Bessel A. van der Kolk, MD, is a clinician, researcher and teacher in the area of post-traumatic stress. His work integrates developmental, neurobiological, psychodynamic and interpersonal aspects of the impact of trauma and its treatment.

Dr. van der Kolk and his various collaborators have published extensively on the impact of trauma on development, such as dissociative problems, borderline personality and self-mutilation, cognitive development, memory, and the psychobiology of trauma. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles on such diverse topics as neuroimaging, self-injury, memory, neurofeedback, Developmental Trauma, yoga, theater, and EMDR. 

He is founder of the Trauma Center in Brookline, Massachusetts and President of the Trauma Research Foundation, which promotes clinical, scientific, and educational projects. 

His 2014 #1 New York Times best seller, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Treatment of Trauma, transforms our understanding of traumatic stress, revealing how it literally rearranges the brain’s wiring – specifically areas dedicated to pleasure, engagement, control, and trust. He shows how these areas can be reactivated through innovative treatments including neurofeedback, somatically based therapies, EMDR, psychodrama, play, yoga, and other therapies.

Dr. van der Kolk is the past president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and professor of psychiatry at Boston University Medical School. He regularly teaches at conferences, universities, and hospitals around the world.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Bessel van der Kolk is a professor at Boston University School of Medicine, the Director of the Trauma Center, and the National Complex Trauma Network. He receives royalties as a published author. Dr. van der Kolk receives a speaking honorarium, recording royalties, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Bessel van der Kolk has no relevant non-financial relationships with ineligible organizations.

Peter A. Levine, PhD, holds doctorates in both medical biophysics and psychology. The developer of Somatic Experiencing®, a body-awareness approach to healing trauma, and founder of the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute, which conducts trainings in this work throughout the world and in various indigenous cultures, with 26 faculty members and over five thousand students. Dr. Levine was a stress consultant for NASA on the development of the space shuttle project and was a member of the Institute of World Affairs Task Force of Psychologists for Social Responsibility in developing responses to large-scale disasters and ethnopolitical warfare. Levine’s international best seller, Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma, has been translated into 22 languages. His recent interests include the prevention of trauma in children, and he has co-written two books, with Maggie Kline, in the area: Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes and Trauma-Proofing Your Kids. His most recent book: Trauma and Memory: Brain and Body in a Search for the Living Past, was recently released to rave reviews. Levine’s original contribution to the field of body psychotherapy was honored in 2010 when he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy (USABP). Levine was also honored as the recipient of the 2020 Psychotherapy Networker Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Peter Levine is the founder and president of the Ergos Institute of Somatic Education, the president and editorial director of Ergos Institute Press, and receives a consulting fee from the Meadows Addiction Center. He receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Levine receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Peter Levine is a senior clinical fellow and advisor to the Meadows Addiction Treatment Center. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Humanistic Psychological Association, and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

David Grand, PhD, is a psychotherapist, writer, lecturer, performance coach, and humanitarian famous for the discovery and development of the internationally acclaimed Brainspotting method, which brings about life-changing breakthroughs at "Warp Speed." Dr. Grand is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a PhD from International University, and is renowned for his groundbreaking discoveries and advancements in the arenas of healing trauma and enhancing performance and creativity. His Brainspotting method and BioLateral Sound are now used by thousands of therapist on every continent seeking to break through the limitations of talk therapy. Dr. Grand is the author of Brainspotting: The Revolutionary New Therapy for Rapid and Effective Change.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. David Grand maintains a private practice and is a developer for BioLateral Sound Recordings. He is the developer of the Brainspotting method and receives compensation as a national lecturer. Dr. Grand receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. David Grand has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.

Babette Rothschild, MSW, LCSW, has been a practicing psychotherapist and body-psychotherapist since 1976 and a California Licensed Clinical Social Worker since 1978. She is a member of the International and European Societies for Traumatic Stress Studies, the Association of Traumatic Stress. Babette has trained extensively in Transactional Analysis, Gestalt Therapy, Psychodrama, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing and Somatic Experiencing, and is a certified Bodynamic Analyst and certified Radix Teacher. She has written extensively on trauma. Her works include 8 Keys to Safe Trauma Recovery; HELP for the HELPER: The Psychophysiology of Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma (with Marjorie Rand); THE BODY REMEMBERS: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment; THE BODY REMEMBERS CASEBOOK: Unifying Methods and Models in the Treatment of Trauma and PTSD; and Trauma Essentials: The Go-to Guide.

 

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Babette Rothschild is in private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Babette Rothschild has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.
 

 

Stephen W. Porges, PhD, is a distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University, where he is the founding director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium within the Kinsey Institute. He holds the position of Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina and Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Maryland, and is a founder of the Polyvagal Institute. Dr. Porges served as president of both the Society for Psychophysiological Research and the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences and is a former recipient of a National Institute of Mental Health Research Scientist Development Award. He has published approximately 400 peer-reviewed scientific papers across several disciplines including anesthesiology, biomedical engineering, critical care medicine, ergonomics, exercise physiology, gerontology, neurology, neuroscience, obstetrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, psychometrics, space medicine, and substance abuse. His research has been cited in more than 50,000 peer-review publications. In 1994, Dr. Porges proposed the Polyvagal Theory, a theory that links the evolution of the mammalian autonomic nervous system to social behavior and emphasizes the importance of physiological state in the expression of behavioral problems and psychiatric disorders. The theory is leading to innovative treatments based on insights into the mechanisms mediating symptoms observed in several behavioral, psychiatric, and physical disorders.

He is the author of The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation (Norton, 2011), The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe (Norton, 2017), Polyvagal Safety (Norton, 2021), co-author with Seth Porges of Our Body Polyvagal World (Norton, 2023), and co-editor with Deb Dana of Clinical Applications of the Polyvagal Theory: The Emergence of Polyvagal-Informed Therapies (Norton, 2018). Dr. Porges is also the creator of a music-based intervention, the Safe and Sound Protocol™, which currently is used by approximately 3,000 therapists to improve spontaneous social engagement, to reduce hearing sensitivities, and to improve language processing, state regulation, and spontaneous social engagement.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Stephen Porges has employment relationships with Indiana University Bloomington and the University of North Carolina. He receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Porges receives a speaking honorarium, book royalties, and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He receives royalties from Integrated Learning Systems/Unyte. All relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations have been mitigated.
Non-financial: Dr. Stephen Porges is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Society for Psychophysiological Research. He holds a patent on Televagal equipment. Dr. Porges is co-owner of Polyvagal Music, LLC launching in 2024.

Janina Fisher, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and former instructor at The Trauma Center, a research and treatment center founded by Bessel van der Kolk. Known as an expert on the treatment of trauma, Dr. Fisher has also been treating individuals, couples, and families since 1980.

She is past president of the New England Society for the Treatment of Trauma and Dissociation, an EMDR International Association Credit Provider, Assistant Educational Director of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, and a former Instructor, at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fisher lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics related to the integration of the neurobiological research and newer trauma treatment paradigms into traditional therapeutic modalities.

She is co-author with Pat Ogden of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Attachment and Trauma (2015) and author of Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation (2017) and the forthcoming book, Working with the Neurobiological Legacy of Trauma (in press).

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Janina Fisher has an employment relationship with the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute. She is a consultant for Khiron House Clinics and the Massachusetts Department of MH Restraint and Seclusion Initiative. Dr. Fisher receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording royalties and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. Dr. Fisher has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Janina Fisher is on the advisory board for the Trauma Research Foundation. She is a patron of the Bowlby Center.

Belleruth Naparstek, ACSW, BCD: Psychotherapist, author and guided imagery innovator Belleruth Naparstek is the creator of the popular Time Warner Health Journeys guided imagery audio series. Her first book, Staying Well with Guided Imagery, is a widely used wellness primer. Her second, Your Sixth Sense, has been translated into 8 languages and called one of the most thoughtful and sophisticated looks at intuition in print. Her latest book on imagery and posttraumatic stress, Invisible Heroes: Trauma Survivors and How They Heal, was released in late 2004, won the Spirituality & Health Top 50 Books Award and is out in paperback January of 2006.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Belleruth Naparstek is the founder of Health Journeys, Inc. She is an author who receives royalties. Ms. Naparstek receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.
Non-financial: Belleruth Naparstek has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.

Robin Shapiro, LISW, is an author, psychotherapist and an EMDRIA-approved consultant, offering consultation to psychotherapists on the gamut of psychotherapy issues including trauma, attachment, endogenous disorders, and countertransference issues. She is the author of three books, EMDR Solutions I, EMDR Solutions II and The Trauma Treatment Handbook. SHe is also leader of EMDR-related workshops including the Two-Hand Interweave, EMDR with Cultural and Generational Issues, Depression, Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorders, Medical Issues, Anxiety Disorders, Couples, Complex Trauma and Dissociation. She has presented these workshops at regional and international EMDR International Association conferences and, for many years in, in the Part Two of an EMDR Weekly Class.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Robin Shapiro maintains a private practice. She is an author and receives royalties. Ms. Shapiro receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.
Non-financial: Robin Shapiro has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.