How much ‘healing’ takes place in a 'Trauma Healing Immersion' with an all-star lineup of trauma gurus?

The insights are profound or underwhelming depending on your viewpoint

CATEGORY: CONTROL OF LANGUAGE AND IDEAS

Left to right: Gabor Maté, Peter Levine, Bessel van der Kolk, Scott Lyons

Source: Oprah Daily
Read time: 2.5 minutes
 
This Happened
On February 5, 2025, Oprah Daily posted an online story by a writer who attended a six-day retreat, titled The Wisdom of Trauma Healing Immersion, which happened in October 2024 in the Berkshire Mountains with over 300 attendees.
 
Who Did This?
The retreat promised to facilitate healing from trauma with body-based approaches with four superstars of the trauma world. The writer described it as, “Picture a week with Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Billie Eilish, with Charli XCX as your host.”
Gabor Maté is a family practice physician who has never published a research article on any psychological topic, yet has curated a global reputation as a trauma expert through four popular books and speaking engagements (see here).
Peter Levine is a psychologist who has no peer-reviewed papers on trauma or PTSD. His world-renown stems from inventing the “somatic experiencing” technique, workshops, and best-selling books.
Bessel van der Kolk is a psychiatrist who has published many peer-reviewed studies on trauma and PTSD. He is famous for his book, The Body Keeps the Score, despite the extensive evidence against his extraordinary claim that trauma embeds itself in the body (see here).
Scott Lyons, whom I had never heard of before, is a “licensed holistic psychologist” who has no peer-reviewed publications. His status stems from developing his trademarked “somatic stress release” program, online and in-person workshops, a book, and a podcast.
 
The Premise
Writer Kira von Eichel attended the retreat in need of help. She described herself as having problematic traits since three years of age. She “vacillated between screaming meltdowns and a state of dissociation wherein mind and body separated totally,” hallucinating about bobbing in an endless ocean, and head-banging on walls. None of these were attributed to trauma. She hinted at trauma, however, saying her mother’s adopted brother “was bad news for me,” but opted not to explain why. As an adult, von Eichel’s main problems are “I really cannot be alone, and I really like detailed instructions to things ahead of time.”
 
Analysis
Von Eichel’s insights included that Peter Levine is the “kindly grandfather.” He creates joy and calm in participants with his “trademark roar, a deep, vibrating VOO sound.” Gabor Maté is “Loki, the Norse god of mischief.” Van der Kolk is “a jolly Santa Claus.” Von Eichel found it noteworthy that all three took off their shoes. Scott Lyons is a “comedian who contorted “his towering, former-dancer’s body on the floor” in a solo, Twister-like game.
When von Eichel asked Maté about her inability to be alone and needing detailed instructions, Maté interpreted this as a trauma response of hypervigilance.

There was no contemplation of the obvious historical context that her behaviors may have been character traits before any trauma happened.

Von Eichel did not achieve transformation of the self, but she achieved “small wins.” She learned to pay attention to her body before blurting out misplaced anger. She adopted Levine’s VOO sound to stimulate, she believes, her vagus nerve to achieve “instant calm.” 
​
Why Is This Happening?
Selling trauma workshops, books, and online courses can be a lucrative business. The body treatment gurus have captured a share of that business by selling a one-sided view of the world.

There is a large subset of the population with a sensibility that yearns for a utopian view that personal problems are completely caused by life experiences, and human behavior has no immutable genetic basis. They want to be able to point at one thing and say with certainty, “This is the oppressor that caused all my problems.” There is no good evidence, however, that “the body keeps the score” (see here and here).
 
This arrangement seems like neither grift nor simple incompetence. The trauma gurus seem to believe what they are selling, and, being deceived themselves, are thus well-suited for deceiving others. Consumers seem satisfied—like paying $3,000 for that Swiftian experience was worth it—so, they were not swindled. Instead, it is a window on a large segment of the population that prefers a fabricated view of humanity.