What’s the Connection Between Trauma & Addictions

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June 13, 2022  2:00 PM MDT
60 minutes
CEU’s available

Description:  First, this presentation will provide a brief overview of what we know about the brain and what we know about the release of hormones during stress or trauma.

Second, we will examine some of the ritual behaviors that are set up by individuals which produce neuro-chemical brain changes.

We will examine how the traumatic experience impacts brain functioning as an underlying cause of process addictions. We will also learn how addictions serve a purpose to provide an immediate reward or feeling.

In counseling, we need to help our clients find something to REPLACE the addiction with, something that you want more than the immediate pleasure of addictive behavior. Certainly grief works to deal with the losses that fuel the compulsion is ESSENTIAL, and then methods to change entrenched behavior patterns used to relieve stress, self-medicate, and alter brain chemistry for self-soothing or adrenaline high will be covered.

Finally, a look at the role of spirituality in healing addiction—a higher power, a redeemer, discovery of a new self and transformation in Christ.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Examine addictions as a development process.
  2. Looking at the common denominator: addictive, compulsive behaviors.
  3. Identify common addictions that post-abortive women and men frequently battle, such as: Sexual Addictions, Compulsive Spending, Compulsive Gambling, Compulsive Working, Eating Disorders, Internet Addiction, Alcoholism, Multiple Abortions, Shoplifting, Drug Abuse and Trauma Drama Junkies.

Processing Living Scriptures

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June 13, 2022  12:00 PM MDT
60 minutes
Please note: this session is available for Rachel’s Vineyard Team Members only

Description:  The core of the Rachelʼs Vineyard is a series of meditations called “Living Scriptures,” in which retreatants are invited to listen to a reading from Scripture, and put themselves into that scene, hearing Jesus speak, and having an opportunity to respond in prayer or action. Following this, we can process the exercise, sharing individual responses, thoughts, and feelings.

Just listening to the Scriptures is not complete; being able to share our experience with others allows the group to minister to each other as the suffering Body of Christ, and opens us more deeply to healing. This workshop will explore how we do this, and why it is important.

Adverse Drug Reactions

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June 13, 2022  10:30 AM MDT
60 minutes
CEU’s available

Description:  This seminar will focus on an array of drugs including the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), of which Prozac (fluoxetine) was the first.

Antidepressants have been recognized as potential inducers of mania and psychosis since their introduction in the 1950s. With the widespread prescribing of antidepressants, the percentage of the population in the United States that is diagnosed with bipolar disorder (swing from depression to mania or vice versa) has skyrocketed, especially among teens.

This class aims to teach you how to recognize the potentially serious side effects of these drugs, as well as allergic reactions and other complications related to the over prescribing of medications.

This seminar will reaffirm your conviction that healing lies in treating the trauma and grief that underlies many mental health problems which bring people into the psychiatric world of diagnoses, and a lifetime on an array of potentially disabling drugs.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Learn the many names of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and potential adverse reactions.
  2. To be aware of when these side effects are most likely to occur.
  3. Explore the various ways that toxicity from long term use of psychotropic medications can affect a person.

Sleep Deprivation and Insomnia

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June 13, 2022  8:00 AM MDT
90 minutes
CEU’s available

Description:  This seminar will share groundbreaking results from a $15 million research grant awarded to the University of Pennsylvania to study the impact of sleep deprivation on brain neurochemistry.

This is relevant to our work with new mothers who may be suffering from post partum depression or babies who keep them up all night. In addition, it has ramifications for anyone impacted by trauma which interferes with their sleep.

We will discuss how the sleep cycle is controlled by the hypothalamus and is related to light and darkness (day and night) circadian rhythms. We have all heard that we should be getting 8 hours of sleep each night, but did you know that 72 diseases such as Cancer, Type 2 Diabetes, Anxiety, Depression, and even symptoms of schizophrenia have been linked to sleep deprivation?

During this seminar, we will examine how trauma, abortion, abuse and combat, or other threats to health and safety can impact sleep. We will explore how maintaining a healthy sleep life is paramount to maintaining a healthy waking life.

Learning Objectives:  

  1. Learn what Circadian rhythms are and how easily they can be impacted by shift work, trauma, jet lag, and other common factors we face in everyday life.
  2. Define insomnia severity and chronicity.
  3. Illustrate what constitutes the “ideal” approach to the treatment of insomnia.
  4. Summarize the medical and psychological consequences of insomnia.