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Doris D'Hooghe

Doris D'Hooghe is a psychotraumatologist, integrative child therapist and EMDR practitioner. With more than 40 years of experience as a psychotherapist and child therapist, she began her career as a psychiatric nurse. She attended various trainings, including Gestalt Therapy, Group Therapy, Transpersonal Psychology, Integrative Child Therapy, Psychotraumatology and EMDR.

Founder of Trauma Center Belgium, she has worked in private practice since 1990, offering therapy to children, adolescents, adults and the elderly with complex traumas.

Approach

Doris combines insights from psychology, neuroscience, sociology and spirituality to develop a holistic and customized therapy. She believes in the inherent power and self-healing capacity of each individual and uses a client-centered approach.

By tailoring a wide range of evidence-based techniques to the specific needs of her clients, she helps them develop their unique selves. Her goal is to support people in their process of recovery and guide them toward an authentic and fulfilling life.

Doris has been a recognized teacher and international speaker in the field of trauma and attachment for over 15 years. Her trainings, workshops and publications can be found on LinkedIn, Academia press and www.traumacentrum.be.

She is also a frequent guest in the media because of her expertise. In 2022, she acted as an expert on the television program "If You Only Knew," which examined children's violent behavior toward their parents.

Background

Doris is a renowned specialist on early childhood trauma within attachment relationships. Her work focuses on the impact of interrelational trauma in prenatal and early childhood and the development of effective treatment models.

She introduced the concept of "Unseen attachment trauma," published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Behavior and on LinkedIn. Her publications "Seeing the Unseen: Early Attachment Trauma and The Impact on Child Development." and "Invisible Attachment Trauma." delve into this groundbreaking concept. In addition, she contributed to "The Neuroeducation Toolbox: Practical Translation of Neuroscience in Counseling and Psychotherapy".

Together with Frauke Heyde, she wrote the self-help book for children with PTSD, "Oscar and the Adventure in the Toy Box" (Garant), and is currently working on a second picture book, "Grandma Blob," which helps children recognize dissociative reactions.

Doris has worked in recent years to redefine dissociation as a trauma response to early attachment trauma that negatively affects child development. With her colleague Layla Brack, she developed the "Developmental Model of Dissociation. They are also co-authors of a forthcoming book at Routledge on attachment, attachment trauma and its therapeutic implications.

Education

Bachelor of Psychiatric Nursing (3 years. Sint Jansinstituut, Bruges. 1980)

Training in group therapy (2 years. IVC, Kortrijk. 1982)

Training Gestalttherapy (4 years. IVC, Kortrijk. 1986)

Training Psychosynthesis Studies (4 years. Weideheuvel, Amsterdam 1997)

Training Integrative Childtherapy (4 years. Dutch Academy for Psychotherapy, Amsterdam 2005)

Training Integrative therapy for sexually abused children and their parents (1 year. Nederlandse Academie voor Psychotherapie, Amsterdam 2004)

Generic EMDR Training (level 1 and 2 BIPE 2009).

EMDR Training Children and Adolescents (level 1. Training in the Netherlands Carlijn Roos and Renee Beer 2009)

Training Psychotraumatology (1.5 years. BIPE, 2008)

Publications

D'Hooghe, D. (2017). Seeing the Unseen- Early Attachment Trauma and The Impact on Child's Development. Journal of Child and Adolescent Behavior, 05(01). https://doi.org/10.4172/2375-4494.1000326

D'Hooghe, D. (2021). The Autonomic Nervous System: Brainwork. In R. Miller & E. T. Besson (Eds.), The Neuroeducation Toolbox. Practical Translations of Neuroscience in Counseling and Psychotherapy (1st ed., pp. 170-175). Cognella Academic Publishing.

D'Hooghe, D. (2021). How peace is shaped by healing the fragmented self. www.academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/49738189/How

D'Hooghe, D. (2022). Oscar and the adventure in the toy chest (2nd ed.). Garant

D'Hooghe, D. (2023). Traumatic childbirth and the impact on Mother-Child bonding. www.academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/105776627/Traumatic

Presentations & Workshops International

  • Understanding Violent Behavior in Dementia: An Attachment and Trauma Theory Perspective
    • Presentation Congress ECVCP Krakow 8/11/2024
  • "Trauma-Focused Therapy: Unveiling Unseen Attachment Trauma ~ Building a Secure Attachment Relationship Workshop."
    • Three-day workshop Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 30-31-01/09/ 2024
  • "Unseen Attachment Trauma. A Novel Perspective on the Early Parent-child Relationship
    • ISSTD Child and Adolescent Webinar Day April 2024
  • "Holistic Trauma and Dissociation Treatment Planner," A guide for assessing and treating developmental dissociation.
    • Workshop at the ISSTD Conference in Louisville in April 2023
  • "Dissociation from the authentic self." The impact of invisible attachment trauma on dissociative reactions across multiple developmental domains.
    • Workshop at the Healing Together Conference- An Infinite Mind in Orlando, in February 2023
  • Dissociative Continuum of Sense of Self.
    • Workshop at the Healing Together Conference- An Infinite Mind in Orlando, in February 2023
  • "Dissociation: A developmental model "
    • Workshop at the Healing Together Conference- An Infinite Mind in Orlando, in February 2022
  • "How Peace Can be Shaped by Healing the Fragmented Self."
    • Workshop at the Online ISSTD Congress 2021
  • "Safety as a Cornerstone of Trauma Therapy."
    • Two-day online Workshop in March 2021
  • "Trauma-Focused Therapy Workshop Series."
    • Four 3-hour Workshops Online in November 2020
  • "Trauma-Focused Therapy Working with Children & Adolescents."
    • Workshop online for Wings of Hope Palestine in July 2020
  • "Despicable me": Dissociative shame in children resulting from attachment trauma. A journey toward wholeness.
    • Workshop at the Online ISSTD Congress 2020
  • Workshop: Trauma-Focused Therapy. Working with Children and adolescents.
    • 3 - days Workshop Kuala- Lumpur in May 2019
  • Neuropsychotherapy as a tool in working with C-PTSD in children who have been affected by "Invisible Attachment Trauma" (IAT).
    • Workshop at the CACT Congress in Vermont in August 2019
    • Presentation at ICCAP Congress in London in July 2019
  • "Is there anybody out there...?" Disorganized attachment style and the drama triangle in children who suffered from" invisible" attachment trauma. A therapeutic toolbox.
    • Workshop at the ISSTD Congress March in New York, 2019
    • Presentation at ICCAP Congress in London in July 2019
  • "There's a little voice inside my head": "Invisible" attachment trauma and suicide in children, and healing strategies. A case study.
    • Presentation at the ISSTD Congress in Chicago in March 2018
    • ICCAP in Kuching, Malaysia in August 2018
  • "I love you, my killer": "Invisible" attachment trauma resulting in adult traumatic bonding and healing strategies.
    • Workshop on the ISSTD Congress in Chicago in March 2018
  • "Ghosts from the past": Could dementia symptoms be considered dissociative symptoms due to previous traumatic experiences? A pilot project.
    • ISSTD Congress in Washington in April 2017
  • "Mom, there's a monster in the closet": How do attachment, trauma, and anxiety disorders interact? Linking early attachment trauma to the development of anxiety disorders and treatment possibilities.
    • ISSTD Congress Washington April 2017
    • OMEP world assembly and national conference in Opatija, Croatia in June 2017
    • ICCAP in Kuching, Malaysia in August 2018
    • ATTACH in Virginia Beach in October 2018
  • "The mosaic of life: Integrating attachment and trauma theory in the treatment of challenging behavior in elderly with dementia.
    • Presentation at the 32nd Annual ISSTD Conference in San Francisco 2016
    • Workshop at the ESTD Congress in Amsterdam 2016
    • 4th Euro-Global Conference on Psychiatrist and Forensic Psychology in Alicante, Spain in November 10-12, 2016
  • "Early attachment trauma and the impact on child's development."
    • Workshop at the 32nd Annual ISSTD Conference in San Francisco 2016
    • Workshop at the NMT congress in Banff- Canada 2016
    • Presentation at the ESTD Congress in Amsterdam 2016
  • "Early childhood trauma in an attachment relationship"
    • Presentation at the 14th ESTSS congress in Vilnius, Lithuania 10- 13/06/015
  • "Seeing the unseen: opportunities to work with children traumatized in a caregiving relationship." 
    • Presentation at the ESTD Congress in Copenhagen in March 2014
    • Selected for Poster presentation at the WAIMH World Congress in Edinburgh in June 2014
    • Presentation at the 9th international conference on child and adolescent psychopathology in London in June 2014
    • Presentation at the 31st Annual ISSTD Conference in Long Beach, USA
    • Workshop at the RPNC World Congress of Psychiatric Nurses in Banff/ Alberta Canada 22/05/15
    • Presentation at the ECP congress 07-10/07/15 in Milan, Italy
  • "Detecting early childhood trauma in an attachment relationship as an opportunity for early intervention and treatment."
    • Selected for presentation at the ISEI Conference in St. Petersburg in June 2013
  • "Early childhood trauma in an attachment relationship." Poster Presentation at the 3rd Biennial IASA Conference in Frankfurt in September 2012.
  • "Integrating attachment theory and the AIP model in working with early childhood trauma in an attachment relationship."
    • EMDR Congress in Madrid in June 2012
  • "Early childhood trauma in an attachment relationship"
    • ESTD Congress in Berlin in March 2012
  • "Early childhood trauma in an attachment relationship"
    • WAIMH Congress in Oslo in August 2011
  • "Selective mutism as a symptom of early childhood traumatization and treatment possibilities."
    • Poster presentation at the NTVP congress in Amsterdam in September 2010
  • "EMDR's application in the treatment of children with selective mutism"
    • EMDR Congress in Hamburg in June 2010