The Legacy of Birth Trauma in Childhood and Adolescence
Birth itself, when we think of it, must be a monumentally arduous journey creating physiologically, psychologically and interpersonally an entire lifespace paradigm shift. The change in the infant’s life, following departure from the dark, cramped and muffled amniotic wombspace could not be more pronounced. He now finds himself in an expansive sensory world of direct contact with the other as he encounters breath, touch, voice and gaze. Experiences during the initial moments, hours and days following entry into this new landscape for the delicate and vulnerable child are significant, with the potential for a loving, peaceful bonding process to intensify or for the trauma of invasive medical procedure, neglect or maltreatment to terrify him. It is possible that we accumulate experiential data and are meaning-makers right from our earliest moments of life, so that wombspace and birth experience shapes how we creatively adjust to subsequent lifespace conditions.
This workshop will explore the developmental and relational imprints of the birth experience for children and adolescents, and how this presents in the therapeutic setting. Interventions to heal this early trauma will be demonstrated.
Venue: Knock Counselling Centre, Co. Mayo
Date: Tuesday, February 4th, 2020
Fee: €130
Time: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
For booking details, email bronaghstarrs@gmail.com
Bronagh Starrs is Founder & Director of Blackfort Adolescent Gestalt Institute and Programme Director for the MSc Adolescent Psychotherapy in Dublin Counselling & Therapy Centre in partnership with University of Northampton. She maintains a private practice in Omagh, Northern Ireland, as a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, writer and trainer, specialising in working with adolescents. Bronagh is an adolescent development specialist and has considerable experience teaching and presenting throughout Ireland and internationally on the developmental implication of trauma on the adolescent journey. Her book Adolescent Psychotherapy – A Radical Relational Approach (Routledge, London) has received international acclaim.
