Module 1 - To Forgive or Not to Forgive: Releasing the Pain of Relational Trauma with Dr. Frank Anderson
Forgiveness is often a triggering and complicated issue, particularly as it relates to relational trauma or Complex PTSD (C-PTSD). While some clients resist forgiving their abusers even after severing ties, others hold onto anger while remaining in unhealthy dynamics, or forgive prematurely only to face deep disappointment. This module deconstructs the multi-dimensional nature of forgiveness, exploring its clinical boundaries and its impact on a client's healing journey.
Key Concepts Covered
- Premature and Forced Forgiveness: Identifying when forgiveness is weaponized, forced by social/cultural expectations, or used prematurely as a defense mechanism to bypass core pain and betrayal.
- The Function of Resentment: Understanding the somatic and psychological roles that anger and resentment play in keeping clients stuck in unhealthy relationships or protecting them from further abuse.
- Re-evaluating the Necessity of Forgiveness: Questioning dominant therapeutic narratives to determine whether forgiveness is truly necessary to fully heal from abuse, and analyzing whether the act primarily serves the victim or the perpetrator.
Learning Objectives & Format
Through structural analysis and trauma-informed framing, participants will examine the nuanced dimensions of relational resolution. This module provides practitioners with the tools to guide clients past forced moral imperatives and toward authentic somatic alignment, true acceptance, and genuine freedom on their own terms.
Module 2 - Chronic Pain: A Somatic Approach with Dr. Peter Levine
In this module, Dr. Peter Levine, developer of Somatic Experiencing, provides an overview of chronic pain through a somatic lens, explaining how trauma frequently manifests as physical syndromes rather than traditional PTSD indicators. He outlines how chronic conditions stem from incomplete defensive states and underscores the necessity of moving beyond surface-level symptom management toward physiologically rooted somatic recovery.
Key Concepts Covered
- Physical Manifestations of Trauma: Identifying how trauma stores itself in the body, causing clients to present with physiological ailments instead of standard psychological PTSD symptoms.
- Incomplete Defensive Responses: Understanding how syndromes such as fibromyalgia and widespread chronic pain often result from the body's failure to complete biological survival responses to overwhelming stress, leading to chronic bracing patterns.
- The ACE Questionnaire and Beyond: Utilizing the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) questionnaire to map the profound link between early developmental trauma and adult chronic disease, while critically analyzing its limitations regarding systemic resilience and unlisted trauma types.
Learning Objectives & Format
Through structural theory and clinical insights, participants will examine the physiological foundations of long-term physical distress. This module equips practitioners with the therapeutic frameworks necessary to address deep-seated somatic issues, helping clients cultivate authentic self-regulation and achieve comprehensive, lasting care.
Module 3 - Healing and Relieving Pain: The Power of Somatics with Sergio Ocampo
Pain, in its physical form, can overshadow every aspect of life. Traditional medical practices tend to focus heavily on surface-level symptom alleviation, particularly when the underlying cause appears unchangeable. This module introduces body-centered interventions to relieve and uncover the real causes of chronic pain patterns that evade standard diagnosis, emphasizing that the physical body holds both the storage of trauma and the ultimate pathway to recovery.
Key Concepts Covered
- The Psychosomatic Roots of Pain: Understanding how the accumulated stress of unresolved trauma and emotional overwhelm manifests physically as long-term inflammation and structural constriction.
- Pain Patterns and Evading Diagnosis: Analyzing why conventional diagnostic models often fail to identify the root causes of chronic pain when systemic nervous system dysregulation is involved.
- Somatic Pain Relief: Shifting the clinical focus away from temporary symptom management and toward body-centered techniques that target the physiological anchors of distress.
Learning Objectives & Format
Through targeted somatic techniques and structural tracking, participants will explore effective, evidence-based methods for pain resolution. This module equips practitioners with the practical frameworks necessary to help clients release chronic protective bracing patterns, address trauma where it lives in the body, and work toward a deep, lasting physical resolution.
