NARM™ NeuroAffective Relational Model
Why NARM?
Psychologist, Psychotherapist Bogdana Bursuc
I am a clinical psychologist and a psychotherapist. For the past 20 years I have been practicing psychotherapy in my own private practice.
For me psychotherapy is where the place we connect to each other in order to make the connection with ourselves possible. Over the years I have seen, felt and understood that people need to be seen, heard and understood just as they are.
I have been through various forms of psychotherapy and I have understood that there is an iceberg: the symptoms we have on the surface (anxiety, depression, indecision, insecurity, insomnia, stress) very often have a deeper emotional root, which represents an intrapsychic conflict, a development trauma. There are many methods and books that help us control the symptom, which is very useful for a while. Addressing the unseen part of the iceberg (development trauma) is what gives us the freedom to be ourselves, power over our own life and the vital drive.
What is NARM?
The NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) is a method of psychotherapy specifically aimed at treating attachment, relational and developmental trauma, otherwise referred to as “Complex Trauma” (Complex-PTSD or C-PTSD). This developmentally-oriented, neuroscientifically-informed model emerged out of earlier psychotherapeutic orientations including Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Attachment Theory, Gestalt Therapy, and diverse Somatic Psychotherapy approaches. Integrating top-down psychotherapy with
bottom-up somatic approaches within a relational context.
Developed by Dr. Laurence Heller over the course of his 45 year clinical career, it was first introduced in his widely selling book Healing Developmental Trauma: How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation, Self-Image and the Capacity for Relationship. Currently available in over ten languages.
The NARM model is a powerful approach to addressing adverse childhood experiences and its long-term consequences, as highlighted in the ACEs study. This approach was introduced in the influential book by NARM founder Dr. Laurence Heller, Healing Developmental Trauma: How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation, Self-Image and the Capacity for Relationship.