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Bessel van der Kolk, MD & Licia Sky, BFA

Come to Your Senses: Embodied Self Awareness

July 10th - July 14th, 2023

This course is only offered In-Person

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15 Hour In-Person Course

Monday - Friday: 9:00a.m. - 12:30p.m. EDT / 30-Minute Break Daily

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Course Description

Our awareness of our physical sensations and movements forms the core of our sense of Self. Since trauma is held as heart-breaking and gut-wrenching sensations in the body, recovery entails accessing and befriending the organism we inhabit, which requires interoceptive awareness, the core of agency and being in charge of our reactions to our surroundings- how we process memories, how we make meaningful connections with others, and how we heal from traumatic events. Licia and Bessel will discuss and demonstrate how this awareness enables us to be more present and attuned to our own internal states and feelings, expanding our window of tolerance to know ourselves more fully. We will engage in a range of exercises that guide us to focus our attention on awareness of physical sensations, emotional triggers, attraction, impulses, and unconscious choices about what is safe or dangerous. This experiential workshop will demonstrate practices that enhance our ability to follow our body rhythms—of breath, heartbeat, footsteps, vocal expression, and gestures,—and come into collective synchrony—attunement, alignment, proximity, safety, engagement, meaning-making, and play.

Based on the upcoming book, Come to Your Senses- the Official Companion Workbook for The Body Keeps the Score, this program offers an array of nonverbal, experiential exercises drawn from theater, parts work, guided focusing, dance, meditation, yoga, bodywork, and Embodied Voice.

Bessel van der Kolk discusses the neuroscience of embodied experience on Tuesday.

Monday

Noticing in Stillness

Default states- Internal focus
Detailed Exploration of body sensations, orienting attention, breath, sound, and self-connection
Self contact in stillness

Tuesday

Noticing in Standing

Neurobiology of Embodied Experience
External focus
Sense of balance
Tracking direction of attention and impulses

Wednesday

Noticing in Movement

Rhythm
Direction
Postures
Self Contact in Standing/Movement

Thursday

Noticing in Interaction: Interpersonal Neurobiology

Eyes and Eye Contact
Gestures in space
Voice and vibration
Safe contact with another person

Friday

Practice and Grounding

Attunement, listening, flow
Q&A on practice and application

Bessel van der Kolk, MD, spends his career studying how children and adults adapt to traumatic experiences, and has translated emerging findings from neuroscience and attachment research to develop and study a range of treatments for traumatic stress in children and adults. In 1984, he set up one of the first clinical/research centers in the US dedicated to study and treatment of traumatic stress in civilian populations, which has trained numerous researchers and clinicians specializing in the study and treatment of traumatic stress, and which has been continually funded to research the impact of traumatic stress and effective treatment interventions. He did the first studies on the effects of SSRIs on PTSD; was a member of the first neuroimaging team to investigate how trauma changes brain processes, and did the first research linking BPD and deliberate self-injury to trauma and neglect in early childhood. Much of his research has focused on how trauma has a different impact at different stages of development, and that disruptions in care-giving systems have additional deleterious effects that need to be addressed for effective intervention. In order to promote a deeper understanding of the impact of childhood trauma and to foster the development and execution of effective treatment interventions, he initiated the process that led to the establishment of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), a Congressionally mandated initiative that now funds approximately 150 centers specializing in developing effective treatment interventions, and implementing them in a wide array of settings, from juvenile detention centers to tribal agencies, nationwide. He has focused on studying treatments that stabilize physiology, increase executive functioning and help traumatized individuals to feel fully alert to the present. This has included an NIMH funded study on EMDR and NCCAM funded study of yoga, and, in recent years, the study of neurofeedback to investigate whether attentional and perceptual systems (and the neural tracks responsible for them) can be altered by changing EEG patterns. His efforts resulted in the establishment of Trauma Center (now the Trauma Research Foundation) that consisted of a well-trained clinical team specializing in the treatment of children and adults with histories of child maltreatment, that applied treatment models that are widely taught and implemented nationwide, a research lab that studied the effects of neurofeedback and MDMA on behavior, mood, and executive functioning, and numerous trainings nationwide to a variety of mental health professional, educators, parent groups, policy makers, and law enforcement personnel.

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Bessel van der Kolk has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations. He receives a speaking honorarium from MAK Continuing Education, LLC, Cape Cod Institute.

Non-financial: Bessel van der Kolk has no relevant non-financial relationships with ineligible organizations.

Licia Sky, is a somatic educator, bodyworker, artist, and musician. She guides transformational experiences—incorporating dynamic observational exercises, music, movement, vocalizing, enhanced listening, and touch—to foster safe, transformative inner and interpersonal connections. Licia co-founded the Trauma Research Foundation along with Bessel van der Kolk and is currently the CEO.

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Licia Sky has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations. She receives a speaking honorarium from MAK Continuing Education, LLC, Cape Cod Institute.

Non-financial: Licia Sky has no relevant non-financial relationships with ineligible organizations.

Upon completion of this course participants will be able to:

Discuss what brain science teaches us about how trauma is remembered and changes the processing of subsequent experiences
Explain how mastery of rhythms and sensate experience, like yoga and sensorimotor processing, can support healing from trauma
Explain how trauma affects the developing mind and brain
Describe common physical symptoms of psychological trauma
Summarize the role of both traditional and innovative techniques in the future of the field of traumatic stress
Describe a detailed body-tracking meditation that incorporates interoception, proprioception, and neuroception
Describe how to foster safety, curiosity, and shifts of state through non-verbal interaction
Describe methods rooted in interpersonal neurobiology to calm the nervous system and create safety
Use active listening to increase attunement

Marriage & Family Therapists:

Massachusetts: This activity has been certified by NEAFAST on behalf of the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health & Human Services Professions, for LMFT professional continuing education. Certification # PC- 041880.

Nurses:

Our activities have been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc., and MAK Continuing Education, LLC, Cape Cod Institute. The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc., is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Physicians:

A.C.C.M.E. This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc., and MAK Continuing Education, LLC, Cape Cod Institute. The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc., is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

A.M.A. The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc., designates this live activity for a maximum of 15 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Psychologists:

Canada: MAK Continuing Education, LLC, Cape Cod Institute is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. MAK Continuing Education, LLC, Cape Cod Institute maintains responsibility for the program.

The following state psychologist boards recognize activities sponsored through the joint providership of The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc., an approved ACCME Provider, and MAK Continuing Education, LLC, Cape Cod Institute: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. MAK Continuing Education, LLC, Cape Cod Institute is accredited by various state boards. Please see below for further information.

Social Workers:

ASWB ACE: MAK Continuing Education, LLC, Cape Cod Institute, Provider #1197, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. MAK Continuing Education, LLC, Cape Cod Institute, maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 8/20/2022- 8/20/2025. Social workers completing this course receive 15 continuing education credits.

Please note this course is not eligible for continuing education credits for Professional Counselors, Mental Health Counselors, Art Therapists, Psychoanalysts, and Marriage and Family Therapists.

For all other professions please contact your licensing board to determine your continuing education requirements and check for reciprocal approvals.

Course Content Level: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. This course is open, and content is suitable for all clinicians and learning levels, beginning, intermediate and advanced.

Downloadable Course Brochure

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Bessel van der Kolk, MD & Licia Sky, BFA

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What Alumni are Saying...

"Licia Sky is an expert at experiential learning. She makes sure that every person is seen and heard every day." - 2021 Participant

"Bessel is brilliant and has so much to share." - 2022 Participant

"Licia is a beautiful Being. She is so real and honest and present." - 2021 Participant

Learn more about the Cape Cod Institute from former participants

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Bessel van der Kolk, MD & Licia Sky, BFA