Trauma Training Institute UK blog

June 2026 Issue: What helps people feel met, supported and able to come into relationship with themselves and others.

info@traumatraininginstitute.co.uk (Trauma Training Insitute) — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 10:11:24 GMT

FEATURE

Grief, Belonging, and the Work of Repair by Francis Weller

In relational trauma work, grief is rarely limited to loss through death. Much of the grief clients carry relates to disconnection, unmet relational needs, and the loss of belonging.

Francis Weller’s work explores how grief and repair are deeply relational processes and how communal spaces for grief can support healing.

One passage that resonates strongly with relational practice:
“Grief and love are sisters, woven together from the beginning. Their kinship reminds us that the pain we carry is inseparable from our capacity to care.”

If you are interested in exploring this perspective further, we recommend Weller’s work on grief tending and communal healing.

Learn more about the Book

TTI AT UPCOMING EVENTS

8th International Complex Trauma Conference

Maya will be doing an online presentation for the 8th International Complex Trauma Conference on 29 August 2026.

Her presentation, The NeuroAffective Relational Model® (NARM®): A Heart-Based Approach to Healing Complex Trauma, will introduce NARM as a comprehensive framework for working with complex trauma, with a particular focus on relational disconnection, embodied therapeutic practice, and a non-pathologising approach to healing.

The session will include both a theoretical overview and a short experiential process, offering participants a felt sense of NARM’s heart-based and somatic orientation.

Learn more about the conference.

Transform Trauma Oxford 2026

This September, Maya will join an interdisciplinary panel at Transform Trauma Oxford 2026.

The panel, Which Modality When? Discernment in Trauma Healing for Body, Mind, and Spirit, will explore how practitioners listen for what is needed in a particular moment, for a particular nervous system, relational context and life history.

Bringing together perspectives from NARM, IFS, EMDR-informed practice, Craniosacral Therapy and movement-based approaches, the conversation will explore pacing, sequencing, relational safety, embodied integration, and the role of the body, psyche and spirit in trauma healing.

Virtual tickets are also available for those joining online.

Learn more about Transform Trauma Oxford 2026.

UPCOMING TRAINING:

More Heart-Based Experiential Days

28 NOVEMBER 2026, London

We’re delighted to be planning more Heart-Based Experiential Days. These days offer a chance to slow down, reconnect with yourself and others, and deepen your understanding of embodied relational approaches through direct experience.

As you may know, the Heart-Based Experiential Days are a prerequisite for those wishing to apply for the Embodied Relational Counselling Diploma, but they are also open to those who simply want to experience this way of working for themselves.

Our next day is taking place on 28th November 2026, and we warmly invite you to join us.

We are also planning to schedule one further Heart Based Experiential in January 2027 (date to be confirmed) for those who are unable to make November. We look forward to welcoming you into this work.

To receive updates and priority notification when booking opens, join the waitlist.

“It was a great introduction to an embodied relational way of working - I love that it was truly experiential and allowed participants to really connect with their whole system (not just head) to this modality. Moreover, the team were especially warm and welcoming which created exactly the containing atmosphere needed when working at this kind of relational depth.”
– Bex

“I really enjoyed the safety the group and facilitators offered which held a space where I could give myself permission to be me in the space as me. It felt safe, it felt held, it felt understood.”
– Rebecca

“The people. I really appreciated the warmth, vulnerability, support and kindness of everyone in the room.”
– Holly

January 2026 Issue: Why connection is central to healing

info@traumatraininginstitute.co.uk (Trauma Training Insitute) — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 09:59:37 GMT

FEATURES

What Happens When We're Connected: Ralf Marzen & Maya Vaughan on Healing Through Relationships

In this episode of The Aliveness Project: Conversations on Connection, Ralf and Maya explore why connection is central to healing, and how survival strategies can make disconnection feel safer than contact.

They cover embodiment, authenticity, shame as a strategy of disconnection, and the clinical reality of rupture and repair. There’s also a grounded conversation about modern relationships, including why conflict can be essential for intimacy.

View the episode here.

RESOURCES

Social and Relational Health Risks and Common Mental Health Problems Among US Children

The Mitigating Role of Family Resilience and Connection to Promote Positive Socioemotional and School-Related Outcomes

This paper highlights that many US children’s mental health problems link to social and relationship stresses, not just “what’s in their head”. It reports 21.8% of ages 3–17 have mental, emotional or behaviour conditions, rising from 15.1% to 60.4% with more risks. Strong parent–child bonds improve self-control and school outcomes. Read the Research Paper.

November 2025 Issue: NARM® Video, The Brink Article, Trainings

info@traumatraininginstitute.co.uk (Trauma Training Insitute) — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 09:51:30 GMT

FEATURES

Trauma Healing and the Capacity for Deep Presence: The Experience of Working with NARM®

TTI UK Director, Maya Vaughan, recently presented at the London Arts-Based Research Centre's Intuition and Synchronicity Conference, sharing her experience of NARM both the clients, and her own personal journey. Watch here.

A Brief History of Trauma: From Wounds and Wars to a Word That Shapes How We Heal

We collaborated with journalist, Matt Hussey, who writes poignantly about mental health issues in his weekly newsletter, The Brink. He was so inspired by the power of NARM that he decided to dedicate a whole issue to unpacking the whole concept of trauma including the history of the term. He calls for the rising need for nuance and exactness in understanding trauma and, crucially, in how to work with it. He highlights NARM as one of the most comprehensive and precise models for addressing relational trauma—part of our ongoing collaboration to raise awareness around responsible, effective trauma care. Read More.

RESOURCES

Trauma & The Case for Utilizing NARM Therapy in Clinical Social Work: Implications for Practice, Compassion Fatigue, & Burnout

This research paper by Jennifer Vasquez, and April C. Bowie‑Viverette, highlights the way in which the NARM container supports not only clients, but also the practitioner themselves to avoid secondary traumatic stress and burnout, leading to compassion fatigue. Training in trauma-informed treatments like NARM have shown to act as a protective factor against secondary trauma. Read More.