Open help menu
In Person

Growing Up with Addiction: Childhood Wounds & Recovery

Tian Dayton, Ph.D.
|

Information

Date & Time

Location

Description

In this deeply personal and professionally grounded presentation, Dr. Tian Dayton invites you into a day that speaks to both the heart and the science of healing. She explores how living with the chronic stress and emotional unpredictability of addiction and relational trauma, shapes a child’s inner world—patterns that can echo through the generations. Because trauma embeds itself in the body, it responds best to healing that is also embodied. Dr. Dayton shares how Psychodrama and her Relational Trauma Repair (RTR) bring these imprints into the light, transforming silent wounds into shared, spoken, and enacted experiences. Within this safe and structured space, old survival patterns can soften, connection can be restored, and the nervous system can relearn what safety and trust feel like.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Identify common emotional, cognitive, and relational impacts experienced by Adult Children of Addicts (ACAs), including the development of unconscious cognitive distortions and attachment wounds.

  • Discuss the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms by which relational trauma becomes intergenerational and how these patterns shape adult partnering, parenting, and professional relationships.

  • Recognize how childhood survival roles and unprocessed grief can contribute to emotional dysregulation, reenactment, and relational conflict in adulthood

  • Explain trauma-informed methods, including psychodrama and experiential techniques, that help externalize inner dynamics, rewire trauma-based relational patterns, and promote post-traumatic growth.

  • Describe the core components of the Relational Trauma Repair (RTR) model and explain why embodied, experiential approaches are essential for healing complex and developmental trauma.

  • Demonstrate an understanding of how RTR integrates nervous system regulation, emotional literacy, and relational practice to resolve attachment wounds and build new patterns of connection.

  • Apply principles of psychodrama and embodied repair in clinical or educational settings to support clients in not only understanding their trauma but actively healing it through new, corrective relational experiences

Educational Goal

1. To deepen participants’ understanding of how addiction and relational trauma shape emotional, cognitive, and relational development across generations
2. To equip participants with embodied, experiential methods—such as psychodrama and Relational Trauma Repair (RTR)—that promote nervous system regulation, relational healing, and post-traumatic growth.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professional
  • Counselor
  • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • Social Worker

Presenters

Tian Dayton, Ph.D.
For more than thirty years, Dr. Dayton has been a leading voice in the fields of trauma healing, addiction recovery and experiential, embodied therapy. A clinical psychologist, licensed creative arts therapist, and certified trainer in psychodrama and sociometry, with a master’s in educational psychology she is a Senior Fellow at The Meadows and the author of over fifteen acclaimed books including Growing Up with Addiction, Treating Adult Children of Relational Trauma, The ACoA Trauma Syndrome, Sociometrics, Emotional Sobriety, Forgiving and Moving On, and Trauma and Addiction. Her pioneering work integrates psychodrama, sociometry, and nervous system-informed approaches into a cohesive model Relational Trauma Repair (RTR) used by therapists and treatment centers across the world. As a Fellow of the American Society of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy, she has received their highest honors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Scholar’s Award, President’s Award and Gratitude Award. She also served for eight years as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy. She is on the scientific board of The National Association of Children of Alcoholics, (NACoA). In the addiction’s field, her contributions have been recognized with The Martie Mann Award The Mona Mansell Award and The Ackermann Black Award. Dr. Dayton’s work is widely respected in both academic and clinical settings, as well as in the public sphere. She has been a guest expert on NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and other national platforms, and is a frequent speaker at leading conferences on trauma, mental health, and recovery. To learn more about her work, visit www.tiandayton.com.

Financially Sponsored By

  • High Watch Recovery Center