6 NOVEMBER 2008

ADOPTION AND ADDICTION

Understanding the impact of early trauma on personality and recovery

Presented by Paul Sunderland 

Lecture: 7.00-8.00pm
Fellowship & Refreshments: 8.00-9.00pm

Venue: The Lecture Hall
Kensington Central Library
Phillimore Walk, London, W8 7RX

Tube: Kensington High Street

Entrance is through the Reception on the corner of Phillimore Walk and Camden Hill Road
FREE
Attendees will be presented with a certificate on completion of the lecture

There is a high incidence of addiction amongst adoptees. This lecture draws on clinical experience and information from the fields of Attachment Theory and Traumatology, to explore the particular difficulties in recovery for adoptees and those with early life cycle trauma.

The hypothesis is that the adoption wound is particularly powerful and enduring because it is a pre-verbal trauma and that is stored in implicit memory systems rather than in explicit memory. As experience creates internal working models of relationships, many people with early traumas are vulnerable to especially disabling feelings around issues of belonging and abandonment, often experiencing these as life threatening. For the addicted adoptee, the hunger for attachment to a person, mood altering chemical or compulsive behaviour requires particular explanation, consideration and treatment. Indeed, I propose that it may be helpful to think about these clients as suffering from co-occurring disorders of both Addiction and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder".

Biography

Paul Sunderland is an addictions psychotherapist, consultant and trainer with over 25 years of experience in working with addictions. He is Executive Director of Outcome Consulting, a UK based consultancy providing a range of psychological services and solutions to the addictions field. He has previously held the posts of Head of Treatment at Clouds House and Clinical Director at Crossroads Centre, Antigua. He is a trustee of the Addiction Recovery Foundation.