Somatic Interventions for Trauma and Relational Strife: A Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Perspective

This workshop will examine how the body’s patterns forecast the future, and are indicators of past adaptations to traumas and attachment figures. Implicit predictions and expectations of ourselves, others, and the world around us are reflected in autonomic arousal, movement and posture of the body. We will highlight the role of the body in the treatment of trauma and attachment disturbances as well as adaptations to relational strife both societal and individual, including attachment disturbances.

Body-oriented approaches that mitigate trauma-related dysregulation will be differentiated from those that help resolve strong emotions, cognitive distortions and the intimacy issues that emerge in relationships with attachment figures, other significant people and society as a whole. In addition, we will explore the role of the body in fostering resilience in the face of current stressors and traumas such as the Covid 19 pandemic, racialized trauma and systemic oppression.

Since adapting Sensorimotor Psychotherapy to our virtual/online work presents particular challenges and opportunities, we will look at these complexities and address office set-up, use of props, tips to maintain an emotional connection and special considerations in working with posture and movement in Telehealth.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy will be illustrated through lecture, case examples, and brief experiential exercises coupled with worksheets to foster resilience which may be used with clients.

Cost and Details

Fee: $39 thru August 22, $50 thereafter. You also have an opportunity to include a tax-deductable donation to Maple Couseling.

Date: September 9, 2022

Time: 8:00am - 10:15am

Enroll: Online

Access: Online via Zoom - the link will be provided to you.

Attire: Dress comfortably.

Tech Requirements: You will need a stable internet connection and the most recent version of Zoom Client for Meetings (available free here)

Tech Courtesy: We want your experience to be positive, so please

Communications: All pre-conference and post-conference communications will be via email or online. This includes but is not limited to: Registration confirmation, digital syllabus, Evaluations, CE certificates, etc.

Cancellations and Refunds: If Lifespan Learning Institute cancels or postpones a program, a full refund will be issued. If you need to cancel: Cancellation must be made in writing (by mail or by email) and received by Lifespan Learning Institute at least 10 days prior to the first date of the program. All cancellations are subject to a 20% cancellation fee.

Grievance Policy: Lifespan Learning Institute is fully committed to conducting all activities in strict conformance with the Ethical Principles of the APA & CAMFT The full policy and filing procedure are available at LifespanLearn.org

Students with Disabilities: In accordance with the American with Disability Act (ADA), please contact our office (310.474.2505) at least 2 weeks before the program if you need special accommodations.

Objectives

1. Describe two reasons why addressing the body is important in therapy
2. Explain two interventions to regulate arousal and enhance resilience
3. Describe the role of the body in fostering resilience
4. Describe two challenges of working with the body via telehealth and how to address them

Presenters

Pat Ogden, PhD

Pat Ogden, PhD, (she/her), is a pioneer in somatic psychology, the creator of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy method, and founder of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute. Dr. Ogden is a clinician, consultant, international lecturer, and the first author of two groundbreaking books in somatic psychology: Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment (2015). Her third book, The Pocket Guide to Sensorimotor Psychotherapy in Context, advocates for an anti-racist perspective in psychotherapy practice. Her current interests include couple therapy, child and family therapy, social justice, diversity, inclusion, consciousness, and the philosophical/spiritual principles that underlie her work.

Mason Sommers, PhD

Mason A. Sommers, PhD, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist (CA; PSY; 9348) in private practice with over 39 years of clinical experience. He supports regional development of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy in Los Angeles, and has been training in Los Angeles, Boston, and North Carolina. His practice specializes in couples and adult individual therapy, combining analytic, psychodynamic, and somatic psychotherapies in his work. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from UCLA, and his Master or Arts and Doctorate degrees in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles. Dr. Sommers is a former clinical instructor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and served as a three-term President of the Board of Directors of the Maple Counseling Center, a non-profit counseling agency and training facility for mental health professionals. Dr. Sommers volunteers as a Donate Life/One Legacy Ambassador, working to increase awareness of the need for organ and tissue registry and donation.

Continuing Education Credit

The Lifespan Learning Insitute, The Maple Counceling Center and The Sensorimotor Institute are cosponsors of this Continuing Education program. Lifespan Learning Institute is approved by APA and CAMFT to offer Contiinuing Education Credit for our programs. Your eligibility for CE Credit is based upon the information contained in your Zoom Conference log-in/ log-out and engagement time. You must also complete the online Evaluation form by 9/16/2022.

This Conference offers 2 CE Hours.

Psychologists (APA): Lifespan Learning Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

Lifespan Learning Institute maintains responsibility for this conference and its content.

LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, & LEPs (CAMFT): Lifespan Learning Institute is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, & LEPs. Lifespan Learning Institute maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content. (Provider # 050085)

Sponsors

Maple Counseling's mission is to provide low-cost comprehensive mental health services to individuals of all ages, couples, and families, and to provide training for graduate and postgraduate students who are working towards licensure in the mental health field.

Since its inception, in 1972, Maple Counseling has helped over 300,000 people receive critical mental health service. Maple Counseling provides programs and services to people of all ages, annually servicing over 7,700 individuals throughout all areas of Los Angeles County, and expanding to support all of California via telehealth. Maple offers ongoing counseling services in a safe space for adults through individual, couples, and group sessions, as well as to children, teens, and families, and provides psychiatric services through the Kapelovitz Psychiatry Program for eligible clients. In addition, Maple Counseling offers several community-based programs onsite at various schools including Community Circle, The Ted and Hedy Orden & Family Community-Based Preschool Mental Health Program, and School-Based Counseling Services that serve over 1,600 students a year.

Lifespan Learning Institute is a non-profit organization founded by a group of senior clinicians who sought to impact the direction of mental health training by providing training in classic and cutting-edge research. Our board members search internationally for presenters with the newest research in the field. As a result we have a vast collection of programs with leaders and legends in mental health.

For over 30 years Lifespan Learning Institute has been dedicated to providing advanced continuing education for marriage family therapists, social workers, psychologists, psychotherapists, physicians, nurses, and counselors. From psychotherapy legends (e.g. John Bowlby, Heinz Kohut, D.W. Winnicott), to Mindfulness Leaders (e.g. Jack Kornfield, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Thich Nhat Hanh) to today's integrative pioneers (e.g. Daniel J. Siegel, Allan Schore, Pat Ogden, Diana Fosha, Mary Main & Erik Hesse) in the mental health field, we continue to provide the latest research and critical thinking. Continuing education credit offered through conferences, workshops and home study programs. We cover areas that interest you: Attachment Theory, Self Psychology, Trauma Treatment, Mindfulness, Development, Psychoanalytic Theory, Couples Therapy and more.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute (SPI)is a professional educational organization that designs and provides the highest-level trainings and services to serve a global network of mental health practitioners*, and for the public at large. Seeking to enhance human relationships, our paradigm is substantiated by interpersonal neurobiology and impelled by mindfulness applied in interactive contexts.