Healing Our Core Issues Institute

Offering Healing Solutions for Working with

Childhood Developmental Trauma

Our Purpose

Healing Our Core Issues Institute (HOCII) was created and developed in September 2013 by Jan Bergstrom, M. Ed, LMHC, SEP and Dr. Rick Butts, LPCC-S, SEP. It is an Institute that has as its mission to support therapists to work effectively with developmental and relational trauma, and to educate and offer healing to individuals with childhood trauma. It is an integration model informed by the theories of body-based methodologies, mindfulness, attachment, core issues work and neuroscience. 

Our second mission is to work with therapists to help them create a community of trauma therapists in their city. This creates a solid referral network and a community of colleagues. It is an organic process that unfolds over time in their area and allows true healing to begin in their practices with their clients. 

Our third mission is to educate and offer healing solutions to individuals that are suffering from childhood developmental trauma. By offering workshops, online courses and resources for individuals to start their healing journey.


Our Philosophy

Healing Our Core Issues is a developmental and relational trauma model based on the belief that individuals who have experienced suffering in their lives can receive relief, healing and experience joy again. This in turn creates a new experience of their life that brings more joy and fulfillment and creates deeper connections and attachments in relationships.

Developmental trauma is defined as experiences of emotional, physical, sexual, spiritual, intellectual or neglect abuse a person has lived through in their life from birth through eighteen. 

Whether in the family of origin or from others outside of the home, abuse can have an impact on adults in a variety of dysfunctional ways. After experiencing this in childhood, it affects relationships in adulthood. The pervasive patterns still operate in a dysfunctional manner.

Even individuals who have grown up in healthy families who experience trauma(s), as adults can experience relational trauma. Relational trauma is a break in the attachment bond with a partner/friend which brings about betrayal and abandonment issues. With this understanding, this kind of adult pain by definition creates relational trauma.

What We Do

Healing Our Core Issues Community is designed for clinical counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, master’s level trained professionals and certified relational coaches who have a systematic approach to trauma treatment yet need support and consultation. 

Through the learning of Level 1 and Level 2, the 12 month consultation group and personal intensive, the certificate program incorporates many leading models of treatment.  The core issues work from childhood and body based approaches to healing trauma are covered along with mindfulness, attachment theory as it relates to family of origin trauma.  Somatic and neuroscience theory will be introduced so that the connection between the physical body and all types of trauma can be explored.

We also offer online courses to educate individuals suffering with developmental trauma a way to work with their childhood family of origin history and begin to heal these wounds.

Explore Other Books on Childhood Trauma

Jan's recommendations for the best books for healing persistent childhood trauma that show up in your life today.

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