Introduction
Dr. Scott Lyons
Setting the foundation for the series — orienting participants to developmental and preverbal trauma and the body-based approaches that follow.
Module 1 — When There Are No Words: Preverbal Trauma from a Parts Perspective
Dr. Frank Anderson, MD
A deep exploration of preverbal trauma through a parts lens. Trauma blocks love and connection — and love and connection are the primary healers. Because preverbal trauma is the earliest form of attachment wounding and lives in implicit memory, healing requires a shift from talking to internal exploration through images, sounds, and physical sensations. Therapists learn to align communication with how young parts express themselves, allowing spontaneous evolution while the therapist's present Self joins the client's Self to build capacity for overwhelming experiences. Attachment "styles" are healable wounds — and healing comes when experience is shared, a disconfirming corrective experience is provided, and what was carried can finally be released.
Module 2 — The Legacy of Early Attachment Relationships: A Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Perspective
Dr. Pat Ogden
The body carries the imprint of our earliest relationships — shaped by family, culture, and transgenerational messages. Dr. Ogden introduces a "psychology of action," in which the body remains in chronic readiness for specific environmental responses, with early, implicit communication through touch and movement establishing these foundational patterns. Trauma-related issues call for body-up interventions that unlink physiological defensive responses, while relational work integrates both top-down and bottom-up methods to link sensation, emotion, and thought. Posture and movement habits both reflect and sustain core beliefs — and addressing the somatic narrative is essential for shifting ingrained patterns, cultivating new possibilities, and accounting for the impact of sociocultural factors and misrecognition on embodied identity.
Module 3 — The Somatic Signs of Developmental Trauma
Dr. Peter Levine
Developmental trauma isn't simply an event — it's what the body holds internally because of the absence of a present, empathetic witness. Implicit memory formed between birth and age six shapes our core identity and requires somatic approaches for healing. Through tools like the "Voo" sound and self-hug exercises, plus a secure base built through co-regulation, gradually expand the window of tolerance via titration and pendulation, working from sensation upward to create new meaning. The goal: move from "hauntings to wholeness" by releasing trapped energy, breaking cycles of re-enactment, and connecting to ancestral wisdom.
