Bessel A. van der Kolk, MD, is a clinician, researcher and teacher in the area of post-traumatic stress. His work integrates developmental, neurobiological, psychodynamic and interpersonal aspects of the impact of trauma and its treatment.

Dr. van der Kolk and his various collaborators have published extensively on the impact of trauma on development, such as dissociative problems, borderline personality and self-mutilation, cognitive development, memory, and the psychobiology of trauma. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles on such diverse topics as neuroimaging, self-injury, memory, neurofeedback, Developmental Trauma, yoga, theater, and EMDR. 

He is founder of the Trauma Center in Brookline, Massachusetts and President of the Trauma Research Foundation, which promotes clinical, scientific, and educational projects. 

His 2014 #1 New York Times best seller, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Treatment of Trauma, transforms our understanding of traumatic stress, revealing how it literally rearranges the brain’s wiring – specifically areas dedicated to pleasure, engagement, control, and trust. He shows how these areas can be reactivated through innovative treatments including neurofeedback, somatically based therapies, EMDR, psychodrama, play, yoga, and other therapies.

Dr. van der Kolk is the past president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and professor of psychiatry at Boston University Medical School. He regularly teaches at conferences, universities, and hospitals around the world.

Tarana J. Burke, Founder, “Me Too” movement. Activist and advocate at the intersection of sexual violence and racial justice. Fueled by commitments to interrupt sexual violence and other systemic inequalities disproportionately impacting marginalized people, particularly black women and girls. She is the recipient of the 2018 MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award.
 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Tarana Burke is an activist and founder of the #MeToo movement.
Non-financial: Tarana Burke has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.

Robert Whitaker, author, Anatomy of an Epidemic and publisher of the web magazine, Mad in America.

Edward Tronick, PhD, is a developmental and clinical psychologist and is recognized internationally as a researcher on infants, children, and parenting. He developed the Face-to-Face Still-Face Paradigm and videotaped micro-analytic studies of infant en face interactions, pioneered studies of the effects of maternal depression on infants, and carried out numerous cross-cultural studies of infant and child development. His Mutual Regulation Model and Dyadic Expansion of Consciousness hypothesis are widely accepted accounts of social interactions and therapeutic processes. Dr. Tronick is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, is director of the Child Development Unit, a research associate in Newborn Medicine, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, an associate professor at both the Graduate School of Education and the School of Public Health at Harvard.

Martin Teicher, MD, PhD, has been director of the Developmental Biopsychiatry Research Program at McLean Hospital since 1988. He was the director of the former Developmental Psychopharmacology Laboratory (now the Laboratory of Developmental Neuropharmacology) and is currently an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Teicher is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, Current Pediatric Reviews, and Current Psychosomatic Medicine. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation and has been part of Harvard University’s Brain Development Working Group. He has served on or chaired numerous review committees for the National Institutes of Health, published more than 150 articles, and has received numerous honors.

Julian D. Ford, Ph.D., ABPP, Professor, department of psychiatry and law, University of Connecticut; President International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS); director, Center for the Treatment of Developmental Trauma Disorders and Center for Trauma Recovery and Juvenile Justice; co-author, Treatment of Complex Trauma & Hijacked by Your Brain: How to Free Yourself when Stress Takes Over; author, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Scientific and Professional Dimensions; co-editor, Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders & Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders in Children and Adolescents.

Cathy A. Malchiodi, PhD, ATR-BC, LPCC, LPAT, REAT, is an expressive arts therapist and art therapist who has spent over 30 years working with individuals with traumatic stress and studying how the arts support reparation, integration and recovery from trauma. She is the founder and executive director of the Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute that trains mental health and health care practitioners in medical, educational, and community settings and assists in disaster relief and humanitarian efforts throughout the world. Cathy has given more than 500 invited presentations in the US, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia and has published numerous articles, chapters, and more than 20 books, including Trauma and Expressive Arts Therapy: Brain, Body and Imagination in the Healing Process, Understanding Children’s Drawings, Handbook of Art Therapy, Creative Arts and Play Therapy for Attachment Problems, and Creative Interventions with Traumatized Children. She has received numerous awards for distinguished service, clinical contributions and lifetime achievements, including honors from the Kennedy Center and Very Special Arts in Washington, DC. A passionate advocate for the role of the arts in health, she is a contributing writer for Psychology Today Online with more than 5 million readers and a visual artist and occasional ukulele and Hulusi musician.  

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Ali Smith maintains a private practice, is the co-founder of Holistic Life Foundation, Inc., and is the co-owner of The Involution Group, LLC. He receives compensation as a consultant. Ali Smith receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Ali Smith has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Andres Gonzalez is one of the co-founders of the Holistic Life foundation. For twenty years, Andres has taught yoga to diverse populations throughout the world, including Baltimore City Public School students, drug treatment centers, mental crisis facilities, homeless shelters, wellness centers, colleges, private schools and other various venues throughout the nation. He has partnered with John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health and the Penn State’s Prevention Research Center on a Stress and Relaxation Study and is a published author in the Journal of Children’s Services. His work with the Holistic Life Foundation has been featured on Making a Difference on the NBC Nightly News CNN, and CBS, as well as O the Oprah Magazine, The Washington Post, Upworthy, Mindful Magazine, Yoga Journal, Shambala Sun, and many other publications. He is a certified Health Coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, maintains a BS in marketing from University of Maryland, College Park and an MBA from the University of Maryland, University College.