The Virtual Book Club (VBC) is a longstanding arm of ISSTD educational programs, supporting continuing education through community engagement with emerging publications in the field of complex trauma and dissociation. Over the past year, we were pleased to welcome wide and enthusiastic involvement in our conversations about two significant books.
In partnership with the Deep Brain Reorienting SIG, we started off the year with a joint reading of Deep Brain Reorienting: Understanding the Neuroscience of Trauma, Attachment Wounding, and DBR Psychotherapy, by Frank M. Corrigan, Hannah Young, and Jessica Christie-Sands. Exploring emerging neuroscience of the midbrain and its applications for work with shock, trauma and neglect through DBR, we enjoyed several zoom discussions with selected chapter authors and concluded just before the annual conference, which offered a DBR level 1 training and a live joint VBC/DBR SIG meeting. This book challenged many of us to integrate a more nuanced neurobiological frame into our formulation and offered a deeply sensitive somatic approach to trauma psychotherapy.
In the summer, we picked up a new round of the VBC with Contemporary Perspectives on Freud’s Seduction Theory and Psychotherapy: Revisiting Masson’s The Assault on Truth, edited by Warwick Middleton and Martin Dorahy. This eye-opening view on our field led us through a deep dive into the history of psychoanalysis’ abandonment of child sexual abuse, reflecting on the 40 years since Jeffrey (Jeff) Masson’s groundbreaking 1984 book The Assault on Truth: Freud’s Suppression of the Seduction Theory. We were fortunate to have a number of chapter authors, as well as Warwick, Martin and Jeff join us for profound and challenging discussions about the influential and devastating blind spots in psychoanalysis and in the wider world, as they were and as they persist today.
This coming spring, we will dive into Sensory Pathways to Healing from Trauma: Harnessing the Brain’s Capacity for Change by Ruth A. Lanius, Sherain Harricharan, Breanne E. Kearney and Benjamin Pandev-Girard. Building from Dr. Lanius’ decades of neuroscientific research into trauma and the brain, we look forward to discussions with the authors on their ideas about how working with sensory pathways can engage the entire brain, promote neuroplasticity, and boost the effectiveness of any psychotherapy. We hope to see you there!
Whether you are a newcomer or a returning member, all are welcome to join our lively discussions and connect with leading experts in the field. To join an upcoming VBC, watch for announcements in ISSTDWorld, where we’ll share dates and registration details in the coming months.