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Bessel van der Kolk, MD
Frontiers Of Trauma Treatment
July 3rd - July 7th, 2023
* Earn Up to 15 CE credits / hoursÂ
* Psychologists: Please see the CE section and agenda below for information regarding available credits.Â
This course is no longer available.
Monday - Friday: 9:00a.m. - 12:30p.m. EDT | 30-Minute Break Daily
15-Hour Course | Delivery Format: In-Person & Live-Online
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Course Description
Most people who seek psychiatric care have histories of trauma, chaos, or neglect. The past two decades have seen an explosion of knowledge about how experience shapes the brain and the formation of the self. This evolving science has had profound implications for our understanding of what constitutes effective intervention. Sadly, most of the knowledge about how trauma affects the brain and the development of the entire human organism remains to find its way into the curricula of professional schools.
Advances in the neurosciences, attachment research, and information processing show how brain function is shaped by experience and that life itself can continually transform perception and biology. The memory imprints of trauma(s) are held in physical sensations, bodily states, and habitual action patterns. This causes the entire human organism to continuously react to current experiences as a replay of the past.
The earliest form of trauma treatment was to tell other people the story of what had happened and to find support and validation. However, validation, insight, and understanding are rarely enough to deal with unspeakable, intolerable, and unacceptable traumatic experience. Trauma causes people to remain trapped in the past by leaving deep, ongoing imprints on the entire organism–from their immune systems to their internal physical rhythms. Neither words nor compassion suffice in accessing these deep imprints on body and brain.
To overcome the tyranny of the past, one needs to learn to befriend one’s damaged inner world and learn to deal with initially overwhelming sensations and arousal levels. Hence, recovery requires facing the imprint of trauma on the self as helpless, enraged, betrayed, ashamed, and endangered. Healing involves dealing with the defensive efforts that helped ensure survival but that now keep people stuck. The cultivation of a deep sense of physical safety and physical mastery is a prerequisite for initiating new ways of perceiving reality and promoting new behavior patterns and requires effective ways to deal with the fragmented memories of the past.
Recovery means bringing the traumatic experience to an end in every aspect of the human organism. In this course, we will explore the role of yoga, mindfulness, EMDR, neurofeedback, sensorimotor therapy, martial arts, Internal Family Systems Therapy, and theater to help mind, brain, and body to live fully in the present, rather than staying trapped in the traumatic past.
Monday
Trauma and developmental psychopathology.
The acquisition of affect regulation, attachment, and psychopathology.
The breakdown of information processing in trauma.
Tuesday
Affective neuroscience for thoughtful clinicians.
The nature of the threat response, attention, and concentration.
Lessons from neuroimaging and psychophysiology.
Recognition and treatment of survival action patterns.
Wednesday
Assessment, treatment planning, stabilization techniques, and trauma processing.
Psychopharmacology, current research on psychedelic treatments (ketamine, pscilocybin, and MDMA), and Internal family systems Model (IFS).
Neural plasticity and creating new connections in brain circuitry.
*Psychologists: This session is only eligible for continuing education credits in New York, Pennsylvania, and California. Please see the CE section for further details.
Thursday
Discuss learned helplessness and dissociation as it relates to trauma.
Discussion of the use of stabilization and trauma processing techniques in the treatment of trauma including EMDR and neurofeedback.
Friday
From fight/flight to being alive to the present–integration of traumatic memories, including sensorimotor psychotherapy, rhythms, yoga, improvisational techniques, chi qong, group, and theater approaches
*Psychologists: This session is only eligible for continuing education credits in New York, Pennsylvania, and California. Please see the CE section for further details.
What Alumni are Saying...
"Presenter was outstanding. Candid, clearly knowledgeable and direct in offering meaningful information." - 2022 Participant
“Superb, thought provoking. Very valuable personally and professionally." - 2022 Participant
"Bessel is brilliant and has so much to share." - 2022 Participant
Learn more about the Cape Cod Institute from former participants
QUESTIONS?
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