Rosie Perez + Dr. Diane Poole Heller

Trauma can leave deep scars on the human psyche. What gives people the power to heal these wounds and bounce back?

Actress Rosie Perez has survived a harrowing childhood. Her spunky and resilient persona belies the trauma of wrestling with a mentally ill and neglectful mother and the often abusive guardianship of the nuns at a Catholic boarding house. She has drawn on these experiences to fuel some of her most emotionally raw performances, including Peter Weir’s Fearless. The actress is joined by trauma specialist Diane Poole Heller to address the processes by which trauma can be unraveled. Together they compare the ways in which a sufferer can be empowered to lead a freer life.

About the Speakers

Rosie Perez is an activist, producer, two-time-Emmy-nominated choreographer for In Living Color, and the director of Yo Soy Boricua, Pa Que Tu Lo Sepas. She is an Oscar- and Golden Globe”“nominated actor for Fearless. Known for roles in such films as Do the Right Thing, White Men Can’t Jump, and Pineapple Express, she is currently co-starring in Sky One’s action-thriller series Bounty Hunters. She will be seen in Warner Brothers’ Birds of Prey releasing early next year.

Diane Poole Heller, PhD, is an established expert in the field of Child and Adult Attachment Theory and Models, trauma resolution, and integrative healing techniques. Dr. Heller began her work with Dr. Peter Levine, founder of SETI (Somatic Experiencing® Trauma Institute) in 1989 leading to her own series on Adult Attachment called DARe (Dynamic Attachment Re-patterning experience). Her book Crash Course on auto accident trauma resolution is used worldwide as a resource for healing a variety of overwhelming life events. Her film, Surviving Columbine, produced with Cherokee Studios, aired on CNN and supported community healing in the aftermath of the school shootings. Sounds True published Dr. Heller’s audio book: Healing Your Attachment Wounds: How to Create Deep and Lasting Relationships as well as her latest book, The Power of Attachment: How to Create Deep and Lasting Intimate Relationships. She maintains a limited private practice in Louisville, Colorado.