Day 1 – Healing Dysregulated Defences: A Sensorimotor Perspective on Embodying Trauma Recovery

(Speakers: Pat Ogden & Tony Buckley)

On this opening day, we delve into the crucial role of dysregulated threat-related attention bias in shaping trauma symptoms within the body. Sensorimotor psychotherapy emphasizes body awareness as an essential part of trauma therapy. This is especially beneficial when symptoms involve physiological distress, affect dysregulation, or dissociation.

Traditional approaches to therapy attend to the cognitive and emotional aspects of clients’ lives, while the somatic experience is often left out of the room. As Sensorimotor Psychotherapy enables clients to discover and change habitual physical and psychological patterns that impede optimal functioning and well-being; this modality renders itself especially helpful in working with dysregulated activation and other effects of trauma, as well as the limiting belief systems of developmental issues. Together, therapist and client interrupt the automaticity of these building blocks by becoming mindful of them. In this way, the client can identify and observe, rather than identify with, the effects of past trauma and discover more adaptive actions.

At this practically-oriented workshop, which will be beneficial to therapists across modalities, Pat Ogden and Tony Buckley explore attention to body interventions that promote trauma recovery. Utilizing video clips, clinical examples, and brief experiential exercises, participants in this workshop will delve into these areas of therapeutic interest and explore Sensorimotor Psychotherapy methods.

Day 2 – Somatic Intelligence and Therapeutic Wisdom: Unlocking Inner Capacities for Empowering Trauma Therapy

(Speaker: Manuela Mischke-Reeds)

Somatic Intelligence is the process of healing the somatic imprint of traumatic events held inside our bodies, which needs to be acknowledged and released for us to find closure and healing.

Our ability to make choices to respond to our current environment is, in a large part, dependent on our ability to be aware of the felt sense of emotions and beliefs held in our body, based on past experiences. Otherwise, we are unable to access automatic patterns held in neural pathways in our brain and body. Without the capacity to be conscious of the felt sense – to feel the feelings and beliefs in our bodies – we stay in automatic mode. When we are more consciously embodied, we have the capacity to make new choices. These new choices build new neural pathways that help us to release those automatic activations that hold us back, to heal the trauma held in our bodies and to live more fully in the present.

The heart of this workshop lies in working with somatic intelligence as the primary therapeutic focus. This transformative approach shifts trauma therapy into a collaborative and explorative process, empowering clients to be active participants in their healing journey. Moreover, by embracing somatic intelligence, therapists can prevent burnout and maintain sustainable, empowering therapeutic practices.

Join us at this pathbreaking webinar with Manuela Mischke-Reeds to discover the inherent potential of somatic intelligence and embark on a path of generative healing and transformative growth.

Day 3 – Applied Polyvagal Theory in Somatic Psychology: An Embodied Approach to Trauma Recovery

(Speaker: Dr Arielle Schwartz)

The mind alone cannot fully heal the symptoms of stress or trauma. For true healing to occur, the body must be an active participant in the process. Polyvagal theory, a transdiagnostic approach to therapy, offers a powerful framework for addressing the physiological roots that underlie a wide range of physical and mental health conditions. By compassionately understanding and treating imbalances within the autonomic nervous system, therapists and clients can find lasting relief from mood disorders, anxiety, and traumatic stress-related conditions.

While traditional talk therapy often focuses on narrating specific life events or losses, it may not be sufficient to facilitate the rebalancing of the autonomic nervous system. In contrast, research-based and time-tested somatic tools, along with yoga-based breath, movement, and awareness practices, can swiftly reduce anxiety, obsessive thinking, and feelings of hopelessness. When integrated with applied polyvagal theory in psychotherapy, these techniques lay a powerful foundation for lasting changes that promote physiological balance and psychological wellness.

Guided by Arielle Schwartz, PhD, CCTP-II, E-RYT, an internationally sought teacher, therapeutic yoga instructor, and a leading voice in PTSD and complex trauma healing, this programme empowers therapists to incorporate applied polyvagal theory into somatic therapies.

Day 4 – Somatic Psychology Skills for Childhood Sexual Abuse Trauma: A Resilience Informed Approach

(Speaker: Dr Arielle Schwartz)

The impact of childhood sexual abuse trauma on cognitive, emotional, and physical development is lasting and profound – persisting into adulthood and later – unless proper support and healing is found.

The scars of childhood sexual trauma extend well beyond emotional pain and physical injury—manifesting very often as unexplained somatic symptoms. As therapists, we now understand that trauma can register within our bodies on a cellular level. Clients may experience fatigue, nausea, diarrhoea, retching, bile rising, gagging, joint or muscle pain, headaches, and palpitations during the recovery process. While talk therapy is an essential part of trauma recovery; but because the abuse has been a very physical experience; working with the body is essential to integrated healing. Somatic therapy explores how the body expresses deeply painful experiences, applying mind-body healing to aid trauma recovery.

In this engaging and practical discussion, therapists will discover how they can help their clients reclaim their lives from the burdens of childhood trauma by fostering deep compassion and reducing the often accompanying shame. Dr Arielle Schwartz introduces a Resilience Informed Approach, integrating research on trauma recovery to form a strength-based treatment model that incorporates applied polyvagal theory, EMDR therapy, somatic psychology, parts-work, and time-tested relational psychotherapy.

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