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.
Diana Hill, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and co-author of ACT Daily Journal: Get Unstuck and Live Fully with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She sees herself as a psychological flexibility guide, where she provides therapy, supervision, and online trainings to help people identify what matters to them and take action toward a meaningful life.
J. Eric Gentry, PhD, LMHC, DAAETS, FAAETS, CCTP, is an internationally recognized leader in the study and treatment of traumatic stress and compassion fatigue. His Ph.D. is from Florida State University where he studied with Professor Charles Figley–a pioneer in these two fields. In 1997, he co-developed the Accelerated Recovery Program (ARP) for Compassion Fatigue - the world's only evidence-based treatment protocol for compassion fatigue. In 1998, he introduced the Certified Compassion Fatigue Specialist Training and Compassion Fatigue Prevention & Resiliency Training. These two trainings have demonstrated treatment effectiveness for the symptoms of compassion fatigue, and he published these effects in several journals. He has trained over 100,000 health professionals over the past 20 years.
Terry Casey, PhD, is a licensed psychologist in private practice and a health service psychologist with over 30 years of experience, including a 16-year tenure as the director of counseling and psychological services for a nonprofit agency with over 30 counselors at over a dozen locations. He teaches ethics and professional issues in counseling at Lipscomb University’s graduate program in clinical mental health counseling.