- Based in Colorado, USA
- Available worldwide
- Speaking, Educating, Consultancy
Commonly asked questions:
- I no longer offer psychotherapy or medical care
- To find a trauma therapist see the Therapies page for directories
- I do not take guest posts
- See more in my Frequently Asked Questions and Glossary
I HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT MULTIPLE TIMES BUT YOUR CODE CAPTURE KEEPS SAYING ‘INCORRECT CODE ENTERED’- I even got my wife to check it
Hi Veronique, would you work with/know of anyone doing similar work in Australia (Queensland?).
I have PTSD (chronic, severe and treatment resistant), fibromyalgia, CFS etc. I have been doing a lot of neuroplasticity type work and am keen on getting to the next level. I am more than willing to participate in research. I have a history of ACEs in addition to multiple deployments to conflict areas with the International Deployment Group of the Australian Federal Police (trauma, infections, vaccinations etc etc).
Hi Malcolm,
So sorry to hear about your symptoms and the treatment resistance. I find the somatically based trauma therapies to be particularly effective at helping to heal this kind of symptom as well as holding a big picture context and understanding how to work in small doses. You’ll find links to different approaches with therapist directories around the world on my therapies page.
Re Contacting me – How frustrating! Thanks for persevering and for telling me about the problem – can you specify if you’re talking about the contact form (I’ve had this issue in the past, tested it yesterday and again just now with no problems and will get in touch with my webmaster once I’m clear where the issue is).
warmly, Veronique
Thanks for your wonderful work.
My work at the Early Trauma Prevention Center is similar.
I request that you consider adding these additional early traumas of commission and omission to ABE.
1. Hospital birth with unnecessary interventions and drugs. (Avoid this by using a midwife.)
2. Male infant circumcision (I am the author of Circumcision: The Hidden trauma. See circumcision.org.)
3. Lack of nearly continuous body contact with the mother using a sling or backpack
4. Lack of response to infant crying
5. Too much (from the infant’s perspective) non-maternal childcare
6. Isolated infant sleeping
7. Corporal punishment (more than one-third of infants are hit by parents!)
Hi Ronald,
Yes indeed – these are all part of ABEs. Like ACEs, the more interventions and adversities, the greater likelihood of impacting the developing nervous system / immune system / maternal-infant and parent-infant bond etc.
I created ABEs with 10 categories of adversity (rather than specific types of adversity) so that it can serve as a way to look at all kinds of experiences from this trauma lens.
As one example, circumcision is included in ABE #6 in complications for the baby – through the trauma lens there are so many components of the experience that fit our understanding of trauma, as the title of your book suggests (I haven’t read it but am glad to know if it). ABE #7 is about separation of the baby and parent.
ABEs include a category #11 for any events that don’t quite fit into the first 10 categories. I would fit corporal punishment as an “ACEs+” given that physical abuse is considered an ACE and spanking is in that similar category but not quite an “official” ACE. Here is my Comprehensive Guide if you’re not familiar with it.
Veronique,
I am loving exploring the website and checking out the resources you have shared. As an early childhood educator and faculty at a community college in this discipline, child abuse, neglect, and/or trauma can be directly related to parental expectations for children at ages and stages of development as well as differences in development in typical- and atypical-developmental progression.
Hi Jody,
I’m so glad you are loving this exploration of resources here and bringing this into early childhood development. Hurray for educators!
I would be very interested in hearing any comments about IBD in an infant. There were no separations at birth but the pregnancy was really stressful and the birth long with intervention. This is such a rare condition. Any insights really valuable. Maybe they would eventually affect treatment also.
Hi Susan,
While I am not personally familiar with anyone diagnosed with IBD as an infant I imagine there are others. I also imagine it may be missed until a later age because we don’t tend to think in that direction for those so young. There is evidence of perinatal risk factors for IBD, which offers the possibility that there is a role for nervous system patterns of survival that could be worked with to potentially help with symptoms. Such a young age of onset would make me wonder about parental traumas prior to conception and multigenerational events that may have all compounded / added up to such an outcome. I hope that helps a little!
Hello Doctor,
I saw your interview with Raelan Agle. I see a lot of her CFS success stories speak of brain retraining. In your opinion, can this be effective even with ACEs? Some people seem to be of the opinion that the brain retraining exercises (with enough consistency) can allow the body to heal (autonomic NS regulation) without the need for specific “trauma” work. I’m very curious to hear your thoughts.
Warmly,
Brooks
HI Brooks,
You ask a very good question. The fact that you have seen/heard success stories for some people after brain retraining suggests that it does indeed work for CFS recovery for some people (and probably for other chronic illnesses as well). If brain retraining is something that you resonate with and that feels like a good path, you can always try it.
If it ends up not being sufficient, you can always add trauma work in addition to it or afterwards.
My own sense is that trauma patterns in the nervous system might respond when there is enough support and resiliency (which might occur through brain training). Other times there may need to be more trauma work, perhaps especially if there have been a lot of ACEs or other adverse events or if there have been a lot of traumas over multiple generations etc. Let me know what you learn!
warmly,
Veronique
Hi Veronique,
I am intrigued and highly interested in learning more about your learnings and theories on helping individuals overcome CFS, specifically about how to help them understand and overcome trauma. I have suffered from CFS/M.E and am now dedicating myself to help others on their journey. I would love the opportunity to speak with you and ask a few questions and learn from you, as I wish to expand my knowledge and expertise in order to provide value on other’s healing journey. Id be so grateful if you could find perhaps 30 minutes to chat with me or provide me with some valuable tips or advice when helping individuals overcome various types of trauma , as I am now looking to start coaching to support others on their healing journey,
Warm Regards,
Max
Hi Max,
That sounds great that you are at a point of coaching to support others on their journeys with ME/CFS. I offer consults as a way to discuss the role of trauma, how to explore and validate its potential role for people, some of the research that really helps validate it and see ME/CFS as a system typically caught in a state of relative freeze/hibernation…and to explore approaches that can be helpful and supportive.
Other options if that doesn’t feel like a fit for you would be to read some of the information on my website on how I might make sense of the trauma component in ME/CFS (in a blog post on CFS as hibernation), and the tools I recommend if you haven’t seen those. Also consider taking a look at Dan Neuffer’s coaching recommendations in his youtube videos and he’s also written a book after recovering from ME/CFS himself. HE doesn’t incorporate the trauma component that I know of but has had great success with additional tools.
warmly,
Veronique