundly affect the arousal state of the developing child. Sustained hyperarousal in these children may markedly affect behavioral and characterological development. Many traumatized children and adults, confronted with chronically overwhelming emotions, lose their capacity to use emotions as guides for effective action. They often do not recognize what they are feeling and fail to mount an appropriate response. This phenomenon is called alexithymia, an inability to identify the meaning of physical sensations and muscle activation. Failure to recognize what is going on causes them to be out of touch with their needs, and, as a consequence, they are unable to take care of them. This inability to correctly identify sensations, emotions, and physical states often extends itself to having difficulty appreciating [...]

Trauma can be conceptualized as stemming from a failure of the natural physiological activation and hormonal secretions to organize an effective response to threat. Rather than producing a successful fight or flight response the organism becomes immobilized. Probably the best animal model for this phenomenon is that of ‘inescapable shock,” in which creatures are tortured without being unable to do anything to affect the outcome of events. The resulting failure to fight or flight, that is, the physical immobilization (the freeze response), becomes a conditioned behavioral response. In his book, Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self, Allen Schore has outlined in exquisite detail the psychobiology of early childhood development involving maturation of orbitofrontal and limbic structures based on reciprocal experiences with the caregiver. Dysfunctional associations in this dyadic relationship result in permanent physicochemical and anatomical changes, which have implications for personality development as well as for a wide variety of clinical manifestations. An intimate relationship may exist, with negative child/care giver interaction leading to a state of persisting hypertonicity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems that may profoundly affect the arousal state of the developing child. Sustained hyperarousal in these children may markedly affect behavioral and characterological development. Many traumatized children and adults, confronted with chronically overwhelming emotions, lose their capacity to use emotions as guides for effective action. They often do not recognize what they are feeling and fail to mount an appropriate response. This phenomenon is called alexithymia, an inability to identify the meaning of physical sensations and muscle activation. Failure to recognize what is going on causes them to be out of touch with their needs, and, as a consequence, they are unable to take care of them. This inability to correctly identify sensations, emotions, and physical states often extends itself to having difficulty appreciating [...]

Trauma can be conceptualized as stemming from a failure of the natural physiological activation and hormonal secretions to organize an effective response to threat. Rather than producing a successful fight or flight response the organism becomes immobilized. Probably the best animal model for this phenomenon is that of ‘inescapable shock,” in which creatures are tortured without being unable to do anything to affect the outcome of events. The resulting failure to fight or flight, that is, the physical immobilization (the freeze response), becomes a conditioned behavioral response. In his book, Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self, Allen Schore has outlined in exquisite detail the psychobiology of early childhood development involving maturation of orbitofrontal and limbic structures based on reciprocal experiences with the caregiver. Dysfunctional associations in this dyadic relationship result in permanent physicochemical and anatomical changes, which have implications for personality development as well as for a wide variety of clinical manifestations. An intimate relationship may exist, with negative child/care giver interaction leading to a state of persisting hypertonicity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems that may profoundly affect the arousal state of the developing child. Sustained hyperarousal in these children may markedly affect behavioral and characterological development. Many traumatized children and adults, confronted with chronically overwhelming emotions, lose their capacity to use emotions as guides for effective action. They often do not recognize what they are feeling and fail to mount an appropriate response. This phenomenon is called alexithymia, an inability to identify the meaning of physical sensations and muscle activation. Failure to recognize what is going on causes them to be out of touch with their needs, and, as a consequence, they are unable to take care of them. This inability to correctly identify sensations, emotions, and physical states often extends itself to having difficulty appreciating [...]

Recurrent themes affecting the transference and countertransference with people who have suffered huge trauma in early childhood, start with the patient’s wariness of the therapist and the dangers involved in intimacy. In addition, dependency, reliance and counter dependent and counter phobic defenses tend to emerge, often-cloaked in overt idealization of the therapist. In this idealization, patients may expect the therapist to be all attentive, nurturing, non-seductive and nonabusing parent who will heal and undo the trauma. All these themes tend to appear in concerns about boundaries, secrecy, control and power and in discussion of fees, confidentiality, and other issues related to the frame of the treatment.   "Transference is the source of conflict but also expression of conflict"   Behavioral reenactments in treatment allow a patient to communicate previously dissociated and therefore unsymbolised, material to the therapist. By exploring verbally what has been communicated through behavior the therapist and patient initiate a process by which the dissociated material becomes encoded in language, and therefore available for conscious consideration. Behaviors associated with a reenactment in therapy are unconscious messages from the patient to the therapist and to himself about a traumatic past. They represent an attempt to bypass the need for symbolized experience. Reenactments are most likely to occur when the patient has a reduced capacity for self-reflection, another result of being unable to verbalize traumatic experiences that were never encoded when they first occurred, as a result of not have a present witness to their pain. Memories became trapped encased within a wordless world. Incapable of articulating what he has never symbolized verbally, the patent repeats behaviorally or reenacts an aspect of his dissociated trauma.   "Transference is also an assimilation of what might happen in the future if we act on the impulse in the here and now, also as [...]

At Trauma Recovery Institute we attempt to get to the root of your life challenging symptoms, discomfort, illness and maladaptive behaviours.This is not another talk therapy, we specialise in complex trauma and focus on the brain, body, mind, diet, lifestyle, relationships and most importantly the nervous system where trauma is held. The definition of trauma is experiences that overwhlem our capacity to cope. Trauma effects all areas of the brain. The major impact is on three brain networks called the Default Mode Network, the Salience Network and the Executive Network. The Trauma Disease Model states that all disease is a state of abnormal cycling of the autonomic nervous system to the extremes of both sympathetic and parasympathetic dominance. http://media.thrivingnow.com/audio/Scaer-Trauma.mp3   The Default Mode Network is the major rest state network of the brain, when we are in a resting state, the default mode network is most active. The default mode network is composed of three brain regions called the posterior singulate cortex in the back of the brain and is responsible for helping us with self relevance. Often a traumatised person will have difficulty figuring out what is self relevent. For example, if someone was raped in the forest and then goes back to a forest years later, they may think they're going to be raped again because they think the forest is self-relevant even though it isn't at all. Another region of the default mode network is the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex which is located in the front of the brain in the middle. This area of the brain helps us to know what we feel and helps us to know our internal emotional life. Traumatised people find it very difficult to know internal emotional states. The third area of the brain that is part of the default mode [...]

Having been diagnosed with cancer is like no other experience. It immediately scrambles our thoughts and dismantles our dreams and previous agendas. Our hearts and minds are lit with a burning and all encompassing fear. This occurs not because of the nature of cancer but rather is a consequence of a complete misunderstanding and lack of knowledge regarding biology, health and “disease”. It is essential to understand that our bodies function according to biological laws and are not arbitrary or doomed. Just as certain as a finger will heal, if cut with a knife, so can our bodies heal from cancer. Our aim is not only to treat the cancer, but to change the biochemistry of your body to a state of health and well being so the cancer will no longer flourish. What sets Life Change Health Institute apart from other centers is that we focus on providing you with this knowledge, to gain the understanding, the tools, and the direct experience, therefore the power to heal. When you understand how your body functions, how your brain and body are an organism functioning in unison, and how your mind and body have developed to the state it is today, then you can begin the process of healing, changing and transforming from a state of dis-ease to a state of vitality. The Chronic psychological status of the individual may play an important role either in facilitating tumour promotion or in dampening or accentuating the impacts of environmental stress. Lipman, head of the breast cancer section of national cancer institute Maryland has written that the human endocrine system provides one critical mediator of interaction between psyche and tumor, it seems inescapable that psychic factors which can evoke endocrine changes will have effects on actual tumour biology. The effect of hormones on [...]

Join us for the Ultimate Relationship Program and take your relationship to the next level. Our Relationship Coaching sessions teach scientifically validated ways to build intimacy and dissolve conflict through interactive exercises,role-plays, and new communication skills to help deepen your connection with yourself and your partner. In our couples coaching session, you will learn thought-provoking information and research on brain neurobiology that can help increase your understanding of the ultimate relationship method.You will also gain a fresh focus for meeting the challenges in your relationship in an intimate safe setting. Our approach is based on research conducted at the Gottman Institute and the research presented from the new field of interpersonal neurobiology.This Program is delivered to a couple over a 12 week period with 12 weekly sessions in our private clinic space in Dublin 1.   Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something: they’re trying to find someone who’s going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take.   “True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry   The Ultimate Relationship Program – From Crazy Making to Love Making A passionate, thriving relationship is a beautiful thing that can give you certainty, meaning, and a powerful source of drive. What’s the secret to enjoying the relationship of your dreams? How do you spark passion and love, even in moments of conflict? Your relationship should be your greatest source of pleasure. If you’re struggling with your partner, or would like to take your relationship to the next level, we invite you onto the [...]

Tantra is a spiritual path for integrating body, mind and soul. It differs from other paths in its honoring of the body, using the senses, sexuality, and feelings to help you evolve spiritually. Tantra assists you in realizing your full potential as a human being. If you choose to live from the Tantric perspective, you will transform your life. You will discover bliss. You may apply Tantric practices and principles to many areas of life - to relationship and sexual loving, spiritual practice and lifestyle, physical and emotional well-being. Red Tantra is the aspect of Tantra that relates to the mastery of sexual skills. White Tantra relates to the yogic or spiritual aspects of Tantric practice and consists of exercises or postures (asanas) combined with special breathing (pranayama), hand or finger gestures (mudras), internal muscular exercises (bhandas), chanting (mantra), and meditation. The skills and benefits of White Tantra practices increase ones ability to master Red (sexual) Tantra. Pink Tantra refers to a heart centered path of tantra that blends many of the elements of White Tantra with some aspects of Red Tantra. Within the path of Pink Tantra, all of the chakras are acknowledged. However, there seems to be an emphasis on the importance of the heart; opening the heart chakra and healing the heart. Compassion, acceptance and forgiveness for others and for our self are central themes to this practice. Pink Tantra teaches us to cultivate love without attachment, ownership or expectation. With Pink Tantra love is seen as the impetus for healing and transformation.     At the Heart of Tantra is Love. The practices and rituals of Tantra, both spiritual and sexual, work to create the conditions necessary for love to flourish and endure. When we achieve states of presence, energy flow, relaxation, harmony, and connection, love emerges and opens the [...]

The definition of trauma is experiences that overwhlem our capacity to cope. Trauma effects all areas of the brain. The major impact is on three brain networks called the Default Mode Network, the Salience Network and the Executive Network. http://media.thrivingnow.com/audio/Scaer-Trauma.mp3   The Default Mode Network is the major rest state network of the brain, when we are in a resting state, the default mode network is most active. The default mode network is composed of three brain regions called the posterior singulate cortex in the back of the brain and is responsible for helping us with self relevance. Often a traumatised person will have difficulty figuring out what is self relevent. For example, if someone was raped in the forest and then goes back to a forest years later, they may think they're going to be raped again because they think the forest is self-relevant even though it isn't at all. Another region of the default mode network is the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex which is located in the front of the brain in the middle. This area of the brain helps us to know what we feel and helps us to know our internal emotional life. Traumatised people find it very difficult to know internal emotional states. The third area of the brain that is part of the default mode network is the parietal cortex which allows us to have an embodied sense of self in space. Very often with Traumatised people , it can be difficult to know where the body starts and ends because of the disconnect from the body and how it relates to the environment. All of these areas are most active when we are at rest , when we are thinking or planning these areas are quiet. when someone experiences trauma very early in [...]

You love animals, right? Well, did you know that the best way to save animals is by going vegan? By cutting meat and dairy products from your diet, you'll be saving the lives of more than 100 animals a year. Animals value their lives as much as you value yours. So do your best not to eat them. Make the switch to a compassionate, healthy lifestyle today by signing up for our Raw Food Mastery course at Plant Based Academy. After 30 days of living meat- and dairy-free, you'll feel so great that you just might turn 30 days into a lifetime. Watch the videos below and sign up for one of our upcoming course if you would like to eat better, feel better, and stop supporting cruelty to chickens, pigs, cows, and other animals raised for food.       "Raw vegan food is not boring salads and uncooked vegetables, raw food is a culinary pursuit, a dedication and endeavor to transforming the highest quality of vegetables using simple techniques to extract exquisite flavors, preserving the essential nutrients and enzymes and complementing them with an array of mineral rich nuts, seeds, seaweeds, sprouts and fruits. Raw vegan food is the pursuit of perfect food, art for the eyes, a taste of naturalness, unparalleled nourishment for the body and great for the planet too" - Plant Based Academy       Making a commitment to healthy eating is a great start towards a healthier life for you, for animals and our planet. Watch the educational movie below which outlines the practises used in meat and dairy production. We believe that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for our entertainment or abuse in any other way. Yet many people have never considered the impact that their clothes, food, cosmetics or entertainment [...]

The definition of trauma is experiences that overwhlem our capacity to cope. Trauma effects all areas of the brain. The major impact is on three brain networks called the Default Mode Network, the Salience Network and the Executive Network. The Default Mode Network is the major rest state network of the brain, when we are in a resting state, the default mode network is most active. The default mode network is composed of three brain regions called the posterior singulate cortex in the back of the brain and is responsible for helping us with self relevance. Often a traumatised person will have difficulty figuring out what is self relevent. For example, if someone was raped in the forest and then goes back to a forest years later, they may think they're going to be raped again because they think the forest is self-relevant even though it isn't at all. Another region of the default mode network is the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex which is located in the front of the brain in the middle. This area of the brain helps us to know what we feel and helps us to know our internal emotional life. Traumatised people find it very difficult to know internal emotional states. The third area of the brain that is part of the default mode network is the parietal cortex which allows us to have an embodied sense of self in space. Very often with Traumatised people , it can be difficult to know where the body starts and ends because of the disconnect from the body and how it relates to the environment. All of these areas are most active when we are at rest , when we are thinking or planning these areas are quiet. when someone experiences trauma very early in life, these [...]

The definition of trauma is experiences that overwhlem our capacity to cope. Trauma effects all areas of the brain. The major impact is on three brain networks called the Default Mode Network, the Salience Network and the Executive Network. The Default Mode Network is the major rest state network of the brain, when we are in a resting state, the default mode network is most active. The default mode network is composed of three brain regions called the posterior singulate cortex in the back of the brain and is responsible for helping us with self relevance. Often a traumatised person will have difficulty figuring out what is self relevent. For example, if someone was raped in the forest and then goes back to a forest years later, they may think they're going to be raped again because they think the forest is self-relevant even though it isn't at all. Another region of the default mode network is the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex which is located in the front of the brain in the middle. This area of the brain helps us to know what we feel and helps us to know our internal emotional life. Traumatised people find it very difficult to know internal emotional states. The third area of the brain that is part of the default mode network is the parietal cortex which allows us to have an embodied sense of self in space. Very often with Traumatised people , it can be difficult to know where the body starts and ends because of the disconnect from the body and how it relates to the environment. All of these areas are most active when we are at rest , when we are thinking or planning these areas are quiet. when someone experiences trauma very early in life, these [...]

Trauma informed group psychotherapy facilitated by trauma specialists at Trauma Recovery Institute Dublin. The advanced group psychotherapy is suitable for psychotherapy students and those who have at least 4 years experience with psychotherapy.The psychotherapeutic approach applied is Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP) which is a very unique blend of interpersonal neurobiology, psychodynamic psychotherapy and transference focused psyschotherapy incorporating the poly vagal theory by stephen porges. This group is a very effective platform to work through the neurobiology of trauma with the nervous system always in mind, keeping you safe and in felt sense at all times.   Treatment of Relational and complex Trauma at Trauma Recovery Institute Trauma Recovery Institute offers unparalleled services and treatment approach through unique individual and group psychotherapy. We specialise in long-term relational trauma recovery, sexual trauma recovery and early childhood trauma recovery. We also offer specialized group psychotherapy for psychotherapists and psychotherapy students, People struggling with addictions and substance abuse, sexual abuse survivors and people looking to function in life at a higher level. Trauma recovery Institute offers a very safe supportive space for deep relational work with highly skilled and experienced psychotherapists accredited with Irish Group Psychotherapy Society (IGPS), which holds the highest accreditation standard in Europe. Trauma Recovery Institute uses a highly structured psychotherapeutic approach called Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP). At Trauma Recovery Institute we address three of the core Attachment Styles, their origin’s the way they reveal themselves in relationships, and methods for transforming attachment hurt into healing. We use the latest discoveries in Neuroscience which enhances our capacity for deepening intimacy. The foundation for establishing healthy relationships relies on developing secure attachment skills, thus increasing your sensitivity for contingency and relational attunement. According to Allan Schore, the regulatory function of the brain is experience-dependent and he says that, as an infant, our Mother [...]

The Chronic psychological status of the individual may play an important role either in facilitating tumour promotion or in dampening or accentuating the impacts of environmental stress. Lipman, head of the breast cancer section of national cancer institute Maryland has written that the human endocrine system provides one critical mediator of interaction between psyche and tumor, it seems inescapable that psychic factors which can evoke endocrine changes will have effects on actual tumour biology. The effect of hormones on the growth  and spread of cancer is twofold. First, many tumours are directly hormone dependant , or they, arise in organs intimately involved in homonal interactions, such as the ovaries or teste. Hormone dependant cancer cells bear on their membranes receptors for various hormones capable of promoting cell growth.one example of a hormone dependant cancer is that of the breast. it is generally understood that many breast cancers are oestrogen dependant, this being the rational for the use of oestrogen blocking drug tamoxifen. less well known is that some breast cancers have receptors for a broad array of other information substances including androgens,progestins, prolactin, insulin, vitamin D and several more all of them secreted by the HPA axis or regulated by it. Stress is a powerful modulator of hormonal function. Gabor Mate  One in three people in Ireland will develop cancer during their lifetime. In Ireland an average of 30,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year. The number is expected to rise to over 40,000 per year by 2020. The five most common cancers in Ireland are Non melanoma skin cancer (the most common and treatable form of skin cancer), prostate cancer, breast cancer, bowel cancer and lung cancer. Up to 50% of all cancers are preventable, 30% are preventable through lifestyle changes alone. These Statistics are taken from [...]

Child sexual abuse involves another person (adult, sibling, peer) who forces or coerces a child into sexual activity. This activity may include fondling of a child’s genitals, masturbation, oral-genital contact, digital penetration, vaginal and anal intercourse. It’s important to note that child sexual abuse is not restricted to physical contact – it may include exposure, voyeurism, and child pornography. Children who are sexually abused have a strikingly different developmental course than children who have not been abused. If left untreated, the scars of childhood sexual abuse will last a lifetime. When the abuse is revisited later in life, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms may develop.Children who have been the victim of childhood sexual abuse often suffer a wide variety of psychological and behavioral problems that can range from mild to severe. Short term symptoms of childhood sexual abuse may include: Fear. The offender may swear the child to secrecy and say that if they tell something bad will happen. Sexual abuse is usually accompanied by coercion, bribery or threats. The child is afraid to tell because of what the consequences might be. e.g. punishment, blame, abandonment or not being believed. Helplessness/powerlessness. Children in this situation often feel that they have no control over their own lives or even over their own bodies. They feel that they have no choices available to them. Guilt and Shame. The child knows something is wrong and blames him or herself not others. The offender will often encourage the child to feel that the abuse is his or her fault and sometimes s/he will feel that s/he is a "bad" person. Responsibility. The offender often makes the child feel responsible for keeping the abuse a secret. Sometimes the child also feels responsible for keeping the family together and the burden of this responsibility interferes with experiencing [...]

The digestive system plays an important role in the absorption of nutrients into the body.  It takes the food we ingest, breaks it down mechanically and chemically in the mouth and stomach.  It then absorbs nutrients, fats, proteins and water in the intestines before eliminating the waste through the rectum. Major organs involved in the digestive system include the mouth, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas. The main steps in the digestive system The digestive system is designed to do a few major things. They can be grouped into four categories: Ingestion Digestion Breakdown Excretion Following Food from Mouth to Anus To understand how our food is digested in the digestive system, it might be very useful to follow our food along its normal path, starting from the mouth. Imagine for just a second that you’re hungry and your eyes gaze upon a nice home cooked thanksgiving turkey dinner. Your mouth starts to water. The salivary glands in your mouth are triggered to start producing saliva, a compound that will aid in the digestion of the meal. As food enters your mouth, your teeth begin mechanically breaking down the food into small and smaller pieces. The saliva starts to chemically break it down as well. Soon, your conscious mind says, “lets swallow this food.” You swallow it and take another bite. While you’re thinking about your next bite of food, your nervous system is helping to move the bolus (the food package you swallowed), down throat. A small flap of skin called your epiglottis makes sure your food goes down your esophagus. Movements of the smooth muscles, known as peristalsis help move that bolus down your esophagus. When it reaches your stomach, a sphincter opens and dumps the food in. Inside the stomach, cells start to secrete different acids that help increase acidity [...]

IBS is one of the most common health conditions, but no one really likes talking about it. April is IBS Awareness Month, and it’s time to start talking. According to IFFGD, an estimated 30 to 45 million people in the United States – 10 to 15 percent of the population – are affected by IBS.Research suggests that IBS is the second leading cause of work absenteeism second only to the common cold. The gut-brain axis (GBA) consists of bidirectional communication between the central and the enteric nervous system, linking emotional and cognitive centers of the brain with peripheral intestinal functions. Recent advances in research have described the importance of gut microbiota in influencing these interactions. This interaction between microbiota and GBA appears to be bidirectional, namely through signaling from gut-microbiota to brain and from brain to gut-microbiota by means of neural, endocrine, immune, and humoral links. In this review we summarize the available evidence supporting the existence of these interactions, as well as the possible pathophysiological mechanisms involved. Most of the data have been acquired using technical strategies consisting in germ-free animal models, probiotics, antibiotics, and infection studies. In clinical practice, evidence of microbiota-GBA interactions comes from the association of dysbiosis with central nervous disorders (i.e. autism, anxiety-depressive behaviors) and functional gastrointestinal disorders. In particular, irritable bowel syndrome can be considered an example of the disruption of these complex relationships, and a better understanding of these alterations might provide new targeted therapies.   Introduction Insights into the gut-brain crosstalk have revealed a complex communication system that not only ensures the proper maintenance of gastrointestinal homeostasis, but is likely to have multiple effects on affect, motivation, and higher cognitive functions. The complexity of these interactions is enclosed in the denomination of “gut-brain axis” (GBA). Its role is to monitor and integrate [...]

The Art of Raw Gourmet Chocolate & Healthy Light Refined Desserts Course is now available as an online Course. This course is an advanced resource & guide on the art , history and science on raw chocolate and desserts.This course will teach you how to make your very own raw bean to bar chocolate, raw cheesecake, raw cookies and cakes. This online course is loaded with recipes, resources, tips about raw chocolate and amazingly how to make desserts health, fat free, sugar free and some even nut free, it is also loaded with informative online videos and research data on the chemistry and timeline of cacao, and why it is good for us as a probiotic, prebiotic and for its polyphenols and positive effect on our mood and hormones. If you want to make the best chocolate and the healthiest desserts then this course will be perfect for you. By Purchasing this online course you will have permenant access to this important material so you can revise any time you wish. After Purchasing, you will recieve an email with your username and password which you will use to log into our members only area and access this incredible course. Upon completion of this course you will become an expert fermentationist equipped with the most up to date information about out the incredible workings of our microbiota and psychobiotics.This is Module 5 from the 12 Module Professional Certificate Course with Plant Based Academy's Plantrician training program.Click HERE for more details.   Module 5 - The Art of Raw Gourmet Chocolate & Healthy Light Refined Desserts - Single Module 350 Euro Online / 500 Euro Onsite ( Advanced Module) The Art of Raw Chocolate module for obvious reasons is a very exciting as most people love chocolate. In this module we go [...]

The brain, by definition, is an organ of infinite complexity and staggering dimensions. The number of neurons, the basic cell that controls all information processing, is in the range of 100 billion. These neurons are connected to nearby neurons by dendrites, multiple tiny short wires. Neurons are connected to distant brain sites by axons, long wires insulated by fatty substance called myelin. The number of dendrite and axon connections is in the range of 100 million billion! And the organization of the brain is so complex. The resilient body, through its complex systems of measuring messages from the environment, informs the brain of what's going on. It sages from the environment, informs the brain of what's going on. It does so through signals from the primary sense organs of the head and neck, and from the skin, muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the somatic body. These messages from the body will alter the brain, as the intricate interplay between brain and body creates learned movements and skills for the body to carry out. The brain and body are involved in an elegant dance, ever changing and growing, developing body skills and promoting increasingly more complex neural connections. On the flip side, stress and traumatic emotional experiences can alter the brain as well, injuring it and impairing its function. Stress and trauma do damage to the brain - damage that can be seen on an fMRI. Severe negative life experiences cause loss of neurons specifically in the memory centers of the brain. The infant who does not experience the closeness of the maternal-infant bond suffers shrinkage of a crucial area in the right front of the brain that provides regulation for the emotional brain and autonomic nervous system. The good news is that effective therapy in such individuals can not only [...]

Trauma informed group psychotherapy facilitated by trauma specialists at Trauma Recovery Institute Dublin. The advanced group psychotherapy is suitable for psychotherapy students and those who have at least 4 years experience with psychotherapy.The psychotherapeutic approach applied is Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP) which is a very unique blend of interpersonal neurobiology, psychodynamic psychotherapy and transference focused psyschotherapy incorporating the poly vagal theory by stephen porges. This group is a very effective platform to work through the neurobiology of trauma with the nervous system always in mind, keeping you safe and in felt sense at all times.     Treatment of Relational and complex Trauma at Trauma Recovery Institute Trauma Recovery Institute offers unparalleled services and treatment approach through unique individual and group psychotherapy. We specialise in long-term relational trauma recovery, sexual trauma recovery and early childhood trauma recovery. We also offer specialized group psychotherapy for psychotherapists and psychotherapy students, People struggling with addictions and substance abuse, sexual abuse survivors and people looking to function in life at a higher level. Trauma recovery Institute offers a very safe supportive space for deep relational work with highly skilled and experienced psychotherapists accredited with Irish Group Psychotherapy Society (IGPS), which holds the highest accreditation standard in Europe. Trauma Recovery Institute uses a highly structured psychotherapeutic approach called Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP). At Trauma Recovery Institute we address three of the core Attachment Styles, their origin’s the way they reveal themselves in relationships, and methods for transforming attachment hurt into healing. We use the latest discoveries in Neuroscience which enhances our capacity for deepening intimacy. The foundation for establishing healthy relationships relies on developing secure attachment skills, thus increasing your sensitivity for contingency and relational attunement. According to Allan Schore, the regulatory function of the brain is experience-dependent and he says that, as an infant, our [...]

The gut-brain axis (GBA) consists of bidirectional communication between the central and the enteric nervous system, linking emotional and cognitive centers of the brain with peripheral intestinal functions. Recent advances in research have described the importance of gut microbiota in influencing these interactions. This interaction between microbiota and GBA appears to be bidirectional, namely through signaling from gut-microbiota to brain and from brain to gut-microbiota by means of neural, endocrine, immune, and humoral links. In this review we summarize the available evidence supporting the existence of these interactions, as well as the possible pathophysiological mechanisms involved. Most of the data have been acquired using technical strategies consisting in germ-free animal models, probiotics, antibiotics, and infection studies. In clinical practice, evidence of microbiota-GBA interactions comes from the association of dysbiosis with central nervous disorders (i.e. autism, anxiety-depressive behaviors) and functional gastrointestinal disorders. In particular, irritable bowel syndrome can be considered an example of the disruption of these complex relationships, and a better understanding of these alterations might provide new targeted therapies.   Introduction Insights into the gut-brain crosstalk have revealed a complex communication system that not only ensures the proper maintenance of gastrointestinal homeostasis, but is likely to have multiple effects on affect, motivation, and higher cognitive functions. The complexity of these interactions is enclosed in the denomination of “gut-brain axis” (GBA). Its role is to monitor and integrate gut functions as well as to link emotional and cognitive centers of the brain with peripheral intestinal functions and mechanisms such as immune activation, intestinal permeability, enteric reflex, and entero-endocrine signaling. The mechanisms underlying GBA communications involve neuro-immuno-endocrine mediators. This bidirectional communication network includes the central nervous system (CNS), both brain and spinal cord, the autonomic nervous system (ANS), the enteric nervous system (ENS) and the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis (Fig. [...]

It may be possible to relieve anxiety and depression solely by manipulating bacteria in the gut. Psychobiotics are defined as live bacteria and their food (probiotics & prebiotics) which, when ingested, confer mental health benefits through interactions with commensal gut bacteria. Ninety percent of what we lug around with us is not human. It's microbial, and it's vital to our health, our moods, even the decisions we make. There are roughly 15 trillion cells in our body—and over 100 trillion bacteria, most of them in the gut and most of them supporting such essential functions as digestion, immunity, metabolism, even mental health in ways that are only now being understood. The body is an ecosystem of interdependent parts relaying messages to each other, explains Ted Dinan, a psychiatrist at the University of Cork, Ireland. So influential are the thousands of species of gut flora on health that Dinan aims to harness the power of microbes to treat depression. Recently, he coined a term for the live organisms in the gut that are psychoactive and of potential benefit to those suffering from a variety of psychiatric illnesses—psychobiotics. Not only can researchers now discern which strains of gut bacteria affect the nervous system, they can also map the exact pathways through which specific gut bacteria influence the brain. Although there are many preparations of bacteria now being marketed as probiotics, "the vast majority do nothing for us," Dinan insists. "Most don't make it past the stomach acid. But a few have enormous implications for the future of psychiatric medication." It's long been known that the stress system is intimately involved in depression. People suffering from major depression frequently have elevated levels of the hormone cortisol, released in response to stress. In a recent study, a probiotic cocktail of Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium [...]

The Microbiome–Gut–Brain Axis The gut microbiome comprises all microorganisms and their genomes inhabiting the intestinal tract. It is a key node in the bidirectional gut–brain axis (see Glossary) that develops through early colonisation and through which the brain and gut jointly maintain an organism's health. A pivotal study found that mice raised in sterile environments and therefore lacking indigenous bacteria (germ-free mice) showed exaggerated physiological reactions to stress compared to normal controls. The abnormal reactions were reversible through probiotic-induced bacterial recolonisation. This finding revealed the microbiome's causal involvement in the development of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. Gut bacteria have since been found to participate in the regulation of varied and important physiological processes, including immunomodulation, adiposity, and energy balance as well as the electrophysiological activity of the enteric nervous system. Probiotics, beneficial bacteria that yield positive health outcomes, have received particular attention, both in the popular press and from the research community. Here, we critically evaluate efforts to manipulate commensal gut bacteria with psychobiotics. These psychobiotics were first defined as probiotics that, when ingested in appropriate quantities, yield positive psychiatric effects in psychopathology. The bacteria most frequently exploited as probiotics are the Gram-positive Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillusfamilies Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli do not possess pro-inflammatory lipopolysaccharide chains, and so their propagation in the gut does not trigger full-fledged immunological reactions. With the presence of such bacteria, the immune system learns to distinguish to between pro- and anti-inflammatory entities and develops appropriate immunogenic responses by identifying pro-inflammatory elements as antigenic . It should be noted, however, that Gram-positive bacteria are not always beneficial, and some, such as the Clostridia family, may be pathogenic. We propose that the definition of psychobiotics be expanded along two dimensions: First, research on healthy individuals is demonstrating that psychobiotic benefits need not be restricted to clinical groups. Second, [...]

The Art of Fermentation is now available as an online Course. This course is an advanced resource & guide on the art , history and science on psychobiotics.This course will teach you how to make your very own raw vegan organic sugar free nut and seed cheese,miso,tempeh, fruit yogurt, medicinal kombucha, herbal water kefir, pickled vegetables, seaweed sauerkraut & traditional kimchi. This online course is loaded with recipes, resources, tips about fermented foods, it is also loaded with informative online videos and scientific articles on Probiotics, Gut Flora, Gut Health and the link between healthy brain and healthy gut. If you want to improve your health, the health of other people, and improve your brain function, there’s one essential topic that you need to know. ( Probiotics, Prebiotics, Synbiotics & Psychobiotics ) By Purchasing this online course you will have permenant access to this important material so you can revise any time you wish. After Purchasing, you will recieve an email with your username and password which you will use to log into our members only area and access this incredible course. Upon completion of this course you will become an expert fermentationist equipped with the most up to date information about out the incredible workings of our microbiota and psychobiotics.This is Module 2 from the 12 Module Professional Certificate Course with Plant Based Academy's Plantrician training program.Click HERE for more details. Using Probiotiocs as a Prevention from Cancer Some LAB (Lacto Acid Bacteria)-fermented foods have antimutagenic and anticarcinogeinc activities (Lee et al., 2004). Kefir is used for the treatment of cancer (Otes and Cagindi, 2003; Yanping et al., 2009). Sauerkraut, fermented vegetable of Germany, contains s-methylmethionine, which reduces tumourigenesis risk in the stomach (Kris-Etherton et al., 2002). Consumption of fermented products containing live cells of L. acidophilus decreases ß-glucuronidase, [...]

Becoming Whole – Life after Complex PTSD The core dilemma of complex trauma is that your longing for connection conflicts with memories that tell you relationships are not safe. Initially, you may re-create relationships that match what you already know. perhaps you unintentionally push people awayand then feel angry that nobody ever calls/supports you. Maybe you tend to choose partners who treat you poorly because deep inside this feels familiar. In contrast, a healing relationship such as the psychotherapeutic relationship will allow you to gently recognise and take responsibility for any part you may play in perpetuating unhealthy dynamics. In a trusting Relationship , you can expose your fears and learn that you will not be rejected or harmed. Slowly, you'll learn to allow another person to witness your confusion, discomfort, anger, grief, or shame. Whether you are feeling anxiety depression you can use tools to engage your social nervous system to re-establish higher order nervous system functions. For example, if you are experiencing anxiety you are likely in fight or flight, a key defense reaction of sympathetic nervous system. Sympathetic actions involve mobilization; the need to move your body to release the build of stress cortisols. You can engage your social nervous by rubbing your hands together vigorously and making physical contact to your own face, neck, upper chest, arms, and legs. You can also explore physical movements that feel safe and grounding such as going for a walk or shaking your arms and legs to release stress. When we feel safe we can engage our social nervous system to use the energy of the sympathetic nervous system to dance, play, and laugh. Feeling shut down, collapsed, depressed, or numb is an indication that you are in the defensive reactions of your parasympathetic nervous system which is characterized by [...]

The Ultimate Realtionship Coaching Program A passionate, thriving relationship is a beautiful thing that can give you certainty, meaning, and a powerful source of drive. What’s the secret to enjoying the relationship of your dreams? How do you spark passion and love, even in moments of conflict? Your relationship should be your greatest source of pleasure. If you’re struggling with your partner, or would like to take your relationship to the next level, we invite you onto the Ultimate Relationship Program with Embodied Tantra. Check out our approach below and fill in your details, get in touch and book a session with us. When we meet our partners, we make an unconscious contract to help each other resolve emotional injuries of the past , we unconsciously pick or hire the perfect person to trigger this stored painful memory of our past , it is for this exact reason we have come together . Relationships are not a problem to be solved but an adventure to be embraced. Conflict is a gift to be unpacked , to embrace, an opportunity to grow , resolve and mature . Conflict can not be resolved at the level with which it was created. We hire the person in our life who is most compatible to help us resolve what is unresolved from our childhood. Our relationship lives in the space between us and it is sacred . This becomes the playground for our children . When there are only two options , take the third option ! Keep the space between you safe and sacred . Honour the space between you , by visiting the other by crossing the bridge . Cross the bridge with an open mind to learn , with curiosity and compassion , leave behind your hurt and trauma. Crossing the bridge is becoming [...]

Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something: they’re trying to find someone who’s going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take.   “True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry   The Ultimate Realtionship Guide A passionate, thriving relationship is a beautiful thing that can give you certainty, meaning, and a powerful source of drive. What’s the secret to enjoying the relationship of your dreams? How do you spark passion and love, even in moments of conflict? Your relationship should be your greatest source of pleasure. If you’re struggling with your partner, or would like to take your relationship to the next level, we invite you onto the Ultimate Relationship Program with Embodied Tantra. Check out our approach below and fill in your details, get in touch and book a session with us. When we meet our partners, we make an unconscious contract to help each other resolve emotional injuries of the past , we unconsciously pick or hire the perfect person to trigger this stored painful memory of our past , it is for this exact reason we have come together . Relationships are not a problem to be solved but an adventure to be embraced. Conflict is a gift to be unpacked , to embrace, an opportunity to grow , resolve and mature . Conflict can not be resolved at the level with which it was created. We hire the person in our life who is most compatible to help us resolve what is unresolved from our childhood. Our relationship [...]

It is never too late to change your life. At Life Change Health Institute we offer a world unique holistic health program which addresses relationship distress & conflict, illness such as IBS & other gastrointestinal disorders of brain/gut axis, anxiety, depression and other life challenges, all of which are rooted in an early life traumatic event or events. Our world unique comprehensive holistic health program incorporates a gut repair program, psychotherapy, embodied tantra, conscious parenting/relating and plant based nutrition which bring about feelings of integration, optimum health, vitality, longevity and well being. This program will assist you in thriving rather than just surviving and help you to live life at a much higher level. Anything you desire in life, you need energy to obtain and achieve, the kind of energy that only comes from optimum health and passionate relationships. If you struggle with any of the following, then a comprehensive Consultation will be perfect for you : IBS Anxiety Depression Eating Disorder Addictions Relationship conflict Gastrointestinal distress Severe Menstrual Pain Chronic Dissociation Book in now for a comprehensive consultaion and get to the root of your life challenges so you can live a life of health and vitality. With our expert guidance you will learn to self regulate, heal your gut dysbiosis and reset your gut for health, activate parasympathetic nervous system for sustained relaxation, seek corrective emotional experiences through healthy and passionate relationships, invoke and strengthen healthy immunity with a healthy diet that does not feel like a diet,resolve emotional distress and dissociated painful experiences of the past and awaken a powerful lymphatic system via dance, movement and yoga. Repair Your Gut, create conscious passionate relationships, resolve anxiety & depression, reverse IBS and other gastrointestinal disorders holistically With Lifestyle Medicine & Functional Health   Lifestyle medicine is a branch [...]

Drawing on his work with patients who have survived a variety of traumatic experiences — from plane crashes to rape to torture — Van der Kolk considers the great challenge of those of us living with trauma:In response to the trauma itself, and in coping with the dread that persisted long afterward, these patients had learned to shut down the brain areas that transmit the visceral feelings and emotions that accompany and define terror. Yet in everyday life, those same brain areas are responsible for registering the entire range of emotions and sensations that form the foundation of our self-awareness, our sense of who we are. What we witnessed here was a tragic adaptation: In an effort to shut off terrifying sensations, they also deadened their capacity to feel fully alive. While this dissociation from the body is an adaptive response to trauma, the troublesome day-to-day anguish comes from the retriggering of this remembered response by stimuli that don’t remotely warrant it. Van der Kolk examines the interior machinery at play: The elementary self system in the brain stem and limbic system is massively activated when people are faced with the threat of annihilation, which results in an overwhelming sense of fear and terror accompanied by intense physiological arousal. To people who are reliving a trauma, nothing makes sense; they are trapped in a life-or-death situation, a state of paralyzing fear or blind rage. Mind and body are constantly aroused, as if they are in imminent danger. They startle in response to the slightest noises and are frustrated by small irritations. Their sleep is chronically disturbed, and food often loses its sensual pleasures. This in turn can trigger desperate attempts to shut those feelings down by freezing and dissociation. In a passage that calls to mind philosopher Martha Nussbaum’s excellent [...]

During the last two decades of the 19th century, psychiatrists in Europe began to explore and define the peculiar behavior manifested by patients of theirs who fell under the diagnostic category of hysteria. Pierre Janet at the Salpetriere` described dissociation as phobias of memories, in the form of expressions of excessive or inappropriate physical responses to thoughts or memories of old traumas (Janet, 1920). After visiting Janet, Freud adopted many of these concepts of dissociation as a splitting of consciousness, often associated with bizarre physical symptoms and manifestations, and ultimately attributed such symptoms in his hysterical patients to a history of childhood sexual abuse (Freud, 1896). Evolution of the concept of dissociation led to the description of a constellation of varied clinical manifestations attributed to it, including altered perceptions of physical sensation, time, memory, and the perceptions of self and reality. Complex expressions of these states came to include conversion disorder, fugue states and multiple personalities (dissociative identity disorder) (Freud & Breur, 1953, Mayer-Gross, W., 1935, Spiegal & Cardena, 1991, Bremner, et al, 1992). Thus the concept of dissociation evolved to include not only mental and emotional aberrations, but also stereotyped and unusual somatic perceptual and motor experiences and expressions. All of these symptoms and behaviors were felt to be the sequellae of prior life trauma. The basic mechanism of dissociation was felt to involve the splitting off of parts of memory or perception in order to escape intolerable anxiety triggered by those areas of the mind that retained elements of the traumatic conflict. Relief from that conflict through hysterical dissociation resulted in relief from anxiety, resulting at times in the seemingly blasé acceptance of disabling physical conditions (la belle indifference`). Freud, however, soon began revising his concepts of hysteria, and by 1925 had recanted his theories of the relationship [...]

The professional certification program in Conscious Parenting Level 1 covers seven modules. This professional certificate course is delivered by conscious parenting educator and psychotherapist Darren Maguire. This certification course is The Introduction to Conscious Parenting and is suitable for all parents of children at any age and other professionals working with children or parents. The Course is delivered over 14 weeks, just one three hour group weekly. The seven modules are:   Raising our Children, Raising ourselves - Healing the hurts of my past. Non Violent Communication Crossing The Bridge Filling The Love Cup Building Relationship - Establishing Secure attachment Decoding Children's Behaviour Corrective Emotional Experience   This course takes place at our clinic in Dublin city centre on one day per week for 14 weeks. after successful completion of the course you will be awared a certificate in Conscious Parenting. To book your place on this unique certification course you can pay a booking deposit of 500 euro, the remaining fee can be paid over a payment plan.There will be suggested weekly readings and homework assignments as part of the curriculum.The weekly course will be a experiential group format over three hours per week. You can express interest and get further details or make payment by expressing interest in the form below.       Conscious parenting is parenting through connection instead of coercion, through love instead of fear.Conscious Parenting recognizes that securing and maintaining a healthy parent-child bond is our primary work as parents and the key to our children's optimal human development. Our effectiveness as parents is in direct proportion to the strength of the bond we have with our child. Connection Parenting promotes parenting practices that support a strong, healthy parent-child bond.The Latest Neuroscience now confirms attachement theory and the critical importance of the parent child [...]

Trauma and The Gut The Polyvagal Theory is the product of decades of research by Dr Stephen Porges and his team at the Brain-Body Center in the University of Illinois, Chicago. Adopted by clinicians around the world, the Polyvagal Theory has provided exciting new insights into the way our autonomic nervous system unconsciously mediates social engagement, trust, and intimacy, and how these may be influenced by our interactions with others.It was whilst studying the evolution of the nervous system that Porges first made an important discovery concerning the vagus nerve which alters the way we understand autonomic nervous system functions. Before this time it was widely understood that our autonomic nervous system operated in a balanced sympathetic/parasympathetic manner, but Porges research changed this through two discoveries; firstly that the vagus nerve in mammals has not one but two branches, and secondly that the newest branch is able to inhibit other nervous system activity. Porges research showed that in the process of evolution, animals first developed immobilised defense responses (innervated by the vagus/parasympathetic system) –where they would adaptively collapse, shut down or feign death when faced with threats. Over time, the nervous system evolved to enable mobilised responses to threat through the activation of a sympathetic nervous system. This mobilised circuitry was able to speed up the heart and lungs, and act on the same visceral organs as the parasympathetic system, in order to promote adaptive fight, flight and active freeze responses to threat. The third stage of evoluntionary development saw the addition of a newer branch of the vagus nerve which is also able to slow the heart and lungs and which links the innervation of these two with the use of facial nerves involved in social engagement. For this reason, Porges theory proposes that this newer Vagal ̳brake‘ evolved [...]

Embodied Tantra is a spiritual path for integrating body, mind, spirit and sex. It differs from other approaches to tantra in its exploration of maladaptive defenses against healthy love, sexuality and spirituality. Embodied Tantra assists you in realizing your full potential as a human being. If you choose to live from the Tantric perspective, you will transform your life. You will discover bliss. You may apply Tantric practices and principles to all areas of life - to relationship and sexual loving, spiritual practice and lifestyle, physical and emotional well-being.We believe that healing for each individual happens from the inside out. We believe that by healing and empowering ourselves, we heal, empower and awaken our planet. We call all who are ready to join our mission — to heal the fracture between sexuality and spirituality. Join us in awakening, educating, and inspiring humanity to fulfill their greatest potential through the Ancient Yoga of Tantra with our very unique approach called Embodied Tantra.This Professional Certification in Embodied Tantra is delivered by Embodied Tantra Ireland and accredited with Life Change Health Institute which is world renowned for its unique and holistic approach and education in healthcare, trauma recovery and sexuality.Book your place now with a 500 Euro deposit as places are Limited. Just fill out the form below for further course details and payment details.   The Professional Certification Program in Embodied Tantra Level 1 covers three modules.These three modules are a prerequisite to any tantra practise. The Three Modules are: The Polyvagal Theory & Internal Dyad - Object Relations/ Projection Crossing The Bridge - Healing the Trauma & Non Violent Communication Healthy Character Integration & Regulation of affective states - Correction Emotional Experience   Traditional Tantra is an ancient spiritual practice which originated in India several thousand years ago. Tantra is best understood as a form [...]

Happy Brain, Happy Gut ! How does it work? The brain and the gut communicate via gut-brain axis, a mode of bidirectional signaling between the digestive tract and the nervous system. There are several central mechanisms by which gut bacteria can communicate with the brain. First, imbalances in gut bacteria can trigger inflammation by increasing the permeability of the intestinal lining, which allows toxins to seep into the bloodstream. Research has linked pro-inflammatory markers (cytokines) and increased intestinal permeability with anxiety and depression. Secondly, bacteria can produce neurotransmitters, which are carried through the blood to the brain. Bacteria can also stimulate specific nerves in the gut that then transmit information to the brain. Fortunately, you can support gut health (and therefore mental health) by eating a diet that's rich in probiotics -- the "friendly" gut bacteria that support digestion and a balanced microbiome, and are known to boost immune and neurological function. Use the following simple recipe from Plant Based Academy to ensure you are including high dose full spectrum probiotics into your diet and your family's diet. Join our Professional Certificate course in Plant Based Nutrition and Raw Food Mastery at Plant Based Academy to learn more about the art, history and science of fermentation and gut health.   Raw vegan Blueberry Yogurt  15 organic Brazil nuts or almonds (Soaked overnight and rinsed) 200 ml of pure filtered Water or Organic Probiotic drink (water Kefir/kombucha) 4 organic Dates 100g of organic Blueberries 1 organic vanilla pod scraped Probiotics 1 teaspoon (B.Infantis / B.Longum) Blend the nuts, dates, berries and water to a thick creamy and smooth consistency, pour into a container, add the probiotic powder, and stir. Cover with lid but not an airtight lid, as air is needed. Leave out of refrigerator for up to 12 hours. Then [...]

Functional Health addresses the underlying causes of illness & disease, using a systems-oriented approach and engaging both client and Plantrician in a therapeutic partnership exploring diet, lifestyle, trauma history, relationships, body and stress. This is an incredibly effective holistic approach to recovery, incoporating the very latest in gut research and psychobiotics, Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy, conscious relational sexuality via Embodied Tantra and Plant Based nutritional science. Functional Health is a healthy holistic journey out of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, diabetes, cancer, IBS and other gastrointestinal and autoimmune disorders.     In order to keep a tree healthy and allow it to flourish, you need to support the most basic and essential elements first; the foundation: the roots and soil. Similarly, if a tree is not healthy, the first place you should look for answers is those same foundational elements. In Functional Health, the same approach applies to clients. The most important factors, and the ones we examine first when gathering information about the client, are the foundational lifestyle factors; sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress levels, relationships, Microbiome and epigenetics. These are the roots and soil, which are in turn influenced by specific predisposing factors (antecedents), discrete events (triggers), and ongoing physiological processes (mediators), and may then result in fundamental imbalances at the trunk. These can eventually result in the signs and symptoms that are grouped into a diagnosable constellation that we call disease, represented by the branches and leaves.   "Functional Health is a personalized, systems-oriented model that empowers clients to achieve the highest expression of health by working in collaboration with a functional health therapist to address the underlying causes of disease." Plant Based Academy

Treating Trauma & Maladaptive Trauma Based Presentations at Trauma Recovery Institute. We offer clients an unique opportunity to work with trauma professionals specialising in recovery from complex trauma using an unique blend of somatic and psychodynamic psychotherapy which a an approach called Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy which is based on the latest and most current trauma research and scientific findings from neuroscience, interpersonal neurobiolgy and attachment theory. Working with Trauma at Trauma Recovery Institute Trauma Recovery Institute offers unparalleled services and treatment approach through unique individual and group psychotherapy. We specialise in long-term relational trauma recovery, sexual trauma recovery and early childhood trauma recovery. We also offer specialized group psychotherapy for psychotherapists and psychotherapy students, People struggling with addictions and substance abuse, sexual abuse survivors and people looking to function in life at a higher level. Trauma recovery Institute offers a very safe supportive space for deep relational work with highly skilled and experienced psychotherapists accredited with Irish Group Psychotherapy Society (IGPS), which holds the highest accreditation standard in Europe. Trauma Recovery Institute uses a highly structured psychotherapeutic approach called Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP). At Trauma Recovery Institute we address three of the core Attachment Styles, their origin’s the way they reveal themselves in relationships, and methods for transforming attachment hurt into healing. We use the latest discoveries in Neuroscience which enhances our capacity for deepening intimacy. The foundation for establishing healthy relationships relies on developing secure attachment skills, thus increasing your sensitivity for contingency and relational attunement. According to Allan Schore, the regulatory function of the brain is experience-dependent and he says that, as an infant, our Mother is our whole environment. In our relational trauma recovery approach you will learn to understand how the early patterns of implicit memory – which is pre-verbal, sub-psychological, and non-conceptual – build pathways in [...]

Conscious parenting is parenting through connection instead of coercion, through love instead of fear.Conscious Parenting recognizes that securing and maintaining a healthy parent-child bond is our primary work as parents and the key to our children's optimal human development. Our effectiveness as parents is in direct proportion to the strength of the bond we have with our child. Connection Parenting promotes parenting practices that support a strong, healthy parent-child bond.The Latest Neuroscience now confirms attachement theory and the critical importance of the parent child attachment, This above all will influence the appropriate brain development of your child and influence the adult your child will become. The model of parenting most of us grew up with was authoritarian parenting, which is based on fear. Some of us may have grown up with permissive parenting, which is also based on fear. Authoritarian parenting is based on the child's fear of losing the parent's love. Permissive parenting is based on the parent's fear of losing the child's love. Connection parenting is based on love instead of fear. Connection Parenting recognizes that securing and maintaining a healthy parent-child bond is our primary work as parents and the key to our children's optimal human development. Our effectiveness as parents is in direct proportion to the strength of the bond we have with our child. Connection Parenting promotes parenting practices that support a strong, healthy parent-child bond. Both authoritarian parenting and permissive parenting are reactive. Connection parenting is proactive. Rather than focusing on ways to discipline children when their feelings of disconnection result in uncooperative or unacceptable behavior, Connection Parenting focuses on ways to maintain and increase the parent-child bond/connection. Connection parenting is an ideal, a navigation star we can look to for guidance. Whenever we question how to respond to a child we can ask ourselves, will [...]

Drawing on his work with patients who have survived a variety of traumatic experiences — from plane crashes to rape to torture — Van der Kolk considers the great challenge of those of us living with trauma:In response to the trauma itself, and in coping with the dread that persisted long afterward, these patients had learned to shut down the brain areas that transmit the visceral feelings and emotions that accompany and define terror. Yet in everyday life, those same brain areas are responsible for registering the entire range of emotions and sensations that form the foundation of our self-awareness, our sense of who we are. What we witnessed here was a tragic adaptation: In an effort to shut off terrifying sensations, they also deadened their capacity to feel fully alive. While this dissociation from the body is an adaptive response to trauma, the troublesome day-to-day anguish comes from the retriggering of this remembered response by stimuli that don’t remotely warrant it. Van der Kolk examines the interior machinery at play: The elementary self system in the brain stem and limbic system is massively activated when people are faced with the threat of annihilation, which results in an overwhelming sense of fear and terror accompanied by intense physiological arousal. To people who are reliving a trauma, nothing makes sense; they are trapped in a life-or-death situation, a state of paralyzing fear or blind rage. Mind and body are constantly aroused, as if they are in imminent danger. They startle in response to the slightest noises and are frustrated by small irritations. Their sleep is chronically disturbed, and food often loses its sensual pleasures. This in turn can trigger desperate attempts to shut those feelings down by freezing and dissociation. In a passage that calls to mind philosopher Martha Nussbaum’s excellent [...]

Life Change Health Institute is a world unique holistic treatment centre specialising in mind body medicine. We offer expertise in five main areas of focus which are trauma recovery psychotherapy, conscious sexuality & tantra, plant based nutrition, conscious parenting and functional health which embraces and draws from the totality of the regulatory functions of the body encompassing all of the biophysical, biochemical, enzymatic, endocrine, immunological, and bioenergetic regulatory capacities. Our unique integrative approach to addressing the mind body connection and how stress can massively impact and impair our development, our brains and our bodies has been developed from over 25 years of clinical experience and research drawing from the latest research and developments in attachment theory, affect regulation, object relations, neuroscience, poly vagal theory and interpersonal neurobiology. "Functional Health is a personalized, systems-oriented model that empowers clients to achieve the highest expression of health by working in collaboration with a functional health therapist to address the underlying causes of disease." Plant Based Academy At Life Change Health Institute, we believe trauma/stress underlies all conditions. Trauma and stress, whether related to addiction, attachment, neglect or abuse, can reverberate through the many facets of our lives, follow us into adulthood and inhibit us from living in the present. We treat a wide variety of conditions with a number of treatment strategies with the objective of addressing the root trauma at the heart of each person's life challenge. At Life Change Health Institute we are experts in working with complex trauma. We promote plant based nutrition, healthy sexuality, functional health, conscious lifestyle changes and long term psychotherapeutic relationships in order to maintain optimum health and well being. Read More   Functional Health Functional Health addresses the underlying causes of disease and weight gain, using a systems-oriented approach and engaging both client and functional [...]

Lifestyle Medicine is a comprehensive mind body medicine that addresses the underlying causes of illness & disease, using a systems-oriented approach and engaging both client and clinician in a therapeutic partnership exploring diet, lifestyle, trauma history, relationships, somatic memory and armouring and stress. This is an incredibly effective holistic approach to recovery, incoporating the very latest in gut research and psychobiotics, dynamic psychosocialsomatic psychotherapy, conscious sexuality and embodied tantra and plant based nutritional science. Lifestyle Medicine is an evolution in the practice of medicine that better addresses the healthcare needs of the 21st century. By shifting the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more client-centered approach, lifestyle medicine addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms.   Lifestyle Medicine at Life Change Health Institute Reclaim your health on our new 12 week life change program. This 12 week life chnage program is a comprehensive professional program for weight loss and/or reversing chronic illness. The 12 week program will include two psychotherapy sessions per week for 12 weeks, a comprehensive diet and lifestyle plan for the 12 weeks, an online repair your gut program and a number of other online modules including simple and advanced recipes for healthhy meals, juices and smoothies and a detailed nutritional science guide. Our 5 Step Holistic Approach to Optimum Health is: 1) Eliminating toxic and inflammatory foods: 2) Rebuilding the Body & Rebuild the Gut: 3) Identifying environmental toxins: 4) Healing autoimmune-related infections: 5) Emotional release process and lifestyle changes   Follow this program, Whether you're battling diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis, thyroid disease, autoimmune disease, IBS or obesity, or you simply want to put an end to nagging minor symptoms and get back to full health. Our Holistic approach, based on the latest scientific research is designed for optimum weight loss without [...]

Cows produce milk for the same reason why humans do―to nourish their young. Cows produce milk for the same reason why humans do―to nourish their young.Ten months later, their calves are born, and a strong bond instantly forms between them.But they won’t have much time together.Typically, after one to three days, their babies are taken away from them, which causes both cow and calf extreme distress.They will never see each other again.The male calves are usually sold to the veal industry. There, they are kept in tiny crates to keep their flesh tender.They will be killed after just a few miserable months of life.The female calves will likely follow in their mothers’ footsteps in the dairy industry.But first, they will be dehorned. Dehorning is a procedure in which cows have their horns removed by means of saws, sharp wires, hot irons, guillotine dehorners, or caustic chemicals. It is extremely painful. The cows will spend the rest of their lives as milk machines, forced to produce 4.5 times what they normally would for their calf. When not on a factory farm, cows can live to be 20 years old. But cows used for milk are usually slaughtered for low-grade meat when they’re around 4 years old. That means four years of repeated artificial insemination, udder infections, and having their calves traumatically torn from their side shortly after birth. When you buy dairy products, you’re supporting this cruel cycle. Not only are people becoming aware that cow’s milk is bad for you, they are also learning that the myth of happy cows strolling on a grassy knoll is a far cry from the real suffering that cows endure on dairy farms. https://www.peta.org/features/dairy-industry-cruelty/ Operation Dean Foods from ARM Investigations on Vimeo.   Making Plant Based Milk 10 organic nuts or Handful of seeds [...]

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) Otto Kernberg’s description of the pathological narcissistic individual centers around a set of paradoxes: self-inflation existing alongside a limitless need for praise, a charming and engaging surface covering a ruthless interior, and a persona of self-sufficiency defending against underlying feelings of intense envy . For Kernberg, the diagnosis of the narcissistic character also depends on the quality of the person’s object relations and the pattern of his or her intrapsychic defenses. Narcissistic individuals experience their relationships with others as exploitative and parasitic. They divide the world between those who contain something that they can extract and those who do not. They distinguish between extraordinary people on the one hand - in association with whom narcissistic individuals experience a sense of greatness themselves - and mediocre or worthless people on the other. Narcissistic individuals idealize the former and are contemptuous of the latter. Yet those they idealize they also fear, as they project onto them their own exploitative wishes and experience them as potentially attacking and coercive. They thus are unable to rely on any object and fear dependence on another person, rendering all their object relations empty and dissatisfying. Like the borderline character, Kernberg’s narcissistic individual uses primitive defenses of devaluation, projective identification, omnipotence, and primitive idealization in his or her efforts to preserve self-esteem and self-coherence and to combat the intense feelings of envy and rage that threaten to undermine them. The narcissistic individual is distinguished from the borderline individual by his or her sense of object constancy, better impulse control, and better social and professional functioning, although these too may be fragile and hollow beneath a surface of apparent solidity. Although splitting as a defense is found in narcissistic pathology, its use is less prominent than in borderline pathology. The grandiose self further differentiates [...]

The core dilemma of complex trauma is that your longing for connection conflicts with memories that tell you relationships are not safe. Initially, you may re-create relationships that match what you already know. perhaps you unintentionally push people awayand then feel angry that nobody ever calls/supports you. Maybe you tend to choose partners who treat you poorly because deep inside this feels familiar. In contrast, a healing relationship such as the psychotherapeutic relationship will allow you to gently recognise and take responsibility for any part you may play in perpetuating unhealthy dynamics. In a trusting Relationship , you can expose your fears and learn that you will not be rejected or harmed. Slowly, you'll learn to allow another person to witness your confusion, discomfort, anger, grief, or shame. Whether you are feeling anxiety depression you can use tools to engage your social nervous system to re-establish higher order nervous system functions. For example, if you are experiencing anxiety you are likely in fight or flight, a key defense reaction of sympathetic nervous system. Sympathetic actions involve mobilization; the need to move your body to release the build of stress cortisols. You can engage your social nervous by rubbing your hands together vigorously and making physical contact to your own face, neck, upper chest, arms, and legs. You can also explore physical movements that feel safe and grounding such as going for a walk or shaking your arms and legs to release stress. When we feel safe we can engage our social nervous system to use the energy of the sympathetic nervous system to dance, play, and laugh. Feeling shut down, collapsed, depressed, or numb is an indication that you are in the defensive reactions of your parasympathetic nervous system which is characterized by immobilization. If you have a history of trauma [...]

If you were neglected or abused as a child, your primary orientation to the world is likely to be one of threat, fear, and survival. Its only natural that a childhood experience with untrustworthy parents would leave you untrusting or confused about what constitutes a loving relationship. Fear and lack of safety might compel you to continuously scan your environment for potential threats. you may have relied on coping strategies to survive, such as dissociation, a protective mechanism that disconnects you from threatening experiences. if you can relate to these qualities, you may also identify with related issues such as self criticism, emotional suffering, and relationship difficulties. Healing childhood trauma involves a balance: attending to the wounds of the past while living in the present.   Take comfort in this: Complex PTSD is the result of learned ineffective maladaptive beliefs and behaviours that can be replaced by a positive mind set and health promoting social engaging behaviours.   The Role of the Therapist in transforming attachment trauma:  Healing into wholeness takes the active participation of at least one other brain, mind, and body to repair past injuries – and that can be accomplished through a one-to-one therapeutic relationship, a therapeutic group relationship or one that is intimate and loving. In exploring the “age and stage” development of the right hemisphere and prefrontal cortex in childhood, we discover how the presence of a loving caregiver can stimulate certain hormones, which will help support our growing capacity for social engagement and pleasure in all of our relationships. Brain integration leads to connection and love throughout our entire life span. At trauma recovery institute we bring a deep focus to the role of Neuroscience in restoring the brain’s natural attunement to Secure Attachment. Our brain is a social brain – it is primed for [...]

When we meet our partners, we make an unconscious contract to help each other resolve emotional injuries of the past , we unconsciously pick or hire the perfect person to trigger this stored painful memory of our past , it is for this exact reason we have come together . Relationships are not a problem to be solved but an adventure to be embraced. Conflict is a gift to be unpacked , to embrace, an opportunity to grow , resolve and mature . Conflict can not be resolved at the level with which it was created. We hire the person in our life who is most compatible to help us resolve what is unresolved from our childhood. Our relationship lives in the space between us and it is sacred . This becomes the playground for our children . When there are only two options , take the third option ! Keep the space between you safe and sacred . Honour the space between you , by visiting the other by crossing the bridge . Cross the bridge with an open mind to learn , with curiosity and compassion , leave behind your hurt and trauma. Crossing the bridge is becoming completely present with your partner, listening without interruption, defensiveness or judgement, holding an unconditional space for your partner to share. Beyond right thinking and Beyond wrong thinking there is a field , I will meet you there - This is the third option   Seven principles for Co Creating a Conscious Relationship with The Ultimate Relationship Program   1. The relationship lives in the space between us. 2. The emotional charged part of your partner is the child in them trying to tell their story , allow each other to tell that story by crossing the bridge. 3. We are energy that can [...]

Neuroscience informed group psychotherapy facilitated by trauma specialists at Trauma Recovery Institute Dublin. The advanced group psychotherapy is suitable for psychotherapy students and those who have at least 4 years experience with psychotherapy.The psychotherapeutic approach applied is Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP) which is a very unique blend of interpersonal neurobiology, psychodynamic psychotherapy and transference focused psyschotherapy incorporating the poly vagal theory by stephen porges. This group is a very effective platform to work through the neurobiology of trauma with the nervous system always in mind, keeping the client safe and in felt sense at all times. Trauma can be conceptualized as stemming from a failure of the natural physiological activation and hormonal secretions to organize an effective response to threat. Rather than producing a successful fight or flight response the organism becomes immobilized. Probably the best animal model for this phenomenon is that of ‘inescapable shock,” in which creatures are tortured without being unable to do anything to affect the outcome of events. The resulting failure to fight or flight, that is, the physical immobilization (the freeze response), becomes a conditioned behavioral response. In his book, Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self, Allen Schore has outlined in exquisite detail the psychobiology of early childhood development involving maturation of orbitofrontal and limbic structures based on reciprocal experiences with the caregiver. Dysfunctional associations in this dyadic relationship result in permanent physicochemical and anatomical changes, which have implications for personality development as well as for a wide variety of clinical manifestations. An intimate relationship may exist, with negative child/care giver interaction leading to a state of persisting hypertonicity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems that may profoundly affect the arousal state of the developing child. Sustained hyperarousal in these children may markedly affect behavioral and characterological development. Many traumatized children and [...]

The Role of the Therapist in transforming attachment trauma:  Healing into wholeness takes the active participation of at least one other brain, mind, and body to repair past injuries – and that can be accomplished through a one-to-one therapeutic relationship, a therapeutic group relationship or one that is intimate and loving. In exploring the “age and stage” development of the right hemisphere and prefrontal cortex in childhood, we discover how the presence of a loving caregiver can stimulate certain hormones, which will help support our growing capacity for social engagement and pleasure in all of our relationships. Brain integration leads to connection and love throughout our entire life span. At trauma recovery institute we bring a deep focus to the role of Neuroscience in restoring the brain’s natural attunement to Secure Attachment. Our brain is a social brain – it is primed for connection, not isolation, and its innate quality of plasticity gives it the ability to re-establish, reveal and expand one’s intrinsic healthy attachment system.     The Nine-Step Method for Transforming Trauma by Peter Levine  Step one : Safety - The first thing is that you have to create a sense of relative safety. working with the social engagement system – you have to help the person feel just safe enough to begin to go into their bodies.   Step Two: Mindfullness - From that sense of relative safety created by the therapist and the environment, we help the person support initial exploration and acceptance of sensations. And we do it only a little bit at a time, so they “touch into their sensations” then come back into the room, into themselves.   Step Three: Pendulation - Is a process called “pendulation.” which means, when people first begin to experience their body sensations, they actually feel worse for a moment. It is probably largely because [...]

The way we understand how trauma affects the brain and body has changed a lot in the last several years. We now have deeper insights into the nature of trauma that simply didn’t exist, even a short time ago. Researchers studying trauma can now show what actually happens – in the brain and in our nervous system – during and after a traumatic event. With this new science we’re able to help clients rewire the trauma response and foster healthier integration,and a new way to interpret the world.   Trauma can be conceptualized as stemming from a failure of the natural physiological activation and hormonal secretions to organize an effective response to threat. Rather than producing a successful fight or flight response the organism becomes immobilized. Probably the best animal model for this phenomenon is that of ‘inescapable shock,” in which creatures are tortured without being unable to do anything to affect the outcome of events. The resulting failure to fight or flight, that is, the physical immobilization (the freeze response), becomes a conditioned behavioral response. In his book, Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self, Allen Schore has outlined in exquisite detail the psychobiology of early childhood development involving maturation of orbitofrontal and limbic structures based on reciprocal experiences with the caregiver. Dysfunctional associations in this dyadic relationship result in permanent physicochemical and anatomical changes, which have implications for personality development as well as for a wide variety of clinical manifestations. An intimate relationship may exist, with negative child/care giver interaction leading to a state of persisting hypertonicity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems that may profoundly affect the arousal state of the developing child. Sustained hyperarousal in these children may markedly affect behavioral and characterological development. Many traumatized children and adults, confronted with chronically overwhelming emotions, lose their capacity to use [...]

Every November, World Vegan Month is celebrated around the world as a time to shine a light on the vegan movement.   Strength must build up, not destroy, It should outdo itself, not others who are weaker. Used without responsibility, it causes nothing but harm and death. I can lift the heaviest weights, but I can not take the responsibility off my shoulders.Because the way we use our strength defines our fate. What traces will I leave on my path into the future. Do we really have to kill in order to live? My true strength lies in not seeing weakness as weakness. My strength needs no victims. My strength is my compassion." - Patrik Baboumian ( one of the world's strongest men and a vegan.)   Sign up Now for Professional Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition & Raw Foods   Plant Based academy is a raw and vegan culinary school. Training, educating and empowering students on plant based culinary art, vegan nutritional science and conscious living. Plant Based Academy is the only classically structured raw food course in Europe and world unique in its content, Certification and delivery.Plant Based Academy is Europe’s first and only classically structured plant-based culinary school. Students learn how to work with whole, organic, unprocessed, plant-based foods to achieve healthy, aesthetically refined, nutritionally balanced for maximum absorption of nutrients and flavorful cuisine in the school’s intimate classes. Students’ benefit from personalized instruction that champion’s hands-on experience, within a brand new custom designed, living foods kitchen. Students also gain access to the course material online which is a rich resource of simple recipes, advanced recipes, videos, scientific studies, charts, articles and much more. Read More about Plant Based Academy.   Raw Food Mastery Level III Certification The Level III course includes our full 12 modules both [...]

Introduction to Conscious Parenting 6 week course at Conscious Parenting Ireland  This amazing new course is a level 1 certification course on conscious parenting which takes place at 24 lower baggot street on fridays from 10 am to 1pm, there are a maximum of 8 spaces in this class. The class will be in a group format and will be an intensive 6 week journey into conscious parenting. Fee is just 500 Euro payable upfront. book your space now with deposit of 250 Euro. To book your place fill in your details below and we will email you payment details and also answer any questions you may have. Course starts in December, exact date to be confirmed and course ends in January. Conscious parenting is parenting through connection instead of coercion, through love instead of fear.Conscious Parenting recognizes that securing and maintaining a healthy parent-child bond is our primary work as parents and the key to our children's optimal human development. Our effectiveness as parents is in direct proportion to the strength of the bond we have with our child. Connection Parenting promotes parenting practices that support a strong, healthy parent-child bond.The Latest Neuroscience now confirms attachement theory and the critical importance of the parent child attachment, This above all will influence the appropriate brain development of your child and influence the adult your child will become. The model of parenting most of us grew up with was authoritarian parenting, which is based on fear. Some of us may have grown up with permissive parenting, which is also based on fear. Authoritarian parenting is based on the child's fear of losing the parent's love. Permissive parenting is based on the parent's fear of losing the child's love. Connection parenting is based on love instead of fear. Connection Parenting recognizes that securing and [...]

Going vegan is one of the most positive things you can do for yourself, the planet and of course, the animals and thankfully it has never been easier to do! To put it simply, you avoid consuming animal products or supporting animal exploitation as far as practically possible.  The following is everything I think you need to know to make the transition to a vegan lifestyle not only easy, but enjoyable, rewarding, and the most beneficial for you and for animals.   1. Get Motivated   To make a change in your life you need to be inspired enough to do it. The following videos will give you a strong motivation to go vegan!   EARTHLINGS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwPNpy6TJf8 Yes, it is graphic. Yes, you will want to turn away. It's not uncommon to burst into tears. This movie sheds light on the horrifying reality of what animals go through for fashion, food, entertainment and vivisection. If you think it's hard to watch, imagine what it would feel like if it was you in their place.   101 REASONS TO GO VEGAN www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-F8whzJfJY 1.5 trillion innocent beings are mutilated, tortured and killed for food and products that are easily avoidable and completely unnecessary. So that is already 1.5 trillion reasons to go vegan. This is a powerful, myth shattering, truth telling presentation that will leave you wondering how you ever valued your taste buds as more important than an animals life.   FORKS OVER KNIVES www.forksoverknives.com Now, you can kick back and enjoy listening to some of the world's leading experts explain the many health benefits you will gain from cutting animal products from your diet. There is absolutely no nutrient in animal products you don't get from a vegan diet. It's a win for animals and a win for us! The film examines [...]

Did you know, that when a baby is born, his/her brain is ½ the size of an adult brain? By the time he/she is 3 years old, the brain has grown to 80% size of an adult brain. This is incredible growth, in just 3 years. So how does the brain work, and how can we foster this development?   The Working Brain Within the brain there are billions of nerve cells, known as neurons. The neurons have to connect with other brain cells in order to work. Some of these connections are present from birth – for example, the ability to breathe, to suck, to cry and others occur as the baby grows and develops. The connections occur when experiences or skills are repeated over and over. For example you don’t learn how to fly a plane with just one lesson – you need multiple opportunities to practise in order to be competent. Babies are the same – in order to learn to walk, or stack blocks or feed themselves – it doesn’t happen with just one instruction from us. This is why a young baby will drop toys (or food!) over the high chair repeatedly. Parents often think that the child doesn’t want the object. What the baby is learning, is when I drop this book, it goes bang, and when I do it again, it still goes bang. When I drop the orange it rolls away, sometimes it rolls left, sometimes right… they are looking to make the connection (in their brain) between action and response. Once they’ve dropped the book often enough, then they no longer need to do it, because they know it will go bang. Fostering Brain Development Whilst our skulls are hard, the brain within is fragile, and like glass, can be easily damaged. [...]

Codependency is an emotional disorder that causes sufferers to ignore their own needs while constantly fulfilling the needs of others. A sufferer may forfeit his or her own well-being and values in the pursuit of assisting someone else. After experiencing relationship trauma, codependents often form unhealthy relationships due to feelings of low self-worth. Codependents often enter relationships with individuals who are irresponsible, emotionally detached or excessively needy. Such relationships are likely to be  emotionally and sometimes physically abusive. As a result, codependents tend to be downtrodden and oppressed in their relationships. Individuals suffering from codependency will repress their emotions and needs to the point that they are subjected to relationship trauma and extremely low self-esteem. If unaddressed, codependency continues, causing individuals to cope with their emotions by abusing alcohol, drugs, sex or food. Those who seek emotional relief in food can develop eating disorders without realizing the transition. At Trauma Recovery Institute, we help clients look beyond their symptoms and consider the emotional and relational trauma behind codependency in order to better understand their unhealthy coping mechanisms.   Working with co dependency at Trauma Recovery Institute Trauma Recovery Institute offers unparalleled services and treatment approach through unique individual and group psychotherapy. We specialise in long-term relational trauma recovery, sexual trauma recovery and early childhood trauma recovery. We also offer specialized group psychotherapy for psychotherapists and psychotherapy students, People struggling with addictions and substance abuse, sexual abuse survivors and people looking to function in life at a higher level. Trauma recovery Institute offers a very safe supportive space for deep relational work with highly skilled and experienced psychotherapists accredited with Irish Group Psychotherapy Society (IGPS), which holds the highest accreditation standard in Europe. Trauma Recovery Institute uses a highly structured psychotherapeutic approach called Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP). At Trauma Recovery Institute we address three [...]

Desire is a fundamental part of our freedom and happiness. Too many people are unsatisfied with the level of passion in their relationship…when often the path to a wonderful sexuality is just under the surface. But we’re too self-conscious, afraid of rejection or complacent to do anything about it. We spend full weekends at business conferences to learn what’s new and hot in our industries, the days training for that upcoming half marathon, we take up new languages and learn to cook homemade pasta…but when it comes to sex, we’re supposed to know everything we already need to know from terrible sex education in our youth, porn, and conversations with friends. When’s the last time you spent dedicated time learning about, and taking focused steps to improve the one thing that matters most? Great lovers aren’t born, they’re made. And it’s never too late to have an amazing sex life.   Embodied Tantra Coaching for working with difficulties in Sex, Intimacy and Relationships Learn how to be fully alive, fully present with a rich connection with self and your partner, this allows for the richest of human experiences. Learn effective communication skills, and “dissolve” relationship problems created by affairs, projections, past traumas and attachment difficulties. We belive that the relationship is not broken but is a mirror of what needs to be resolved within ourselves and within our relationships. Our relationship coaching approach is based on Imago therapy, encounter centered couples therapy and dynamic psychosocialsomatic psychotherapy. A Tantra coaching session results in re-connection, restores compassion, forgiveness and intimacy, teaches how to make authentic mutual amends, and rebuilds mutual trust for a new future together. Our tantra coaching sessions are suitable for single people, individuals from challenging relationships and for couples. Tantra coaching for working through difficulties with sex, intimacy and relationships, empowering [...]

Essential, data-derived advice for leading a happy, healthy life, shared by researcher and psychiatrist Robert Waldinger. Have you ever wished you could fast-forward your life so you could see if the decisions you’re making will lead to satisfaction and health in the future? In the world of scientific research, the closest you can get to that is by looking at the Harvard Study of Adult Development — a study that has tracked the lives of 724 men for 78 years, and one of the longest studies of adult life ever done. Investigators surveyed the group every two years about their physical and mental health, their professional lives, their friendships, their marriages — and also subjected them to periodic in-person interviews, medical exams, blood tests and brain scans. With a front-row seat on these men’s lives, researchers have been able to track their circumstances and choices and see how the effects ripple through their lives. Psychiatrist Robert J. Waldinger, the study’s director and principal investigator, shared some of the major lessons in a popular TED Talk (What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness). The big takeaways from that talk: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier, and loneliness kills. But there were, of course, many more lessons to be learned — the study has yielded more than 100 published papers so far, with enough data for “scores more” — and Waldinger shares four of them here.  1. A happy childhood has very, very long-lasting effects. Having warm relationships with parents in childhood was a good predictor you’ll have warmer and more secure relationships with those closest to you when you’re an adult. Happy childhoods had the power to extend across decades to predict more secure relationships that people had with their spouses in their 80s, as well as [...]

Nobody can "treat" a war, or abuse, rape, molestation, or any other horrendous event, for that matter; what has happened cannot be undone. But what can be dealt with are the imprints of the trauma on body, mind, and soul: the crushing sensations in your chest that you may label as anxiety or depression; the fear of losing control; always being on alert for danger or rejection; the self-loathing; the nightmares and flashbacks; the fog that keeps you from staying on task and from engaging fully in what you are doing; being unable to fully open your heart to another human being. Trauma robs you of the feeling that you are in charge of yourself. The challenge of recovery is to reestablish ownership of your body and your mind - of your self. This means feeling free to know what you know and to feel what you feel without becoming overwhelmed, enraged, ashamed, or collapsed. For most people this involves (1) finding a way to become calm and focused, (2) learning to maintain that calm in response to images, thoughts, sounds, or physical sensations that remind you of the past, (3) finding a way to be fully alive in the present and engaged with the people around you, (4) not having to keep secrets from yourself, including secrets about the ways that you have managed to survive. - Bessel Van Der Kolk     Treatment of Relational and complex Trauma at Trauma Recovery Institute Trauma Recovery Institute offers unparalleled services and treatment approach through unique individual and group psychotherapy. We specialise in long-term relational trauma recovery, sexual trauma recovery and early childhood trauma recovery. We also offer specialized group psychotherapy for psychotherapists and psychotherapy students, People struggling with addictions and substance abuse, sexual abuse survivors and people looking to function [...]

When we meet our partners, we make an unconscious contract to help each other resolve emotional injuries of the past , we unconsciously pick or hire the perfect person to trigger this stored painful memory of our past , it is for this exact reason we have come together . Relationships are not a problem to be solved but an adventure to be embraced. Conflict is a gift to be unpacked , to embrace, an opportunity to grow , resolve and mature . Conflict can not be resolved at the level with which it was created. We hire the person in our life who is most compatible to help us resolve what is unresolved from our childhood. Our relationship lives in the space between us and it is sacred . This becomes the playground for our children . When there are only two options , take the third option ! Keep the space between you safe and sacred . Honour the space between you , by visiting the other by crossing the bridge . Cross the bridge with an open mind to learn , with curiosity and compassion , leave behind your hurt and trauma. Crossing the bridge is becoming completely present with your partner, listening without interruption, defensiveness or judgement, holding an unconditional space for your partner to share. Beyond right thinking and Beyond wrong thinking there is a field , I will meet you there - This is the third option   Seven principles for conscious relationships 1. The relationship lives in the space between us. 2. The emotional charged part of your partner is the child in them trying to tell their story , allow each other to tell that story by crossing the bridge. 3. We are energy that can be positive and negative , be aware of this [...]

At conscious parenting Ireland we offer individual parenting consultations and conscious parenting weekly groups to explore conscious parenting and optimal child development with one or both parents. A parenting philosophy is relevant only to the extent that it promotes parenting practices which support secure bonding. Our effectiveness as parents is in direct proportion to the strength of the bond we have with our child. Securing and maintaining that bond is our primary work as parents and is the key to optimal human development. If as parents we have not resolved our own history of insecure attachment with our own caregivers, trauma and/or neglect as a child then it becomes extremely difficult to establish and maintain a secure bond with our children. We pass down trauma from one generation to another and learnt maladaptive interpersonal behaviours are communicated consciously and unconsciously encoded in verbal and non verbal interactions with our children. If we have not had a present loving caring safe nurturing attuned parent , then it will be extremely difficult for us to provide this for our children. Individual consultations and group work are extremely effective in supporting parents to explore and heal from their own traumatic histories whilst also learning effect toools and healthy parenting skills to create secure bonds with their children which is necessary for optimal brain development. Our nervous system is experience dependant, our early experiences are wired into our nervous system. If we grow up in a stressed anxious home, then we become stressed and anxious as adults. Our Conscious Parenting group takes place weekly. This group is a support group for parents facilitated through the framework of conscious parenting philosophy and a safe supprtive space to explore your own attachment styles.     Dr. Maté speaking for the Healing our Children 2016 World Summit [...]

Neuroscience informed group psychotherapy facilitated by trauma specialists at Trauma Recovery Institute Dublin. The advanced group psychotherapy is suitable for psychotherapy students and those who have at least 4 years experience with psychotherapy.The psychotherapeutic approach applied is Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP) which is a very unique blend of interpersonal neurobiology, psychodynamic psychotherapy and transference focused psyschotherapy incorporating the poly vagal theory by stephen porges. This group is a very effective platform to work through the neurobiology of trauma with the nervous system always in mind, keeping the client safe and in felt sense at all times.     Treatment of Relational and complex Trauma at Trauma Recovery Institute Trauma Recovery Institute offers unparalleled services and treatment approach through unique individual and group psychotherapy. We specialise in long-term relational trauma recovery, sexual trauma recovery and early childhood trauma recovery. We also offer specialized group psychotherapy for psychotherapists and psychotherapy students, People struggling with addictions and substance abuse, sexual abuse survivors and people looking to function in life at a higher level. Trauma recovery Institute offers a very safe supportive space for deep relational work with highly skilled and experienced psychotherapists accredited with Irish Group Psychotherapy Society (IGPS), which holds the highest accreditation standard in Europe. Trauma Recovery Institute uses a highly structured psychotherapeutic approach called Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP). At Trauma Recovery Institute we address three of the core Attachment Styles, their origin’s the way they reveal themselves in relationships, and methods for transforming attachment hurt into healing. We use the latest discoveries in Neuroscience which enhances our capacity for deepening intimacy. The foundation for establishing healthy relationships relies on developing secure attachment skills, thus increasing your sensitivity for contingency and relational attunement. According to Allan Schore, the regulatory function of the brain is experience-dependent and he says that, as an infant, [...]

At conscious parenting Ireland we offer individual parenting consultations to explore conscious parenting and optimal child development with one or both parents. A parenting philosophy is relevant only to the extent that it promotes parenting practices which support secure bonding. Our effectiveness as parents is in direct proportion to the strength of the bond we have with our child. Securing and maintaining that bond is our primary work as parents and is the key to optimal human development. If as parents we have not resolved our own history of insecure attachment with our own caregivers, trauma and/or neglect as a child then it becomes extremely difficult to establish and maintain a secure bond with our children. We pass down trauma from one generation to another and learnt maladaptive interpersonal behaviours are communicated consciously and unconsciously encoded in verbal and non verbal interactions with our children. If we have not had a present loving caring safe nurturing attuned parent , then it will be extremely difficult for us to provide this for our children. Individual consultations and group work are extremely effective in supporting parents to explore and heal from their own traumatic histories whilst also learning effect toools and health parenting skills to create secure bonds with their children which is necessary for optimal brain development. Our nervous system is experience dependant, our early experiences are wired into our nervous system. If we grow up in a stressed anxious home, then we become stressed and anxious as adults.   Dr. Maté speaking for the Healing our Children 2016 World Summit on why he believes that every disorder and disease has its roots in early childhood, why our culture hasn't supported healthy childhood development for years, and what we can do about it. Dr. Mate confirms that raher than looking at [...]

Group Psychotherapy, why it is good for all of us. As humans we are social animals who remains group-oriented to ensure survival, connection and belonging. Our lives begin in family groups and we function thereafter as members of groups at school, work and in communities. The origin of the power of the group as an agent of change to promote healing lies buried in antiquity. But, as noted by Rutan and Alonso (1979), group psychotherapy, where one’s family and community are represented in the room, provides unique opportunities to work on issues of intimacy and individuation. It is well known that anyone with a history of destructive relationships will continue, long into adult life, continue to attract destructive relationships into their lives as a debilitating and painful life pattern. Group Psychotherapy becomes a very powerful platform to change this pattern as it is explored within a framework of healthy relating within the group. Even for those without a history of overt trauma can carry behaviors from primary relationships as a child and continue these behaviors into adult life even when these behaviors do not serve as healthy prerequisites for healthy, happy and intimate relationships. In a sense these unconscious behaviors get in the way of Life, very often it can be difficult to make sense of why life is not working as we would like or relationships are not as successful as we would like and without a platform such as Group Psychotherapy, it is very difficult to explore these behaviors and work through these early relational patterns that are getting in the way of health and happiness.   "Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more — more unseen forms become [...]

Everything that comes into contact with your skin is absorbed into your body, processed and detoxified by your liver. Conventional body “care” products are laced with chemicals that disrupt hormones and the body’s natural balance. A great exercise is to go through your bathroom cabinets and read the labels of all your body care products. Count how many chemicals you would usually be adding to your body on a daily basis.   Skin Flora - S. epidermidis Skin flora or skin microbiota is the bacteria living on the skin which is usually non-pathogenic, and either commensal (are not harmful to their host) or mutualistic (offer a benefit). The benefits bacteria can offer include preventing transient pathogenic organisms from colonizing the skin surface, either by competing for nutrients, secreting chemicals against them, or stimulating the skin's immune system. The skin barrier is critical for survival, preventing the escape of moisture and invasion by infectious or toxic substances (Segre 2006). The skin is also an intricate habitat for a diverse population of microbiota. During the birthing process and subsequent exposure to the post-natal environment, the skin is colonized by a wide array of microbes, many of which are commensal or symbiotic. Proposed beneficial roles of resident microbiota include inhibition of pathogenic species and further processing of skin proteins, free fatty acids, and sebum (Roth and James 1988). The skin is composed of a variety of niches, including regions with a broad range of pH, temperature, moisture, and sebum content. Furthermore, skin structures such as hair follicles, sebaceous, eccrine, and apocrine glands comprise subhabitats that may be associated with their own unique microbiota (Marples 1965; Kearney et al. 1984).Such as S. epidermidis. The removal of S. epidermidis (i.e. through overuse of topical antibiotics, soaps and sun blocks) may be detrimental to the host [...]

The term Emotional Incest (also known as covert incest or psychic incest) describes a relationship between parents and children that is sexualized, without actual incest/sexual contact. The relationships are harmful and one-sided, and similar to a relationship between adult sexual partners but without the type of physical contact that would qualify it as child sexual abuse. The effects are similar to, though less severe, than that of actual incest. The definition of Emotional Incest has a broad set of criteria. Basically, Emotional Incest, is a covert incest, a form of emotional abuse in which the relationship between a parent and a child is inappropriately sexualized without actual sexual contact. Often substance abuse, as seen through the alcoholic dependent needy dysfunctional parent for instance, is associated with covert incest. The effects of this covert incest somewhat mimic sexual incest but often to a lesser degree. The victims have been described as having anger or guilt towards parents and issues with self-esteem, addiction and sexual and emotional intimacy Emotional Incest started to be recognized about 25 or 30 years ago. It has primarily been defined by the few researchers and therapists who acknowledge it and work with it, as as an emotionally abusive relationship between a parent (or step-parent) and child that does not involve incest or sexual intercourse. It involves similar interpersonal dynamics much like the relationship between sexual partners. Particularly similar to ‘old time’ seasoned partners who have gotten comfortable with each other, marriages where sex is no longer the prime purpose in their lives, but the emotional support and bond is strong between the members of the relationship. Think of the couple that has been married for many years, sex has waned, or is non-existent, but they still rely on each other, and at times need each other, for [...]

The following are some Characteristics of sex and love addiction that we have used to hide the progressive loss of self, which is at the heart of the disease:   Having few healthy boundaries, we become emotionally and sexually involved with people without knowing them. Out of fear of abandonment or loneliness, we stay in or return to painful, destructive relationships, always struggling to conceal our dependency. Real intimacy is rare, if it has ever existed. Fearing emotional or sexual deprivation, we compulsively pursue and involve ourselves with one relationship after another, sometimes having more than one sexual or emotional affair at a time. We confuse love with such things as neediness intensity, pity, sexual or physical attraction, being a victim or being a rescuer. We feel empty or incomplete when we are alone. Though we fear both intimacy and commitment, we continually search for relationships or sexual contacts. We sexualize stress, guilt loneliness, anger, fear and envy. We use sex or emotional dependence as substitutes for nurturing, support and understanding. We manipulate and control others with drama and sexuality We become immobilized or seriously distracted by sexual or romantic obsessions and fantasies. We avoid personal responsibility by attaching ourselves to people who are emotionally unavailable. We stay in denial about our addiction to emotional intensity, romantic intrigue and compulsive sexual activity. To avoid feeling vulnerable, we may retreat from all intimate involvement mistaking sexual and emotional anorexia for recovery. We assign magical qualities to others. We idealize and pursue them, then we blame them for not fulfilling our fantasies and expectations.     Sex is one of the most powerful forces in the human condition. It can drive individuals to the pinnacle of emotional and physical ecstasy or, conversely, spiral other people into depths of despair and anguish. The [...]

Exposure to extreme threat, particularly early in life, combined with a lack of adequate caregiving responses significantly affect the long-term capacity of the human organism to modulate the response of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in response to subsequent stress. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is primarily geared to mobilization by preparing the body for action by increasing cardiac output, stimulating sweat glands, and by inhibiting the gastrointestinal tract. Since the SNS has long been associated with emotion, a great deal of work on the role of the SNS has been collected to identify autonomic “signatures” of specific affective states. Overall, increased adrenergic activity is found in about two-thirds of traumatized children and adults. The parasympathetic branch of the ANS not only influences HR independently of the sympathetic branch, but makes a greater contribution to HR, including resting HR. Vagal fibers originating in the brainstem affect emotional and behavioral responses to stress by inhibiting sympathetic influence to the sinoatrial node and promoting rapid decreases in metabolic output that enable almost instantaneous shifts in behavioral state. The parasympathetic system consists of two branches: the ventral vagal complex (VVC) and the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) systems. The DVC is primarily associated with digestive, taste, and hypoxic responses in mammals. The DVC contributes to pathophysiological conditions including the formation of ulcers via excess gastric secretion and colitis. In contrast, the VVC has the primary control of supradiaphragmatic visceral organs including the larynx, pharynx, bronchi, esophagus, and heart. The VVC inhibits the mobilization of the SNS, enabling rapid engagement and disengagement in the environment. "A great body of evidence suggests that prenatal insults represent main risk factors for developing schizophrenia later in life and that exposure to a very different range of prenatal insults seems to converge to comparable effects on the fetal [...]

Transferences, unlike descriptive unconscious processes are dynamically repressed object attachments that transfer in the wrong place with compulsive, repetitive and affective charge. - Freud Transference, Countertransference and reenactment in Therapy by Richard B. Gartner- Director of centre for the study of psychological Trauma and The Sexual Abuse Program New York city. Recurrent themes affecting the transference and countertransference with people who have suffered huge trauma in early childhood, start with the patient’s wariness of the therapist and the dangers involved in intimacy. In addition, dependency, reliance and counter dependent and counter phobic defenses tend to emerge, often-cloaked in overt idealization of the therapist. In this idealization, patients may expect the therapist to be all attentive, nurturing, non-seductive and nonabusing parent who will heal and undo the trauma. All these themes tend to appear in concerns about boundaries, secrecy, control and power and in dicussion of fees, confidentiality, and other issues related to the frame of the treatment. Behavioral reenactments in treatment allow a patient to communicate previously dissociated and therefore unsymbolised, material to the therapist. By exploring verbally what has been communicated through behavior the therapist and patient initiate a process by which the dissociated material becomes encoded in language, and therefore available for conscious consideration.Behaviors associated with a reenactment in therapy are unconscious messages from the patient to the therapist and to himself about a traumatic past. They represent an attempt to bypass the need for symbolized experience. Reenactments are most likely to occur when the patient has a reduced capacity for self-reflection, another result of being unable to verbalize traumatic experiences that were never encoded when they first occurred, as a result of not have a present witness to their pain. Memories became trapped encased within a wordless world. Incapable of articulating what he has never symbolized verbally, [...]

Personality disorder, as a term, may sound negative and judgmental and it is important to have a clear understanding with our patients of the meaning of the term. We explain that there is a group of disorders in the DSM-V, six of them to be specific, that are thought to be long-term and enduring, in contrast to episodic, personality styles that at their core are defined by difficulties in the person’s subjective, internal sense of identity, and chronic difficulties in his or her interpersonal relationships. It is noteworthy that the DSM-V description of personality disorders includes this emphasis on sense of self and relations with others more than the previous editions of the DSM did. We explain that the six different styles have many overlapping features and that most people have a mixture of those styles, but most importantly, that when people personify and live out any of those styles with a certain consistency, inflexibility, and in such a way that causes a certain level of distress in one’s emotional and interpersonal life, they meet criteria for a personality disorder. For patients with BPD, in reviewing the DSM-IV symptoms that the particular patient in question meets, we note that there are different sub-types of BPD patients, each with different sets of primary or most-problematic features. Some may be more impulsive and overtly inappropriately angry, whereas others may be more “under the radar,” characterized more prominently by the sense of emptiness, fears of abandonment, suicidal feelings, and more subtle shifts in their experience of others, from idealizing others to more quietly feeling devaluing or contemptuous of them. So with each patient we explain our understanding of his or her BPD symptoms. We also find it helpful to give an overview of BPD as a disorder comprising difficulties in four areas: 1) [...]

The Polyvagal Theory is the product of decades of research by Dr Stephen Porges and his team at the Brain-Body Center in the University of Illinois, Chicago. Adopted by clinicians around the world, the Polyvagal Theory has provided exciting new insights into the way our autonomic nervous system unconsciously mediates social engagement, trust, and intimacy, and how these may be influenced by our interactions with others.It was whilst studying the evolution of the nervous system that Porges first made an important discovery concerning the vagus nerve which alters the way we understand autonomic nervous system functions. Before this time it was widely understood that our autonomic nervous system operated in a balanced sympathetic/parasympathetic manner, but Porges research changed this through two discoveries; firstly that the vagus nerve in mammals has not one but two branches, and secondly that the newest branch is able to inhibit other nervous system activity. Porges research showed that in the process of evolution, animals first developed immobilised defense responses (innervated by the vagus/parasympathetic system) –where they would adaptively collapse, shut down or feign death when faced with threats. Over time, the nervous system evolved to enable mobilised responses to threat through the activation of a sympathetic nervous system. This mobilised circuitry was able to speed up the heart and lungs, and act on the same visceral organs as the parasympathetic system, in order to promote adaptive fight, flight and active freeze responses to threat. The third stage of evoluntionary development saw the addition of a newer branch of the vagus nerve which is also able to slow the heart and lungs and which links the innervation of these two with the use of facial nerves involved in social engagement. For this reason, Porges theory proposes that this newer Vagal ̳brake‘ evolved in order to make [...]

It’s almost common knowledge that many people who experienced trauma as children have a harder time in adult life. Indeed, over the past few decades, well-designed studies have verified this impression by finding that a great number of such people really do have a greater chance of depression, anxiety, or other psychological disorders, behavioral and social problems, and poorer health outcomes. Mental illness, addiction & most chronic illness is linked to childhood loss & trauma (Gabor Maté) Less well known is that trauma – even in the absence of physical trauma– can have negative impacts on the brain itself that last into adulthood. Studies on the neurological effects of stress and trauma have consistently shown structural and functional neurological changes, though the specific nature of these changes is currently unclear. A consistent theme, however, is that trauma especially affects one of the body’s key stress response systems, the HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis. For example, the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory and emotion and rich in receptors for stress hormones, has been shown to be smaller in traumatized adults – including adults traumatized as children – than in those without such history. Children can be traumatized not only by the same things that can traumatize adults – for example, direct physical/sexual abuse, natural disasters, or events related to war – but also by experiences that would likely affect an adult differently or not at all, such as neglect, verbal aggression, witnessing abuse within the family, a chaotic home environment, or inadequate nutrition. In a way, this stands to reason, because these experiences may subvert the critical developmental stages a child passes through on the way to adulthood.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOeQUwdAjE0 A person who experiences early trauma, regardless of its source, does not feel welcomed into the world. When, at the [...]

Depression is a common symptom of hypothyroidism, yet many people become frustrated when their thyroid hormone medication does not relieve depression. This is because the effects of hypothyroidism on the brain are more complicated than people realize and thyroid hormone medication alone may not solve brain-based problems such as depression. The problem is many people suffer from hypothyroidism for years before receiving diagnosis and treatment, raising their likelihood of developing brain-based issues–sufficient thyroid hormone is vital to good brain health. Thyroid hormones facilitate function of the brain’s neurotransmitters, chemicals that communicate information throughout the bran and body. They also prevent brain inflammation and reduce the risk of developing an autoimmune reaction in the brain. When doctors in the standard health care model fail to properly manage hypothyroidism, they increase their patients’ risks for brain-based disorders.   Hypothyroidism and neurotransmitters   Neurotransmitters play a role in shaping who we are and how we perceive ourselves and the world around us. They influence our moods, memory and learning, self-esteem, anxiety levels, motivation, and more. I think this explains why some people who have been suffering for years with unresolved thyroid symptoms can become grouchy, angry, and pessimistic. That reflects not who they are necessarily, but instead their worsening brain function. As neurotransmitter function begins to fail due to thyroid hormone deficiency, the brain’s cells increasingly lose the ability to communicate with one another. This lack of activity causes neurons to die, creating accelerated brain degeneration in those pathways. When it comes to brain health, if you don’t use it you lose it—inactive neurons are swept up and discarded by the brain’s immune system. This is a scenario that cause a variety of symptoms, one of the more common being depression. When thyroid hormone replacement fails to resolve your depression you may need to support [...]

Leaky Gut Syndrome (LGS) is a major cause of disease and dysfunction in modern society, accounts for at least 50% of chronic complaints, as confirmed by laboratory tests. In LGS, the epithelium on the villi of the small intestine becomes inflamed and irritated, which allows metabolic and microbial toxins of the small intestines to flood into the blood stream. This event compromises the liver, the lymphatic system, and the immune response including the endocrine system. Some of the most incurable diseases are caused by this exact mechanism, where the body attacks its own tissues. This is commonly called auto-immune disease. It is often the primary cause of the following common conditions: asthma, food allergies, chronic sinusitis, eczema, urticaria, migraine, irritable bowel, fungal disorders, fibromyalgia, and inflammatory joint disorders including rheumatoid arthritis are just a few of the diseases that can originate with leaky gut. It also contributes to PMS, uterine fibroid, and breast fibroid. Leaky Gut Syndrome is often the real basis for chronic fatigue syndrome and pediatric immune deficiencies. Leaky Gut Syndrome is reaching epidemic proportions within the population. Historically, the only way bowel toxins entered the blood stream was through trauma, for example by sword or spear. This quickly led to septicemia that might be treatable, or more probably, ended in death. Outside of trauma, the body maintained a wonderfully effective selective barrier in the small intestine, one that allowed nutrients to enter, but kept out metabolic wastes and microbial toxins rampant in the intestines.   What Modern Event Allowed Such A Break-Down? Primarily it has been antibiotics, secondarily non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, Motrin, Aleve and Advil) with NSAIDs being the major cause of leaky gut because they so viciously inflame the intestinal lining, causing a widening of the spaces between cells and sometimes hemorrhaging. Other common causes are chemotherapy, ingested alcohol, inhaled formaldehyde from [...]

The gut (gastrointestinal tract) is the long tube that starts at the mouth and ends at the back passage (anus). The mouth is the first part of the gut (gastrointestinal tract). When we eat, food passes down the gullet (oesophagus), into the stomach, and then into the small intestine. The small intestine has three sections - the duodenum, jejunum and ileum. The duodenum is the first part of the small intestine and follows on from the stomach. The duodenum curls around the pancreas creating a c-shaped tube. The jejunum and ileum make up the rest of the small intestine and are found coiled in the centre of the tummy (abdomen). The small intestine is the place where food is digested and absorbed into the bloodstream. Following on from the ileum is the first part of the large intestine, called the caecum. Attached to the caecum is the appendix. The large intestine continues upwards from here and is known as the ascending colon. The next part of the gut is called the transverse colon because it crosses the body. It then becomes the descending colon as it heads downwards. The sigmoid colon is the s-shaped final part of the colon which leads on to the rectum. Stools (faeces) are stored in the rectum and pushed out through the back passage (anus) when you go to the toilet. The anus is a muscular opening that is usually closed unless you are passing stool. The large intestine absorbs water and contains food that has not been digested, such as fibre. The gut (gastrointestinal tract) processes food - from the time it is first eaten until it is either absorbed by the body or passed out as stools (faeces). The process of digestion begins in the mouth. Here your teeth and chemicals made by [...]

Professional spacious clinical room available to Rent on flexible terms in Dublin 1 and in Dublin 12. This is not a Lease or Sub Lease. Both rooms newly renovated and very clean. Suitable for counselling, nutritional therapy & consulting, psychotherapy, psychology assessments and consultations. Commitment is monthly fee in advance for the requested time. Both rooms are in fantastic location and easily accessible via public transport with parking also available. Please express interest in the form below. Ideal from Psychology and Psychotherapy.

Conscious parenting is parenting through connection instead of coercion, through love instead of fear.Conscious Parenting recognizes that securing and maintaining a healthy parent-child bond is our primary work as parents and the key to our children's optimal human development. Our effectiveness as parents is in direct proportion to the strength of the bond we have with our child. Connection Parenting promotes parenting practices that support a strong, healthy parent-child bond.The Latest Neuroscience now confirms attachement theory and the critical importance of the parent child attachment, This above all will influence the appropriate brain development of your child and influence the adult your child will become. The model of parenting most of us grew up with was authoritarian parenting, which is based on fear. Some of us may have grown up with permissive parenting, which is also based on fear. Authoritarian parenting is based on the child's fear of losing the parent's love. Permissive parenting is based on the parent's fear of losing the child's love. Connection parenting is based on love instead of fear. Connection Parenting recognizes that securing and maintaining a healthy parent-child bond is our primary work as parents and the key to our children's optimal human development. Our effectiveness as parents is in direct proportion to the strength of the bond we have with our child. Connection Parenting promotes parenting practices that support a strong, healthy parent-child bond. Both authoritarian parenting and permissive parenting are reactive. Connection parenting is proactive. Rather than focusing on ways to discipline children when their feelings of disconnection result in uncooperative or unacceptable behavior, Connection Parenting focuses on ways to maintain and increase the parent-child bond/connection. Connection parenting is an ideal, a navigation star we can look to for guidance. Whenever we question how to respond to a child we can ask ourselves, will [...]

How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health. Combining cutting-edge neuroscience with the latest discoveries on the human microbiome, a practical guide in the tradition of The Second Brain, and The Good Gut that conclusively demonstrates the inextricable, biological link between mind and the digestive system. We have all experienced the connection between our mind and our gut—the decision we made because it “felt right”; the butterflies in our stomach before a big meeting; the anxious stomach rumbling we get when we’re stressed out. While the dialogue between the gut and the brain has been recognized by ancient healing traditions, including Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, Western medicine has by and large failed to appreciate the complexity of how the brain, gut, and more recently, the gut microbiota—the microorganisms that live inside our digestive tract—communicate with one another. In our 8 week Life Change Program you will gain a greater understanding of Neurobiology of Stress and how this impacts your brain and gut, our gut repair program is a powerful online tool with comprehensive practical steps teaching you how to harness the power of the mind-gut connection to take charge of your health and listen to the innate wisdom of your body.   Read more about The 8 Week Life Change Program with Plant Based Academy The latest in Gut-Brain Research is showimng us: ∙ Why consuming a predominantly plant-based diet is key for gut and brain health. ∙ The importance of early childhood in gut-brain development. . What parents can do to help their children thrive in gut - brain development. . The role of excessive stress and anxiety in GI ailments and cognitive disorders. . How to “listen to your gut” and pay attention to the signals your body is sending [...]

Intimate relationships are our universities of the heart. In them we will find challenges and blessings, ecstasy and sorrows, and come to realise that our lovers are our mirrors and we are reflected in their eyes. If there is conflict in our relationships it is because we ourselves are in conflict; if there is joy and fulfillment it is because we have found peace within ourselves. ~Ross Haven   When we meet our partners, we make an unconscious contract to help each other resolve emotional injuries of the past , we unconsciously pick or hire the perfect person to trigger this stored painful memory of our past , it is for this exact reason we have come together . Relationships are not a problem to be solved but an adventure to be embraced. Conflict is a gift to be unpacked , to embrace, an opportunity to grow , resolve and mature . Conflict can not be resolved at the level with which it was created. We hire the person in our life who is most compatible to help us resolve what is unresolved from our childhood. Our relationship lives in the space between us and it is sacred . This becomes the playground for our children . When there are only two options , take the third option ! Keep the space between you safe and sacred . Honour the space between you , by visiting the other by crossing the bridge . Cross the bridge with an open mind to learn , with curiosity and compassion , leave behind your hurt and trauma. Crossing the bridge is becoming completely present with your partner, listening without interruption, defensiveness or judgement, holding an unconditional space for your partner to share.   Beyond right thinking and Beyond wrong thinking there is a field , I [...]

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest investigations ever conducted to assess associations between childhood maltreatment and later-life health and well-being. The study is a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente's Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego. More than 17,000 Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) members undergoing a comprehensive physical examination chose to provide detailed information about their childhood experience of abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction. To date, more than 50 scientific articles have been published and more than100 conference and workshop presentations have been made. The ACE Study findings suggest that certain experiences are major risk factors for the leading causes of illness and death as well as poor quality of life. Neglect, physical abuse, custodial interference and sexual abuse are types of child maltreatment that can lead to poor physical and mental health well into adulthood. It is critical to understand how some of the worst health and social problems in our nation can arise as a consequence of adverse childhood experiences. Realizing these connections is likely to improve efforts towards prevention and recovery. If you are suffering with an illness or addiction, finding relationships challenging, attracting the wrong people into your life, continously falling in love with an emotionally unavailable partners, struggling with porn, sex & love addictions, or struggling to find joy in life. There is a very high possibility that you have suffered adverse childhood experiences regardless of how covert they may seem and when left unresolved can manifest in a host of life challenges with Money, Sex, relationships, mental Health, emotional health and physical health. It is important to note that working through early childhood adverse experiences is not about blaming parents, and does not have to mean talking for long periods of time about [...]

Trauma can be conceptualized as stemming from a failure of the natural physiological activation and hormonal secretions to organize an effective response to threat. Rather than producing a successful fight or flight response the organism becomes immobilized. Probably the best animal model for this phenomenon is that of ‘inescapable shock,” in which creatures are tortured without being unable to do anything to affect the outcome of events. The resulting failure to fight or flight, that is, the physical immobilization (the freeze response), becomes a conditioned behavioral response. In his book, Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self, Allen Schore has outlined in exquisite detail the psychobiology of early childhood development involving maturation of orbitofrontal and limbic structures based on reciprocal experiences with the caregiver. Dysfunctional associations in this dyadic relationship result in permanent physicochemical and anatomical changes, which have implications for personality development as well as for a wide variety of clinical manifestations. An intimate relationship may exist, with negative child/care giver interaction leading to a state of persisting hypertonicity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems that may profoundly affect the arousal state of the developing child. Sustained hyperarousal in these children may markedly affect behavioral and characterological development. Many traumatized children and adults, confronted with chronically overwhelming emotions, lose their capacity to use emotions as guides for effective action. They often do not recognize what they are feeling and fail to mount an appropriate response. This phenomenon is called alexithymia, an inability to identify the meaning of physical sensations and muscle activation. Failure to recognize what is going on causes them to be out of touch with their needs, and, as a consequence, they are unable to take care of them. This inability to correctly identify sensations, emotions, and physical states often extends itself to having difficulty appreciating [...]

The concept of dissociation has a long history of bridging psychiatry, psychology, and neurology. Because dissociation is inextricably linked to trauma, theoretical and clinical models of dissociation have spanned the psycho- logical and biological realms. Although the relationship between childhood trauma and dissociation was noted at the end of the 19th century, only recently has a developmental perspective been used to understand dissocia- tion’s etiological mechanisms. Dissociative phenomena are now being viewed through an interdisciplinary lens. There is a growing appreciation of the unique contributions that developmental models can make to psychopathogenesis. As Putnam (1995) noted, a developmental view of dissociation offers “potentially very rich models for understanding the ontogeny of environmentally produced psychiatric conditions” (p. 582). In particular, I will suggest that regulation theory (Schore, 1994, 2003a, 2003b) can provide such models. Towards that end I will draw upon (1) recent ndings about infant behavior from developmental psychology, (2) current data on brain development from neuroscience, (3) updated basic research in biological psychiatry on stress mechanisms, and (4) new information from developmental psychobiology on the essential functions of the autonomic nervous system in order to construct a model of the etiology and underly- ing psychoneurobiological mechanisms of pathological dissociation. I will use posttraumatic stress disorder as a paradigm for dissociative disorder. I will discuss the earliest expression of dissociation in human infancy— pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder—and its enduring impact on the experience-dependent maturation of the right brain, including the characterological use of disso- ciation at later points of interpersonal stress. Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders is defined by DSM-IV as “a disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment” (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and by the 10th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) as “a partial or complete loss of the [...]

Dr. Emeran Mayer, professor of medicine and executive director of the UCLA Center for Neurobiology of Stress, offers a revolutionary and provocative look at this developing science, teaching us how to harness the power of the mind-gut connection to take charge of our health and listen to the innate wisdom of our bodies.How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health. Combining cutting-edge neuroscience with the latest discoveries on the human microbiome, a practical guide in the tradition of The Second Brain, and The Good Gut that conclusively demonstrates the inextricable, biological link between mind and the digestive system. We have all experienced the connection between our mind and our gut—the decision we made because it “felt right”; the butterflies in our stomach before a big meeting; the anxious stomach rumbling we get when we’re stressed out. While the dialogue between the gut and the brain has been recognized by ancient healing traditions, including Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, Western medicine has by and large failed to appreciate the complexity of how the brain, gut, and more recently, the gut microbiota—the microorganisms that live inside our digestive tract—communicate with one another. Dr. Emeran Mayer suggests that consuming a predominantly plant based diet is key for gut and brain health. The Most important Decision anyone can make today is what to put into your body. Learn how to feed your body with the healthiest foods on the planet that you can prepare easily in your own kitchen. Save Money while saving your health and the planet. - Plant Based Academy "Raw vegan food is not boring salads and uncooked vegetables, raw food is a culinary pursuit, a dedication and endeavor to transforming the highest quality of vegetables using simple techniques to extract exquisite flavors, preserving the essential [...]

How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health. Combining cutting-edge neuroscience with the latest discoveries on the human microbiome, a practical guide in the tradition of The Second Brain, and The Good Gut that conclusively demonstrates the inextricable, biological link between mind and the digestive system. We have all experienced the connection between our mind and our gut—the decision we made because it “felt right”; the butterflies in our stomach before a big meeting; the anxious stomach rumbling we get when we’re stressed out. While the dialogue between the gut and the brain has been recognized by ancient healing traditions, including Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, Western medicine has by and large failed to appreciate the complexity of how the brain, gut, and more recently, the gut microbiota—the microorganisms that live inside our digestive tract—communicate with one another. In The Mind-Gut Connection, Dr. Emeran Mayer, professor of medicine and executive director of the UCLA Center for Neurobiology of Stress, offers a revolutionary and provocative look at this developing science, teaching us how to harness the power of the mind-gut connection to take charge of our health and listen to the innate wisdom of our bodies.   The Mind-Gut Connection describes:   ∙ Why consuming a predominantly plant-based diet is key for gut and brain health. ∙ The importance of early childhood in gut-brain development. . What parents can do to help their children thrive in gut - brain development. . The role of excessive stress and anxiety in GI ailments and cognitive disorders. . How to “listen to your gut” and pay attention to the signals your body is sending you and much more.      

The only way to heal our wounds is to expose them, to bring them to the light. When the longing to be free is bigger than the fear of being exposed, we open ourselves to experiences that re-program our deepest beliefs about ourselves. This deep process work helps you to look at emotional incidents from the past in order to liberate the flow of energy held in dysfunctional psychological behavior patterns. We aim to create an atmosphere in which love and awareness surround and support you, allowing you to drop layers of protection which are no longer needed, release suppressed energy and return to your essence, redirecting the energy once used for protection, to engage in rich human experiences -Trauma Recovery Institute  Trauma Recovery Institute offers unparalleled services and treatment approach. Trauma Recovery Institute provides unique individual and group psychotherapy specialising in personality disorders, complex trauma & neglect, sexual trauma, chronic illness and relationship difficulties. We also offer specialised group psychotherapy for psychotherapists and psychotherapy students, People struggling with addictions and substance abuse, sexual abuse survivors, people suffering with cancer or recovering from cancer and their family members, Parents exploring the art of conscious parenting and people looking to function in life at a higher level. Trauma recovery Institute offers a very safe supportive space for deep relational work with highly skilled and experienced psychotherapists accredited with Irish Group Psychotherapy Society (IGPS), which holds the highest accreditation standard in Europe. Trauma Recovery Institute uses a highly structured relationship and body focused psychotherapeutic approach called Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP). To explore our unique approach come in for an initial consultation by filling out the form below.     Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotheyapy (DPP) Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP) is a highly structured, once to twice weekly-modified psychodynamic treatment based on the psychoanalytic model [...]

When we meet our partners, we make an unconscious contract to help each other resolve emotional injuries of the past , we unconsciously pick or hire the perfect person to trigger this stored painful memory of our past , it is for this exact reason we have come together . Relationships are not a problem to be solved but an adventure to be embraced. Conflict is a gift to be unpacked , to embrace, an opportunity to grow , resolve and mature . Conflict can not be resolved at the level with which it was created. We hire the person in our life who is most compatible to help us resolve what is unresolved from our childhood. Our relationship lives in the space between us and it is sacred . This becomes the playground for our children . When there are only two options , take the third option ! Keep the space between you safe and sacred . Honour the space between you , by visiting the other by crossing the bridge . Cross the bridge with an open mind to learn , with curiosity and compassion , leave behind your hurt and trauma. Crossing the bridge is becoming completely present with your partner, listening without interruption, defensiveness or judgement, holding an unconditional space for your partner to share.   Beyond right thinking and Beyond wrong thinking there is a field , I will meet you there - This is the third option   Seven principles for conscious relationships 1. The relationship lives in the space between us. 2. The emotional charged part of your partner is the child in them trying to tell their story , allow each other to tell that story by crossing the bridge. 3. We are energy that can be positive and negative , be aware of [...]

The New Science of Romantic Love: Love is the continual search for a basic, secure connection with someone else. Through this bond, partners in love become emotionally dependent on each other for nurturing, soothing, and protection. We have a wired-in need for emotional contact and responsiveness from significant others. It's a survival response, the driving force of the bond of security a baby seeks with its mother. This observation is at the heart of attachment theory. A great deal of evidence indicates that the need for secure attachment never disappears; it evolves into the adult need for a secure emotional bond with a partner. Think of how a mother lovingly gazes at her baby, just as two lovers stare into each other's eyes. Although our culture has framed dependency as a bad thing, a weakness, it is not. Being attached to someone provides our greatest sense of security and safety. It means depending on a partner to respond when you call, to know that you matter to him or her, that you are cherished, and that he will respond to your emotional needs. The most basic tenet of attachment theory is that isolation—not just physical isolation but emotional isolation—is traumatizing for human beings. The brain actually codes it as danger. The drama of love is all about the human hunger for safe emotional connection, a survival imperative we experience from the cradle to the grave. Once we do feel safely linked with our partner, we can tolerate the hurts they will—inevitably—inflict upon us in the course of daily life.   Hold Me Tight - Broken connections Love demands the reassurance of touch. Most fights are really protests over emotional disconnection. Underneath the distress, partners are desperate to know: Are you there for me? We start out intensely connected to and responsive to our partners. But [...]

The Seven Deadly Fears can be thought of as disturbances of childhood in the Lowenian sense in that they set up characteristic blocks to spontaneous, creative, and vibrant living and loving. Each of these character blocks can be thought of as intimately linked with body function and structure at various developmental levels in the same manner that Lowen has demonstrated in his extensive work on character types. Each set of character blocks generated by childhood fear can also be expected to manifest in relationships—especially the psychotherapeutic one—as resistance to relating in a fully alive manner in the "here-and-now" of the present moment. Seven Deadly Fears thus outlines not only seven distinctly different kinds of fears produced by different kinds of childhood relationship situations. Each general fear is assumed to be specifically tied to certain kinds of misattuned environmental responsiveness to the child's changing developmental capacities and needs at different stages of development. The crucial technical implication in conceptualizing seven developmental levels of fear-based character formations is that optimal listening in psychotherapy then requires that we respond to each developmental level with different ways of understanding the transference, the resistance, and the countertransference.   1. The Fear of Being Alone We dread reaching out and finding nobody there to respond to our needs. We fear being ignored, being left alone, and being seen as unimportant. We feel the world does not respond to our needs. So what's the use?   2. The Fear of Connecting Because of frightening and painful experiences in the past, connecting emotionally and intimately with others feels dangerous. Our life experiences have left us feeling that the world is not a safe place. We fear injury so we withdraw from connections.   3. The Fear of Being abandoned After having connected emotionally or bonded with someone, we [...]

“To Exist is to Change, To change is to Mature, To mature is to go on creating one’s self endlessly – Henri Bergson   Darren Maguire M.I.G.P.S is the founding director of Life Change Health Institute, where he currently serves as clinical director and functional health psychologist. He is in private practice specializing in complex trauma and personality disorders with Trauma Recovery Institute. Trauma Recovery Institute offers unparalleled services and treatment approach through unique individual and group psychotherapy, Specialising in long-term relational trauma recovery, sexual trauma recovery and early childhood trauma recovery. The Institute also offers specialized group psychotherapy for psychotherapists and psychotherapy students, People struggling with addictions and substance abuse, sexual abuse survivors and people looking to function in life at a higher level. Trauma recovery Institute offers a very safe supportive space for deep relational work with highly skilled and experienced psychotherapists accredited with Irish Group Psychotherapy Society (IGPS), which holds the highest accreditation standard in Europe. Darren is a Plantrician and Psychobiotic expert specializing in alternative holistic treatment of chronic disease and autoimmune disorders. Darren holds a number of appointments such as dance facilitator at Tantric Dance & Ecstatic Movement School, plant based chef & lecturer at Plant Based Academy, embodied tantra & relationship coach at Embodied Tantra Ireland and conscious parenting educator at Conscious Parenting Ireland. Darren has dedicated the last 15 years studying the impact of traumatic stress and its role in emotional and physical syndromes and diseases. Darren has developed a unique multidiscipline approach to body mind medicine called Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP). This approach is an integrative treatment approach for working with complex trauma, borderline personality organization and dissociation. This treatment approach attempts to address the root causes of trauma-based presentations and fragmentation, seeking to help the client heal early experiences of abandonment, neglect, trauma, [...]