iD Work background continued
Dr. Ruppert is a Professor of Psychology at the Munich University of Applied Sciences. Prior to developing the Intention Method, he worked closely with Bert Hellinger, the founder of Family (or Systemic) Constellations, a therapeutic method inspired by Hellinger’s exposure to Zulu culture in South Africa. Family Constellation work focuses on acknowledging and healing Intergenerational Trauma, examining the impact of intergenerational trauma on family systems. Processes used in this work laid crucial groundwork for the method and mechanics of what would later become Ruppert’s Identity Oriented Psychotrauma Therapy (IoPT).
Shifting the focus from the rippling impact of trauma on the family system to the immediate impact of trauma on the individual psyche, Ruppert used the mechanics of Constellation work to access and work with aspects of the psyche that had been previously inaccessible to conventional psychology. He was then able to integrate his own formidable study of psychology, trauma and bonding to create a methodology that allowed participants to 1) see how their early trauma and the trauma of their predecessors affected their individual psyche/identity development and 2) interact with these aspects of the psyche in real time with real people (resonators).
The last fifteen years have yielded much new research and understanding in the fields of neuroscience, neuroplasticity, trauma and the multitudinous effects trauma has on an individual’s mental health and their ability to learn, earn, engage and connect with others.
For example, the longitudinal ACE study tracked the effects of physical and emotional trauma as well as chronic and relational trauma on physical health. Polyvagal Theory and the mapping of our autonomic nervous system, numerous studies of post-traumatic stress syndrome, as well as increased understanding of early brain development, bonding, and attachment and how those effect/inhibit our ability to form attachments and relationships later in life, are but a few of the resources that underlie Ruppert’s Identity Development theory and Intention Method.
