Trauma & Neglect
Trauma by definition is overwhelming experience, which essentially means the stimulus is greater than what the brain and nervous system are designed to process in their customary way. Neglect is the panoply of essential missing experiences, without which survival and wellbeing may be compromised and possibly threatened. Both can dysregulate the brain, and body and leave their mark on virtually all aspects of human functioning.
Nothing for Everybody
Too Much of Nothing: The Invisible Epidemic of Childhood Neglect
I am hard at work on my new upcoming book, “Too much of Nothing: The Invisible Epidemic of Childhood Neglect.” This will be a comprehensive book on the trauma of neglect, written for the “lay public-” essentially everybody. it will: define neglect trauma, what it is, is or more precisely what it is not. In accessible and user-friendly language, it will provide the “evidence basis,” in trauma theory, neuroscience, biology and attachment theory terms; and map the vast array of neglect’s impacts symptoms and life challenges. All the ways that nothing is not nothing!
Intended as a practical guide, it will be peppered with lots of real-life stories of (disguised or composite of course) past clients and loved ones, and (not disguised) stories about myself,; strategies for healing, and of course my message of undying hope.
It will in a nutshell include, a concise definition of what neglect is; how to recognize it; essentials about brain and body; perhaps most significantly the thorny and painful challenges around relationship and sexuality; and the healing journey. We are shooting for an early 2025 publication. I better get back to work because Nothing really matters!
Topics covered in this book will include:
- What is neglect?
- I had food, clothing and shelter, so what was missing?
- The “three P’s of neglect:” passivity, procrastination and paralysis
- Caretaking: why the “external” focus?
- Isolation: self centeredness or self reliance?
- The conundrum of relationship
- “Knowing” it all
- The koan of sexuality
- The myth of powerlessness
- Healing? Who needs It?
- Steps to healing and growth for the self reliant character
Stalled but Not “Stuck” – Slogging, Baking and Care
Certain words I have torn out of my personal lexicon and just tossed. One of those is “stuck.” It is not allowed in my office either. True, sometimes progress is so slow as to be frustratingly imperceptible, but I don’t believe it has stopped and is certainly not cause for
Voice and Spine: Trees, Feet, Upward
Way back when I was in graduate school, which seems like eons ago (it was the middle 1980’s), I studied the work of an attachment researcher named Stephen Johnson. That is Stephen M. Johnson, apparently there are many Stephen Johnsons. He was also one of an early wave of somatic
To Be Or…Invisible, Parts, Integration
When I was in ninth grade, my English class planned a field trip to the theater to see Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Strange how all this detail has endured in memory. My teacher was a grumpy, curmudgeonly guy with a “toothbrush” or Charlie Chaplin style mustache. ChatGPT says he