Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2353

Tonight's special guest is Jan Bergstrom, from Arlington, Massachusetts, a survivor and psychotherapist who has been working with developmental childhood and relational trauma for 20 years. When Jan was 4-1/2 years old, she found her mother passed-out on the bedroom floor, having overdosed shortly after giving birth to Jan’s baby brother. Her mother spent 6 months in a psychiatric hospital. On one of the many days her mother was away, Jan remembers sitting in the backseat of their car with her older brother as her father drove them to the store, when suddenly their car collided head-on with another vehicle. In the months that followed, Jan became parentless for a span of time that seemed like years. That trauma set the stage for a lifelong interest in the impacts of childhood trauma and sparked her passion for healing others. Jan has been a counselor and trainer in the field of codependency, developmental and relational trauma. She studied extensively with Pia Mellody, a pioneer in treating childhood trauma, and other therapy models. Jan is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, which uses a body-oriented approach for healing. In 2008, Jan created the Healing Trauma Network, a directory of therapists offering the work of Pia Mellody. In 2015, with Dr. Rick Butts, she created the Healing Our Core Issues Institute (HOCII), dedicated to teaching therapists a developmental and relational trauma model. Jan writes, "I just published a self-help book, 'Gifts from a Challenging Childhood; Creating a Practice for Becoming Your Healthiest Self', for those who want to start the healing process."