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About Martha

Spring 2022

Areas of specialization

  • Trauma and Spirituality

  • Brainspotting in religious settings

  • Grief/Bereavement

  • Dissociation/Attachment

  • Issues unique to clergy and religious professionals

  • Creativity/Performance enhancement with professional and avocational artists

  • At-risk families

Martha is an internationally known, long-time Brainspotting Trainer, Specialty Trainer, and Consultant who has studied directly with Dr. David Grand for nearly 25 years. She is returning to offering Training and Consultation to Brainspotting practitioners after an extended sabbatical for intensive caregiving for a close family member. Her consultees include psychotherapists from all disciplines, clergy, spiritual counselors, coaches, educators, and more. Martha was the founding Programme Director and first Associate Dean of the Brainspotting Concentration Programme in Behavioral Health at International University for Graduate Studies (2015 - 2023).

Also a Lutheran pastor for over 40 years, Martha is currently Pastoral Associate at St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Times Square, and has served in congregations, as well as Lutheran and Episcopal counseling agencies throughout the greater Metropolitan New York area.

Martha is deeply committed to humanitarian service. She was a clinician with Faithful Response, a post-9/11 non-profit organization; provided humanitarian service through the Resiliency Center of Newtown CT in the wake of the Sandy Hook CT tragedy; and was a referral clinician for US military veterans relating to the New York City Wounded Warrior Project. She often provides consultation to other clinicians who are engaged in humanitarian work. Currently, Martha continues to support humanitarian efforts domestically in the USA, and globally. She is a founding Board Member for the non-profit humanitarian organization, Brainspotting Help.

A pioneer in using psychophysiological methods in congregational settings of care, Martha offers trainings and workshops for clergy and spiritual caregivers, as well as mental health clinicians. In addition to being a Brainspotting Phase 1 and Phase 2 Trainer, Martha developed foundational inter-faith specialty trainings, workshops, and webinars on Brainspotting and Spirituality, Religion, and Contemplative Practice, starting in 2015. Martha collaborated with Mag. Monika Baumann (Brainspotting Austria) in co-developing and presenting the original specialty trainings in using Brainspotting with children and adolescents, which Monika has developed and expanded independently since 2020.

 

Martha has advanced training in Bowen family therapy, EMDR, and Pesso-Boyden System Psychomotor therapy, in addition to Brainspotting. All of Martha's work is informed by her background as a performing artist in music and dance.

Martha's clinically-related publications include:​​​​​​

  • "Brainspotting," in Psychothérapie de la dissociation et du trauma, 2nd ed. (J. Smith, ed.)

  • "Psychophysiological Therapy" in The Concise Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling (G. H. Asquith, Jr., ed.)

  • "Smelling Remembrance" in Sensing Sacred (J. Baldwin, ed.)

  • "Using EMDR with Religious and Spiritually Attuned Clients" in EMDR Solutions II (R. Shapiro, ed.)

  • "Forward" to Brainspotting with Children and Adolescents, (M. Baumann)​​


With co-author Monika Baumann:​​​

  • "Brainspotting with Children and Adolescents" in The Power of Brianspotting (G. Wolfrum, ed.)

  • Several articles, in English and German, related to Brainspotting with Children and Adolescents

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