Below are our ongoing blog posts with reflections from Kim & the Relationship Matters team, recaps of podcast and other media appearances, and more!
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Welcome to episode 14 of the Embodied: Step Into You Podcast with your hosts Paula Scatoloni and Leslie Rhyne. In this episode, Paula and Leslie are joined by Kim Barthel, a celebrated Canadian occupational therapist and multidisciplinary teacher renowned for her expertise in neurobiology, trauma-sensitive practices, and sensory processing.
Read MoreNow fully available to registrants, Trauma-Sensitive Education is an 8 hour pre-recorded workshop that sheds light on the profound impact trauma can have on students’ development, relationships, motivation and learning. It delves into actionable strategies educators can use to support all students, including themselves, in navigating challenging circumstances. Trauma-Sensitive Education is the information that experienced educators wish had been included in their teacher training, to help with their burn out and to reach kids who seem unreachable. With September just ahead, we are thinking about the educators and their critical profession, and hoping this course can be a helpful resource for them.
Read MoreI recently joined Unyte Health in a Clinical Conversations webinar: The Relationship Between Regulation, Relationship and Resilience alongside Drs. Stephen Porges and Peter Levine. This session answered questions like: how are regulation, relationship and resilience interconnected? How are they different? How do they show up in the nervous system and how can the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) increase our capacity for regulation, relationship and resilience all at once?
Read MoreL'entretien entre Océane Folliet et Kim a été publié dans le numéro de janvier 2024 du magazine ergOTHérapies. La revue ergOThérapies est publiée par l’Association nationale française des ergothérapeutes (ANFE) pour soutenir le développement de la profession d’ergothérapeute en France. Ce soutien passe par la communication, entre professionnels, des travaux de recherche et innovations pratiques susceptibles d’aider les ergothérapeutes à faire évoluer leur pratique, en cohérence avec les avancées au niveau international.
Read MoreOne of the things we’re not sure about is if people know about the ways in which we're making the pricing of Relationship Matters’ courses as fair and accessible as we can. We do this because there are widely different local economies around the world, and we’ve seen that therapists might earn $10/day in one place and $1,000/day in another place for the same effort. We also know that anyone can fall on hard financial times, no matter where they are, what their profession, and what their level of excellence.
Read MoreThis September, 2024, Kim will be delivering her most prolific and popular workshop in Perth, Western Australia: BECOMING A BEHAVIOURAL DETECTIVE Kim recently sat down to speak with one of the hosts of this workshop, Lynette Burke, from Mind2Mind Courses, to discuss what participants can expect from this training.
Read MoreThis October, 2024, Kim will be delivering her workshop in Rennes, France: Développer une approche psycho-sensorielle Kim recently sat down to speak with the host of this workshop, Gwénaëlle Roscoe, from Cabane Sensiorielle, to discuss what participants can expect from this training.
Read MoreWith our Occupational Therapy colleague Nikki Smit originally from South Africa now living in Singapore, Kim has a conversation about neurodiverse affirming practice. Nikki identifies as a neurodivergent clinician herself, and their 48 minute discussion provides insight into the importance of seeing every single person as valuable and whole.
Read MoreWe are expanding our capacity to serve others, in a personal way! Acknowledged through this letter to you all today, Kim and I are thrilled to formally welcome Lista Qanaatia Spensley-Tagornak to the Relationship Matters Team.
Read MoreThere hasn’t been an NDT (Neuro-Developmental Treatment) certification program offered in Canada in about 10 years, but there is one coming! We’re not involved in it but are happy to share the information to encourage more OT, PT and SLP colleagues to make NDT part of their practice. NDT is “a holistic and interdisciplinary clinical practice model informed by current and evolving research that emphasizes individualized therapeutic handling based on movement analysis for habilitation and rehabilitation of individuals with neurological pathophysiology.”
Read MoreThere is a unique new clinic in Hong Kong called BOOST that offers a wide range of cutting-edge and thought-inspiring health optimization technologies. Imagined and created by our visionary friend Karen Wong (Clinical Psychologist) and Tami Tsang (Movement Specialist), their clinic in Wan Chai offers the services of personalized and ongoing assessments with interventions to match each individual.
Read MoreTracy Stackhouse, Cory Dundon and Michelle Maunder are paediatric Occupational Therapists with a shared passion for the pursuit of knowledge.
Kim was honoured to be the first ever guest on their podcast, Spirited Conversations. In this episode, they discussed interoception and making sense of this in treatment. We had a glitch with our video feed this episode so it’s audio only, but we so very excited to finally share this. The conversation covers many levels, from trying to understand and discern interoception vs neuroception, to understanding interoceptive processing with clinical practice examples and hopefully offers everyone new insights into how we can support individuals with different interoceptive needs.
Read MoreOur colleague, Leah Dawang, at Unyte, recently summarized 3 key takeaways from The Master Series: Oxford event that we attended and at which Kim presented in September.
Sound in Healing Was a Recurring Theme
Safety is the Foundation
Connection Makes Us Human
The Akhil Autism Foundation podcast provides practical and science-based solutions for families dealing with autism. Featuring guest interviews with experts in the field of autism, including physicians, health coaches, researchers, nutrionalists, herbalists, movement and speech therapists, as well as authors, educators and parents of children on the spectrum. Foundation founder and executive director, Manisha Lad is a Nutrition Consultant, and mother of an only son recovering from autism. He inspired her to not only start the Akhil Autism foundation, but he transformed her to become a Holistic Health Coach and Autism Advocate. Akhil’s Foundation was formed to Educate, Treat, Research and Support Autism.
Read More“Standing here in the belly of the dragon of Colonialism…*” and also being in the same places where Isaac Newton and countless others of immense knowledge and influence have stood and shared their contributions to the societies of their times – Kim and I recently had a series of privileged opportunities to reflect on the sources from which trauma can arise and - what we might do to create positive change.
Kim and I were participating in the Masters Series on Trauma and Mental Health at Oxford, where Kim had been invited by Unyte to speak about the Safe and Sound Protocol: Opening a Window towards the Conscious Evolution of the Human Spirit.
Read MoreMoving to Higher Ground was held at Zephyr Lodge on Liberty Lake, WA in August, 2023. It was the first MTHGs since COVID and was a welcome connection/reconnection between dedicated professionals of many backgrounds aiming to expand both professionally and personally. Coming from across North America, we spent 4 very full days and evenings in a comfy lakeside setting with learning and sharing throughout.
Read MoreIn this thought-provoking interview between Erin Forward (Speech & Language Pathologist from SpeechTherapyPD.com) and Kim, they share a dialogue that reveals the impact of trauma on one’s brain, body and being. This podcast #241 emphasizes that trauma-sensitive practice is an inter-professional shared body of knowledge that can be applied to have a profound influence on the field of Speech Therapy to create a safe and supportive environment for individuals who have experienced trauma.
Read MoreOur friend and colleague Lobsang Phuntsok’s Ted Talk from Japan can now be seen here! Lobsang is the one who founded the Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community as discussed in our blog “The Garden of Love and Compassion”. This short talk summarizes his thoughts on the value of unbecoming, on seeing our challenges as our resources, and instilling compassion in education. It represents hope for humanity. Share widely, at will.
Read MoreAs part of its “Clinical Conversations” series, Unyte hosts Dr. Stephen Porges, author of Polyvagal Theory and creator of the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), in a conversation with Unyte’s Clinical Advisory Board members, Dr. Les Aria, Kim Barthel, Jillian Hosey and Paula Scatoloni, to explore how they integrate the SSP into their practice, and the exciting innovations they’re cultivating.
Read MoreSex is a part of life. When healthy, consensual, legal, within one’s personal values and emotionally safe, sex has the potential to be a powerful and positive aspect of our human experience. When its power is abused, the impacts are devastating and complex. We know that this form of trauma can be amongst the worst parts of people's entire lives. What adds to the negative impacts of sexual trauma is ongoing silence. When light is shone on these secrets, however, survivors/victors do not feel as alone, and healing can absolutely happen.
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