Understanding what makes us human: Navigating trauma’s impact

About this presentation

Discover the impacts of childhood trauma: A masterclass with Leonie Ash, Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner.

Engage in a transformative experience as Leonie shares her unique perspective and deep understanding, gained through personal and professional journeys, on the lasting impact of childhood trauma. Grasp the subtle nuances and complex interplay of trauma in our lives and learn to integrate these insights into your practice for more effective healing.”

Embark on an enlightening journey, unveiling the core of our innate essence and the balance of well-being. Leonie will explore the fascinating intricacies of memory formation and their manifestations, both physically and psychologically. Gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to maintain emotional equilibrium in the midst of modern challenges, understand how our innermost being interacts with external realities.

This course will provide an in-depth exploration of the mechanisms uniquely affecting individuals, equipping you with the skills to identify and overcome obstacles impeding your clients’ healing. Seize this chance to enrich your understanding and enhance your therapeutic techniques. Transform your approach and witness the profound impact on your clients’ journey to wellbeing.

Learning objectives

The presentations will cover:

Part one:

• Understanding the impact and types of trauma?
• Adverse childhood experiences, stress, coping mechanisms and trauma
• DNA template
• Polyvagal Theory – our evolutionary history of social engagement and how it fits into our understanding.
• our innate resources
• our innate emotional needs
• Personality template – Enneagram/Human Givens – exploring dominant needs and the driving force in fulfilling our innate needs, how we respond when we don’t’ get our needs met.
• interoception and neuroception
• the stress response and adaptation
• pattern recognition response – the corticolimbic system – how we learn, memorise, and react

Part two:

• Brain region dysfunctions under stress intensity – how it gets stuck.
• Catastrophic thinking, anxiety fears and rumination, developing narratives and beliefs.
• Poor sleep – sleep REM cycles and their relevance, serotonergic signalling and placing this into greater understanding for treatment.
• HPAA – neurobiological pathways of socioeconomic status and allostatic load.
• Why we dream – how REM sleep latency effects the onset of depression.
• Mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors and how it affects coping mechanisms, immune alterations and Inflammation.
• glucocorticoid sensitivity and immune changes in PTSD
• PTSD – understanding the mechanisms of persistent abnormal adaption of the neurological system resulting from trauma.
• Complex neuro-immunoendocrine interactions in PTSD
• the role of the vagal nerve in microbiota brain communication
• The link of childhood trauma and the cholinergic system, immune dysregulation and inflammation leading to leaky gut IBS IBD and auto-immune.
• viewing this in terms of neurodiversity
• the viscous cycle of depression

Part three:

• The merits of psychoeducation
• Understanding the mechanisms involved in therapeutic techniques for processing trauma, which includes the connections between dreaming, dissociation, trance states, REM and trauma
• Trauma therapies to consider.
• Psychedelics and how they fit into the mechanisms we discuss.
• Healing modalities that can complement your clinic structure.
• Practical suggestions to reduce stress and improve sleep.
• Diet and supplement considerations.
• Completing the picture – a visual diagram illustrating how stress, trauma, and the vicious cycle of depression are central to our overall health.
• Questions to consider when evaluating your client’s history.