About the Event

Day One - An Introduction to Working with the Body in Complex Trauma Treatments

Current research indicates that trauma is largely remembered non-verbally, leaving the body and nervous system primed for future threat. Many traditional approaches to treatment lack techniques to work directly with this physical legacy of trauma; indeed, the body has largely been left out of the ‘talking cure’. 

Through a combination of lecture material, experiential exercises and discussion, this workshop will introduce a body-oriented approach to working with unresolved trauma. Andrew’s approach to training encompasses not only the most recent theoretical understanding regarding neuroscience and the impact of our experiences on our body, but also provides a clear and pragmatic link between theory and practice.

At the conclusion of day one, participants will be able to:

• Review current neuroscience and practical applications in relation to safe trauma work.
• Understand the role of the body in trauma treatment, including the role of procedural learning and its relevance to trauma treatment.
• Apply simple somatic techniques to facilitate clients' self-regulation (including directed mindfulness).
• Acquire increased knowledge and skills in assisting clients to develop body-based resources and enable them to experience and stabilise embodiment.
• Understand the significance of the relational field in body-based psychotherapy.
• Acquire increased knowledge and skills in incorporating bodily experience into all phases of trauma therapy.

Day Two - Deepening Resources for Stabilisation

The second day will build on content covered in the first day, with particular focus on assisting clinicians to use more advanced body-based psychotherapeutic techniques to enrich and enhance their treatment approach to clients presenting with unresolved trauma. 

Areas of focus will include the impact of somatics on the therapeutic relationship, and assisting clients to effectively access body-based resources to improve their capacity to regulate strong emotion and physiological arousal and more effectively process their traumatic experiences. The workshop will include both didactic and experiential material, with an emphasis on the provision of practical skills for body-based psychotherapy practice.

At the conclusion of day two, participants will have:

• Practiced simple somatic techniques to facilitate clients’ self-regulation (including directed mindfulness).
• Grasped the significance of the relational field in body-based psychotherapy.
• Acquired increased knowledge and skills in incorporating bodily experience into all phases of trauma therapy.
• Acquired increased knowledge and skills in assisting clients to develop body-based resources and enable them to experience and stabilise embodiment.
• Acquired practical skills for the development of advanced resourcing that supports clients’ trauma processing.