Deirdre Fay, MSW
on Practical Skills
for Overcoming Trauma
Listen:
Show Notes:
“Trauma is one of the hardest things to go through. But it doesn’t mean we have to stay crushed into the ground like victims to our experience. It’s very possible to change that pattern. We just have to know how to organize ourselves inside.”
--Deirdre Fay, MSW
In this episode of Noble Mind, Deirdre joins Kate and Alex to explain how our longing for connection can serve as inner guidance, describing how to identify when you’re triggered by an unmet attachment need and respond in a positive way. She discusses how the skills of mindfulness and concentration help trauma survivors, challenging us to see our triggers as messages from the past—and opportunities for healing. Listen in for insight around the skills Deirdre teaches in Becoming Safely Embodied and learn her practical approach to recovering from trauma.
Deirdre Fay, MSW, is the author of the new book, Becoming Safely Embodied: A Guide to Organize Your Mind, Body, and Heart to Feel Secure in Your World. She has also developed the Safely Embodied Network, a platform designed to give trauma survivors the tools to heal and build a fulfilling life. She has 40-plus years of experience integrating attachment theory, contemplative trauma treatment, yoga and meditation to create a radically positive approach to healing trauma.
Key Takeaways
- How Deirdre’s own trauma history inspired her to develop a body-based approach to healing
- How Deirdre’s new book serves as a hope-filled guidebook for recovering from trauma
- Deirdre’s insight around allowing our native longing for connection to become our inner guidance
- How to identify when you’re triggered by an unmet need and respond in a positive way
- The seven fundamental attachment needs Deirdre addresses in Becoming Safely Embodied
- The idea of reclaiming our neediness and using longing as rocket fuel to build a fulfilling life
- How developing the skills of mindfulness and concentration helps trauma survivors flourish
- How triggers serve as messages from the past and afford us an opportunity for healing
- The normal cycle we work through when a need arises and what happens when that cycle is interrupted
- Deirdre’s skills of finding guidance from our older and wiser self, recognizing our imprinting and carving out a new path
- How to reframe mistakes not as something to be ashamed of but as cues for course correction
Connect with Deirdre
Resources Mentioned
- Becoming Safely Embodied: A Skill-Based Approach to Working with Trauma and Dissociation by Deirdre Fay, MSW
- Deirdre’s Free Excerpt from Becoming Safely Embodied
- Deirdre Fay on Noble Mind EP012
- Books by Deirdre Fay
- Bessel van der Kolk
- Janina Fisher
- Lojong
- Dr. Karlen Lyons-Ruth
- Dr. Robert Maurer
- Deirdre’s Video on the Pyramid of Triggers
- Vedanta Yoga
- Jean Klein
- John Bowlby
- Konrad Lorenz’s Imprinting Theory
- Jean Houston
- James Robertson
- Chris Germer
Disclaimer: Please note that the information shared in this podcast is strictly for educational purposes only, and is not intended as psychological treatment or consultation of any kind.
Recent Past Episodes:
Hosts:
Katherine King, PsyD
Katherine King, PsyD is a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at William James College. She was trained in evidence-based treatments within the Veterans’ Administration and has a private practice specializing in geropsychology. She is also a member of the Boston Shambhala Center Board of Directors, a vajrayana student of Buddhism, and has practiced meditation for over 20 years. Learn more about Kate at www.drkateking.com.
Alex Gokce, MSW
Alex Gokce, MSW has a master’s degree in social work from Salem State University and an undergraduate degree in Comparative Government from Harvard University. He has led psychotherapy groups on topics including mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and mind-body approaches to pain management. He has co-led programs at the Boston Shambhala Center on the topics of trauma and self-compassion. His personal and professional interests center around the individual, societal and intergenerational impacts of trauma, as well as the sociocultural roots of interpersonal harm.
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The Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy is a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and training of mental health professionals in the integration of mindfulness meditation and psychotherapy.
