Stress - Experiences requiring changes in one's normal coping mechanisms
Trauma - Experiences overwhelming one’s normal coping mechanisms

Despite our attempts to protect ourselves, life’s tragedies find their way into our lives causing pain to us and those we love. Cumulative stressors elicit exaggerated reactions making trauma a state of preoccupation, not simply a passing experience. Feeling overwhelmed by such life experiences has become an increasingly common struggle for many people.

Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE) is a breakthrough in trauma recovery and stress management. It is a body centered method of recovery that helps release the deep chronic tension created in a body during a traumatic or stressful experience. It is easily learned, immediately effective and self-empowering because it can be used without the guidance of a therapist. This method has been used successfully in over 10 different countries with families, organizations, and schools in diverse populations and cultures.

David Berceli, PhD, founder and CEO of Trauma Recovery Assessment & Prevention Services is the creator of Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE). He has lived in 9 countries providing specialized recovery assistance to employees of organizations in trauma inducing environments. David has 22 years of experience working with various international relief agencies such as UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders and The World Health Organization (WHO) designing and implementing comprehensive individualized trauma recovery, stress management and conflict resolution programs. His work has included programs in Sudan, Uganda, Israel, Palestine, Northern Ireland, Ethiopia, New Zealand, Yemen and Egypt.

Click here to know more about David.  Here is a short video of Dave's workshop in Sudan. 

Living Ubuntu and SDIBA are organizing this event in response to the tragic fires in San Diego in late 2007. In 2004, several months after the 2003 Cedar fire, we heard a few San Diego school districts were noticing increases in the frequency of incidences of domestic violence. This is a typical example of the after effects of mass trauma when left untreated.

Unrecovered trauma can show in a variety of ways.  Depression, anxiety, increased quickness of anger, and trouble sleeping are only a few examples of what may develop.  The most extreme form is Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD) which can be very disabling.

After years of trauma recovery work in conflict zones such as Israel, Palestine and Sudan, David is uniquely qualified to help us learn how to address mass trauma and what Bremmer has referred to as "The Invisible Epidemic" [1].  Here is a short video of David's workshop in Sudan.

Our target populations for this workshop include:

• people who were impacted by the fires
• people interested in learning about the effects of chronic stress and trauma
• refugees and immigrants
• soldiers, war veterans and their family members
• and the staff of organizations who work with them

Material will be presented at a level that is easily understood by both lay person and professional.  Here are some testimonials from previous participants in a David Berceli workshop.

LMFTs & LCSWs  Each day of workshop attendance meets the qualifications for 6 hours of continuing education credit as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.  San Diego Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis (SDIBA) is a BBS approved provider #PCE602.

CEUs are $10 for the one day workshop and $15 for both days. 

In conjunction with this workshop, we invite you to attend a Saturday evening screening of the documentary Sand and Sorrow. The film explores the tragedy of genocide in Darfur, Sudan.  For almost five years now, the people of Darfur have been suffering from atrocities linked to a government-backed genocide.  While human rights activists have been engaged in seeking an end to the conflict, global trauma in this context seldom becomes part of the public discussion.  Part of the mission of Living Ubuntu is to increase awareness of the critically important link between mass trauma and increased cycles of violence, and the urgent need for it to be addressed.

In the post-film discussion, David Berceli will address trauma recovery for regions of mass atrocities.  We also have Sharon Darrough from the IRC who will speak about refugee resettlement locally in San Diego.  For more information about this screening, please click here.

All attendees of the workshop can attend the screening for free.

Registration online is the extremely easy and convenient.  For payment, we accept all major credit cards.  Once we've received your information and payment, we will send you an email confirming your registration. 

If you'd like to pay by check, please download the registration form and mail it in by April 1st 2008. 

If you have any questions, please send us a quick message.