The AIP Model

· The Difficult Stuff Connects to Right Now/Existing Adaptive Information

· Enough Adaptive Information Must Be Present

· You Can’t Easily Connect Maladaptive Information to Maladaptive Information

· What’s Complex About Complex Trauma Related to the AIP Model?

o A Different Way of Thinking About Complex Trauma

o Mountain Ranges of Adaptive Information vs Mountain Ranges of Maladaptive Information

The Mount Everest Metaphor

· You Cannot Metabolize a Trauma the Size of Mount Everest into Adaptive Information the Size of a Walnut—You Can’t

· Where to Start with Complex Trauma?

o Where Not to Start

o Types of Targets that Make Good Early Targets with Complex Trauma

The Whale Metaphor

· What are the Whales?

· What is the Size of the Client’s Boat?

· You Cannot Land a Whale into a Canoe

· Helping the Client Build a Bigger Boat

· What Clients Learn when Working with “Smaller” Wounds First

o Test the Gear

o Learn How to Notice Effectively

o They Learn that the Can Heal

o Healing Builds Adaptive Information/Makes the Boat Bigger

· If the Client in a Canoe Connects to a Whale we Need a Strong Pair of Scissors to Safely Disconnect