In Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma, Janina Fisher offers a profound and clinically grounded exploration of the ongoing effects of trauma on both body and mind. For many survivors, traumatic experiences leave behind fragmented, disjointed memories that continue to activate the body’s stress responses and defense mechanisms — preventing the full integration of what happened. These “living legacies” manifest as intense emotional or physical reactions in the present, often triggered by seemingly harmless reminders of the past.

This course moves beyond traditional trauma treatment, which often focuses on retelling the traumatic story. Instead, Janina Fisher emphasises a trauma-informed approach that works directly with the persistent, embodied reactions to trauma. Survivors frequently experience disconnection or derealisation, alongside chronic anxiety, depression, self-harm, addiction, and suicidal thoughts. By reframing these responses as fragments of traumatic memory stored in the body, clients can begin to make sense of their experiences and rebuild trust in themselves and others.

Drawing on over 40 years of pioneering work in trauma treatment, Dr Fisher blends neuroscience with practical strategies for trauma treatment. Participants will gain insight into how traumatic memories are often stored not as coherent narratives but as implicit memories — sensations, emotions, and automatic behaviours that make the trauma feel as though it is happening now. As Dan Siegel has observed, these implicit memories don’t feel like memories at all: they are experienced as if they were happening here and now. Rather than confronting these memories head-on, Dr Fisher’s approach focuses on reducing their lingering impact, offering both a deeper understanding of trauma’s effects and actionable methods for working with them.

By the end of this rich and intensive training, participants will be equipped with a holistic framework that integrates neuroscience, emotional regulation, and body-based interventions — enabling them to help survivors transform the living legacy of trauma into a pathway toward healing and recovery.

Key areas of focus include:

• Define trauma, including its origins, impacts on the brain and body, and the various manifestations of emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms.
• Identify symptoms of trauma, including overwhelming emotions, autonomic nervous system dysregulation, dissociation, disconnection, and intrusive imagery.
• Integrate trauma-informed psychoeducation to help clients understand their symptoms and how they relate to past experiences.
• Describe how the brain reacts and adapts to traumatic events, highlighting the neurobiological processes involved.
• Explain how trauma responses are not weaknesses but adaptive survival reactions — and how they can be transformed through therapeutic intervention.
• Differentiate explicit memories from implicit ones — those bodily sensations and emotional responses that, as Dan Siegel notes, don’t feel like memories at all but are experienced as if happening here and now.

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