Category: Article

• Article

November 11, 2020

We’ve all been there. We make progress with traumatized clients and their families and then the forward momentum stops. Families get stuck. Often the traditional therapy method to change a stuck system is to guide clients into thinking their way into a new way of acting by offering them new insights. A less known way […]

• Article

November 1, 2020

Mental health is a vast profession with hundreds of specializations and numerous types of clients. No matter our various approaches or client specialties, one constant thread throughout the profession: We want to improve the lives of those with whom we work. I have found that one simple question can bring positive outcomes for many. Whether […]

• Article

September 29, 2020

We’ve all worked with difficult parents. Parents who: Maintain a “just fix my kid” mindset. Resist the solutions you offer. Do not show up for therapy sessions. When I first began my career, I blamed the parents. I thought they were unmotivated, or even untreatable. I soon found that frame-of-mind didn’t heal my clients; nor […]

• Article

September 24, 2020

In their book, Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma, Levine and Frederick (1997, p. 38) write: “Contrary to popular belief, trauma can be healed… without long hours of therapy; without painful reliving of memories; and without a continuing reliance on medication.” At the Family Trauma Institute (FTI), we provide tools, techniques and step-by-step training to help […]

• Article

August 30, 2020

As mental health professionals, we know traumatized families often are stuck in negative thinking: It’s not me (parent or caregiver). Just fix my child. Critical, problem-focused accusations. Explosive, reactionary discipline. Our job is to disrupt the destructive behavior patterns and re-focus children and their caregivers on moving forward. At the Family Trauma Institute, we train […]

• Article

August 25, 2020

“The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” First coined by the philosopher Aristotle, this idiom embodies the spirit of the FST | Family Systems Trauma approach. Trained to treat traumatized individuals, families and couples from a client-centered approach, mental health professionals employ cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy and developmental therapy models. All great approaches […]

• Article

July 16, 2020

You know family relationships are complicated. You know family therapy involves navigating unhealed wounds among multiple personalities and communication styles. With what you know, do you find yourself searching for session structure to begin resolving decades-old conflict? The Family Trauma Institute approach includes techniques and tools for mental health professionals to use in structuring family […]

• Article

April 1, 2020

Mental health professionals tell me it can be difficult to translate traditional talk therapy to online therapy.  With traditional therapy, face-to-face sessions allow professionals to adjust pace according to body language and other in-person clues. So how can we keep our clients’ attention in an online environment? I have found when we supplement online therapy […]

• Article

March 13, 2020

Your traumatized family can retell their trauma story by using an experiential technique called strongholds to bring about deep healing. Using the FST | Family Systems Trauma Model, I have discovered the following top 7 reasons why our trauma cases get stuck: Undercurrent(s) Selected Not Ideal “Who?” (Village) before “What?” No Reframe to Tether Playbook […]

• Article

March 7, 2020

Your traumatized family can retell their trauma story by using an experiential technique called strongholds to bring about deep healing. These are core cognitive distortions or lies that the child or other family members believe about themselves that can be directly traced back to the traumatic event. These cognitive distortions provide an excellent anchor point […]