Full Course Description

2-Day EMDR Seminar: A Rapid, Safe, and Proven Treatment for Trauma

Clients dealing with trauma aren’t always receptive to the therapeutic process.

…and, using treatment techniques that repeatedly confront clients with the horrific details of the traumas that haunt them can cause them to be avoidant, reactionary, or completely withdrawn.

It’s painful for client and clinician alike, and it doesn’t feel like healing.

That’s where EMDR comes in. One of the best and most effective therapies available today, it’s exactly what you need to help your clients gently explore their pain and move toward healing.

In this on-demand EMDR seminar you will discover how this powerful, evidence-based treatment has helped thousands of clients safely and rapidly process their traumas without the need to focus on explicit details!

You’ll learn:

How EMDR can be used to overcome avoidance in clients
How EMDR techniques can help clients resolve traumatic memories
When and with which clients EMDR should be used
How to emphasize safety during sessions
How the 8-phase model is used in treatment

And so much more!

Program Information

Objectives

Describe the role of the autonomic nervous system in trauma symptomology.
Articulate the clinical implications of the freeze response in trauma treatment.
Characterize the potential neurobiological mechanisms of change in the EMDR approach.
Demonstrate EMDR techniques can build dual awareness in clients to treat the avoidance that makes trauma treatment challenging.
Demonstrate the 8 Phases of the EMDR protocol.
Assess clients to determine the appropriateness and potential risks of using EMDR.
Analyze resourcing strategies from EMDR to facilitate the processing of trauma.
Utilize EMDR techniques to reinforce and activate positive neural networks.
Modify EMDR to work with complex/developmental trauma to directly treat traumatic memories.
Evaluate strategies to foster the critical connection between client and therapist in EMDR therapy.
Articulate the research limitations and potential risks associated with EMDR.
Establish the order of operations for attachment-based EMDR treatment to resolve relational trauma.

Outline

Trauma and Neuroscience

Key brain areas involved in trauma
Polyvagal Theory, and types of freeze responses
Trauma and insecure attachment
The neuroscience of developmental trauma
Clinical implications of the freeze response

How the EMDR Approach Works

The neuroscience of exposure therapy and cognitive therapy
The neuroscience of relaxation exercises
EMDR and other “transformative therapies”
Why EMDR works so well from a brain perspective

Trauma Symptoms and Assessment Tools

Traumatic memories and intrusive thoughts
Phobias and anxiety: Insula hyperactivation
Emotional hijackings and implicit memory
Avoidance cluster of symptoms
Why treating avoidance in trauma is critical
DSM-5® symptoms in a nutshell
Connecting to a diagnosis
Simple vs. complex trauma
Intergenerational trauma
Symptom clusters and physical manifestations
CAPS-5 and PCL-5
Primary Care PTSD Screen
Dual diagnosis

Overcome Avoidance with EMDR

Dual awareness
What you are thinking about is the network you’re in
Activate networks for change
Neurons that fire together, wire together (Hebb’s Rule)
EMDR as neuroentrainment

When to Use EMDR in Treatment

Demonstrations and experiential exercises
Single event trauma
Anxiety disorders involving imaginal exposure

EMDR Trauma Treatment:

The Original 8-Phase Model
Client history and treatment planning
How to resource: Create a safe space
Assessment: Choose a target, SUDS, connect with the image/emotions/thought
Desensitization: Tactile vs. auditory vs. eye movement
How to use touchpoints, Theratapper, CDs
Positive Cognition Installation: Likert scale 1-7
Body Scan: Locate tension and distress in the body
Closure: Close the neural network and the 6-hour window
Re-evaluation

Demonstration of Original 8-Phase Model

Presenter demonstration
Attendee dyad practice of the 8-phase model

EMDR Techniques to Resolve Traumatic Memories

Modifications for Complex/Developmental Trauma
Do not use standard protocol - Rationale for modifications
Resourcing strategies
Techniques to reinforce and activate positive neural networks
Relevance of Polyvagal Theory, early trauma, and EMDR
Sensory motor modifications and somatic approaches
How to build Dual Awareness
EMDR techniques to bring traumatic memories from the limbic system into the prefrontal cortex

Attachment-Based EMDR:

Strategies to Treat Relational Trauma
Strategies to foster the critical connection between client and therapist
Mirror neuron activation
How to emphasize safety during sessions
Guidance on order of operations

Research Limitations and Potential Risks

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychiatrists
Psychologists
Case Managers
Addiction Counselors
Therapists
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psych Nurses
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 12/13/2023

Foundations of Somatic Therapy for Trauma: The 9 Key Techniques for Effective Body-Based Therapy

Every trauma healer needs to know how to work with pain trapped within the body.

But, there are so many ways to do somatic therapy… many therapists have been confused about where to start.

That’s why we’ve put together foundational training on how to implement essential body-based techniques with trauma and somatic healing expert, Abi Blakeslee.

This accessible training will give you the skills to start using somatic techniques including Somatic Experiencing™ skills, breathing exercises, Hakomi, Polyvagal, movement-based, and more with your next client.

Take a front-row seat to learn step-by-step how to implement somatic therapy techniques with all your clients. Join Abi to get first-hand experience as you learn from real session demonstrations how to…

Implement 9 key strategies for nervous system regulation to use with ANY client
Apply new research on neurobiology immediately in therapy
Avoid getting caught in “talk therapy” and quickly begin trauma processing
Help clients disempower the pain and reactivity to explicit and implicit trauma memories

Register now to become the therapist who can transform trauma in their client’s mind, body and spirit – all at once!

Program Information

Objectives

Differentiate somatic psychology from cognitive-based therapy approaches.
Analyze perspectives and different schools of thought on somatic therapy approaches to develop a robust understanding of body-based treatments.
Develop and understanding of polyvagal theory and therapy interventions to integrate into somatic approaches.
Determine how to gather embodied goals that can be achieved during a session.
Develop skills (grounding, centering, posture, container, expansion, etc.) to help regulate the autonomic nervous system.
Formulate questions and reasons that invite conscious awareness of bodily sensation.
Utilize different forms of attention to access interception.
Identify signs of down-regulation and up-regulation in the nervous system, as well as other states of arousal.
Articulate the difference between implicit and explicit timelines and the therapeutic impact.

Outline

Somatic Psychology: Bringing the Body into Therapy

Introduction to Somatic Psychology
The new science of interoception
How therapeutic change happens in the NOW
Let your client be their own expert
What is a “bottom up” approach?
Create kinesthetic awareness
Identify choice points for working with the nervous system
What to do when your clients can’t “think their way out”
Create harmony between parts of self
How to use metaphor to help clients regulate

Introception & The Insula: Mapping the Body & Nervous System in Therapy

Mapping the internal body and the story of the nervous system
What is the Insular Cortex and how can you engage it for healing trauma
How does information reach conscious awareness?
Countering the negativity bias in the brain
Breaking the loop of chronic stress
Explore the seat where the complex emotion and self-insight arises

What Helps Clients Regulate
9 Strategies for nervous system regulation

Grounding
Multiple Examples of Orienting
Centering
Posture
Containment and the Body as a Container for affect and life experiences
Expansion
Self Contact and the use of Character Structures and Developmental Repair Messages
Mirroring
Gentle Movement

Educate your Clients about the Autonomic Nervous System and how it Influences their Experiences

Introduction to the Window of Tolerance and Range of Resiliency Model
Create clear goals for somatic work using the Window of Tolerance Model
Observe Exercises that teach clear biological markers and interoceptive experiences of the Sympathetic, transitional states, and parasympathetic nervous system
Learn how to support and observe down regulation in your client’s body
Introduction to Implicit and Explicit Memory Research
Work with implicit and explicit timelines
Re-integrate clients to a sense of present time

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychiatrists
Psychologists
Case Managers
Addiction Counselors
Therapists
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psych Nurses
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 03/29/2023

EMDR Integration with Somatic Therapy and Parts Work: Interventions for Trauma, PTSD, Attachment Injuries and Dissociation

EMDR, parts work, and somatic therapy are three of the most popular approaches right now…

But, the problem is that there is little training on how to integrate these incredibly effective modalities. Here’s the good news for you…

With 30 years’ experience teaching clinicians like you, a premier expert in EMDR, somatic and parts work therapy, Sandra Paulsen, PhD, will guide you through the steps to enhance EMDR by integrating these powerful approaches.

From Sandra’s step-by-step teaching style, you’ll gain the skills to modify and customize EMDR at any stage of treatment, for any type of client trauma. You’ll be able to target your client’s trauma whether it’s stored in the body, memories or present. Walk away with skills and techniques to:

Create step-by-step treatment plans, so you know exactly what to do in each phase of EMDR treatment
Do somatic work with clients that frees their body from trapped pain
Integrate parts work to resolve childhood trauma and other internal conflicts
Harness the power of neuroaffective approaches to calm your client’s nervous system

Get the training to harness the power of three revolutionary approaches to psychotherapy – enhance your practice and offer a path forward for your client’s healing!

Program Information

Objectives

Practice questions at intake point to case formulation and treatment planning.
Evaluate six somatic methods to enhance trauma processing and embodiment.
Conceptualize three critical cornerstones of ego state therapy.
Practice four modifications to the standard EMDR protocol when using the Early Trauma modifications for trauma in the attachment period.
Evaluate four neuroaffective strategies that facilitate trauma processing efficacy.
Practice dialogues to connect with client’s traumatized parts sensitively.

Outline

How & Why to Modify EMDR?

Basics of the initial interview
Tune into client’s unspoken story
The guiding decision process for integration
When to use standard vs modified EMDR

EMDR for Early Trauma & Neglect

Apply main EMDR Strategies
Determine level of “aggressor loyalty”
Spot missed milestones
Birth, attachment & narcissistic parenting trauma
Repair client’s imagination
Specific strategies:
- Containment
- Resource State
- Reset affective circuits

Somatic Empathy & The Body

Is the client embodied?
Test somatic sensation tolerance
Identify implicit memories
Listen to your clients non-verbal “bio-story”
New evidence-based strategies
- Tracking, spontaneous oscillation, somatic micromovements

Parts Work Therapy for High Dissociation

Speak directly to clients’ parts
Dissolve client’s loyalty to aggressor
Visually access client’s “dissociative table/conference room”
Disempower internalized “head honchos”
Be an “ACT-AS-IF” Architect
- Containment strategies, Trauma Accessing, Desensitization & more

Brining it All Together: NEST™ Principles, A Framework for Integration

Assessment and screening
Neuroaffective strategies
Embodiment through Somatic Therapy
Self-System through Ego State Therapy
Integrated Therapy for trauma resolution
Create a NEST™ treatment plan
Know when and how to incorporate each principle
Case Studies:
- Greta – PTSD, anxiety, hears voices, disordered eating
- Frank – Failed relationships, numb, intellectualizes, substance abuse

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners
Therapists
Art Therapists
Marriage & Family Therapists
Addiction Counselors
Physicians
Nurses
Other Mental Health Professionals

Integrative EMDR & Modified Protocols

Complex trauma occurs as a result of repeated or chronic exposure to extremely threatening events from which escape is impossible. As a result of C-PTSD, clients are more likely to develop feelings of profound helplessness and powerlessness with little trust that their actions will make a difference in the outcome their lives. It is common to feel unsure about how to best support clients who feel immense shame or despair as a result of their interpersonal wounds. However, with the right training and skills you can build your confidence to effectively help clients through what may otherwise seem like a clinical impasse.

EMDR therapy is an instrumental tool that helps clients process disturbing memories through desensitizing related images, thoughts, feelings, and body sensations. Clients with Complex PTSD and early childhood developmental trauma are at greater risk for dissociation or emotional flooding; both of which can lead to re-traumatization if not addressed by the therapist. Within this course, you will learn how to safely work with client’s emotions, sensations, and psychophysiological arousal associated with dissociative states. This requires the integration of mindful body-awareness within EMDR as well as an understanding of how to attend to client’s ego states through parts work.

Program Information

Objectives

Describe the neurobiology of C-PTSD and dissociation through the lens of polyvagal theory.
Recognize emotional and physiological dysregulation as “parts” of self.
Model modified EMDR therapy protocols that will allow you to create a safe healing environment for clients with a history of complex traumatization.

Outline

Developmental Trauma and Complex PTSD

More prone to dissociation and fragmentation and
Requires skillful tools to unburden parts carrying the wounds of the past

Modified Treatment Protocols

Safely work with client’s emotions, sensations, and psychophysiological arousal associated with dissociative states
Strategies rooted in mindfulness and compassion to decrease defensiveness
Integration of Parts Work and EMDR therapies
Safely reprocess complex trauma rooted in developmental or sociocultural events

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Case Managers
Addiction Counselors
Therapists
Marriage & Family Therapists
Nurses
Other Mental Health Professionals