Refugee Teenagers Along Human Traffics and Being Evolved into Drug Dealers (Long waiting migration process and negative results).

STARTTS Masterclass 14 Nov 2018

A continuous recording of the meeting held by STAARTS on Nov 14, 2018

War and trafficking: Supply and demand of trafficking.

In 2000, 120 nations took a stand against all forms of human trafficking through the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children and encouraged

War and Trafficking: Migrant, trafficked and bonded workers and the business of organ harvesting.

The present-day abuses of migrant labour, human trafficking and bonded labour worldwide deserve long-overdue investigation by business academics into their causes and dynamics. Utilising data from

Dissociation, Trauma and Hypnosis: what every Clinician should know Part 3 of 8

Founders of clinical psychology, including Freud, Janet, and Morton Prince, observed that those who manifested psychological (e.g., psychogenic amnesias, alternate identities) and somatoform (e.g., medically unexplained paralyses) dissociation often have a lifetime history of chronic and/or severe trauma. They also noted that these patients were often very responsive to hypnotic techniques. Contemporary clinical, neurophysiological, developmental, and cognitive research has supported those early observations and added others, such as the link between disorganized early attachment and dissociation.  This course will first introduce the concept of anomalous experiences to differentiate experiences that are just unusual (for a particular cultural at a particular time), from those who actually bring about distress and maladjustment. It will then discuss the complex concept of dissociation including the various forms through which it can manifest, and what research tells us about its relation to different types of trauma and unresolved forms of attachment. The second half of the course will delve specifically with manifestations of issociative psychopathology, their evaluation, and the use of adjunctive hypnotic techniques within a stage-treatment of trauma. 

Chronic physical illness and the self - using the Conversational Model of Psychotherapy to work with people with Cystic Fibrosis.

The Importance of Hope in Coping with Catastrophic Injury

This paper presents research findings about the role of hope in the coping process related to adjustment following catastrophic injuries such as spinal cord injury. Qualitative findings about the role

Coming to life in the face of death: Exploring effectiveness through therapist stories of self and work when the therapist is seriously ill.

Therapy occurs through a meeting of selves between client and therapist. In this relational activity, use of self is of paramount importance in the therapeutic endeavour. However when a therapist becomes seriously ill this potentially introduces unexpected drama into the therapeutic relationship. What happens to the therapist’s sense and use of self when faced with a life threatening illness, and is it possible to remain effective?  

Literature review & pathophysiology of the role of testosterone in psychiatric illnesses

The Fruits of Coherent Companionship: Shared Stories and Gifts from the “Pilgrim” Roads

Shifting patterns of intimacy in the therapeutic relationship

Forming a therapeutic alliance is considered useful at the beginning of every therapy. We may or may not consider this a form of

Dreaming as Worldview – Becoming Emotionally Connected in the New Millennium

The world, in one way, has become smaller in the age of technologies that bring global events into every home and village. Viewed from the emotional perspective of each person, it might be argued that the world has become much bigger – each person is susceptible to being overwhelmed by the amount and breadth of stimuli of “global impingement”. “Virtual” relationships abound. Actual relationships can seem more difficult to some. In Australia we see a unique combination: one of the youngest nations of the modern world and the oldest continuous culture on the planet. This is the culture of Aboriginal Australians, the culture of “The Dreaming”.

A differentiated way of working with sex, intimacy and the fragility of life and how practitioners respond to working with couples regardless of gender

Do your clients dream about a relationship in harmonious balance between the personal and the interpersonal, between the sexual and the intimate? Just as dreams tantalise us with a surreal and metaphoric view of reality so too do relationships challenge people to recognise how they know their partners, how their partners know them and to differentiate one from the other and themselves from the other person. Relationships have their own surrealistic lens through which people can conflate different aspects. Sometimes, we as practitioners find ourselves working with the intimate and sexual aspects of our client's relationship where we, like our clients, can confuse one for the other. Yet, a relationship can be experienced as the harmonious intersection of both intimate and sexual aspects that leads to a creative expression of human passion and to a transcendent experience of the human condition. By nature, many practitioners are more prepared to enquire into the aspect of intimacy more than the other aspect of sexuality. 

The impact of Trauma on a Couple Relationship

Many couples present to a session wanting help because of a lack of connection and intimacy with each other. When a traumatic incident has occurred, working through intimacy issues can be more complex and overwhelming for the couple and Therapist alike. At times there can be a dynamic where one person in the couple has higher needs in response to the trauma. Sessions can become easily unbalanced and neutrality can be difficult to maintain. 

The link between intimacy and sexual activity in long-term relationships - The moderating effects of gender and attachment style

The role of intimacy in the sexual experience and behaviour of men and women living in steady relationships is considered important in several theoretical accounts (e.g., (Schnarch, 1991), specifically in models of female sexual functioning (Basson, 2000), indicating an important role of gender in this respect. Empirical research into the causal and directional association of partners’ experienced levels of emotional intimacy and their sexual activity (both partnered and individual) is scarce. Therefore, it is unclear whether intimacy and sexual activity function as a cause or as an effect within this association. A circular process can also be hypothesized to exist here. Studies on intimacy and sexual behaviour have thus far been either cross-sectional or experimental. 

Helping older men who have sexual problems

Sexual gerontology is the study of sexuality in the aging person. Improving the quality of life for aging people requires a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary approach. Facilitating the opportunity for innovative interventions including sex education and opportunities for intimacy despite fragility provides legitimacy for both research and proactive intervention of sexuality in aging men.

Attachment style, attunement, and adult sexuality: clinical applications of attachment research to sex therapy

Cutting edge research on the neuroscience of infant and child development shows that early parent-child interactions of emotional attunement or misattunement can result in chronic stress patterns, internal working models of relationship, and attachment styles that directly impact an individual’s capacity for intimacy and sexual pleasure as an adult. The objectives of this presentation are to provide a therapeutic model that synthesizes the relevant research from developmental psychoneurobiology and sexology and to offer a bodymind approach to sex therapy.  

Embodied Imagination

The medical complex

Most of us have had interactions with Western medical systems and practitioners which have left us at least mystified and confused, if not traumatised; particularly in the field of mental health. Sometimes it is impossible to make sense of what happened. The author of this paper is both a General Practitioner (family physician) and psychotherapist (with an interest in Jungian thought). She experiences the tension between the paradigms of medicine and psychotherapy as a source of both anxiety and possibility. In Jungian psychology, complexes are understood as a collection of ideas or concepts around a particular archetype or archetypes, and they contain both conscious and unconscious elements. Whilst they remain unconscious, they may wield a powerful influence on both individuals and 'the collective'. This presentation proposes the existence of a Medical Complex constellated within individuals, systems, and wider culture in the West, which is primarily unconscious and influences us in ways of which we are mostly unaware.

Jung and the shamanic wounded healer: implications for psychotherapists

The emotional impact of client material on psychotherapists is an experience which dogs many practitioners. Jung refers to such experiences as psychic infections, connecting them to the old idea of the demon of sickness whereby a sufferer can transmit his disease to a healthy person whose powers then subdue the demon. All this is reminiscent of a shamanic way of working. In the Jungian tradition, not only is the shaman seen as the archetypal wounded healer par excellence because they turn states of derangement into a self-cure but only those who work in a shamanic way are considered true Jungians. 

What do we do with dreams?

This talk puts forward some ideas towards an answer to this question. The discussion involves observations from two pioneers of dream research, Maury and Hervey de Saint-Denis; a dream of Jung, commented

Managing the “Ineffability” of Meaning in Psychotherapeutic Contexts: the Conversational Model and a view from Functional Linguistics

Communicative Exchange, Psychotherapy and the Resonant Self

Lost and Found in Interpretation.

Recovery through Community Conversations: a collaborative inter-sectoral approach.

From “Mind-forg’d Manacles” to “Interior Paramour”: Literary motifs and language choices in construing the psychotherapeutic notion of analogical “fit”

The Longer Conversation and The Caravanserai: Transforming and Transcending the Human Company

On being a fast-paced dreamer: how therapist and patient dream and talk in the changing relationship of therapy.

A long-term patient described her therapist as a 'fast-paced dreamer'. The sense seems to be of the therapist as holding conscious and unconscious, participating in the patient's inner world, creating

William James and the linguistic technique of psychotherapists.

In his lectures on the 'self', William James drew attention to meaning potential that few linguists have evaluated, or even noticed. Our dual experiences of self could be demonstrated, according to James, by the ME / I contrast where the linking relationship between the two forms of first person (let us say the relevant 'verb') would be akin to 'represents'. In the functional linguistics of MAK Halliday, this contrast, relatively unobtrusive in the words that we utter, reverberates throughout the organization of languages. In English, we have two questions that bring the contrast into focus: 'Which am I?' versus 'Which is me?'. These are not redundant - the I version seeks your Role in the scheme of things (eg your part; or even your position in a team), while the ME asks how the person can recognise herself in the Manifestations of the world (viz. Is that me? in a photograph).

Joseph Conrad, master of ships and master of affect: His gift to Robert Hobson and the Conversational Model

He who would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars: General Good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, & flatterer. For Art & Science cannot exist but in minutely organised particulars.’ William Blake, apart from Wordsworth, Coleridge and Shakespeare, Robert Hobson declared his indebtedness to the Polish/English novelist, Joseph Conrad (1857-1924). But what in particular did Conrad give to Hobson? His Darwinian biological conceptions? His Jamesian (Henry, if not William) psychological concept of an unconscious? His awareness of Newtonian Physics? (O’Hanlon), Maybe? 

Verbal arts, poetics and the silent legislation of thought

While verbal art has been regarded as the quintessential expression of what a community shares in a “collective consciousness”, equally it has been studied as the harbinger of experiential innovation. Language affords the chief source of interpersonal solidarity AND a semantic laboratory for what is incipient or even weird (outside the ken of ‘normal folk’).  This polarisation of functions can in some cases be explained by changes of artistic taste – mediaeval poetry in Europe was appreciated in terms of its ensemble of standard cultural motifs – e.g. roses, blood, courtesy… Other eras, like our own (in English, at least), have given value to novelty and invention, as well as to highly marked linguistic constructions. 

Managing the “Ineffability” of Meaning in Psychotherapeutic Contexts: the Conversational Model and a view from Functional Linguistics

‘They have no way to get their voices out’: Community Discussions Concerning the Need for Humanity and Inclusion in Australian News Representations of Asylum Seekers.

The Human Face of Torture and Trauma: towards a best practice model of media reportage.

Rohingas Torture Victims, now New World Attention, Seeking Urgent Humanitarian Help.

Engaging the Disengaged: Reflections from Bicultural Professionals on Supporting Marginalised African Youth and Communities Involved in Justice and Protection Systems.

Refugee Settlement, Social Media and Responding to Trauma.

Australian newspaper coverage of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination, October 2006 - December 2009

Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) is now routine practice for adolescent females in Australia. Media information about HPV vaccination is likely to affect girls’ and parents’ decisions about vaccination. This article reports a content analysis of 131 Australian print media news stories published between October 2006 and December 2009. Each story was coded for main themes of the article; completeness and accuracy of information presented; potential issues and concerns related to HPV vaccination; phrasing, emphasis, and language used; and representation of experts. 

Forensic Psychiatry and political violence

PSIQUIATRÍA FORENSE Y VIOLENCIA POLÍTICA. La evaluación pericial de víctimas de tortura y sus familiares. En los últimos años la psiquiatría forense,

Busting the Myth of Sexual Objectification

Objectification has been offered as an explanation of many ills in sexual relationships, sexuality in media and commercial sex. The term is derived from the ethics of Immanuel Kant and later popularized by Marxist and feminist culture critics. It is most often used in contexts that criticize or condemn sex work or pornography. Objectification has been often presented as the primary reason, why some sexual practices or depictions should be morally condemned. 

Advocacy for a prison needle and syringe program trial with prominent Australians

There are about 30,000 Australians in correctional facilities, an estimated 71 per cent of whom had used illicit drugs in the 12 months before incarceration. In the words of the National NSP Strategic Framework, “injecting drug use in prison and the absence of NSPs in prisons represents a gap, a risk and a limitation in all jurisdictions and requires urgent attention”. Only the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has publicly explored the possibility of introducing a needle and syringe program (NSP) in a prison. The single biggest obstacle has, and remains, opposition from the prison officers’ union which threatens industrial action.

Tempest in a D Cup: Sexual Attitudes Revealed in Reactions to Burlesque Performance

In Canberra, on Wednesday 6 September 2006, seven female burlesque dancers began entertaining at a conference dinner for the 17th Australia New Zealand Climate Forum - Climate Variability & Climate Change, at Old Parliament House. Fifteen minutes into the performance, the dancers ceased performing, in the face of a walkout led by women scientists. 

Psychology of stillness and wholeness part 1

To truly hear we must be silent. To see the patterns of the mind and heart we must be still. Behind everything we perceive and know is a Great Silence. When we touch this background silence all that

Sacred art of eating (Part 1)

“Eat when hungry, sleep when tired.” This ancient Zen saying is a simple prescription for a satisfying life. But for many people, eating is anything but simple. It is ironic that in a land of plenty, large numbers of people suffer from unbalanced relationship to food.

Empowering Individuals’ Inherent Coping and Resilience with Neurotechnology: An alternative, evidence-based approach

Research demonstrates that meditation, deep relaxation, mindfulness, self hypnosis etc, increase a person's coping ability, resilience and hope building, physiological healing and health. People appear to access: innate wisdom, strength, confidence, hope and reasonableness, and they begin doing things in their life that are so much more healthy and constructive without being directly coached to do so. New fields of applied behavioural neuroscience, psychophysiology and neurotechnologies such as brainwave biofeedback and brainwave entrainment are enabling people to gain the benefits of meditation with these safe, natural and easy to use tools without having to learn a technique.

Can choir singing reduce depression and increase quality of life in middle aged people? A research project with qEEG testing

Midlife depression could be a significant precursor to later life limitations. Psychosocial efforts to reduce target symptoms of chronic somatic and mental health problems may lead to a decrease in lowered quality of life. Midlife is a powerful time for the expression of human potential because it combines the capacity for insightful reflection with a powerful desire to create meaning in life. The current study examined whether symptoms of depression, traumatic stress and anxiety in middle age can be ameliorated through a choir program.  Thirty-two community dwelling middle aged volunteers were tested for depression, post traumatic stress, wellbeing and quality of life before and after the intervention of choir singing. A mixed methods quasi-experimental design was used in which an experimental choir group of twenty one participants was compared to a wait list control group of eleven subjects after random selection. Nine participants from the choir were randomly selected for quantum electronencephalogram testing (qEEG) pre and post the intervention. 

What is an Integrated Buddhist Psychotherapy?

How Buddhist teachings and meditative practices can be incorporated into psychotherapeutic sessions is illustrated. In the speaker’s practice of Meditative Psychotherapy the session begins and

Theme and Variations: The way the Complex Traumatic past becomes the Complex Traumatic present

Keeping Developmental Trauma in Mind.

Embodied Imagination

Storytelling and the Refugee Experience.

Affect: The Art and Science

Working memory systems in health and disease

An important task of the human central nervous system is to link sensory information to appropriate response. This is the defining characteristic of adaptive behaviour in humans. Such adaptability is

Suicidal thoughts and implicit memory

One of the most difficult situations facing psychotherapists is the patient with chronic and persistent suicidal thoughts. The level of suffering the patient experiences, and the anxiety the therapist

Research on trauma brought on by the disappearance of a child

Research on trauma brought on by the disappearance of a child is rare. The aim of our study was to increase understanding of uncertainty's role in the lives of those it affects, to present a narrative structure of the parents' testimonies, and to discern the origin of hope still felt by the parents. Sampling and Methods: Close reading and qualitative analysis of 29 testimonies given by parents whose sons disappeared during the Croatian War for Independence. Gender differences, categories, and frequencies of adjectives used were determined.

Rewiring the brain after Trauma: A Brain-Based Therapy approach. Part 1 of 8

This eight parts seminar examines the use of Brain-Based Therapy to enhance outcomes with people who have been traumatised. It explores a new way of looking at the therapeutic process enabling you to

Rewiring the brain after Trauma: A Brain-Based Therapy approach. Part 6 of 8

This eight parts seminar examines the use of Brain-Based Therapy to enhance outcomes with people who have been traumatised. It explores a new way of looking at the therapeutic process enabling you to move beyond the traditional theoretical school approach. Brain-Based Therapy synthesizes neuroscience, evidence-based treatment, psychotherapy research, and attachment theory into a hybrid therapeutic model. Brain-Based Therapy envisions the therapeutic process as a method to change the brain in order to change mood and behaviour. The role that brain function plays in mood, memory and behaviour are discussed, including the effect of diet and alcohol on the brain and mental health over the life span. Special attention is given to addressing the neurodynamics of PTSD and the crucial role of memory and how to use Brain-Based Therapy to more effectively educate and treat clients with PTSD.