Janina Fisher

We now understand that trauma’s imprint is both psychological and somatic: long after the events are over, the body continues to respond as if danger were ever-present. My professional mission for the past 25 years has been to bring a neurobiologically-informed understanding of trauma to both clients and their therapists. I believe the key to healing is not just knowing what happened but transforming how the mind, body, and soul still remember it. Most of all, healing is an act of accepting, reclaiming, and being able to love our most wounded and rejected young selves. I have had the good fortune to have been taught by or worked alongside the giants in the field of psychological trauma: Judith Herman, Bessel van der Kolk, Pat Ogden, Dick Schwartz. And as much as these pioneers taught me, the most powerful and gifted teachers I have are the survivors who gave me a window into the inner experience of trauma, taught me what always to say and what never to say, and helped to validate or disprove what the experts and theorists were claiming. It has been a privilege to learn with them and from them. My new book, "Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma" was written with them in mind.