In-Person

The Body Keeps Score: Integration of Mind, Brain, and Body in the Treatment of Trauma

6.0 CE Hours
Clinical
The Body Keeps Score: Integration of Mind, Brain, and Body in the Treatment of Trauma

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Educational Goal

To gain an understanding of the integration of mind, brain, and body in the treatment of trauma.

Description

Over the past few years, new insights into trauma’s impact on the body, brain, and relationships have spawned a range of new approaches to treatment. Many of these modalities can be considered fundamental shifts from earlier therapeutic paradigms. We will examine how neuroscience research has elucidated how, in the course of development, children learn to regulate their arousal systems and to focus on what is most relevant. We then will examine how trauma, abuse, and neglect derail these processes and affect brain development.

Since traumatic imprints are stored in subcortical brain areas and are largely divorced from verbal recall, a central focus needs to be on the somatic experiencing trauma-related sensations and effects. These deep imprints are the engines for continuing maladaptive behaviors. Fixation of trauma and learned helplessness require interventions to restore active mastery and the capacity to attend to the here-and-now.

With the aid of videotaped demonstrations and experiential demonstrations of affect regulation techniques, we will examine the role of body-oriented therapies, neurofeedback, yoga, theater, IFS, and EMDR in resolving the traumatic past and discuss the integration of these approaches during different stages of treatment.

Target Audience

  • Counselor
  • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • Psychologist
  • Social Worker
  • Substance Use Disorder Professionals

Presenters

Dr. Bessel A. van der Kolk

Bessel A. van der Kolk, M.D. is a pioneer clinician, researcher, and teacher in the area of posttraumatic stress. His work uniquely integrates developmental, neurobiological, psychodynamic, somatic, and interpersonal aspects of the impact of trauma and its treatment. His #1 New York Times Science best seller, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Treatment of Trauma (translated in 38 languages), transforms our understanding of traumatic stress, revealing how it rearranges the brain’s wiring—specifically areas dedicated to pleasure, engagement, control, and trust. He shows how innovative treatments can reactivate these areas, including neurofeedback, psychedelic therapy, psychodrama, mindfulness techniques, parts work, yoga, and bodywork. Dr. van der Kolk and his various collaborators have published extensively on the impact of trauma on development, such as dissociative problems, borderline personality and self-mutilation, cognitive development, memory, and the psychobiology of trauma. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles on such diverse topics as neuroimaging, self-injury, memory, neurofeedback, Developmental Trauma, yoga, theater, and EMDR. He is the founder of the Trauma Center (now the Trauma Research Foundation) in Boston, MA; past President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University Medical School; and Principal Investigator Boston site of MAPS-sponsored MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study. He regularly teaches at universities and hospitals around the world. Visit besselvanderkolk.com for more information.