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Barb Varcl Smith

Barb Varcl Smith

Trauma recovery educator, therapist, and creator of The Ascendance Method™, founder of Your Steps Counselling in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Sep 14, 2026

15:24
Even small children?
15:25
In the small children.
15:26
Yeah.
15:27
They can start withdrawing themself from, you know, from playing with the friends or they will switch to the fight mode.
15:36
You know, they ...
15:36
The, the one of the trauma responses will come up so they can go to the freeze mode which is that like depression withdrawal and s- you know, that.
15:44
Or they can go to the fli- fight mode and they will become angry and making tantrums and stuff like that.

19 MINS LATER

35:06
Um, so what about teenager if as a parent you messed up on all of that and now they're the best at keeping it all in?
Dustin Droen
Dustin DroenPANELIST
10:45
But I'd like to know more about how to I manage my feelings or, you know, do the things or do some of the things that you teach to get a better handle on things whenever I feel like I'm slipping a little bit.
11:00
Mm-hmm.
11:01
Yeah.
11:02
So actually what you describe is what I call fake resilience.
11:08
When we keep going, we're using our power of the will to keep going and also a lot of energy suppress that emotions.
11:15
As you said, I don't know what to deal with when they came up.
11:19
And that's that state.

9 MINS LATER

Peter Hobler
Peter HoblerPANELIST
19:56
So what are some of the techniques or things that you teach to help people learn how to shift their state?
3:28
Why has Johnny turned his nose up at me and walk away? Mm-hmm.
3:35
Yeah, so quite often it's because just because we do our best doesn't necessarily mean that we met the need of the child.
3:43
And my parents also try their best, but it doesn't mean that my needs were fulfilled.
3:48
You know, my mom had the accident when I was four.
3:53
She was a lot of in hospital.
3:54
We were three children living in the one bedroom flat.
3:58
You know, my father died his best, you know, working, juggling three little kids, wife in the hospital and all that.

20 MINS LATER

24:08
I don't know what you think of that.

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