The Embodiment of Trauma
- Principles of trauma-informed care
- DSM-5-TR® and PTSD
- Causes and effects of trauma
- Complex trauma
- Symptoms of trauma and comorbidities
- Developmental implications of trauma
- The impact on the nervous system
- Standard treatment protocols
- Apply embodied approaches to trauma work
- Practice:
- Grounded breath and centering
- Mindfulness of breath
Trauma Assessments
- Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5)
- PTSD checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5)
- Structured clinical interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5)
- Brief Trauma Questionnaire (BTQ)
- Life events checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5)
- Trauma Screening Questionnaire (TSQ)
- Posttraumatic Maladaptive Beliefs Scales (PMBS)
- Body-Oriented Scales from the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium (TSRC)
- Support client self-assessment
- Practice: Infinity breath
- Case Study: Mathilde, college student, injured in car accident, sister died of injuries, parents substance users, no support
Embodiment and the Polyvagal Theory
- Competing drives of connection and protection
- Explaining the nervous system and body states to clients
- The stress response system
- Assess allostatic overload with clients
- Window of tolerance and the growth zone
- Apply the Self-Awareness Scale
- Operationalize the zones
- Sustainability - great effort, great rest
- Practice:
- Apply PAUSE (Pause, Assess, and USE your resources)
- Subtle breathing
- The second arrow
- Case study: Operationalizing connection and protections states, Mathilde
Techniques for Befriending the Trauma Body
- The hungry ghost, the disembodied, and embodiment
- Create the foundations for embodiment work
- Work with what I can control
- Develop a resource repository
- Understand interoception, exteroception and neuroception
- Grounding, breathing, and orienting
- Sensate focus for distress
- Practice:
- 4, 7, 8 Breathing Method
- A commitment letter to the body
- Positive Embodiment Body Scan
Mindful Self-Care and Resource Development for Stabilization
- Unpack self-care therapeutically
- Consider your own mindful self-care practice
- Formal and informal self-care techniques
- Assessment of mindful self-care
- Mindful self-care and goal development
- Development of inner resources
- Practice:
- Somatic resources with Yoga nidra
- Meditation
Sensation Awareness and Basic Processing
- From sensation to reaction or response
- Interoception assessment
- Exteroception assessment
- Expand the safe and growth zones
- Practice:
- Letter of encouragement
- Awareness of state activations
- Pendulation
- Distress tolerance with paced breathing and muscle relaxation
- Somatic processing of sensations
- Sensation tracking
- Case study: Gianna, adult, dog died in traffic accident, intense grief
Emotion Awareness and Basic Processing
- Qualities and components of emotions
- Prompting event patterns
- Body maps of emotions
- Naming, body experiences, and activation patterns
- The interface between feeling and activation
- Break habitual reactions
- High and low emotionality thoughts
- Practice:
- Explore your feeling-based thoughts
- Track feeling sensations
- Being with action urges
Emotions and Therapeutic Embodiment
- Techniques for being with difficult emotions
- Match needs, practices, and directions
- Three accessible yoga practices
- Practice:
- Be with difficult emotions
- Self-sooth with inner resources
- Have an emotion over for tea
- Explore direction in movement
- Case study: Kim, 35-yr-old, brother heroine user, many overdoses
Re-Establishment of Boundaries
- Trauma and Highly Sensitive People (HSP)
- Assessment of HSP
- Embodiment and relationship
- Explore boundary types and boundary qualities
- Boundary setting
- Positively embodied relationship guidance
- Practice:
- Manage difficult people
- Physical and energetic boundaries meditation
- Boundary work journal
- Boundary setting actions
- Being with others’ actions
- Case Study: Soka, 25-yr-old, sexually abused, no protection from mom, working on boundaries with mom
Embodied Wisdom - More than Cognitions
- Embodying self-statements
- Morita action guide
- Embodiment as a human right
- Practice:
- Inner Compass- embodied decision making
- Finding glimmers
Therapeutic Embodiment Practice for Trauma Processing
- De-escalation protocol
- Review of TP-PAUSE
- Safety assessment
- Document resources
- List distressing and traumatic experiences
- Process trauma across the layers of embodiment
- The embodied healing process
- Practice the three session sequence
- Here and Now Script
- Self-holding
- Explore sensations and action urges
- Practice: Moving through and honoring your body
Posttraumatic Growth and Joy
- Develop play, creativity, and joy
- Play as potentially activating (window of tolerance)
- Play and creativity for continuous growth
- Embodying self-statements for growth
- The Hero(ine)’s Journey
- Practice: The next loving thing
- Case Study: Elizabeth, 52-yr-old, resolved trauma and engaged in posttraumatic growth


