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Calendar of Events

Two-Day Risking Connection^® Training, Open to Individuals

March 31-April 1, 2009, Columbia, Maryland

Registration
$499 per person
Includes $75 book,
continental breakfast & lunch
14 CEUs available at additional cost or $30
Register here

For more information,
call 410-825-8888, ext. 200,
or email Tracy@sidran.org.

Book Reviews

PTSD & Veterans: A Conversation With Dr. Frank Ochberg

How do we help our veterans who are returning from war with PTSD?  Our  DVD provides an intimate conversation with Dr. Frank Ochberg, as he shares his experiences, seasoned insights and suggestions. This program is for the mental health practitioner who has treated a variety of clients including those traumatized by abusive relationships, sexual assault, disasters, Sept 11, and violent crime. Dr. Ochberg feels that treating veterans is a privilege and he shares his experiences dealing with veterans from the Vietnam era, Afghanistan and Iraq . He welcomes those therapists who are supporting our returning men and women as they adapt to civilian life.

 Topics include:

• Unique Challenges
• Tools of the Trade
• The Loss of Emotional Tone
• Remittent Depression
• Family Issues
• Military Sexual Trauma
• The Patient & Therapist Relationship
• The Counting Method. 

This program is appropriate for psychologists, social workers, mental health counselors, educators, and allied health professionals, including those new to trauma work as well as those who have helped a range of trauma victims.  

The Participants: 

Frank Ochberg, MD, is a psychiatrist and the former Associate Director of the National Institute of Mental Health and a member of the team that wrote the medical definition for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He was the editor of America ’s first PTSD treatment text and is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. 

Mike Walter, the interviewer, is an acclaimed Anchor/Reporter in Washington DC and speaks from the heart on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  His brother fought in Vietnam in the 60s and Mike was able to see first hand the impact PTSD can have on the returning veteran and the family.  Mike was also an eyewitness to the attack on the Pentagon on 9-11.  In the days that followed, he found himself grappling with the same issues that affected his brother.  He struggled with depression and replayed the attack again and again in his mind.  He is a Dart-Ochberg Fellow where he met Dr. Frank Ochberg and learned about PTSD.

Format: DVD

www.sidran.org/ptsdandvets
 

On January 18, 2009, Showtime premiered a new series produced by Stephen Spielberg about a woman with multiple personality disorder, The United States of Tara. Tara, played by Australian actress and Academy Award nominee Toni Collette, is a woman with multiple personality disorder (MPD), more recently known as dissociative identity disorder (DID). A show on this topic has the potential to educate those who experience MPD/DID, their friends and loved ones, and the general public.

Sidran board member Dr. Steven N. Gold, psychology professor at Nova Southeastern University (NSU), and an expert on dissociation, is concerned that The United States of Tara could also create some misunderstanding. Gold runs a clinic at NSU where he trains doctoral psychology students to identify and treat dissociation and related disorders. Read more

“Whoever saves one life, it's as if he’s saved the entire world.” Elaine Witman is that person.

Over the past 26 years, Elaine’s professional life has focused on addressing the complex debilitating problems facing our society’s most vulnerable children, adults and families who carry the burdens left by childhood trauma, neglect, domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental illness.

As Director of Sidran Institute’s Shofar Coalition, Elaine’s leadership has benefited countless lives. As a visible activist, teacher, and trainer, her passion for justice, righteousness, the protection and well-being of children, the abused, and for those affected by traumatic experiences has no bounds.

The Shofar Coalition, together with partners including Jewish Community Services, CHANA, the Baltimore Child Abuse Center, and a dedicated cadre of rabbis and therapists, conducts workshops for rabbis, educators, and parents; implemented a Jewish community wide survey, and sponsors clinician-facilitated Healing Groups for trauma survivors (women, men, Orthodox women, and mothers whose children have been exposed to domestic violence).

Elaine brings people and resources together to make real change; she motivates others to participate in humane causes and rejoices in their accomplishments. Elaine is not one-of-a-kind because she has inspired hundreds of others to become what she has become; a catalyst for good.

The award will be presented on Sunday March 22, 2009 by Rabbi Menachem Goldberger of Congreation Tiferes Yisroel, Baltimore

Do you know anyone working for the federal government?

The annual fund-raising drive for charities conducted in the workplaces of federal employees is going on now. If you are a federal employee you can designate your charity dollars to Sidran Institute through payroll deduction.

All CFC contributions to Sidran are applied to our national Help Desk, which provides free individualized support and information to survivors and those who care about them.

Just enter Sidran Institute's code number on your Combined Federal
Campaign donor form: 11229. (Feel free to share our CFC number with your friends and co-workers, too!)

Your support is especially important this year. The economy is hurting donor giving for almost all nonprofit organizations. Your generosity will help Sidran Institute continue its critical work in support of those who are healing from the trauma of combat, community violence, abuse, disasters, or accidents. Visit www.sidran.org to read more about our Help Desk and other initiatives. And thanks for your generosity.  You may also contribute by visiting www.sidran.org/contribute.

A second edition of Sidran’s best-selling workbook, Growing Beyond Survival, will be published this spring. Author Elizabeth Vermilyea has enlarged the context of the book to make it applicable to individuals who have experienced a broader definition of trauma, including: severe neglect; emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse; physical/sexual assault; combat experiences; hospitalizations; painful/invasive medical procedures; and natural or human-made disasters—in short, any experience that feels threatening or overwhelming.

The collection of tools that are so useful to readers is still the heart of the book. As a self-management workbook, it teaches skills that empower people to take control of and de-escalate their most distressing trauma-related symptoms. This versatile workbook can be used as an independent self-help program, in the context of individual therapy, or in a group setting. It teaches survivors of various types of trauma to recognize, contextualize, and understand distressing dissociative and posttraumatic reactions. It also creates a structure in which to learn and practice skills for self-regulation of the troublesome thoughts, feelings, and impulses related to traumatic experiences. By using the tools in this workbook, individuals who suffer from trauma-related symptoms (including poor concentration, sleep disturbances, panic attacks, nightmares, flashbacks, and other physical responses) may be able to find relief. The book also examines the relation between trauma and self-harming behaviors, difficulties with sexuality, and substance abuse.

Rather than simply offering "band aid"-type crisis intervention, this self-paced program empowers individuals.  Acknowledging that trauma affects us is different realms (feelings skills, judgment, beliefs, frame of reference, and memory and perception), the book offers an understanding of where the symptoms come from and why. By learning a variety of interventions, skills, and techniques, people are able to select and make use of different "tools" for different self-regulation purposes and discover what works best for them.