Somatic Interventions – Complex Trauma and Shame

• Dysregulated autonomic arousal
• Overwhelming affects and sensations
• Intrusive images and memories

• Impulsivity and acting out
• Dissociative phenomena
• Numbing and disconnection

• The Neurobiological Legacy of Trauma and how the mind and body react to threat and danger
• The Nature of Traumatic Memory and how the “body keeps the score” (van der kolk)
• Neurobiologically Informed Trauma Treatment to regulate the nervous system and restore a “witnessing self” by reframing symptoms and avoiding self-defeating stories
• Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, tracking the body as a source of information and using body-centered treatment techniques
• Mindfulness and Neuroplasticity in practice to differentiate thoughts, feelings and to better interpret body experiences
• Challenges of Trauma Treatment and secondary symptoms such as anger, aggression, self-harm, depression, anxiety
• Therapy as a Laboratory for the Practice of New Actions to dis-identify with the symptoms and develop a new language and story
• Somatic Resolution of Traumatic Events using somatic resources to address symptoms, repair and transform the traumatic events, rather than merely re-processing, to create internal safety and to feel safe with others

Through Janina’s expert insightful commentary, case studies and examples, you’ll develop highly practical, evidence-based skills, and learn powerful assessment tools, case conceptualization techniques and proven clinical strategies that you can immediately apply in your practice.

In-Session Video 1: Working with Somatic Components to Overcome Trauma Related Fears of Feeling Good
Janina’s client feels ready for a relationship but paralyzed by an inability to express positive feelings. Years of talk therapy have given her insight into this pattern as a legacy of early childhood trauma — without resolving it. During the session, Janina and the client notice shoulder twitching each time something positive is mentioned. Assuming that the shoulder is communicating specific beliefs or fears that can be addressed through internal dialogue, Janina uses somatic interventions to ‘befriend’ the shoulder, explore the fears it warns about, and guide the client towards relaxation.

In-Session Video 2: Steps Toward Healing Traumatic Attachment & Borderline Personality Disorder
In this session, Janina’s client is a 22-year-old mother of two, diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, who wants to work on stabilizing a volatile relationship to the father of her children and learn to manage her rage and impulsivity. Adopted at 18 months after being removed from her abusive parents’ care, she has always exhibited classic signs of traumatic attachment: separation anxiety, fear of abandonment, rejection sensitivity, fight and flight responses to disappointment or betrayal — and equal difficulty tolerating distance and closeness. In this session, healthy attachment to her children is used as a resource to help her gain insight, develop control over impulsive behavior, and facilitate internal compassion and self-soothing.

Shame and Self-Loathing in the Treatment of Trauma
with Janina Fisher, PhD

Does shame prevent your traumatized clients’ recovery and hamper their ability to find relief and perspective despite effective treatment?

Do your clients’ feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy interfere with taking in positive experiences, leaving them to feel hopeless?

Despite your best efforts, unshakeable feelings of shame and self-hatred often undermine treatment: your clients repeatedly take two steps forward, then one step back. In this one of a kind bonus seminar, you’ll understand shame from a neurobiological perspective — as a survival strategy driving somatic responses of automatic obedience and total submission — enforced by the client’s punitive introspection.

You’ll learn to integrate traditional psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral techniques with sensorimotor interventions that emphasize posture, movement and gesture. With these new techniques, issues of shame can become an avenue to transformation rather than a source of stuckness.