Trauma & the Nervous System in Clinical Practice

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Why do some clients continue to experience anxiety, overwhelm, exhaustion or emotional disconnection even when they understand the origins of their difficulties?

Many clients present with symptoms that can be difficult to resolve through a cognitive or psychological lens. A somatic perspective offers practitioners an additional way of understanding these experiences by considering how the nervous system has been shaped by life experiences and how it continues to influence the way clients think, feel and respond.

In this professional workshop, psychotherapist, Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner and author Greg James explores the relationship between the nervous system, trauma and emotional wellbeing. Drawing upon current research and clinical experience, the workshop introduces key concepts from somatic therapy and explores how nervous system states can influence perception, emotion, behaviour and resilience.

Participants will be introduced to frameworks that help us access and understand nervous system states through interoceptive awareness, including how threat responses can be experienced in the body. Changes in bodily sensation and behaviour can provide useful information about a client’s capacity to engage therapeutically with what is happening in a therapy session. Participants will consider how they might incorporate this awareness into their existing therapeutic approach. Through teaching and guided experiential exercises, participants will have an opportunity to explore these concepts in relation to their own nervous system.

What you’ll gain:

• An understanding of why a somatic perspective can be valuable in therapeutic work
• Insight into the relationship between the nervous system, trauma and emotional wellbeing
• An introduction to key concepts from somatic therapy, including interoception and nervous system tracking
• Greater understanding of fight, flight and freeze responses and how they can present in clients
• Greater awareness of how patterns of activation, overwhelm, shutdown and regulation may present in clients
• Experiential exercises that support a deeper understanding of nervous system states
• An introduction to the StateShift® Model and how it conceptualises movement between different nervous system states
• CPD certificate of attendance

Who is this for?

This workshop is designed for therapists, coaches and other helping professionals who work with people experiencing stress, anxiety, emotional distress or the impact of trauma. Whether you are simply curious about somatic therapy or looking to explore your client work through a new lens, this workshop offers an accessible introduction to a somatic approach.

Please note: This is a professional-level workshop and assumes familiarity with basic therapeutic concepts and experience working with clients.

About your host:

Greg James is a psychotherapist and Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner who specialises in helping people understand and regulate the body’s responses to stress, anxiety and trauma. He is the founder of The Centre of Somatic Resilience Training equipping practitioners in the art and science of somatic practice and is currently developing ACTS (Access to Community Trauma Support), a South African non-profit initiative focused on bringing nervous system education, trauma awareness and practical regulation skills into communities affected by violence and poverty.

Through years of clinical work and observing the profound impact of somatic approaches, Greg developed the StateShift® Model, a practical framework for understanding and regulating nervous system states. This work has led to invitations to present to the United Nations World Food Programme and forms the foundation of his book Why Your Body Speaks and How to Listen.

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