The Core Integrity Model:Interventions for extreme trauma.
NOTE:Heartland Trauma Institute is recognized by the National Board of Certified Counselors to offer continuing education for national certified counselors.
Q & A.
As a therapist, you know what works. But when it doesn’t, you start asking questions...
Q. Trauma survivors seem to have some unique needs. Where do I need to begin? A. Heartland seminars will teach you a Standard of Care and tools for healing that provide the client with a roadmap to health.
Q. I know my client wants help, but as we look at alternative solutions, s/he changes the subject or shuts down emotionally. How can I help my client progress? A. The Core Integrity Model (CIM) increases ego strength so the individual can face what is frightening.
Q. The client is so different from one visit to the next that I don’t know what to expect. How can I effectively deal with this? A. The problem of continuity in a person without any organic injury is common to trauma. The Core Integrity Model provides tools that address that problem.
Q. My client presented with symptoms related to trauma, but knows of no possible reason for the symptoms. What’s going on? A. Some trauma contexts prevent remembering of the event(s). The Core Integrity Model can help the client regulate their symptoms, even without knowing the cause(s). This protects the therapist from “false memory” accusations and possible litigation. Q. How can I tell the difference between Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, and PTSD? A. You will learn that clients with Bipolar Disorder can also have PTSD; but PTSD can mimic BipolarDisorder when it is not.
[More answers — plus practical solutions — within Heartland seminars.]
Core Integrity Model.
The Core Integrity Model consists of interventions that are related to Four Stages of Treatment(listed below) during which the Core self must be recognized, respected, and included for therapy to be effective. Core self. The unique personal identity of every individual manifested through physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and spiritual means. Every person is born with a unique identity that is the Core self. The Core self: • holds an individual’s sense of humanity; • asserts autonomy; • desires affiliation; • seeks meaning; • holds hopes; and • lives by values. When a person is subjected to extreme trauma, copying mechanisms, such as dissociation, help to protect the survivor’s Core self; but also prevent the Core self from fully expressing itself.
Four(4) stages of treatment.
Victim.Core self: • learns that one can move beyond being a victim in life circumstances; • learns to establish internal and external boundaries for safety; • sustains an orientation to the present; and • joins in the therapeutic alliance for healing. Survivor.Numbing or acting-out behaviors are addressed, such as substance abuse and self-harm.The Core self, as an adult, is encouraged to actively pursue self-care and the need to build a healthy social network. Driver.The Core self takes charge of his own healing by using skills that allow memories to surface in a safe and controlled way for exploration and resolution of the impact of the traumatic events. Thriver.The Core self actively looks to the future, using the process to define purpose, meaning, and integrity for life beyond trauma and therapy.
Why is another trauma treatment program needed?
The recognition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociation in the late 1960s began a trend which represented a reconsideration, a look back in time. While the phenomenology of trauma is a relatively new science, the concepts were first introduced in the late 1800s by researchers like Janet and Charcot.
At the turn of the 20th century, phenomeological observation was set aside to make psychology a "pure" science. Phenomenologists, like William James, were shouted down by the behaviorists, like James Watson. The idea that there was something going on in the mind was dismissed. Human beings were just higher forms of animals whose physiology allowed them to evolve and be shaped by the environment in the process of adaptation. With the growth of technology, humanity was relegated to a higher form of machine or computer.
The needs of women, children, and returning soldiers in the 1960s, however, required an approach that the "pure" science of psychology could not address. Courageous researchers returned to the literature on dissociation. The archives provided the insights to begin addressing the needs of hurting individuals. The restoring of humanity and dignity came when science listened to the wounded person by acknowledging an internal process of self and by recognizing the brokenness of mind, body, and spirit.
During his administration, President Bill Clinton designated the last ten years of the 20th century as the Decade of the Brain. Then another area of science gained credibility that the behaviorist movement had negated, that of consciousness. The same resources came to bear as William James' writings brought to the fore insights into the mind. It is the belief of individuals behind Heartland Trauma Institute that the emerging field of consciousness holds further answers.
Trauma alters one's awareness and perception of self and the world. Survivors, to whom we listen, have taught us how their minds work.
These observations are consistent with current research in consciousness. Thus our program attempts to incorporate these insights which survivors say work within the parameters of a scientific standard of care.
We invite you to join us in our search for what works.
Lowell Routley, Ph.D. Founder and Executive Director Heartland Initiative, Inc.
What you will learn from the Heartland Trauma Institute seminars.
In eight training modules, you will learn skills that will help you identify trauma phenomenology that other modalities may not.
When things stall, this approach can be used in adjunct with themodalities of hypnotherapy, EMDR, cognitive/ behavioral, and dialectic mindfulness.
Training sessions will provide you client-based tools that are uniform, standardized, and applicable transculturally. These tools provide a conceptual description which allows both client and therapist to process symptoms and identify the related phenomenology. After identification, the therapist is able to facilitate the process for the client to explore, understand, and resolve the immediate concern.
— Teaching others about CORE SELF: our authentic identity —