Name
Road to Recovery in Digital Age: Healing Through Agency, On-Line Learning & Becoming Trauma-Informed
Time
11:30 AM - 11:40 AM (EST)
Description

During a 1 year absence from work, I shifted my healing process to a focus on learning, and particularly about the steps from being "traumatized" to trauma informed. So, I embarked on a wonderful adventure with the help of online resources at my fingertips. The digital age has made my healing journey more accessible to my needs. Learning from experts about Trauma (c-PTSD) has helped tremendously in my healing. This could not have been accomplished without access to online resources such as online courses, webinar, etc. (as well as the support from a therapist) and attendance at both online and in-person conferences. I want to share my exciting journey with others. I will present the learning roadmap I created which illustrates the various stops along my long and winding road of 1 year. It all began with Gabor Mate on Youtube clearly explaining what Trauma is. The compassion that came through from him, online motivated me to further explore and to participate in an actual online session with him. I also knew that I wanted to meet him in person. This then led me to attend the in person Healing Trauma Conference in Atlantic Canada (PEI) as well as PESI's Innovations in Psychotherapy conference (Los Angeles) where I met and spoke with Gabor Mate as well as Bessel van der Kolk. Via online courses through PESI, I registered and watched numerous experts present on polyvagal theory and PTSD, such as Stephen Porges, Deb Dana, Arielle Schwartz; on SE with Peter Levine and R Schwartz regarding IFS. EMDR with a therapist was also an important part of my journey. A profoundly impactful leg of my online journey was with the Pocket Project (Tomas Hubl) and their 6 month self-study course on Trauma-Informed Leadership and ongoing online practise group sessions. The key message from the Pocket Project is that we all need to become trauma-informed and that we must heal ourselves first. I also participated in various online conferences related to Trauma, Mindfulness, etc. This was a wonderful year of learning and healing for me. This online learning was not a solitary journey as I was also seeing my therapist on a regular basis and was able to share my learning with him. We established trust and a collaborative process of mutual sharing. It is important to access credible sources online and to have a therapist as well as the independent online learning. During my presentation I will share my roadmap, resources (sources), insights, inspirations, art, metaphors. Welcome to the digital age - it is wonderful and tremendously beneficial for those who are inclined to journey into understanding themselves. It may not be a journey for all, but it was a very exciting and illuminating one for me and I want to share these experiences so that therapists may see the benefit in recommending online learning as part of their clients' healing journeys to attaining post-traumatic growth. Self-agency is essential. This is a visual presentation of my journey accompanied by a soundtrack (music snips) as every journey needs music for the souls of the travelers. I hope you will join me as present the slideshow of my travels.

Donna DoRego
Location Name
Marine Room