Workshop: Managing Power, Control, Boundary and Attachment Dynamics when working with Survivors of Abuse

Speaker: Christiane Sanderson

Date: Saturday 5th February 2022

Time: 9.30am - 3.00pm

Training Type: Live Webinar (facilitated on Zoom)

Hosted by: Willows Counselling & Training, Swindon

CPD: 5 Hours

About the Workshop:

A workshop to educate and support therapists to ensure that abuse dynamics do not inadvertently get replicated in the therapeutic process.

When working with survivors of physical, sexual, domestic or spiritual abuse, practitioners need to ensure that abuse dynamics do not inadvertently get replicated in the therapeutic process, while always being mindful of the need to minimise re-traumatisation. As therapists, we are aware that the systematic and repeated misuse of power and control that underpins abuse and complex trauma such as the use of threat, terror, silence, secrecy, shame and distortion of reality dehumanises survivors and renders them voiceless and vulnerable. These dynamics can often get re-enacted during the therapeutic process through client-therapist interactions that assert power and control, appeasement behaviours such as compliance and submission, boundary violations and oscillations between connection and disconnection.

This training workshop, which would be especially relevant for psychotherapists, counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists, aims to identify the ways in which these dynamics manifest within the therapeutic space and how these can be managed. The objective is to facilitate a more collaborative, non-hierarchical and relational approach in which survivors can truly heal, rather than being catapulted back into trauma dynamics.To this effect the importance of ‘being with’ rather than ‘doing to’ will be emphasised alongside practical ways by which re-shaming or re-traumatising of survivors is minimised, so as to offer a genuine human relationship in which our clients have the safe opportunity to recover and heal.

Overview of this 5 hour workshop:

During this workshop we will specifically consider:

• The dehumanising impact of power and control on survivors of abuse

• The role of silence, secrecy, boundary violations and distortion of reality

• The impact of complex trauma on attachment and relational difficulties, including the trauma bond and how this can manifest in the therapeutic relationship

• How to manage power and control dynamics in the therapeutic relationship
• Attachment and the dual liability– where clients are unable to seek comfort from an attachment figure, who might also be the abuser

• How to work with the fact that survivors of abuse experience relationships as dangerous and terrifying, rather than as sources of comfort

• How we can create a safe, predictable and consistent therapeutic space to reverse the unpredictability and inconsistency associated with trauma

• How we can facilitate a more collaborative, non-hierarchical and relationship approach through ‘being with’ rather than ‘doing to’

Group discussion, activities and breakout rooms will be weaved into this workshop throughout the day.

About the Speaker:

Christiane Sanderson is a senior lecturer in Psychology at the University of Roehampton, with over 35 years’ experience working with survivors of childhood sexual abuse interpersonal trauma and domestic abuse. She has run consultancy and training for parents, teachers, social workers, nurses, therapists, counsellors, solicitors, the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Committee, the Methodist Church, the Metropolitan Police Service, the NSPCC and the Refugee Council and in prisons.

She is the author of: Counselling Skills for Working with Shame, Counselling Skills for Working with Trauma: Healing from Child Sexual Abuse, Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse, Introduction of Counselling Survivors of Interpersonal Trauma, Counselling Survivors of Domestic Abuse, Counselling Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse 3rd Edition, The Seduction of Children: Empowering Parents and Teachers to Protect Children from Child Sexual Abuse

all published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers

As well as: The Warrior Within: A One in Four Handbook to Aid Recovery from Childhood Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence, The Spirit Within: A One in Four Handbook to Aid Recovery from Religious Sexual Abuse Across All Faiths, Responding to Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse: A pocket guide for professionals, partners, families and friends and Numbing the Pain: A pocket guide for professionals supporting survivors of childhood sexual abuse and addiction

all published by One in Four

www.christianesanderson.co.uk

Who is this workshop suitable for?

This workshop has been designed as a source of Continued Professional Development (CPD) for Counsellors, Psychotherapists, other mental health professionals, and students undertaking counsellor training. It will also be helpful for anyone working in a caring, helping or pastoral profession, including Teachers, Teaching Assistants, Youth Workers and Social Workers.

About Willows Counselling and Training Service

Willows is a charitable organisation offering Counselling and Counsellor Training in Swindon, Wiltshire. The service has been running for 30 years and is well established in both knowledge and reputation in the local area and beyond.

Willows offers the full suite of qualifying courses for Counsellors; Levels 2, 3 and Level 4 Diploma. For qualified therapists, they run a Level 5 Diploma in Trauma Counselling, as well as an annual CPD programme of Saturday workshops days and an annual training conference.