Healing a War Veteran's PTSD. Also, Donate For A Great Cause - The ISSV!

By Tara Dickherber, M.Ed, LPCCertified Practitioner, Rapid Resolution Therapy Executive Director, Institute for Survivors of Sexual Violence

The month of May has a lot going on with Teacher Appreciation Day on Tuesday May 8, Mother's Day on Sunday May 13, and last but certainly not least Memorial Day on Sunday May 28. It's a month filled with appreciation. In February, I gave the suggestion of sending your loved ones a bracelet in honor of survivors of sexual violence by FarrielleDesign. That bracelet is still available and such a great present that keeps on giving. And by the way, each bracelet is made by hand and each is somewhat unique. 

We also now have been honored by Moonfire Digital Arts and Textiles! The artist, being a survivor of sexual violence herself, is giving back a portion of the proceeds from her online store to the Institute for Survivors of Sexual Violence. The artist takes amazing photos of hummingbirds, and these photos can then be printed on coffee mugs, calendars, t-shirts, etc. It is yet another way to give a gift that keeps on giving for your Mother, Grandmother, Aunt, or a Teacher who had an amazing, positive impact upon you! 

I also would like to mention the motivating training we receive in Rapid Resolution Therapy which is not only very effective for survivors of sexual violence, but it is also effective for treating PTSD which whom many of our Veterans have been diagnosed with. Recently, I was honored to treat a Vietnam Veteran who is also a counselor. His trauma didn't just start when he served in Vietnam but way back to his childhood and up through to a recent trauma that happened prior to his session with me. He was out of work and still going through the process of filing for disability, thus he was strapped for cash.  I willingly agreed to see him pro bono. 

In just one session, we cleared decades of trauma! He left walking out of my office giving me oodles of thanks as I returned that with oodles of thanks for his service to our country. I have followed up with him, and he's still not sure what happened in his session, but he and his wife have seen an amazing improvement in his mood and overall well-being. In fact, he's sailing through the process of filing for disability like it was a piece of cake. So to any Veteran out there that may be reading this, please know there is help that can and does effectively and painlessly clear any trauma you may have. Thank you for serving our country!

Be well, Be happy - Tara

Tara S. Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC

573-754-0348

1360 S 5th St., Suite 394, St. Charles, MO 63301

www.mylifecoachtara.com

How To Forgive and Let Go!

 

By Tara Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC

Certified Practitioner, Rapid Resolution Therapy 

Executive Director, Institute for Survivors of Sexual Violence

Recently I had several clients who stated that people in their life had been hurtful or even down right abusive towards them in the past; but they had "forgiven" them. Even so, these same clients continued to bring up the hurtful events over and over again in the session. Prior to being trained in Rapid Resolution Therapy (RRT), I also focused on forgiveness with my clients. But now, it's not a word I use in or out of my office. 

Just because one "forgives" another in the logical mind (snowflake) does not mean that our subconscious mind (goat) stops creating an emotional reaction to what has happened. In fact, as I work with clients who believe they have to "forgive" another, it is obvious that their subconscious mind is still reacting to a past event trying to get them to make something in the world stop. In the mind of my clients it was to motivate them to get people to stop doing mean and abusive things that actually were not happening in the present.

In situations like these, my job is to help the subconscious mind understand that the incident is no longer happening; that in fact the situation is completed and defeated. It is also my job to help my client better understand how the brain works and why it originally had reacted in this way. I help them "to erase the meaning that their mind had attached to the event."  Typically those meanings are that the other person was a bad person, that my client thinks they must have done something wrong to deserve being treated that way, or that they could have done something to stop it all together. Since they didn't stop it, then they believe there must be something really wrong with them.

None of that is true! Once the inaccurate meanings are successfully cleared, then the client can no longer be held hostage by inaccurate meanings of an incident. Prior to my RRT training when I assisted a client with forgiveness they left my office still heavy with emotions. Since RRT training my clients now leave lighter and brighter!

Be well, Be happy - Tara

Tara S. Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC

            573-754-0348      

1360 S 5th St., Suite 394, St. Charles, MO 63301

www.mylifecoachtara.com

Changing Seats From The Transformer To The Transformed!

By Tara Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC

Certified Practitioner, Rapid Resolution Therapy
Executive Director, Institute for Survivors of Sexual Violence

As counselors, social workers, psychologists, and other healthcare providers, we are "caretakers" for everyone else, and it is time to take care of ourselves. Now that I have training in Rapid Resolution Therapy, I know that my stress levels have greatly decreased.

My training and new abilities to be a healer are directly related to a private work with Dr. Connelly for some personal ghost busting. My self-care did not stop there. I also volunteered to share some of my personal traumas during a recent training and allowed other practitioners to practice and clear me. Personal healing also was available for me and other therapists during our small group work during the retreat.

After all of these years working in the mental health field, it still amazes me how few of us are willing to sit in the client's seat. My clients can only become as healthy and joyful as I am, so if I want to transform from counselor to healer I must get healed myself. Every time I put myself in the client/training chair, I have come home to find that my own RRT skills have just soared higher than they were before I left for training.

If you're heading to a Rapid Resolution Therapy training soon, then give it a go! Just change seats for a while from the transformer to the transformed! If you're really not keen about being up front, then try out a small group and seek another practitioner out for your own private session at some time!

Be well, Be happy - Tara

Tara S. Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC573-754-0348
1360 S 5th St., Suite 394, St. Charles, MO 63301
http://www.mylifecoachtara.com/

ISSV: The Violence Against Women Act

By Tara Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC
Certified Practitioner, Rapid Resolution Therapy

As shocking as it may seem, there are many amazing and talented women in the ISSV/IRRT community. We are dedicated, both men and women, to making this a safer and healthier world. One way that we have made a step in that direction is to make it known that we, as a community, stand by the policies of the Violence Against Women Act. The way we have recently done this is by signing on to the NFT VAWA (National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women) letter to our Senators and Representatives to reauthorize the VAWA.

VAWA programs help create safety for victims of domestic and sexual violence as well as holding perpetrators accountable. It was amazing to me to learn that in the first six years of the start of the VAWA, such programs saved nearly $12.6 billion net averted social costs. Did you know that the rate of non-fatal intimate partner violence against women has decreased by 63 percent because more women are reporting domestic violence to the police? To me those are amazingly huge numbers!

The VAWA is due for reauthorization soon. If you would like to voice your opinion personally or if your organization/company would like to take a stand for this incredibly significant organization, please click here to see how to make that happen.

I also want to put out a big THANK YOU to everyone who has come forward to volunteer their time, knowledge, and talents to the ISSV committee. I am so amazed and excited to see the ISSV growing. We will be 10 years in the making next year, and I have no doubt given all the support and input that I am finding as the Executive Director that 2012 will be the best year yet. I cannot say it enough how grateful I am to be a part of this amazing community of transformative healers. May we continue to find ways to transform the lives of the many survivors out there!

Be well, Be happy - Tara

Tara S. Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC573-754-0348
1360 S 5th St., Suite 394, St. Charles, MO 63301
http://www.mylifecoachtara.com/

New Therapy Tool on the Horizon For Survivors of Sexual Assualt – The Therabot!

Dr. Bethel at Mississippi State is developing a robotic support tool, called the "Therabot" initially in a teddy bear form. Dr. Bethel and her team will conduct further study to determine the best form for the “Therabot.” As a survivor of sexual assault Dr. Bethel has a special interest in developing therapy support tools for therapeutic use with survivors of sexual assault and other traumatic events. The Institute for Survivors of Sexual Violence and The Institute for Rapid Resolution Therapy along with IRRT Certified Practitioners across the country have partnered with Dr. Bethel in this exciting research.

For more information about this research or to participate, contact IRRT Executive Director, Melinda Paige, Ed.S, LMHC, NCC at 800-587-2623 or cleartrauma@gmail.com.

Bio for Cindy L. Bethel, Ph.D.

Cindy will be starting as an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at Mississippi State University in August 2011. She will be the Director of the Social, Therapeutic, and Robotics Systems (STaRS) Laboratory that she will be starting at MSU. Cindy is a NSF/CRA/CCC Computing Innovation Postdoctoral Fellow and Postdoctoral Associate in the Social Robotics Laboratory at Yale University. She is currently working with Brian Scassellati as her fellowship mentor. She was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and the recipient of the 2008 IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Graduate Fellowship. She graduated in August 2009 with her Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of South Florida. Her research interests are in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), affective computing, robotics, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and artificial intelligence. She has doctoral minors in psychology and applied statistics. She graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science Summa Cum Laude from the University of South Florida. She was awarded the King O’Neal Scholar award, the Computer Science and Engineering Outstanding Graduate Award, and the Engineering Alumni Society Outstanding Senior of the Year Award.

Additional Information:

Cindy is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and adult sexual assaults. She received counseling as an adult from different counselors, but received the most significant assistance from Melinda Paige, RRT Master Certified Practitioner, using the Rapid Trauma Resolution. She has a personal interest in trying to enhance the therapy process through the use of technology. Providing a robotic therapeutic support tool to not replace a therapist but provide support during therapy. This will also be a tool that patients can take home to assist in practicing their therapy techniques while at home. The platform will take the form of a stuffed animal but will be responsive and provide support and encouragement to patients undergoing therapy.

Mississippi State University and other Resources:

Mississippi State is a land-grant university with a focus in the Engineering and Agriculture disciplines. The university is a Carnegie Research Intensive university. It was established in 1878. Cindy will have the full support of the university in the establishment of a robotics program in the Computer Science and Engineering Department and will work closely with Bryan Jones, an Associate Professor in Robotics in the Computer Engineering Department. She will also collaborate with professors in the Cognitive Science and Psychology Departments at MSU.

Additionally, Cindy has resources in the Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering Departments at Yale University and a Psychophysiology professor at University of South Florida.

Thank You Jon, “My Life Is Much Richer, Joyful and Fun!”

“Jon-

I have thought over and over again how to verbalize my gratitude for all that you have done and created. And yet I have been unable to really find the words. What I know is because of you I have become closer to the wife, mother, and counselor I have always wanted to be. My life is much richer, joyful, and fun since getting a chance to see you and work with you.

The best way to express myself is this:

With all my love and gratitude I shall continue to move forward seeing the world clearly with joy in my heart!”

Tara S. Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC

Executive Director of the Institute for Survivors of Sexual Violence

573-754-0348

1360 S 5th St., Suite 394, St. Charles, MO 63301

www.mylifecoachtara.com

ISSV: The Violence Against Women Act

By Tara Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC

Certified Practitioner, Rapid Resolution Therapy

As shocking as it may seem, there are many amazing and talented women in the ISSV/IRRT community. We are dedicated, both men and women, to making this a safer and healthier world. One way that we have made a step in that direction is to make it known that we, as a community, stand by the policies of the Violence Against Women Act. The way we have recently done this is by signing on to the NFT VAWA (National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women) letter to our Senators and Representatives to reauthorize the VAWA.

VAWA programs help create safety for victims of domestic and sexual violence as well as holding perpetrators accountable. It was amazing to me to learn that in the first six years of the start of the VAWA, such programs saved nearly $12.6 billion net averted social costs. Did you know that the rate of non-fatal intimate partner violence against women has decreased by 63 percent because more women are reporting domestic violence to the police? To me those are amazingly huge numbers!

The VAWA is due for reauthorization soon. If you would like to voice your opinion personally or if your organization/company would like to take a stand for this incredibly significant organization, please click here to see how to make that happen.

I also want to put out a big THANK YOU to everyone who has come forward to volunteer their time, knowledge, and talents to the ISSV committee. I am so amazed and excited to see the ISSV growing. We will be 10 years in the making next year, and I have no doubt given all the support and input that I am finding as the Executive Director that 2012 will be the best year yet. I cannot say it enough how grateful I am to be a part of this amazing community of transformative healers. May we continue to find ways to transform the lives of the many survivors out there!

Be well, Be happy - Tara

Tara S. Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC

573-754-0348

1360 S 5th St., Suite 394, St. Charles, MO 63301

www.mylifecoachtara.com

The ISSV Holiday Wish List

By Tara Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC

Certified Practitioner, Rapid Resolution Therapy

Did you know that next year will be the 10th anniversary for the Institute for Survivors of Sexual Violence? I'm really excited to be a part of this organization, and I want to make our 10th anniversary an amazing one. One of the big plans we have for the ISSV in 2012 is to have booths and presenters at local and national conferences in conjunction with an amazing fundraising project created by Melinda Paige, Ed.S, LPC, LMHC, NCC. However, I need help getting this large project and many others off the ground and flying.

So consider this my ISSV holiday wish list, Santa! I'm looking for Certified and Master Certified Rapid Resolution Therapy Practitioners to volunteer their time to be on a committee to help make our 10th anniversary a big bang. Let's get the word out locally and nationally that trauma treatment need not be painful; that in fact trauma treatment can be painless, effective, and long lasting. As well, we are reaching out to survivors of sexual violence to let them know that this cutting edge treatment is available to those without the financial resources. If you're up for volunteering, please drop me an e-mail at ISSVed@gmail.com. (E-mail is the best; I have a bit of an addiction to my e-mails!)

Last but not least I hope your Thanksgiving was delightful, and the rest of your holiday season is filled with joy and love!

Be well, Be happy - Tara

Tara S. Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC

573-754-0348

1360 S 5th St., Suite 394, St. Charles, MO 63301

www.mylifecoachtara.com

**Call To All Certified RRT Practitioners** The Institute for Survivors of Sexual Violence

By Tara Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC Certified Practitioner, Rapid Resolution Therapy The Institute for Survivors of Sexual Violence (ISSV) community is getting bigger! The ISSV now has a Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn page, and we even have our own blog. Soon, and I mean really soon - like so soon I can almost taste it (if a website had a taste), our website will be up and running! The ISSV's mission is to train mental health professionals to utilize cutting edge methods of trauma treatment to eliminate the ongoing effects of trauma. In addition, our mission is to make sure that treatment is available to those with financial limitations. Finally, we are committed to continuing research and development of these therapeutic methods. The institute must reach out to health and mental health professionals, law enforcement, clergy, hospitals, prisons, school systems, and social service agencies so that victims of sexual trauma can receive treatment from trained practitioners. Our main focus for the ISSV website is getting the word out to those survivors with financial limitations. ***CALL TO CERTIFIED PRACTITIONERS*** I am putting out a request to all our Certified Practitioners for any testimonials you may have from survivors. Whether they are written or video clips, we want to make our client testimonial page as powerful as possible! Also if you, as a Certified Practitioner, have a testimonial about treating survivors through Rapid Resolution Therapy I would like to add those to clinician's testimonial page as well. You can e-mail those testimonials to me at ISSVed@gmail.com. If I haven't said it lately....THANKS for all the great work being done out there through RRT! Be well, Be happy - Tara Tara S. Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC 573-754-0348 1360 S 5th St., Suite 394, St. Charles, MO 63301 www.mylifecoachtara.com