37TH ANNUAL BOSTON INTERNATIONAL TRAUMA CONFERENCE
Lunch & Evening Events
Friday Gala Dinner
Join us for a special evening of connection, celebration, and music at the conference Gala Dinner. Guests will enjoy a seated dinner with drinks while gathering with colleagues, friends, and members of the Trauma Research Foundation community.
The evening features two musical performances. First, internationally acclaimed Hungarian singer-songwriter Bea Palya blends Hungarian, Balkan, and Romani folk music with jazz and world influences. Her powerful, expressive songs explore humanity, identity, and transformation, creating a memorable experience.
Next, we’ll dance the night away with The Jeff Jones Zone, led by multi-instrumentalist Jeff W. Jones, which brings dynamic, improvisational music inspired by African rhythms and global traditions. Their lively performance creates a vibrant, energetic atmosphere for all.
This festive evening offers a chance to relax, celebrate our shared work, and experience the power of music to bring people together.
Working with Protectors in Exile This one-hour Lunch and Learn introduces a focused clinical framework for identifying and working with protectors that are in exile, grounded in the Internal Family Systems model developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz. Participants will learn practical tools for recognizing exiled protectors, understanding their burdened roles, and facilitating safe, Self-led engagement. Emphasis is placed on pacing, consent, and system-wide safety to support integration and restore internal balance. The session prioritizes brief, clinically applicable interventions suitable for immediate use across diverse therapeutic settings. Lunch will be provided.
Saturday Lunch and Learn with Frank Anderson and Janina Fisher
Independence Ballroom. 1:15pm - 2:45pm
Healing the Legacy of Traumatic Attachment Abusive and neglectful family environments entail traumatic attachment experiences, not just traumatic events. The legacy of unsafe attachment affects all subsequent relationships including the therapeutic one. In this presentation, we will examine how attachment wounds appear in adult life and offer tools that can help clients transform their traumatic attachment responses. Lunch will be provided.
