Memory Reconsolidation for Complex Trauma

Date

Saturday 29th August

Time

9:30am - 12:30pm

Registration Date

Venue

Enquiries

Overview

Learn the key to using the brain’s natural change process clinically

Memory Reconsolidation and Complex Trauma

“Sustained clinical change and post-traumatic growth using the brain’s built-in process for updating memory and learning“

Mental health professionals who work with complex trauma are familiar with the challenge to support deeper change that holds outside the therapy room.

This workshop introduces Memory Reconsolidation as the brain’s natural change process that supports lasting change. It gives therapists a practical, hands on approach to learning how Memory Reconsolidation can be used clinically with complex trauma to ‘make change stick’.

Neuroscience studies dating back nearly 30 years show that when a memory is briefly and gently activated it becomes ‘malleable’. This means that the memory can be updated during the temporary ‘re-consolidation’ window after recall. Clinical studies demonstrate that this process can be used to not only heal traumatic memories, but also to change core schemas and self-perceptions in a real and lasting way that endures in client’s lives.

What you will learn

You will walk away from this workshop with a clear understanding of how memory reconsolidation works, how it applies to complex trauma, and how to guide the clinical conditions where deeper, more lasting change becomes more reliably possible.

You will leave with:

A clear framework that holds the key to understanding why trauma patterns can keep returning outside the therapy room even if the client has insight into their issues
A practical way to distinguish between approaches that support symptom management and those that lead to deeper and lasting change
Greater confidence in knowing what needs to happen for a memory, schema, core belief or self-concept to transform more permanently, and how to create those conditions clinically
A 7-step evidence-based process you can begin integrating into your existing therapy approaches to turn on the brain’s natural change process that makes existing interventions more effective

What makes this different?

What makes this workshop different is that it is not teaching another technique, script or trauma protocol. Instead, it helps therapists understand the change process underneath the techniques they already use.

This workshop draws on neuroscience of the brain’s natural capacity to update deeper patterns naturally from within. It gives therapists a clearer way to recognise what may be keeping a pattern in place, and what needs to happen for sustainable and deep change to take place, without overwhelming the client.

Who is this workshop for?

Who is it for?

This workshop is for psychologists, counsellors, psychotherapists, social workers, EMDR therapists, trauma-informed practitioners, and other mental health professionals who work with clients experiencing complex trauma, attachment wounds, shame, emotional dysregulation, shutdown, avoidance, dissociation or recurring relational patterns.

What do therapists report when using MR clinically?

Therapists using MR often find the process of supporting client change becomes clearer. Rather than relying on abstract frameworks, they find that MR provides them with a solid concrete understanding of what needs to happen for change to take place. What they report is that

Client progress becomes more sustainable and post-traumatic growth is more reliable and consistent
Ingrained patterns of behaviour naturally become more flexible, without requiring significant conscious effort.
Self-agency is often restored and people become more capable to meet their needs in healthier ways, expressing themselves more confidently, and defining their boundaries.
People’s relationships improve. They can make better choices around trust and vulnerability, and patterns like people pleasing, shame, guilt and perfectionism can significantly improve.
Clients have improved resiliency in the face of life’s stresses, shifting from hypervigilance toward calmer nervous system states, with less need for numbing, avoidance or dissociation

Presented by

Dr Tony Fitzgerald
Innovation Scientist (Medical Physics)

Tony is an innovation scientist, father, and founder of Predicting Better, an organisation dedicated to helping mental health professionals integrate modern neuroscience mechanisms into their client work.
His work is guided by the vision of a world where people living with trauma and mental illness have access to clear, effective pathways toward lasting change. A world where mothers and fathers are free of their past to be present with their children, nurturing and guiding them as they grow. A world where generations of people live with resilience, connection, and the capacity to flourish in their relationships, communities and their lives.
Tony was awarded his PhD in Medical Physics in 1997 and has spent more than 25 years translating emerging scientific discoveries into valuable medical applications across universities and hospitals in Cambridge, London, Leeds, Brisbane, and Perth. During that time, he has authored dozens of scientific papers and developed four patents.
He is also the coordinator of the Perth Complex Trauma Mental Health Professional Network, where he supports connection, learning, and collaboration among professionals working with complex trauma.
Now based in Perth and the proud father of two children, Tony’s mission is to share the emerging neuroscience of how the brain uses the past to shape the reality we live from — and it’s natural capacity to update deeper patterns naturally from within — helping mental health professionals support meaningful change and human flourishing.

Catering

Fees

COTWA Member Tickets	Amount	PD Credit	Certificate
COTWA Professional Members	$50	–	Yes
COTWA Clinical Members	$50	–	Yes

Public Tickets	Amount	PD Credit	Certificate
Non-member Professionals	$70	12	No

Cancellation Policy

Disclaimer

The information in this workshop is general in nature and should not be relied on. You should always seek your own professional advice. The views expressed are those of the presenters and may not represent the views of COTWA.