Join World-Leading Clinicians for PESI UK’s Transgenerational Trauma Conference

One of the most painful things we witness as therapists is the vicious cycle of trauma. Behind the present day struggles of our client we may often sense the past traumatic experiences of parents or grandparents, more distant relatives and wider community. We may fear an impact on future generations, too.

Yet much trauma work has focused on resolving the trauma of the individual, detached from the familial, social or historical context.

Sometimes the roots of trauma lie so deep – in inherited unconscious patterns of behaviours, autonomic states and subconscious beliefs, and perhaps even at the level of our genes – that we can be in danger of overlooking its presence in the consulting room altogether.

The turbulent events of the last two years, from the Covid-19 and racism pandemics to the current humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan, serve stark reminders to anyone who needs them that no human being is an island.

At this critical moment, psychotherapy is also recognising a huge debt to clients and therapists whose lived experience of the legacies of slavery contributes so much to our understanding of trauma – particularly how it can be passed down through multiple generations.

Whether the trauma we are working with clinically is connected to abuse within the family, or wider legacies of violence, poverty, injustice, marginalisation and oppression, trauma therapy can benefit from a wider lens.

Coinciding with Black History Month, PESI UK’s new two-day conference will cover the vital topic of transgenerational trauma from multiple clinical and human angles, and from molecule to mind.

We will catch up on the latest epigenetic research with Dr Rachel Yehuda, Professor of Psychiatry and leader in the field of traumatic stress studies.

We will learn, with leading trauma pioneer Dr Peter Levine, about how ancestral suffering can live on in our bodies – and how Somatic Experiencing can help clients to reverently release these ghosts. 

We will explore intergenerational resonance and resilience with Dr Jack Saul, founder of the International Trauma Studies Program and leader in the field of collective trauma and community healing.   

We will hear from Dr Pat Ogden, the creator of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, about contextualising trauma work within an historical, political and systemic perspective – and the body’s role in grieving and healing.

We will consider creative techniques and transpersonal perspectives with Dr Dwight Turner, one of today’s leading voices in psychotherapy on issues of intersectionality, race and difference.

And we will discuss the cultural programming of safety and defence cues – and pick up interventions that can retune autonomic states – with the developer of Polyvagal Theory, Dr Steven Porges.

There will also be a chance to gain perspectives from Internal Family Systems, Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy and Generative Psychotherapy, with lead IFS trainer Kay Gardner, Dr Leanne Campbell, and Dr Stephen Gilligan.

As many of the speakers will testify, transgenerational narratives of trauma are also often stories of incredible strength. So the conference will kick off with an exclusive keynote from Baroness Floella Benjamin, who will share her experiences as a child of the Windrush generation, and reflect on the relationship between trauma, adversity and resilience.

See the full line-up here and book your place on the Transgenerational Trauma Conference for this rare chance to expand your understanding of trauma with some of the leading clinicians in the field – and help your clients work towards a deeper healing.

The PESI UK Trauma and Attachment Conference will take place from October 7-8 2021. Visit this page for the full line-up and details of how to register.