Peter Miller
Peter Miller is a Professor of Violence Prevention and Addiction Studies at Deakin University. His research interests include: alcohol policy, violence, trauma-informed and shame sensitive practice
Location Geelong, Australia
Activity
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Peter Miller replied to Samantha Dellamarta
Hi Sam, terrific observations. I like the link to shame, which we will explore later in the course. And of course, the lack of supportive relationships is such a crucial factor in so many people's journey in dealing with trauma.
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Peter Miller replied to Veena Mishra
Excellent observations Veena. People at work can be important connections when we are experiencing threat responses.
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Peter Miller replied to Lorraine Osborne
Absolutely.
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Peter Miller replied to Kate S
definitely, and on a number of levels.
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Peter Miller replied to Amanda Smith
Absolutely.
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Welcome Kate,
it's great have you on board. Your work sounds really important and complex. We are keen to learn more about the way in which people in different countries and cultures are affected by trauma and shame. Please keep giving us your comments and thoughts as you go through the course and how it relates to your work. I'm sure many of our learners... -
Peter Miller replied to Nicole Williams
Thanks Nicole. Absolutely.
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Peter Miller replied to Meghan Harvey
Thanks Meghan, it's definitely a journey, and one where I've had to learn to be more gentle on myself as a starting point too. SO glad to have safe people around me-it definitely makes the journey so much easier. I'm really glad this resonated with you - it was powerful for me too.
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I completely agree Tim. It's a major issue here in Australia too, and there's a lot of corporate/for profit trainers doing 'resilience training', which is very similar to the positive psychology movement; all of which have been found not to work in most populations. It's a challenging space where concepts in psychology are hijack by corporate or other...
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Thanks Nadia, me too. I think it's so important. From simple language such as changing PTSD, to PTSI (injury), through to conversations with ourselves and people who we engage with that have trauma histories; it's a really nice shift in thinking for me.
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welcome Sharna. I can't wait to hear your thoughts.
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Hi Lisa, great to see you on the course. We're very keen to work with you and your department to figure how we can best assist in the incredibly important work that you do.
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Welcome Meghan, I look forward to your thoughts and hope you find this useful.
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Peter Miller replied to Heather Smith
Thanks Heather, absolutely. It is a core ingredient to being trauma-informed, but can take a lot of work to get there and maintain.
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Peter Miller replied to Martin H
Thanks Martin, I think trust and legitimacy are big issues for policing and other government agencies around the world after events over the past 4 years. Hopefully, the work being done on trauma-informed and shame-competent policing will assist police officers and community members to re-engage.
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Peter Miller replied to Danny Hower
Thanks Danny. I definitely found this helpful to work on - even in everyday conversations. It feels like an ongoing goal.
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Peter Miller replied to Trevor Higgs
thanks Trevor. I think restorative principles are so useful.I find them incredibly helpful.
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hi Alison. Thank you for this summary- I agree that so much of it boils down to greater awareness, information and ultimately curiosity once you can come from a calm space.
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thanks Martin. Was this online or face-to-face? Always keen to learn of new resources that we might link too.
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Peter Miller replied to Kiera S
@KieraS - thanks from me too for all your terrific comments.
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Peter Miller replied to Tim Wilson
thanks Tim.
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Peter Miller replied to Margaret Quinn
hi Margaret. Thank you very much for your kind words. We are glad that you found it helpful. Don't hesitate to let us know if there's anything we can do to improve the course.
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Peter Miller replied to Maria D.S.
Hi Maria, thank you very much for sharing your experiences and feelings. It can be difficult to do so, and many of us involved in the course have some lived experience and are keen to support you in your healing journey. We very much hope that you will be able to see that you are not alone, and that while sadness is a part of the journey, there can be healing....
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hi Michael. What a fascinating set of roles you have; it sounds like there is a lot of different dynamics going on around trauma and shame (and no doubt neurodiversity as well). I hope you have found the content useful so far and look forward to engaging now that we are back at work.
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Welcome Mahika, it is fantastic to see someone from the legal profession engaging. We are working with a number of exceptional lawyers around the world in related projects, but may not have any specific content for you. Let us know if you would like more information and we can point you to a range of resources and people who are trying to build trauma informed...
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Hi Kellie,
I hope you're finding it useful. -
welcome Nicky. I hope you find our content useful. Certainly, your work in Asia and Africa sounds incredibly important and it may not be something we have covered in depth. We would welcome your suggestions around adding or refining content in this space.
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Hi Jessica and thank you for the link. I agree completely regarding Shame and we are working with colleagues from the University of Exeter to try to develop a range of interventions and research to help us work much better in the space. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on our current content and ideas for ways to understand and improve how we engage...
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welcome Anna, it's always great to hear from people who have a relationship with our university. Hope you find the training useful don't hesitate to contact us if there are ways in which we can improve around the complex issues of mental health first aid and suicide intervention; there are so many layers/types of trauma associated, for everyone involved.
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hi Jess. It's great to have you on board and to learn about your organisation. Working with Young people can be so rewarding and yet so challenging and I hope you find this material helpful. Please do let us know how you go with the content and if there is a need for some specialist material on youth. we may not be able to incorporate it in this material is...
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Hi Jo-Anne, for the work you do. This sounds like such important work and I hope that you have found some of our content helpful. It may be something that requires more in-depth and specialised training beyond our content, and I would certainly be interested in engaging with you about any gaps we might have at the awareness level, or thoughts for future...
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welcome Catherine. I hope you have found material useful. Certainly, a lot of our content is inspired by some of the excellent work being conducted in Canada.
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hi Daniel, welcome. I hope you found the course helpful. please don't hesitate to let me know if there is more relevant information we need to include. All of the issues you mention above are very important to us and we are keen to support the learning of the first responders in a number of forums. I note that you are doing your honours and hopefully that will...
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hi Nicole, welcome to the course. it's great to see somebody interested in forensics psychology. It is an area where we need reflective and compassionate practitioners keen to learn. I hope this course content helps and don't hesitate to let us know there's more material you think we should be including.
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Welcome Alan. thank you for all of the work you do in such a complex situation. We are very keen to build resources that are useful for policing and first responders and please give us any feedback that you think might help us improve the course.
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hi Michael, welcome. Hope you find material useful. We are keen to hear how the content relates to your work and if there are aspects which might not be addressed.
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hi Karlie, welcome. Having spent a lot of time around emergency departments working in relation to alcohol and violence, there is certainly a huge amount of need in that environment especially. You will do such an amazing job under incredibly pressured conditions in the complex workings of trauma and shame in the emergency department I somewhere we really need...
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Welcome Angela, and Tracey. There's certainly a good body of evidence linking many illnesses to trauma, or related behaviours. You may find the evidence on Adverse Childhood Experiences especially useful. We look forward to engaging with you more throughout the course.
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Welcome Pinar, and congratulations on becoming qualified. We hope you find this material helpful and look forward to engaging with you throughout the course.
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Peter Miller replied to Becca Lane
thanks for the link Hannah. we discuss this in a fair amount of depth within the course and I think that our discussions are probably a bit more inclusive than the definition given by the NHS, but it does provide a useful starting point. I look forward to your thoughts when we cover the topic.
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Peter Miller replied to Hannah L
Hi Hannah and Elizabeth, feel free to reach out if there's any challenges.
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Peter Miller replied to Zoe Emmett
Thanks Zoe, we are certainly developing better understandings of this and hopefully we can start to change these cycles over time.
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Thanks Glen, that sounds like a great start. We're keen to learn more about what is happening in Corrections globally.
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Hi Tim, yes - so many different factors; and a safe place is a crucial beginning.
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Thanks Trevor. the 'hurt people hurt people' saying is a great reminder.
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Thanks James - that's a really helpful comment.
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Peter Miller replied to Alexandra Martin
I suspect that depends on your school. We've definitely had hugely varying experiences.
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Peter Miller replied to George Reid
Thanks George, I think you framed it carefully and it's important to be curious about exploring the historical roots of inter-generational trauma. In the end, much of this comes down to personal interpretations, and I'm not sure on what indoctrination really represents and how much people's experiences and temperaments interact in this circumstance?
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Peter Miller replied to Brit Chapman
Thanks Brit, hopefully we can all have more conversations about this impact and continue to make change.
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Peter Miller replied to Trevor Higgs
Sadly a common story.
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Peter Miller replied to albert cettolo
All very important, and so critical that we compassionately acknowledge all people's experiences that they identify as 'traumatic' with curiosity and a view to healing.
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Peter Miller replied to Glen C
@MartinH - absolutely. There are important ACES not included in the original study, but it remains an important starting place. We still have a lot to do in terms of building the evidence base around ACES/trauma.
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Thanks Kim, this is such an important point, and I think so many people experience shame in terms of how their city/country was built on the back of slavery of others, including their own citizens. I think this reaction needs to be met with empathy, as otherwise people tend to engage in the shame behaviours we've seen earlier. It's such a complex space, but...
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Peter Miller replied to Kim M
Thanks Kim, absolutely. It's such a core element to learn and model.
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Peter Miller replied to J Tee
Hi J., there are quite a few terrific organisations and resources around the world now that can help, and I'd encourage you to do your own searches, as thinking is moving fats. However, a few good resources can be found...
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Hi Kim, so sorry to hear this. I know that there are many great organisations and individuals working hard to change this, and I hope that things will improve soon. We are certainly hoping that this work will support workers and prisoners (including ex-prisoners) to reduce the shame and trauma in the Corrections system for everyone involved.
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Peter Miller replied to Nadia Brown
Hi Nadia, absolutely, and I've found the shame lens so helpful in understanding many professional and personal responses I've seen, as well as quite a few of my own!
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Peter Miller replied to Kim M
Thanks Kim, terrific summary. Luna's work has been so inspiring for us and we're looking forward to seeing others implementing the basic thinking.
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Peter Miller replied to Kim M
Thanks Kim, that's terrific. We'd love any links you can send on this.
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Peter Miller replied to Kim M
Thanks Kim, a wonderful summary.
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"What's overreacting anyway and how longs a piece of string?" - absolutely Joanne, only the individual can put that in context for themselves. I'm really working on being able to sit with people and listen without all of my personal noise intruding...it's quite the journey.
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Hi Martin, great summary as always. I feel like the thing I'm working on most personally and professionally is 'not making assumptions', and identifying my own emotional/threat responses. It's definitely a process.
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Peter Miller replied to Joanne Saltfleet
Hi Joanne, absolutely.
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Peter Miller replied to George Reid
Thanks George - nicely put.
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Peter Miller replied to Jessica Mastroianni
@EveH. look forward to your thoughts!
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Peter Miller replied to Chelsea Weston-Arnold
Thanks Chelsea, I agree that all of the comments are really valuable.
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Peter Miller replied to Becca Lane
Hi Becca, great insights and thank you for sharing your history; it's so valuable to have your experience.
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Peter Miller replied to Michelle Young
great observations Michelle - we'll see much of this in the coming weeks.
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Peter Miller replied to anita phllips
Thanks Anita, terrific points.
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Peter Miller replied to Monica Fenech
Hi Monica :-), great points.
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Peter Miller replied to Trevor Higgs
Great points-thanks Trevor
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Peter Miller replied to Chelsea Weston-Arnold
Hi Chelsea, indeed. I'll be keen to get your thoughts on the definitions we post later - it can be such a complex discussion.
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Peter Miller replied to Becca Lane
Hi Becca, and welcome. We look forward to engaging with you and getting your feedback.
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Peter Miller replied to Felecia Huijbregts
Good question. It's not something I've investigated. We'll get back to you if we can find anything.
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Peter Miller replied to Martin H
Thanks Martin. The work of Stephen Porges has definitely been influential for us. Re the 12 step support meetings, the evidence tells us that some people definitely find them helpful, and others need other supports, so in what seems to be becoming a core theme here, it's about finding what works for the individual to heal them/ourselves.
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Peter Miller replied to Mian Khan
Hi Mian, I hope you find the content helpful - let us know if you have any questions at the end of the week.
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Peter Miller replied to Luke P
Thanks for the encouraging comments Luke! I look forward to your thoughts on the next two weeks.
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Peter Miller replied to Glen C
I can see that, and yet, we also see people and communities that develop post-traumatic growth and move in another direction. I'm hoping that iniatives around trauma and shame will help to bring change.
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Agreed - it's about finding the things that help us and/or our clients/family/etc to help our/themselves. Stoicism might work for some - it has some great elements.
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John and Karen McCluskey were very influential on my thinking too.
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Peter Miller replied to Eve H.
Wonderful insights. Thank you Eve
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Peter Miller replied to Luke P
Hi Luke, this is a great insight and certainly a really helpful note of caution for all of us. Glen's suggestions certainly resonate as well, and I think the addition of some sort of check-in point with mental health professionals might also be helpful.
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Peter Miller replied to Glen C
That's a really useful insight - thanks Glen.
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Peter Miller replied to Kim M
Hi Kim, there are quite a few other people working in the space, and resources on the web. You might like the work of Dr Lori Desautels, who has a different program and focus, but built on much of Dan's work, coming from her work as an educator in deprived schools in urban America, bringing brain discussions into the classroom. "Connections Over Compliance:...
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Peter Miller replied to Felecia Huijbregts
It can be a lot to take in.
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Peter Miller replied to Jessica Mastroianni
Hi Jessica, that is indeed the big question and there's many really wonderful resources about different ideas on how to do this. Two authors with very different styles and focus:
1. Prof Dan Siegal is one of the world's leading people and he has many excellent books (https://drdansiegel.com/books/). Depending on your focus, The Whole Brain Child or Mindsight... -
Peter Miller replied to albert cettolo
Thanks Albert, I found the same thing once I had dived into the shame literature and now interpret so many of my own, and others, behaviours through the shame (and avoiding shame) lens.
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Peter Miller replied to MARGIE MOORE
Thanks Margie, the shame/guilt/trauma/loss and grief nexus is so fascinating.
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Peter Miller replied to Apphia Gemina
absolutely, in many way trauma never stops affecting us, but the way in which it impacts can move to growth and insight if we can create the right environments as mentioned by others.
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look forward to hearing your thoughts on week 4 :-)
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completely agree - lots and lots more to do!
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Absolutely, though we also know that while childhood is incredibly important, adverse events in adulthood can undermine all of the good stuff in childhood pretty quickly as well... Agree completely Martin, treatment works, and there's the evidence of post-traumatic growth too. There's also the 'hidden talents' literature which points to the unique talents that...
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probably, though schools already have so much in the curriculum. One core thing they can do is build a culture and train on restorative conversations and practice. Another is teaching kids about brains and checking in. There's awesome programs in the USA - see the work of Lori Desautels: https://revelationsineducation.com/
This is might be more important than... -
Peter Miller replied to albert cettolo
@MartinH I agree this is ideal. I also find unfortunately that there are some people who may not be able to identify or process the trauma and that's why we're so keen to build the trauma-informed approach so that we create environments that are not re-traumatising and as safe as possible.
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Peter Miller replied to Rebecca R
Thanks Rebecca, there's a lot of different terminology, but nothing comes to mind for the issue you identify. It's certainly an important issue however, and so often, things like corporal punishment has been explained away to the person and the person that punished them, but in the end, it represents atraumatic experience because the biological response to...
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Thanks Alexandra, it is fascinating.
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Peter Miller replied to Jo M
terrific questions and points. Thanks Jo
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Peter Miller replied to Henrietta Coker
Great summary Henrietta; the starting point is always that we don't know Cara's history.
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Peter Miller replied to George Reid
Thanks George, great points.
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Peter Miller replied to Jane A
Thanks Jane, certainly putting work first is a response many of us are familiar with :-)
