Trauma & Addictions: 2022 On-Demand Conference

Jamie Marich, PhD, LPCC-S, REAT, RYT-500, RMT, (she/they/we), began her career as a humanitarian aid worker in Bosnia-Hercegovina from 2000-2002, primarily teaching English and music. Jamie travels internationally teaching topics related to trauma, EMDR therapy, expressive arts, mindfulness, and yoga, while maintaining a private practice and online education operations in her home base of Akron, OH. Marich is the founder of the Institute for Creative Mindfulness and the developer of the Dancing Mindfulness approach to expressive arts therapy.

Marich is the author of EMDR Made Simple: 4 Approaches for Using EMDR with Every Client (2011), Trauma and the Twelve Steps: A Complete Guide for Recovery Enhancement (2012), Creative Mindfulness (2013), Trauma Made Simple: Competencies in Assessment, Treatment, and Working with Survivors, Dancing Mindfulness: A Creative Path to Healing and Transformation (2015), and Process Not Perfection: Expressive Arts Solutions for Trauma Recovery (2019). Marich co-authored EMDR Therapy & Mindfulness for Trauma-Focused Care along with colleague Dr. Stephen Dansiger in 2018, and their new book with Springer Publishing Healing Addiction with EMDR Therapy: A Trauma-Focused Guide released in 2021. North Atlantic Books published a revised and expanded edition of Trauma and the 12 Steps in the Summer of 2020, and they released The Healing Power of Jiu-Jitsu: A Guide to Transforming Trauma and Facilitating Recovery in 2022. Her latest release with North Atlantic Books, Dissociation Made Simple: A Stigma-Free Guide to Embracing Your Dissociative Mind and Navigating Life came out in January 2023. She has three more projects in the works with North Atlantic Books, including her personal memoir about surviving spiritual abuse called You Lied to Me About God due out in Autumn 2024.

The New York Times featured Marich’s writing and work on Dancing Mindfulness in 2017 and 2020. NALGAP: The Association of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Addiction Professionals and Their Allies awarded Jamie with their esteemed President’s Award in 2015 for her work as an LGBT advocate. The EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) granted Jamie the 2019 Advocacy in EMDR Award because she used her public platform in media and in the addiction field to advance awareness about EMDR therapy and to reduce stigma around mental health. The Huffington Post published her personal story of being out as a clinical professional with a dissociative disorder in May 2023.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Jamie Marich is the founder of Mindful Ohio & The Institute for Creative Mindfulness and has an employment relationship with Abbey of the Arts. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She is a published author and receives royalties. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Jamie Marich is a member of the NALGAP, the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing International Association, the International Center for Clinical Excellence, and the Ohio Counseling Association.

Paul Brasler, LCSW, CAIMHP, became a licensed clinical social worker in 2002. Paul is the coordinator for the Chesterfield County (Virginia) Employee Behavioral Health Program, through which he and his team provide clinical services to first responders and human services personnel. He has extensive experience working with people in crisis and people living with substance use disorders, including adolescent residential treatment, community mental health settings, hospital emergency departments, juvenile drug court, and private practice.

Paul has been a national presenter (through PESI) since 2016, and he has presented classes across the country on mental health emergencies, high-risk clients, resiliency, and a certification course for clinicians working with people with substance use disorders. He has written three books: The Clinician’s Guide to Suicide Management, PESI Publishing, 2025; The Clinician’s Guide to Substance Use Disorder, PESI Publishing, 2022; and High-Risk Clients, PESI Publishing, 2019. Paul lives in Richmond, Virginia, with his beautiful wife, three sons, cowardly dog, and two dwarf rabbits who are quietly plotting to destroy the world.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Paul Brasler maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with Chesterfield County. He 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: Paul Brasler has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Paul Denniston, RYT 500, is the developer of Grief Yoga®, which uses grief as fuel for healing and combines many forms of yoga to help release sadness and anger and bring people to greater peace and happiness.  Paul dedicated himself to studying grief and trauma with some of the top leaders on loss, including, William Worden, Bessel van der Kolk and Peter Levine.  He also worked and studied with yoga masters Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa and Seane Corn.  Paul has taught the techniques and exercises of Grief Yoga® to more than 4,000 therapists, counselors, and healthcare professionals to use with their patients in the United States, England, and Australia.  Paul has volunteered with one of the largest hospices in Los Angeles, offering Heart Touch massage to the dying.  He also taught movement in the Stella Adler Academy in Hollywood and currently teaches at CorePower Yoga in Los Angeles.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Paul Denniston is the founder of Grief Yoga and has employment relationships with Core Power Yoga, The Yogi Tree, Esalen, 1440 Multiversity, and Kripalu Yoga Center. He receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Paul Denniston has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Dr. Anna Lembke, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. Author of Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Anna Lembke has an employment relationship with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Health Care, and Stanford University Hospital. She is a consultant in opioid litigation, and she receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Lembke receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Anna Lembke is a member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), the California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM), the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the American College of Academic Addiction Medicine (ACAAM), and the Opioid Industry Documents Archive National Advisory Committee (NAC).

Kevin McCauley, MD, is a senior fellow at Meadows Behavioral Healthcare. He first became interested in the treatment of substance use disorders while serving as a naval flight surgeon where he observed the US Navy’s policy of treating addiction as a safety (not a moral) issue, returning treated pilots to flight status under careful monitoring. Dr. McCauley wrote and directed two films: Memo to Self, exploring the concepts of recovery management, and Pleasure Unwoven, on neuroscience of addiction. He won the 2010 Michael Q. Ford Award for Journalism from the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers.

As a person in long-term recovery himself, Dr. McCauley is grateful for the many benefits he received to establish his sobriety and strives to make sure that people have access to the same benefits and opportunities. He is committed to understanding how addiction plays out in the lives of people from diverse races and different cultures, genders, and orientations, and hearing their unique perspectives of recovery. Although addiction can be a debilitating disease personally and spiritually, Dr. McCauley joins with his colleagues to treat people seeking sobriety with respect, preserve their dignity, and accompany them as they find their own path into recovery.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Kevin McCauley is the co-founder of the Institute for Addiction Study, has an employment relationship with Meadows Behavioral Healthcare, and receives a speaking honorarium from Imagine Recovery. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Kevin McCauley has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Elisa Hallerman, JD, PhD
On her fifth anniversary of sobriety, Elisa Hallerman still awoke with a hurting heart. This is not right. I am not happy. Sobriety was supposed to fix her, right? Isn’t that what sobriety is all about? Hallerman quickly realized that though she had freed her addiction to substances, she had not freed her soul. After years of trauma and substance abuse, she had only covered up the wounds, rather than truly healing them from within. This led to the development of Soulbriety, a recovery plan for overcoming addiction and trauma.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Elisa Hallerman is the founder of Recovery Management Agency. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Elisa Hallerman is a member of the NY Bar Association and the Institute for Functional Medicine. She is an author and will begin to receive royalties in December of 2022.

 

Eboni Webb, PsyD, HSP, opened the private practice Kairos in Middle Tennessee in July 2010. Kairos, now The Village of Kairos, offers diverse DBT specializations including DBT or trauma-based disorders and co-occurring disorders. The Village of Kairos has expanded therapy programs, better known as Restorative Services, to include individual and group therapy sessions for adolescents, parents, families, and adults, including in-the-moment coaching for patients.

Dr. Webb earned her Doctor of Clinical Psychology from the Minnesota School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Webb began her clinical work as assistant clinical director and program director at Mental Health Systems in Minnesota, a large clinic specializing in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). She has extensively practiced DBT, developing two special treatment programs for clients with developmental disabilities and borderline-intellectual functioning.

Dr. Webb has completed Level II training and is currently in the process of completing her board certification in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy as an Advanced Certified Practitioner, which has become a prominent feature of therapy offerings in the Village.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Eboni Webb maintains a private practice, has employment relationship with WebbJam Consulting, LLC, Acacia Therapy and Health Training, and Jack Hirose and Associates, Inc. She receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Webb receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Eboni Webb is a board member for Nashville Psychotherapy Institute.

Judith Grisel, PhD, is a professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Bucknell University. Her efforts in the classroom, laboratory, and public domain have positively impacted students, the field of behavioral neuroscience, and the broader community. As an active scholar, Judy has been recognized as an outstanding mentor by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. With students and the support of the National Institutes of Health, she’s published dozens of scientific articles, primarily on the complex causes of drug abuse. Current studies focus on sex-dependent influences of stress on drug reinforcement, and the role of endogenous opioids in alcohol use disorders. A strong proponent of the liberal arts, she teaches a wide range of undergraduate courses, including introductory psychology and neuroscience, and a popular seminar in neuroethics. In 2019, Judy published a book on the neuroscience and experience of addiction that became a NY Times bestseller, which has since been translated for a worldwide audience. She regularly speaks on the relationship between the brain and behavior to parents, teachers, legislators, the judiciary, and clinicians; she’s shared her knowledge effectively from classrooms to the World Economic Forum in Davos. As a recovering addict, scientist, and practiced instructor, Judy is uniquely qualified to communicate knowledge about the neural causes and consequences of substance use disorders.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Judith Grisel has employment relationships with Furman University and Bucknell University. She receives royalties as a published author. Judith Grisel receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Judith Grisel is a member of the International Behavioral and Neural Genetics Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Women in Science, the International Society for Brain Research on Alcoholism, and the International Neuroethics Society. She is an ad hoc reviewer for several publications, for a complete list contact PESI, Inc.

Claudia Black, PhD, is a renowned addictions and codependency expert, author and trainer internationally recognized for her pioneering and contemporary work with family systems and addictive disorders. Since the 1970s, Dr. Black's work has encompassed the impact of addiction on young and adult children. She has offered models of intervention and treatment related to family violence, multi-addictions, relapse, anger, depression and women's issues. Dr. Black designs and presents training workshops and seminars to professional audiences in the field of family service, mental health, addiction and correctional services. She is the Sr. Editorial Advisor for Central Recovery Press and serves as Senior Clinical and Family Services Provider for Las Vegas Recovery Center. She serves on the Advisory Board for the National Association of Children of Alcoholic, and the Advisory Council of the Moyer Foundation.

Dr. Black is the recipient of numerous national awards, including the 2004 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Washington School of Social Work.

Dr. Black has been a keynote speaker on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. and on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. Her workshops have been presented to an extraordinarily wide array of audiences, including military academies, prison systems, medical schools, and extensive mental health and addiction programs. Claudia has extensive multi-cultural experiences working with agencies and audiences in Japan, Brazil, Australia, Scotland, Iceland, Germany, England and Canada. Many of her books and videos have been translated and published abroad.

Claudia is the author of Depression Strategies, It Will Never Happen To Me, Changing Course, My Dad Loves Me, My Dad Has A Disease, Repeat After Me, It’s Never Too Late to Have A Happy Childhood, Relapse Toolkit, A Hole in the Sidewalk, Straight Talk, The Stamp Game, Family Strategies, Anger Strategies and her newest title Deceived: Facing Sexual Betrayal, Lies and Secrets. She has produced several audio CDs and over twenty DVDs. All of Claudia's materials are available from her website, www.claudiablack.com.

Speaker Disclosures
Financial: Claudia Black is the Clinical Architect of the Claudia Black Center for Young Adults, a Senior Fellow, and an Addiction and Trauma Program Specialist at The Meadows Treatment Center. She receives royalties as a published author. Claudia Black receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Claudia Black serves as an advisory board member for the National Association for Children of Addiction.

Dr. Whitney Howzell, PhD, LSW, is a dynamic, highly motivated, and conscientious leader with a depth of knowledge and experience in social work, sociology, and sexology. Dr. Howzell is a licensed social worker, holds master degrees in clinical social work, public health, education, and a Ph.D. in Human Sexuality Studies. She is the Executive Clinical Director at the Claudia Black Young Adult Center at The Meadows in Arizona.

Dr. Howzell has extensive experience and training in gender related issues, attachment, sexual orientation, relationship communication, and sexual trauma. Much of Dr. Howzell’s work centered on treating adolescents and families with behavioral and emotional issues, sexual compulsive behavior, sexual trauma, and couples with relational issues. She is an empathic therapist who is passionate about mental health, raising awareness about sexual health, and providing excellent patient care.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Whitney Howzell is the Executive Director of the Claudia Black Young Adult Center at The Meadows Behavioral Health. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Whitney Howzell serves as a volunteer at Inner City Youth Getting There, Inc.

Resmaa Menakem, MSW, LICSW, SEP, is an author, agent of change, therapist, and licensed clinical worker specializing in racialized trauma, communal healing, and cultural first aid based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As the originator and leading proponent of Somatic Abolitionism, an embodied antiracist practice for living and culture building, Resmaa is the founder of Justice Leadership Solutions and the Cultural Somatics Institute and is an educator and coach. Working at the intersections of anti-racism, communal healing, and embodied purpose, Resmaa Menakem is the challenging yet compassionate coach we all need in this time of racial reckoning and near-global dysregulation.

Resmaa is known as the author of The New York Times bestseller My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, The Quaking of America: An Embodied Guide to Navigating Our Nation’s Upheaval and Racial Reckoning, Monsters in Love: Why Your Partner Sometimes Drives You Crazy – And What You Can Do About It, and The Stories from My Grandmother’s Hands, a children’s picture book with actor T. Mychael Rambo and illustrator Leroy Campbell.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Resmaa Menakem is the founder and president of the Justice Leadership Solutions and the owner of Unbound Therapy Resources. He receives royalties as a published author. Resmaa Menakem receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Resmaa Menakem is a member of the National Association of Black Social Workers, the National Association of Social Workers, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Dr. Erica Sarr is a licensed clinical psychologist and currently serves as the clinical director for Gentle Path at The Meadows. She also is a national speaker on process addiction and mental health issues. Her specialty is integrating a framework of positive sexuality with accountability while working with clients who struggle with compulsive sexual behavior or who have committed professional or criminal sexual boundary violations. She is passionate about helping all clients define and embrace healthy, joyful values- congruent sexuality across the lifespan. Dr. Sarr also specializes in the intersection of sexuality, mental health, and technology, particularly in the area of video games.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Erica Sarr maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals (IITAP). She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Erica Sarr has no relevant non-financial relationships.

David Kessler is one of the world’s foremost experts on grief and loss. His experience with thousands of people on the edge of life and death has taught him the secrets to living a happy and fulfilled life, even after life’s tragedies.

He is the author of six books, including his latest bestselling book, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. He co-authored two books with Elisabeth Kubler Ross, Life Lessons and On Grief and Grieving, updating her 5 stages for grief. He also co-wrote, You Can Heal Your Heart with Louise Hay. He authored Visions Trips and Crowded Rooms: Who and What You See Before You Die. His first book, The Needs of The Dying received praise from Saint (Mother) Teresa.

David’s personal experience as a child witnessing a mass shooting while his mother was dying in a hospital helped him begin his journey. For most of his life, David has taught physicians, nurses, counselors, police, and first responders about the end of life, trauma, and grief. However, despite his vast knowledge of grief, his life was turned upside down by the sudden death of his twenty-one-year-old son.

David’s volunteer work includes being a founding member of Project Angel Food, a well-known and loved non-profit organization. He currently serves on the board of The Farrah Fawcett Foundation which provides cancer research, patient assistance, and prevention efforts. He also serves as Specialist Reserve for the Los Angeles Police as well as having served on the Red Cross’s disaster services team.

He has a new online model of grief support called Tender Hearts with over 25 groups each as well as one of the most respected Grief Certification programs. He is the founder of www.grief.com, which receives millions of visits yearly providing helpful resources to over 167 countries.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: David Kessler is the co‑founder and President Emeritus of Project Angel Food. He maintains employment relationships with HSBC – London and Tender Hearts Grief Support Group. He is a published author and receives royalties from his publications, as well as compensation for his work as a lecturer. In addition, David Kessler receives speaking honoraria and recording and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: David Kessler has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Frank Anderson, MD, completed his residency and was a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is both a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He specializes in the treatment of trauma and dissociation and is passionate about teaching brain-based psychotherapy and integrating current neuroscience knowledge with the IFS model of therapy.

Dr. Anderson has lectured extensively on the Neurobiology of PTSD and Dissociation and wrote the chapter “Who’s Taking What” Connecting Neuroscience, Psychopharmacology and Internal Family Systems for Trauma in Internal Family Systems Therapy – New Dimensions. He co-authored a chapter on What IFS Brings to Trauma Treatment in Innovations and Elaborations in Internal Family Systems Therapy, and recently co-authored Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual.

His most recent book, entitled Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems was released on May 19, 2021.

His memoir, To Be Loved, was released on May 7, 2024.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Frank Anderson maintains a private practice, is the co-founder of the Trauma Institute, and is the co-founding producer of Trauma Informed Media. He receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Frank Anderson is a member of the New England Society Studying Trauma and Dissociation and the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.

Gabor Maté, MD (pronounced GAH-bor MAH-tay) is a retired physician who, after 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. The bestselling author of five books published in nearly 40 languages, including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, Gabor is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness. For his groundbreaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. His most recent book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture is a New York Times and international bestseller.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Gabor Maté receives compensation as a presenter. He receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Maté receives a speaking honorarium and recording and book royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Gabor Maté has no relevant non-financial relationships.

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.