In collaboration with Collectively Rooted, HEAL PA is delighted to host a yearlong program with Maryann McEvoy, Executive Director of Governor Wolf’s Office of Advocacy and Reform and Child Advocate for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and an ensemble of renowned thinkers, authors, and presenters who work in the field of trauma recovery. These ongoing conversations focus on issues that are deeply relevant to Pennsylvania residents and will give our community space to reflect on, identify, and address the trauma in their lives and communities.
In January we hosted Dr. Frank Anderson, author of Transcending Trauma, to discuss Internal Family Systems Therapy. IFS is an evidence-based practice that is used to treat anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance abuse, and eating disorders. Our discussion will consider the systemic trauma that can lead to these issues for different vulnerable populations, including those who identify is LGBTQIA+ and consider how this type of therapeutic approach can encourage healing in our communities.
Frank Anderson, MD, completed his residency and was a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is both a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He specializes in the treatment of trauma and dissociation and is passionate about teaching brain-based psychotherapy and integrating current neuroscience knowledge with the IFS model of therapy.
Dr. Anderson is a Lead Trainer at the IFS Institute with Richard Schwartz and maintains a long affiliation with, and trains for, Bessel van der Kolk’s Trauma Center. He serves as an advisor to the International Association of Trauma Professionals (IATP) and was the former chair and director of the Foundation for Self Leadership.
Dr. Anderson has lectured extensively on the Neurobiology of PTSD and Dissociation and wrote the chapter “Who’s Taking What” Connecting Neuroscience, Psychopharmacology and Internal Family Systems for Trauma in Internal Family Systems Therapy-New Dimensions. He co-authored a chapter on “What IFS Brings to Trauma Treatment in Innovations and Elaborations in Internal Family Systems Therapy” and recently co-authored Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual.