Reflective Journal - David Taransaud presentation
David's Taransaud is a psychotherapeutic counsellor and author who has over 15 years experience working with challenging young people in some of London’s most deprived areas. His presentation was a thought provoking experience that has opened up more questions about myself and my practice than I anticipated.
David explained his belief that the most challenging young people, without exception have suffered abuse and shame. He further explained his notion that these children suppress their feelings deep inside to such an extent that they can no longer feel. That they can talk about their feelings but they cannot feel them. He demonstrated his belief that there are two worlds, our world and the …show more content…
These memories are concealed as non-verbal memories in the brain. So if we can find a method of circumnavigating the need for language such as metaphoric stories they are able to show us how they are feeling on the inside. This then enables us to take one step towards their world, talk about their experience and eventually a step towards healing.
David described how professionals can support troubled children and young people using the myth of superheroes. It is David’s theory that superheroes reflect the young person’s negative and self limiting beliefs. That they identify with the villains in these superhero stories and that they hide behind the powerful, evil characters (omnipotent self) whereas the reality is that they have experienced extreme shame, fear and abuse and are traumatised(wounded …show more content…
David explained the need for professionals to build an alliance with the troubled young person based not on changing them but on getting to know them. But first he believes that as professionals we need to reflect on ourselves and heal our own hidden wounds. David stated that we need to do this before we can be truly empathetic.
Initially I questioned this because David stated that everyone has hidden wounds which can stop us being empathetic and felt it was a sweeping statement. Subsequently I found it useful when David explained how our hidden wounds can affect our ability to cope with extreme feelings and to fight our drive to act out our own desires.
I found this particularly relevant because I can see how this has impacted on my own practice. I have at times experienced the feeling of wanting to be the ‘almighty rescuer’ at the same time I have also felt powerless and broken boundaries. This would have had a detrimental effect on my relationship with the child. This is because if the children do not have boundaries they do not feel safe, if they do not feel safe then their fight, flight or freeze response will take
David's Taransaud is a psychotherapeutic counsellor and author who has over 15 years experience working with challenging young people in some of London’s most deprived areas. His presentation was a thought provoking experience that has opened up more questions about myself and my practice than I anticipated.
David explained his belief that the most challenging young people, without exception have suffered abuse and shame. He further explained his notion that these children suppress their feelings deep inside to such an extent that they can no longer feel. That they can talk about their feelings but they cannot feel them. He demonstrated his belief that there are two worlds, our world and the …show more content…
These memories are concealed as non-verbal memories in the brain. So if we can find a method of circumnavigating the need for language such as metaphoric stories they are able to show us how they are feeling on the inside. This then enables us to take one step towards their world, talk about their experience and eventually a step towards healing.
David described how professionals can support troubled children and young people using the myth of superheroes. It is David’s theory that superheroes reflect the young person’s negative and self limiting beliefs. That they identify with the villains in these superhero stories and that they hide behind the powerful, evil characters (omnipotent self) whereas the reality is that they have experienced extreme shame, fear and abuse and are traumatised(wounded …show more content…
David explained the need for professionals to build an alliance with the troubled young person based not on changing them but on getting to know them. But first he believes that as professionals we need to reflect on ourselves and heal our own hidden wounds. David stated that we need to do this before we can be truly empathetic.
Initially I questioned this because David stated that everyone has hidden wounds which can stop us being empathetic and felt it was a sweeping statement. Subsequently I found it useful when David explained how our hidden wounds can affect our ability to cope with extreme feelings and to fight our drive to act out our own desires.
I found this particularly relevant because I can see how this has impacted on my own practice. I have at times experienced the feeling of wanting to be the ‘almighty rescuer’ at the same time I have also felt powerless and broken boundaries. This would have had a detrimental effect on my relationship with the child. This is because if the children do not have boundaries they do not feel safe, if they do not feel safe then their fight, flight or freeze response will take