Open help menu
In Person

Growing Up with Addiction: How Intergenerational Pain Lives in the Nervous System—and How We Repair It with Relational Trauma Repair (RTR)

Tian Dayton MA, PhD, TEP
|

Information

Date & Time

Location

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Explain how addiction in the family system functions as a relational trauma affecting attachment and nervous system organization.

  • Identify limitations of primarily cognitive or insight-based approaches in treating addiction-related relational trauma.

  • Apply basic experiential Relational Trauma Repair (RTR) interventions (e.g., floor checks, spectrograms, timelines) to support regulation, integration, and relational awareness in clinical work.

Educational Goal

The goal of this presentation is to reframe growing up with addiction as a form of relational trauma that shapes attachment, nervous system regulation, and adult relational patterns. Participants will also be introduced to experiential, embodied Relational Trauma Repair (RTR) methods that help translate insight into felt, relational change.

Description

Addiction is rarely an individual affliction; it becomes a relational climate that shapes attachment, perception, and identity. Children do not merely observe chaos—they organize around it, training their nervous systems to anticipate rupture through vigilance, self-blame, and control. These survival adaptations settle into the body as implicit memory and expectation. This workshop explores how intergenerational trauma lives in the nervous system—and how Relational Trauma Repair (RTR) restores agency, regulation, and connection through embodied, relational processes that allow healing to unfold where trauma once took hold.

Target Audience

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

Presenters

Tian Dayton MA, PhD, TEP
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

  • Alina Lodge