Multiple dates

Relationship-Focused Skills for Therapists Who Treat Complex Trauma

In this two-part course, Dr. Madril will review practical relationship-based skills to enhance your clinical work with complex trauma.

By Tony Madril Therapy & Training, DSW, PC

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Location

Online

Link:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/relationship-focused-skills-for-therapists-who-treat-complex-trauma-tickets-598581803287

Course Title

MAINTAINING EQUANIMITY AND PROMOTING SYNCHRONICITY DURING RELATIONSHIP-FOCUSED TREATMENT OF COMPLEX TRAUMA

Course Description

Individuals who have experienced intense and prolonged traumatic experiences are at risk for developing complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) as defined by the Disorders of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified (DESNOS) formulation, which includes adverse symptoms such as emotional dysregulation, intrusive negative beliefs, alterations in consciousness, and somatic disturbances. In addition, such individuals may often react to reminders of the trauma with autonomic responses such as anger, avoidance, and anxiety that interfere with their ability to successfully establish meaningful and lasting relationships with others.

While participating in therapy may appear to be a viable solution to resolving these deep-seated emotional issues for individuals with complex trauma, the therapeutic relationship itself may represent an implicit “reminder of the trauma” to the client given the highly relational nature of psychotherapy and the interpersonal context that may characterize their experiences of abuse from the past. This may lead to any number of distressing reactions to therapy such as strong ego-systonic projections onto the therapist, autonomic activations of subcortical neural networks, and abreactions that threaten the quality and longevity of the therapeutic alliance. Still, caring clinicians are faced with the challenge of understanding and competently responding to the intense emotional—and sometimes illogical—responses from the client while attempting to maintain a sense of equanimity as the professional “leader” of the helping process when the client is momentarily incapacitated by emotion and traumatic reenactment.

Given such uncomfortable symptoms and distress, it is important for clinicians to develop and test ways to help those with CPTSD “grow through” their unconscious negative responses to participating in trauma therapy and develop new ways to cope with relationship-based fears.

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What You Will Learn

This training is designed to equip trauma therapists with new techniques to maintain equanimity and promote synchronicity during relationship-focused treatment of complex trauma treatment. Therapists will learn how to integrate attachment and trauma theories into their clinical work with clients; they will learn interpersonal neurobiology-based micro-skills to develop attunement with clients; skills to effectively manage ego defenses that are activated during trauma reprocessing; skills to contain emotional abreactions; tools to promote the reintegration of clients’ projections onto the therapist; how to develop a two-person relational approach to managing countertransference, and skills to cultivate compassion for clients with challenging CPTSD symptoms.

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Learning Objectives:

1. To equip participants with the knowledge and skills to actively identify the signs and symptoms of complex post-traumatic stress disorder, including autonomic activations of subcortical neural networks and abreactions that threaten the quality and longevity of the relationship between client and therapist.

2. To equip participants with the knowledge and skills to identify and discuss the three primary attachment categories related to complex post-traumatic stress.

3. To equip participants with the knowledge and skills to identify the underlying emotional and relationship-based needs of clients with histories of complex trauma.

4. To equip participants with the knowledge and skills to define the relational reconstruction subphase of complex trauma treatment and use this information to conceptualize their clinical work with clients with histories of complex trauma.

5. To equip participants with the knowledge and skills to actively identify and effectively respond to abreactions, ego defenses, and countertransference through the lens of relational or two-person-based treatment of complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

6. To equip participants with the knowledge and skills to actively identify 10 relational skills that can be applied to clinical work with clients who desire to create and maintain meaningful relationships in their lives, but who struggle with interpersonal issues related to trust, esteem, intimacy, safety, and control.

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Brief Course Outline

The course will be presented in two parts to enhance participant reflection and application of theory to practice:

PART ONE (2 hours):

• What is Complex Trauma?

• Understanding Trauma & Attachment Theory

• Introduction to the Relational Reconstruction Subphase of Complex Trauma Treatment

• Review of Psychobiological Interventions

• Exploration of the Intersection Between Ego Defenses & Complex Trauma

PART TWO (2 hours)

• Two-Person Model for Working with Transference & Abreactions

• Relational Approaches to Trauma Therapy

• Experiential Application of Relationship-Focused Therapy Skills

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Intended Audience

Licensed Professional Counselors • Social Workers • Psychologists • Marriage & Family Therapists • Addiction Counselors • Psychiatric Nurses • Other Mental Health Professionals.