This interview, which I gave in April, 2020, shares my process of becoming a therapist working with, and eventually attempting to be an ally to, people living with dissociation, especially with dissociative ego states. An important focus of this interview is my discussion of how I have come to abandon the use of “disorder” in… Read more »
Posts Categorized: audio
Retiring from trauma therapy practice: Reflections on four decades in the field
This podcast interview was done just as I was closing my practice of psychotherapy in December, 2018. In it I reflect on the lessons learned in 40 years of working as a psychologist in the field of trauma, as well as discussing how I came to the decision to retire from psychotherapy practice. Where to… Read more »
Laura talks about fear and disempowerment as barriers to social action on Seattle’s public radio station
What do feminist therapy principles of empowerment have to do with responding to climate change? Well, a lot, as it turns out, because empowering people to respond effectively to scary and overwhelming social issues looks very much like empowering people to make change in the therapy process. You can hear me talk about this with… Read more »
Laura talks about being a trauma therapist on the West Coast Trauma Project podcast
Guy McPherson, the podcast host, interviews me about how I became a trauma therapist, and what keeps me inspired and engaged in this work. I share some early stumbles on the path to understanding trauma, and discuss what a new trauma therapist, or an experienced therapist new to trauma, can to to enhance their capacity… Read more »
Laura talks about Your Turn for Care on The Mary Waldon Show
A discussion of Your Turn for Care with internet radio host Mary Waldon. In this frank conversation, I talk about the concept of the contracts between children and the adults who raise them, and the pain and challenges that arise for people who had those contracts for care broken by their elders. I discuss some…
This is the audio for a workshop I gave March 2, 2013 at the New School for Social Research in New York City. This workshop introduced participants to an emerging epistemology of cultural competence that focuses on the person of the psychotherapist rather than on the acquisition of information about the Other. Participants were challenged… Read more »21st Century Cultural Competence
Multiple identities in context of trauma: Increasing cultural competence
In this recording of a six-hour workshop originally presented live at the annual conference of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies you will be introduced to a model of identity development which conceptualizes people in terms of their multiple social locations and intersecting senses of self, rather than as a unitary identity as externally… Read more »
Developing cultural competence in psychotherapy practice
This Web Conference introduces listener to my model of culturally competent practice focusing on the self of the therapist. Avoiding guilt and shame, being able to make effective, empowering heart-to-heart connections with clients, and increasing awareness of one’s own non-conscious biases are the focuses of this presentation. Where to find Listen at GoodTherapy.org – available… Read more »
Can we create social justice? Toward an ethic of justice for trauma psychology
This presidential address given for the APA Division of Trauma Psychology explores my vision of how work with trauma survivors can challenge core aspects of injustice in the larger social milieu. Creating social justice is one of my core values, and righting the enormous injustice at the heart of most human trauma has been the… Read more »
Finding my center: Martial arts on the way to Tikkun Olam
This is a talk that I gave at APA as part of a symposium about therapist self-care. It’s a highly personal description of how I came to the practice of aikido, and how that practice has transformed my capacities to care for myself in the work of trauma therapy. Where to find FREE – Download… Read more »