Metaphor: Mount Everest

Understanding the AIP Model: The Whale Metaphor and the Mount Everest Metaphor

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The AIP Model

  • The Difficult Stuff Connects to Right Now/Existing Adaptive Information
  • Enough Adaptive Information Must Be Present
  • You Can’t Easily Connect Maladaptive Information to Maladaptive Information
  • What’s Complex About Complex Trauma Related to the AIP Model?
    • A Different Way of Thinking About Complex Trauma
    • Mountain Ranges of Adaptive Information vs Mountain Ranges of Maladaptive Information

The Mount Everest Metaphor

  • You Cannot Metabolize a Trauma the Size of Mount Everest into Adaptive Information the Size of a Walnut—You Can’t
  • Where to Start with Complex Trauma?
    • Where Not to Start
    • Types of Targets that Make Good Early Targets with Complex Trauma

The Whale Metaphor

  • What are the Whales?
  • What is the Size of the Client’s Boat?
  • You Cannot Land a Whale into a Canoe
  • Helping the Client Build a Bigger Boat
  • What Clients Learn when Working with “Smaller” Wounds First
    • Test the Gear
    • Learn How to Notice Effectively
    • They Learn that the Can Heal
    • Healing Builds Adaptive Information/Makes the Boat Bigger
  • If the Client in a Canoe Connects to a Whale we Need a Strong Pair of Scissors to Safely Disconnect

Complex Trauma Modifications Overview: Phases One – Four

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This episode is a quick overview of some of the core skills that we will cover in more detail. When I suggest a modification to standard protocol, I try to explain the reasons for the modifications as clearly as possible.

Skills Covered:
  • Additional Questions to Consider in Phase One, Including Assessing for Complex Trauma
  • Conducting a Trauma Sensitive Phase One that Avoids a Detailed or Chronological Trauma Timeline
  • Starting the Process of Developing Attachment Resources for Attachment Wounding
  • Metaphor: Difference Between Walking Across Ohio and Riding in Bus Across Ohio
  • Metaphor: Don’t Tackle Mount Everest First with Clients With Complex Trauma
  • Events Have a Beginning, Middle, and End… Attachment Wounds are About Everything
  • Using the Videotape Approach with Complex Trauma