In January our Clinical Director, Dr. John Van Eenwyk (back row, first from left), joined with members of a resource group to plan for the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme’s (GCMHP) next two decades. The resource group consisted of seven members of GCMHP, two professors from Harvard Medical School, a professor from the Free University of Berlin, a psychiatrist from Pakistan who is the Secretary of the World Psychiatry Association, a representative of the International Medical Corps in Japan, and Dr. Van Eenwyk. The discussions took place for a week in Egypt.

 ITTP Graduate Naima Al-Tarabeen and her Family

 

One highlight was meeting with Ms. Naima Al-Tarabeen, who attended our program in 2005 and is now a member of our Clinical Faculty. She attended with her husband, Nour, and son, Mohammed. Naima is now the head of AISHA, the Women’s Empowerment Project in Gaza.

Dr. Van Eenwyk

When:  Sat. March 9

Time:    3:00

Where:  Orca Books, Olympia

Dr. John an Eenwyk, ITTP Clinical Director, is going to present his book “Clinical Chaos: The Strange Attractors of Childhood Trauma.” The following is a short description of the book:

By two weeks after birth infants mimic the language spoken around them. Who or what is doing the mimicking? It certainly isn’t a deliberate process. Yet, something is adapting to the environment. This poses some interesting questions: How does the mind adapt to challenges before consciousness is up and running? If those adaptations persist into adulthood, how are we to manage them when they operate outside the volition of consciousness?

Clinical Chaos: The Strange Attractors of Childhood Trauma combines chaos theory and Jungian psychology to explore the psychodynamics of unconscious adaptation. Case studies illustrate how to identify and to integrate those childhood adaptations that spontaneously deploy in situations that resemble the original trauma. Bringing such unconscious contents into consciousness is only half of the story, however. Consciousness must also learn how to negotiate the chartless territory of the unconscious. This book describes how to do just that. 

John would love to see you there!

International Trauma Treatment Program (ITTP)

The ITTP is a community-supported not-for-profit organization in Olympia, Washington that enhances practitioners’ ability to treat complex trauma resulting from torture, war, and natural disasters.  ITTP seeks to restore survivors’ physical and psychological health through treatment and education.

ITTP collaborates with local practitioners living in areas affected by complex trauma  to identify and to develop culturally appropriate treatment.  These practitioners then assist colleagues in their home countries to do the same, thus greatly increasing the number of practitioners who are able to counteract the effects of complex trauma.

Click here for more information about ITTP.