Arianne Struik

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Arianne Struik

My name is Arianne Struik and I’m a clinical psychologist/ family therapist and EMDR consultant.

The Institute for Chronically Traumatized Children (ICTC), founded by Arianne Struik, provides training, supervision, consultation, and research on the treatment of chronically traumatized children and their families. After working in child and adolescent psychiatry for 20 years in the Netherlands, where I developed the award-winning Sleeping Dogs method to motivate children that are unable or unwilling to engage in trauma treatment, I became director of the Institute for Chronically Traumatized Children (ICTC). We started in Perth, WA, and moved to Agnes Water QLD Australia in 2019.

19/11/2025

Why do children blame themselves for the abuse they experienced? It's safer for them to think 'I’m bad' than to believe their caregiver is unsafe. This self-blame leads to guilt, shame, and sometimes self-harm. ⁠
⁠

17/11/2025

When a child seems "gone" - staring blankly, freezing up, or suddenly going quiet, they may not be distracted…

They may be dissociating. 🧠

Dissociation is the brain’s emergency brake. A powerful survival response to trauma or overwhelming stress.
It’s not defiance.
It’s not rudeness.
It’s a child doing their best to survive what feels too much.

💬 What you can do:
✅ Slow down.
✅ Offer safety, not pressure.
✅ Help them reconnect gently—with you, and with the present moment.

Every shutdown has a story behind it.
Let’s stop labeling and start understanding. 💙

11/11/2025

Are you Feeling Stuck with EMDR and Complex Cases?

Are your children too complex? Or has it just been a while since your last EMDR training?

Working with children and young people who’ve experienced complex trauma can feel overwhelming — even for trained EMDR therapists.

This 2-day masterclass is designed to bring your EMDR practice back to life:
✅ Refresh your skills
✅ Practise protocols across age groups (0–18 yrs)
✅ Learn how to prevent abreactions & manage dissociation
✅ Explore EMDR 2.0 & other updated tools
✅ Deepen your understanding of the working memory theory

🎯 Build confidence and competence — even in the toughest cases.

👉 You must have completed Adult Level 1 + Child EMDR Training

🗓️ Join me live from Australia or New Zealand!

📩 More info: https://www.ariannestruik.com/calendar-2/masterclass-emdr-with-children-with-complex-trauma/

10/11/2025

Therapist Burnout

Therapists often give everything to help others, but what happens when you’re running on empty? Burnout can affect your ability to be present and compassionate. Learn to recognize the signs - exhaustion, cynicism, crying, depression and feeling ineffective and take steps to restore your energy. This can happen to everyone and it even caught me by surprise a while ago, after doing three weeks of intensive EMDR. I stopped immediately and made some radical changes. Your wellbeing matters too. 💙

06/11/2025

Many people believe that babies and toddlers can’t be affected by trauma because they won’t remember it. But that’s a myth.⁠
⁠
Preverbal trauma: trauma that occurs before a child can speak. It lives in the body, not in words. Even when a child can’t describe what happened, their nervous system remembers.⁠
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📍 You might see the effects later as:⁠
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- Unexplained anxiety or panic⁠
- Sleep disturbances⁠
- Separation anxiety⁠
- Emotional dysregulation⁠
- Difficulty forming secure relationships⁠
⁠
These symptoms often don’t “come from nowhere.” They are the body’s way of telling a story that words can’t yet explain.⁠
⁠
The good news? Healing is possible.⁠
⁠
Therapies like EMDR and attachment-based approaches can access these early, implicit memories — through movement, rhythm, safety, and connection.⁠
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🍼 Babies remember. Their healing starts with us believing them.⁠
⁠

03/11/2025

Are you working with children who won’t talk about their trauma, refuse treatment, or dissociate the moment trauma is mentioned?

They’re not resistant.
They’re protecting themselves.
And the Sleeping Dogs Method shows you how to help.

👩‍🏫 Join us for a 2-day in-person workshop in beautiful Copenhagen:

You’ll learn how to:
✅ Identify what blocks a child from engaging
✅ Stabilize the child and their environment
✅ Motivate children safely for trauma treatment
✅ Work with complex families and systems
✅ Use EMDR/TF-CBT effectively when the child is ready

🎥 We’ll work with real-life cases, video material, and lots of practice—not just theory.

📍 When: Jan 19–20, 2026
📌 Where: Kosmopol Konferencecenter, København K
📘 Includes a free copy of Treating Chronically Traumatized Children

📩 Register: info@safechildren.dk

👉 More info:https://www.ariannestruik.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sleeping-Dogs-Level-I-2026-Copenhagen-English.pdf

Let’s stop letting sleeping dogs lie.
Let’s help children heal. 💙

30/10/2025

EMDR is one of the most powerful trauma treatments we have—⁠
And yes, it’s for children too. Even preverbal ones.⁠
⁠
It can help:⁠
– Rewire traumatic memories⁠
– Reduce emotional overwhelm⁠
– Restore calmness in the body⁠
⁠
✨ With the right tools, even the youngest children can heal.⁠
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Learn more about our webinars and trainings:⁠
🔗 www.ariannestruik.com⁠
⁠

27/10/2025

Restorative justice isn’t one conversation.
It’s a process with the child’s safety, consent, and healing at the center.

Here are the 4 stages I often guide children through:

1️⃣ Reduce fear using EMDR or other trauma tools
2️⃣ Express anger, either imaginatively or in person
3️⃣ Choose whether to forgive or seek acknowledgment
4️⃣ Decide if reconnection feels possible—or necessary

These are powerful, difficult steps.
But when supported well, they allow children to reclaim power and rewrite the story.

Want to learn more? Google restorative justice or explore trauma healing models that integrate it.

23/10/2025

Some children don’t act out. They don’t scream, fight, or cry.⁠
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They seem fine. But inside? They’re numb, shut down, or disconnected.⁠
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Silent trauma can still change the brain. Just because a child “functions well” doesn’t mean they don’t need help.⁠
⁠
Let’s look beyond behavior and tune into what’s not being said.⁠
Even invisible wounds need healing. 💙⁠
⁠

20/10/2025

Have you ever had a gut feeling that a child’s trauma started before they could speak?

You’re not imagining it.

Preverbal trauma often hides behind symptoms that don’t “make sense” at first glance. But the body remembers what the mind can’t explain.

As clinicians, we need tools to reach those early memories—and EMDR offers one path forward.

That’s why I’ve contributed a chapter on EMDR and preverbal trauma to the Oxford Handbook of EMDR (2023), together with Carlijn de Roos, Renee Beer & Marianne Went.

📚 Learn more here:
🔗 https://www.emdria.org/resource/the-oxford-handbook-of-emdr-oxford-2023/

16/10/2025

Not all traumatized children look unwell. Some seem to function just fine — on the surface. But hidden trauma still leaves a mark. ⁠
⁠
🧠 Brain changes → higher risk of mental illness⁠
🫀 Body changes → higher risk of disease & early death⁠
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Trauma therapy isn't just for those who struggle visibly. It's for those who hide it well, too.⁠
⁠

14/10/2025

Have you completed the Sleeping Dogs Level I training, but still feel unsure how to work with the really complex cases?

You're not alone—and you're invited.

On 22–23 January 2026, I’ll be teaching Level II face-to-face in beautiful Køge, Denmark.

This workshop is all about the real-life challenges of trauma therapy:

What do you do when a parent disputes abuse allegations?

How do you involve a caregiver with PTSD or addiction?

How can we support a child when the parent struggles with guilt, shame, or low capacity?

Together, we’ll practise conversations, build support plans, and learn how to keep children engaged—even in the most complicated family systems.

✨ This is your space to grow, ask questions, and sharpen your therapeutic confidence.

📌 Requirements: Level I + the Sleeping Dogs book
📍 Hosted by: Familiens Anker
🎟️ Spots are limited—register early!

Register now: https://familiensanker.dk/event/sleeping-dogs-level-ii/

Address

PO Box 407, Agnes Water
Brisbane, QLD
4677

Website

https://ariannestruik.com/

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