Bainbridge Book Signing

There are photos from the book signing with my EMDR colleagues, including: Robin Shapiro, Katie O'Shea, Ulrich Lanius, Elizabeth Turner, and others. Also attending were Tim Iistowanohpataakiiwa, also of the Bainbridge Institute, drumming in the Plains tradition. And Jaak Panksepp and his wife Anesa Miller. In this photo, they are holding the R.A.T.S. Award that I presented to Jaak. I announced that the Rough-And-Tumble-Science Award is presented only to those neuroscientists with the courage and tenacity to persist in researching emotions, when others thought they were mere epiphenomena or simply "ideas."

To see more photos, click on the heading for this post, or go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougplummer/sets/72157620272886491/

Bainbridge Booksigning Party

On Sunday, June 14, there was a wonderful book signing party at my log house on Bainbridge Island. Robin Shapiro, Ed of EMDR Solutions II, and I both had our books there. Various of her chapter authors read from their chapters, including Katie O'Shea, Ulrich Lanius, Robin herself, and me. I also read from my book, Looking Through the Eyes of Trauma: An illustrated Guide for EMDR therapists and clients.

Jaak Panksepp was there, and we had the unmitigated luxury of picking his brain about all matters related to emotional circuits, EMDR and possible mechanisms of action, and other giddy making subjects. He closed by reading a lovely poem his wife Anesa Miller had written to memorialize his daughter. Anesa was in attendance.

Before and after the reading, my sweetheart Tim Iistowanohpataakiiwa, who is a Native American traditionalist in the Plains (Siksika or Blackfoot) tradition, sang healing songs. For some, we all drummed along with him. Finally, as the evening dwindled, the remaining core group sat around the campfire and smoked the canupa or peace pipe (legal contents of course!) for the healing of the people.

It was an extraordinary and memorable experience. I'll be posting some key thoughts and insights from these weeks of frequent meetings with Dr Panksepp, as they shake loose.