• Nuances of stress, trauma, and complex PTSD
• The impact of dissociation
• Interpersonal neurobiology, somatic psychology, and social engagement
• The Polyvagal Theory
• Skill: Spacious, Relational Awareness
• Skill: Explore Co-Regulation

• Identify chronic, repeated, developmental and sociocultural trauma
• Overcoming betrayal trauma to resolve insecure attachment
• Assess for dissociation (“fragmentation”)
• How parts, ego states and defenses create walls to change
• Compassionate strategies for “Resistant” clients
• Move from shame to empowerment
• Skill: Understand emotional dysregulation as a “part”
• Skill: Connect to the adult self
• Skill: Differentiating from a part

• The 8 phases of EMDR therapy
• Neural networks and “encapsulated” ego states
• Bilateral stimulation and dual attention in EMDR therapy
• Modified EMDR therapy protocols
• Preparation for trauma reprocessing
• Cultivate mindfulness, acceptance, and self-compassion
• Skill: Choice and containment
• Skill: Build allies for a part of self
• Skill: Facilitate repair scenarios
• Skill: Reprocess a traumatic memory
• Skill: Positive state installation

• Trauma recovery and the bell curve
• Resilience as a process and an outcome
• Move from learned helplessness to learned optimism
• Skill: Create your resilience recipe

For more detailed information: Click here for course objectives and 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

For more detailed information: Click here for course objectives and outline.