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Live Webinar

Healing Heartbreak: Addressing the Core of Complex Trauma & Addiction

Michael Giresi, CAC, NARM, ICADC, CTP
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Date & Time

Description

This presentation explores complex trauma and addiction in adolescent and young adult populations through the lens of heartbreak—the psychobiological experience of losing connection to one’s own emotional truth. When a child’s needs and emotions are chronically unmet through abuse, neglect, or misattunement, the developing self learns to foreclose on those needs in order to adapt to what is available, rather than what is needed. Over time, this adaptive process gives rise to the emotional, behavioral, and relational symptoms we recognize as complex trauma.


Attendees will learn to conceptualize these trauma adaptations through the integrated frameworks of attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, and developmental affective neuroscience. The session will also provide practical clinical interventions aimed at identifying and working directly with the adaptive patterns that underlie substance use, process addictions, and other survival strategies—helping clients reconnect to their authentic emotional experience and restore the capacity for healthy attachment.

Educational Goal

The goal of this presentation is to deepen clinicians’ understanding of complex trauma as an adaptive response to chronic heartbreak and unmet attachment needs in childhood. Participants will learn to apply integrative, neuroscience-informed approaches to help clients restore emotional connection, self-agency, and relational capacity.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Describe at least three ways in which chronic misattunement, neglect, and abuse contribute to the development of adaptive emotional and behavioral patterns.

  • Differentiate between the key principles of attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, and developmental affective neuroscience as they relate to trauma adaptations.

  • Demonstrate the use of at least two clinical interventions designed to help clients restore connection to foreclosed emotional experiences and strengthen self-agency in treatment.

Target Audience

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

Presenters

Michael Giresi, CAC, NARM, ICADC, CTP
Mike Giresi is the Chief Clinical Officer at Family First Adolescent Services, a residential treatment center for teen boys in South Florida. He is a Certified Addiction Counselor, a NARM® Practitioner, a Certified Trauma Professional, and is trained in the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) for nervous system regulation. Mike brings over a decade of experience in trauma-informed care, addiction treatment, and adolescent programming. As a national speaker and clinical consultant, he specializes in translating complex neurobiological and somatic concepts into practical, relational interventions for teens and their families.

Financially Sponsored By

  • Futures Recovery Healthcare