The professional backgrounds of our
teachers and teaching assistants reflect the broad application of Trauma First
Aide™ and include nurses, psychotherapists, physicians, first responders,
physical/occupational therapists, community activists, massagetherapists,
clergy and teachers.
PROGRAM DIRECTORS/SENIOR INSTRUCTORS
 Geneie Everett, PhD, RN, is the Founder and Director of Trauma First Aide™ Associates with thirty-five years experience as an Integrative Practitioner incorporating multiple Body/Mind techniques from western medicine and native cultures. In addition to her integrative healing practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she worked on staff at a full integrative medical clinic in Santa Monica, California, served on the Subcommittee on Integrative Practice to the New Mexico Board of Nursing, and sponsored the Hundred Medicines: Honoring Many Paths" conferences on integrative practice. Dr. Everett has hospital nursing experience including: multi-systems critical care, renal transplant, and emergency medicine. From 2005-2006, she served as the Director of the Foundation for Human Enrichment's Trauma Outreach Program (TOP) leading a team to Thailand to assist tsunami survivors and deploying multiple outreach teams to Louisiana in response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Currently, Dr. Everett travels extensively throughout the country lecturing and teaching Trauma First Aide™. Her message spotlights "Prevent More and Treat Less" and the possibility of reducing and preventing PTSD through education and using simple techniques that "Restore Resilience" to the nervous system. Her personal focus is working with the military, first responders and healthcare professionals. Dr. Everett's coauthored book, Trauma First Aide, will be published in 2011.
"Whether working with complex PTSD from child sexual abuse or teaching a soldier how to take care of himself or a buddy in the field, Trauma First Aide™ is the backbone of all interventions in my practice and is the way I take care of myself so I can continue to help others." — Geneie Everett
Contact:GEverett@TraumaFirstAide.com
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 Pam Burnham, PhD, LISW, SEP, Program Director, TFA for Youth & Families has been in clinical practice for 30 years with a focus on developmental and shock trauma in infants and children. She is certified in EMDR and Somatic Experiencing. Dr. Burnham conducted research in parent-infant attachment, and teaches somatic-based psychotherapy. From 2005-2006, Pam served on the Trauma Outreach Team traveling to Thailand post Tsunami to collect follow-up research data and worked with survivors in New Orleans post-Katrina/Rita where she provided sessions, collected data and helped with Trauma First Aide™ research. Pam is a senior TFA instructor teaching in Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, California, Maine, Virginia and Texas. In 2008, Dr. Burnham developed a new TFA program with special focus on youth and family and is the Director of that program. She is currently managing the Santa Fe Public Schools Project to train all social workers, school counselors, school nurses, and teachers in TFA system-wide.
"Trauma First Aide™ is integrated into every aspect of my work with children, adolescents, and adults. I use it with clients to quickly settle anxiety, calm agitation and restlessness, dissipate fear, and ground the impulse to fight and or take flight. I teach the principles of TFA to my clients, my students, and my family as a way to stay connected to themselves and present to what is happening especially in highly emotionally charged situations. TFA is user friendly, efficient, and it works." — Pam Burnham
Contact: PBurnham@TraumaFirstAide.com
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INSTRUCTORS
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 Meg Deutsch-Di Mari, LMT, SEP is a licensed massage therapist and Somatic Experience Practitioner. She has a private practice with a referral base from medical doctors, chiropractors, and various therapists. Her clients are from diverse backgrounds, ages and populations. She serves wide ranges of client challenges from acute and chronic pain patterns to various kinds of traumatic experiences. She applies resources from her own personal life herstory, and her military and volunteer service, to her relentless appetite to know and serve more. Meg served on the Trauma Outreach team post-Katrina/Rita, provided sessions and collected data, and has helped with the Trauma First Aide™ research that has been published. She has assisted Trauma First Aide™ trainings since 2006 in Louisiana and New Mexico and is on the faculty track to teach Trauma First Aide™.
"Trauma First Aide™ offers me an effective, rapid method of stabilization. It brings the person I am working with home to their body, which is a great base camp from which to instantly experience empowering results. The potential uses of and benefits from Trauma First Aide™, are in my opinion, unlimited."
— Meg Deutsch-Di Mari
Contact: MegD@TraumaFirstAide.com
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 Giselle Genillard, Licensed Midwife, SEP is a member of the International Association of Structural Integrators (IASI) and is a TIPS Instructor. She has been working in the field of human endeavor for thirty years. In the early 80's, Giselle was deeply involved with the politics of childbirth in England and she studied with Sheila Kitzinger and Michel Odent. Later, Giselle became an Advanced Rolfer practicing internationally, and a Licensed Midwife practicing in New Mexico. Since 1999, Giselle has been healing by combining her training as a somatic therapist with her diverse knowledge and skills in the art of midwifery, the core principles of Somatic Experiencing, and her widespread cross-cultural experiences. She travels extensively for her work, speaks five languages, and was a member of Trauma Outreach teams going to South-East India post-tsunami and to New Orleans post-Katrina. Giselle is the organizer of the SE trainings in both England and France and she is the director of "Sense of Self UK", a London-based organization designed to bring excellence in Eastern and Western approaches to somatic therapy for trauma resolution worldwide. Giselle specializes in working with PTSD, prenatal, perinatal, and sexual trauma, infertility, early attachment disorders, addictions, and international disasters. She is a member of the Trauma First Aide™ teaching staff in Maryland, Maine, New Mexico and is a member of our military training team.
"TFA forms the mainstay of my professional practice but far transcends the bounds of my profession. TFA is a philosophy for living; I use it in my personal relationships, I teach it to my daughter to use with her college students in distress, I used it at my father's death, and I use it with pregnant and birthing women and with mothers caring for young children. It is pristine, simple and essential to maintaining healthy relationships of all denominations." — Giselle Genillard
Contact: GGenillard@TraumaFirstAide.com |
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 Lorin Hager, LMT, SEP is a somatic practitioner in Santa Fe , New Mexico , and a consultant to students in the SE training program. He served as Chairman of the Board for Foundation for Human Enrichment (FHE) for eight years and helped Dr. Peter Levine to write Waking the Tiger, Healing Trauma. Lorin is the co-author of the Healing Trauma Guide Book, and It Won't Hurt Forever, also with Dr. Levine. He studied with Dr. Milton Trager and has taught somatic-based trauma therapy. He is the co-developer, along with Bhanu Harrison, of Trauma First Aide™ for Body Workers module (TFA-BW). Lorin served on the Trauma Outreach Program team in Baton Rouge and New Orleans post-Katrina and is a member of the Trauma First Aide™ teaching staff in Washington, New Mexico, and Louisiana and is a member of our military training team.
"Trauma First Aide™ training provides the essential tools needed to help yourself and/or others begin to calm down in the wake of extreme experiences. I use these tools everyday with myself as well as with my clients." — Lorin Hager
Contact: lorinhager@gmail.com |
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 Cyndi Harris, MS, OD is a group and organizational development consultant, trainer and coach. Her work includes individual, group, and organizational change and transition, diversity and inclusion, organizational resilience, leadership development, interpersonal relations, organizational design and culture, strategic direction, navigating organizational dynamics for individual success and well-being, and managing individual and group dynamics in support of organizational effectiveness. She conducts highly experiential workshops including Dealing with Covert Processes and Human Interaction Laboratory. Cyndi is a member of the Trauma First Aide™ teaching staff in New Mexico, Massachusetts, and Hawaii. She is also a member of the TFA training team for the US State Department and heads up TFA research.
"As a coach and consultant, I use Trauma First Aide™ to help individuals and groups ground and settle to promote resilience in highly charged situations and activities. In addition, Trauma First Aide™ principles guide my training design and coaching and consulting interventions allowing me to interact at individual and systems levels in a way that better supports learning and fosters resilience and sustainable action." — Cyndi Harris
Contact: CHarris@TraumaFirstAide.com |
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 Bhanu Joy Harrison, LISW, LMT, SEP is a body-centered clinical social worker, massage therapy instructor, and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner in private practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her private practice is focused on trauma resolution and she regularly uses Trauma First Aide™ and Somatic Experiencing approaches with clients. Bhanu has been an instructor at the New Mexico School of Natural Therapeutics since 1985 and has taught classes in polarity therapy, physiology, body-centered emotional support skills, business practices, and ethics. She is approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) as a continuing education Approved Provider. She is the co-developer, along with Lorin Hager, of Trauma First Aide for Body Workers™ module (TFA-BW).
"As a social worker, I use TFA skills to help my clients stay connected and grounded as they are processing difficult material. As they begin to understand what is happening in their body as emotions are discussed and processed, there is less anxiety or fear about the process. I also use TFA with my children as they deal with falls or other accidents and also to help them understand their teenage peers as they navigate this challenging time in their lives." — Bhanu Harrison
Contact: BHarrison@TraumaFirstAide.com |
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 Patrick McCarthy, PhD, LICSW, SEP is a clinical social worker in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts. Trained originally in psychodynamic therapy, he weaves family systems theory, cognitive behavioral principals, EMDR, Somatic Experiencing and Trauma First Aide™ into his therapeutic practice. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor for the Boston University Graduate School of Social Work for the past 25 years. Dr. McCarthy served on the Trauma Outreach Program post-Katrina/Rita and helped organize and set-up the data collection for the research that has been published and been on the Trauma First Aide™ teaching team since 2006 in Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Mexico.
"Increasingly, I have come to rely on Trauma First Aide™ to help my private clients manage and settle their own emotions both in and out of the clinical sessions." — Patrick McCarthy
Contact: PMcCarthy@TraumaFirstAide.com |
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 Jody Mittiga, RN, ND, SEP is a registered nurse and trained naturopath with a background in oncology, hospice care and natural health practices. She is currently working at the University of Colorado Hospital in the Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant unit and is engaged in advanced nursing studies at the UC School of Nursing in Denver, Colorado. She is a co-creator of Ready 4 the Return, a volunteer initiative that provides a body-based approach to healing after combat trauma. Jody integrated Trauma First Aide™™ skill sets into the FEMA-funded stress management program for post-Katrina/Rita survivors. Jody has assisted Trauma First Aide™ trainings in Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Maryland at the US State Department and is on the faculty track to teach Trauma First Aide™.
"Normalizing the stress response to trauma is important work. Allowing the body to release the chemistry of trauma-trapped circuitry is healing.” — Jody Mittiga
Contact: JodyMittga@TraumaFirstAide.com |
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 Kristin Sagert, PhD, LISW, SEP is a psychotherapist in private practice. In her work, Kristin uses a mind/body approach and focuses on adults with all types of trauma, unresolved life transitions, emotional distress, acute and chronic health issues, and grief. Her integrative approach incorporates an understanding of the diverse methods of Eastern and Western healing modalities informed, in part, by her extensive healthcare experience as a Medical Social Worker and completion of a PhD in Preventive Medicine. Dr. Sagert ‘s broad range of experience has included research, teaching, and numerous presentations on physical and emotional health issues, including trauma, to audiences in Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico and Louisiana. Kristin was a member of the Trauma Outreach team post-Katrina/Rita and is a member of the Trauma First Aide"™ teaching staff in Louisiana, New Mexico, California and Minnesota.
"As a psychotherapist, TFA is the foundational work with all clients. I use Trauma First Aide daily as a vital aspect of therapeutic interventions because it provides my clients with essential "take away" skills to use between sessions as they work toward improved self-regulation and resiliency." — Krisin Sagert
Contact: KSagert@TraumaFirstAide.com |
