Contents of this Newsletter

1. News
2. Upcoming Events and Trainings
3. Featured Article
4. Self Regulation Therapy Supervision Question

News

There have been many changes at the CFTRE this year. To start, one of our directors, Cori Farstad passed away in March of this year. Cori brought her wicked sense of humour and generous heart to her work with the CFTRE and many other organizations. We are very grateful that we had the opportunity to have her be a part of our lives and the CFTRE for so many years and we miss her dearly.

Tracee Andrews, who valiantly stepped in to fill the administrator position while we searched for another, was able to step down when Jeanette Barrett came on board this past March. Jeanette is extremely competent and professional and has a great New Zealand accent. As well, we have hired Allie Huggins to work part-time as a grant writer/fund raiser for the CFTRE. She is energetic, extremely bright and enthusiastic. We are really excited about expanding our scholarship program to train professionals who are underfunded in Canada and other countries. We have recently been asked to do an SRT training in Rwanda for which we also are currently raising funds.

We had a great year training excellent clinicians in Foundation and Advanced SRT in Winnipeg. We also finished an Advanced SRT training and completed a Foundation training in Belfast Northern Ireland.

This year we will be offering in Ixtapa Mexico, our first ever Working with Couples Course for psychotherapists and counselors who do couples therapy and would like to incorportate SRT into their work with couples. We are also doing a new two-day workshop in Winnipeg called Survivors of War and Political Violence which is sponsored by the Aurora Family Therapy Centre at The University of Winnipeg. More information is listed below.

Being the darkest month of the year, December is a time of reflection. The media has been fear mongering of late regarding the economy, making people hang on tightly to their money and resources. Tikkun olam is a Hebrew phrase that means "repairing the world”, performing acts of kindness, doing good in the world, which was thought to be especially important during dark times to avoid social chaos. There are many worthwhile causes, charities, and individuals who need your help. Find one that speaks to you and give. Every little bit helps, and one person can make a difference. We are extremely grateful for all of the individuals who have donated time and money this year to enable us to do the work that we do in the world. Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah!

Lynne Zettl, PhD
Executive Director CFTRE

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Upcoming Events and Trainings

For more information about all of the events listed below please call 250-860-8860, toll free 866-387-3863, web: www.cftre.com, email: info@cftre.com.

Working with Couples in Ixtapa Mexico: February 2-5, 2009

This new course is designed for SRT therapists working with dysergulated couples. The course will build on the skills learned in the the SRT training and Psychological Anatomy to regulate two interconnected nervous systems. There will be a focus on identifying and working with developmental derailments that impact attachment and intimacy in dysregulated couples. Specific strategies to interrupt procedures and hypercoupling will be addressed. There will be time to discuss the couples you are working with. DVDs are recommended but not required.

Self Regulation Therapy® Practitioner Training

Significant overwhelming events at anytime in one's life such as motor vehicle accidents, surgeries, or exposure to violence, can result in changes in the nervous system that negatively impact the way a person feels and relates to others. Self Regulation Therapy® (SRT) is a psychophysiological approach aimed at diminishing dysregulation in the nervous system resulting from traumatic events, while increasing neural pathways connected to contentment and joy. SRT facilitates an integration of overwhelming events and returns balance to the nervous system. This training is recommended for individuals who work with trauma including: counselors, psychotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, physicians, social workers, massage therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and nurses.

Foundation Level is nine days and is taught in three modules during which you will learn basic psychophysiological treatment skills that include:

• Research on the psychophysiology of trauma and neurobiological development
• Understanding and treatment of traumatic symptoms from the perspective of the autonomic nervous system
• Somatic skills of containment, grounding, centering, resourcing, boundaries, attunement
• Assessment and treatment of developmental derailments that impede self-regulation
• Tracking and titration skills to renegotiate unresolved fight, flight, and freeze
• Integration of psychophysiological work into your current therapeutic approach

2009 Self Regulation Therapy Practitioner Training: Foundation Level

Kelowna, BC
March 27-29, 2009
April 17-19, 2009
May 8-10, 2009

Philadelphia, PA
June 12-14, 2009
September 11-13, 2009
October 9-11, 2009

Belfast, Northern Ireland
June 17-19, 2009
September 16-18, 2009
September 21-23, 2009

Winnipeg, MB
October 5-7, 2009
October 26-28, 2009
November 16-18, 2009

View SRT brochure for North America on the CFTRE website.

View SRT brochure for the United Kingdom on the CFTRE website.

2009 Self Regulation Therapy Practitioner Training: Advanced Level

Vancouver, BC
January 16-18, 2009
March 20-22, 2009
May 1-3, 2009

Winnipeg, MB
April 24-26, 2009
June 26-28, 2009
October 2-4, 2009
November 13-15, 2009

Kelowna, BC
November 6-8, 2008
January 22-24, 2010
March 26-28, 2010
May 14-16, 2010

View SRT brochure on the CFTRE website.

Post Advanced II Medical/Dental Trauma: Edmonton April 3-5, 2009

A continuation of Advanced Medical/Dental Trauma, this course will teach practitioners how to work with cancer treatment and recovery, cardiac event and stroke recovery, labour and delivery complications for mother including C-section, multiple procedures, and amputations. Working through general anesthesia including ether and allergic or adverse reactions to anesthesia and/or medication will be discussed and demonstated. Protocols for working with post surgical complications and symptoms such as migraines, pain syndromes including phantom limb pain, gastrointestinal issues, choking and breathing difficulties, and problems with temperature regulation will be taught. The course is limited to 12 participants. Prerequisite: Must have completed Advanced Level I-IV.

Survivors of War and Political Violence: Winnipeg April 7-8, 2009

This two day workshop is designed to give practitioners a deeper understanding of the psychophysiology of trauma in survivors of war and political violence. A basic overview of neuroanatomy will be presented. The newest research on how the brain is affected by the experience of this extreme relational trauma will be presented and includes a discussion of kindling and quenching in the autonomic nervous system, and the cumulative nature and fixity of trauma in the brain. For traumatized individuals, any change is perceived as a threat by the limbic brain. Survivors, in their compromised, dysregulated state, are required to deal with numerous overwhelming life changes such as geography, culture, language, employment, and discrimination. Being able to fully participate in their new life requires the capacity to self regulate, complete arousal cycles connected to trauma, and to adjust to change. Aspects of Self Regulation Therapy, a psychophysiological treatment approach will be taught to deal with the most troublesome symptoms of survivors of war, including survivor guilt. In addition, the importance of psychobiologically attuning to the strength, resilence, and hope of the client will be addressed, as this is key in helping clients deeply connect with the experience of survival, and increase their capacity for joy and nurturing relationships. This workshop is didactic and experiential so that participants will have the opportunity to deepen their practical and emotional capacity to work with this population. This workshop will be of value to counsellors, social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, teachers, and any other professionals helping people work through the after effects of trauma, in particular persons who have experienced war-related violence and trauma.

Psychological Anatomy: Developmental Neuromuscular Affective Integration: Lake Winnipeg - May 26-31, 2009

This seminar integrates the work of Allan Schore, Joseph Ledoux, Bruce Perry, Norman Doidge and other developmental neuroscientists with clinical and practical applications for professionals. Therapeutic progress may be slowed or stalled as a result of unresolved developmental challenges that are often misinterpreted as resistance, attention seeking and help-rejecting behaviour, interpersonal conflict, malingering, or character disorders. These misinterpretations lead to frustration, re-wounding of the client, and ultimately premature termination. In this exciting six-day course we will explore stages of development starting in utero and extending to the teen years. The concomitant conflicts that may arise within the therapy as a result of derailments at any given stage will be discussed. The psychological function of the neuromusculature initiated within each stage will be explicated. In addition, utilizing the most recent psychophysiological research, attachment and the cognitive, and emotional aspects of stage-specific brain development, will be explored. Affective development and its centrality in the capacity to self regulate will be discussed. Strategies for helping clients work through developmental derailments will be presented through experiential and didactic modalities allowing individuals to integrate what they have learned directly into their work on Monday morning.

Advanced Psychological Anatomy: Developmental Neuromuscular Affective Integration: Vancouver - July 7-12, 2009

This course will further the learning acquired in Psychological Anatomy by focusing on practical applications of SRT to specific difficulties that arise as a result of derailment in development. This will include working with thought disorders (including pre and post psychosis), bi-polar disorder, attachment difficulties, eating disorders and gastrointestinal difficulties, depression and neurogenesis, addiction, aspergers spectrum disorders, learning difficulties, ADD, borderline personality disorder, OCD, phobias, anxiety disorders and chronic pain syndromes, chronic fatigue and dyregulation of the neuroendocrine and immune system. Applicants must have been using SRT in practice for a minimum of 2 years and be actively working with clients presenting with a range of the above symptoms. Participants are required to bring two or three case studies of clients who present with one or more of these symptoms. A DVD of work with a client or clients must be submitted by June 1, 2009.

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Featured Article

Working with Couples
Edward Josephs, PhD

Many students are currently working with or beginning to work with couples using SRT. While I cannot recommend taking the Working with Couples course and Psychological Anatomy as prerequisites strongly enough, there are some basic issues that can facilitate your work with couples. A primary goal of SRT is bringing conscious awareness to a client’s unconscious process(es). This is often achieved through tracking; and, as you (the therapist) sense a change in activation in your nervous system, you interrupt the client to have them notice what is happening in their nervous system. This is often accompanied by activation and an opportunity to resource, titrate and discharge. As you work with a client, it becomes easier to notice their patterns of activation and how they tend to move into procedures as a way of keeping unconscious material from reaching awareness. When you work with couples, it is necessary to track two nervous systems! And what makes it even more challenging is the fact that their nervous systems are already in a pattern with each other. As a result, things tend to move very quickly and the therapist is often the last one to recognize that something important has occurred. Remember that couples have much more experience with each other’s nervous systems and can predict with very few cues (which are often nonverbal), both their own and their partner’s response. For example, Mr. Smith may raise an eyebrow ever so slightly or begin to get that tone in his voice and before the therapist can say “feel your seat”, Mrs. Smith is in tears and Mr. Smith is going for the door. For the therapist, this sequence seems to have come out of nowhere, yet it is a procedure that the couple knows well. Because couples have a procedure that is known well to each of their nervous systems, the following suggestions can be helpful in working with all couples.

1. Be in charge of the session. The therapist must establish from the beginning that he/she is in charge of the therapy session. Remember that couples usually come to treatment when their relationship is in crisis so there is apt to be much activation. As there is an unusual sensitivity to initial conditions, your job is made easier if you take charge from the beginning. If you wait and permit a couple to move into their procedure without interrupting them, you will have an even harder time stopping them later on. Be directive. Have them stop when there is activation. No work can be achieved when there is high activation.
2. Interruptions and the timing of interruptions is critical to the success of bring awareness to a couple’s procedure. If you wait until the end of a sentence or a break in the dialogue to interrupt, there is often too much activation and the procedure is in full force. Thus, it is critical to interrupt when something just begins to shift. It is helpful at this time to work with one nervous system at a time (perhaps the most activated, but not necessarily). Track for 5-15 minutes, through a cycle of resource-titrate-discharge, then work with the other client.
3. Situate couples so that they are each facing you, but are peripheral to one another. Seating arrangement is important. Two seats that are next to each other and facing you works quite well. In this way, you can better monitor each person without them monitoring each other. Remember that they know each other’s systems intimately, and respond to nonverbal signals. I have also been known to ask couples to face away from each other to help slow down their procedure and to bring awareness to the moment that something shifts.

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Self Regulation Therapy Supervision Question

Question

My client is depressed and has been for a long time (maybe his entire life). He has been on antidepressants which keep him from feeling really down, but he continues to feel depressed. Tracking his experience only leads to more of the same.

Answer

Despair is a one-way street. It acts as an “attractor” in the brain and finds other experiences that are similar to it (see Grigsby “Neurodynamics of Personality” for more about attractors in the brain). If you allow someone with a lot of despair in their nervous system to simply track their experience, they will continue to feel more and more despair. This is neither fun nor helpful. People with a lot of despair need to be stimulated up. This is done via the ventral tegmental circuit which goes from the right orbital frontal cortex to the limbic system (see Schore “Affect Regulation and the Repair of the Self”).

The first year of life is spent developing this circuit via the interactions with the mother. The mother learns to “stimulate up” the infant. As the infant becomes stimulated, he/she gaze averts to self-regulate. As the first year progresses, the infant is better and better able to hold a sympathetic charge and remain in contact with the mother. Mutual hilarity often breaks out as a result.

Your despairing client, most likely did not have a mother who delighted in him/her. This now becomes the therapist’s job. It is important to resonate with the client’s experience of despair (“I can see how down you feel”), but then it is important to stimulate up. Look for experiences where the client feels competent, or good about themselves. They may not be easy to find, but persist. Create experiences in your office where the client can see you delight in them and help the client notice that experience. It may be slow going at first (as with a new baby) however, it does develop over time. These are clients for whom the question “what is working?” is difficult but worth pursuing at the beginning of each session. Remember it is our ability to move into positive emotions that inoculate us from becoming depressed. You are developing that ability in your client.

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