This workshop, held on October 1, 2024, was hosted by The National Capacity Building Project in partnership with The National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs.
Note on presenter change: Dr. Kathy Farah presented in place of Dr. James S. Gordon as he needed to continue to heal and recover from surgery. We all wish him well and appreciate Dr. Farah’s ability to step on short notice. Many thanks to both of you!
Session Description
In this workshop, Dr. James S. Gordon, the psychiatrist who founded The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM) will share the comprehensive evidence-based approach of self-care and mutual support which he and his colleagues have been using for the last 30 years to heal population-wide trauma during and after wars and after climate-related disasters in the U.S. and around the world, and with indigenous people who have endured historical trauma, as well as with victims of torture.
Dr. Gordon will give participants practical experience of two self-care techniques which, drawing on the world’s indigenous wisdom, as well as modern science, restore the physical and psychological balance which torture and other forms of trauma has disrupted. He will explain how these techniques provide the foundation for a comprehensive approach which mobilizes the imagination and intuition as well as the intelligence of participants, so that they can reduce their levels of stress, find solutions to previously insoluble challenges, enhance their resilience, and chart a meaningful life path forward.
Dr. Gordon will describe CMBM’s signature small group model, which family physician, Dr. Mara Rabin, is successfully using at THRIVE, a model in which 16 self-care techniques are taught. He will present research which has repeatedly demonstrated that this model can reduce the numbers of those adults and children who qualify for the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by more than 80%. He will discuss CMBM’s comprehensive training program and its small group model of trauma healing which has been hailed by The New York Times as having “the strongest evidence that it works to cure PTSD.”
In the second part of the presentation, Dr. Mara Rabin will provide a case history of THRIVE, demonstrating the effective use of the CMBM model of self-care and mutual help with torture victims who have taken refuge in the United States.
Presenters:
- Kathleen Farah, MD , Holistic and Integrative Family Physician
- Mara Rabin, MD , Medical Director at THRIVE Center for Survivors of Torture
- Sneha Pusapati, LCSW , Therapist at THRIVE Center for Survivors of Torture
Learning Objectives
After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Understand how a mind-body approach can be foundational in healing trauma/torture.
- Experience two foundational mind-body self-care skills.
- Review the science demonstrating the efficacy of “Mind-Body Skills Groups”
- Understand how one torture treatment center has been using the MB Skills groups
Target Audience
Staff of torture rehabilitation programs that are funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and/or are members of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs as well as others who provide services to survivors of torture. This session is designed for providers working with survivors of torture and forced migration populations across disciplines, such as: legal services, social work, psychology, psychiatry, medicine, and case management.
Agenda (2 hour 15 minute session)
- 5-minute general session housekeeping and introduction of Dr. Kathy Farah
- 90-minute presentation – Dr. Kathy Farah will introduce an overview of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s groundbreaking, evidence-based model of mind-body medicine, coupled with instruction in techniques which are foundational for restoring physiological and psychological balance in people who have been tortured and experienced other forms of trauma. This presentation will describe the CMBM model, present research on it, and share how it has been used with traumatized communities worldwide and in the US.
- 30-minute presentation – Dr. Mara Rabin will give an overview of how we use the MB skills groups at THRIVE; share a case study of a client who went through the MB group that will include her drawings, experiences in some of the specific groups, genogram and therapist insight into changes in the client before and after the MB group.
- 30-minute Q&A
- 10-minute Final wrap up
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