Karen Johnson, MSW, LCSW, and member of Abiding Presence, uses her expertise to summarize a video by a leading researcher in the effects of stress and trauma on the brain. Karen Johnson worked over 5 years as the director of trauma-informed services for the National Council for Behavioral Health in Washington D.C. and 19 years in behavioral health, community services, and child welfare at SaintA in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She currently provides consulting services through her business: Trauma-Informed Lens Consulting.

“…During this time of COVID-19, one of my go-to resources is Dr. Bruce Perry, a physician and neuroscientist who researches how our brain and body are impacted by stress, distress and trauma… In this blog I summarize a recent Dr. Perry recording: Understanding State-dependent Functioning… When we are threatened, we start to change the way we think, feel and behave. The more threatened we are, the more we shut down the thinking part of our brain, and default to our brainstem, or our survival brain… This explains why in our current circumstances we are often emotionally and physically exhausted.”