JSA Psychotherapy represented at ChildTrauma Academy Symposium in Banff

Julie Stirpe is currently nearing the completion of the phase 1 certificate of the neurosequential model of therapeutics (NMT) with the ChildTrauma Academy. Based in Houston, Texas, this Community of Practice connects interdisciplinary professionals from several countries as a virtual Centre of Excellence. 

Julie is to be one of very few NMT qualified practitioners in the UK, part of a groundswell of leading-edge trauma informed and evidence-based practice. JSA use this approach to inform therapeutic assessment and intervention across all areas of practice. This is of particular benefit to the work we do with young people and clients suffering developmental trauma. 

Julie and Dr Bruce Perry

The certification process has so far brought Julie into monthly tuition and monitoring from pioneer Dr Bruce Perry, as well as professional networking with other select members of the ChildTrauma Academy. Membership within this community of NMT practitioners also provides Julie with the opportunity to attend symposium events for the international group. She attended the most recent of these, in Banff, Canada on the 11th to 14th of June 2018. 

Featuring several key note speakers in the fields of adolescent mental health, psychiatry and neuroscience, the Symposium also commemorated the 10th anniversary of the ChildTrauma Academy’s founding. Over the course of the week’s seminars and workshops, Julie was able to integrate with globally leading experts including academy founder Dr Perry. She states: 

“The value of spending time and networking with nearly 700 delegates from around the world was so far reaching on a personal and professional level. It had an immediate impact on how we at JSA approach our therapeutic work with looked after children, young people in residential care and families in a post adoption setting.” 

The work of the ChildTrauma Academy to develop the incorporation of the NMT framework is of critical value due to the speed at which it is gaining ground in the UK and throughout Europe. The atmosphere of week’s events echoed these progressive sentiments and there was notable poignancy to the opening and closing ceremonies of the symposium. Each were addressed by a representative of the indigenous Blackfoot confederacy, who led the attendees in prayer for the lost children of the world to be helped in finding their way. A profound and moving experience for those who have dedicated their careers to such a cause. 

On a personal level, travelling to Banff on her own afforded Julie plentiful moments of professional introspection and the space to reflect on her 30-year career. Every day for the week, she made time to explore the wooded mountains trails of the surrounding national park. Julie says of this period that: 

“[I felt] the choice of venue and location was very sensitively considered. I was struck by the enormity and scope of the landscape. It reminded me of just how great the challenge we face is of confronting so much pain and trauma. To feel so small in scale yet so empowered as a component of this international movement to heal children gave the trip an incomparable significance.” 

View from the summit of Tunnel Mountain

Julie on the Spray River trail