Achieving safety and stabilisation in phase 1 trauma therapy
Safe trauma therapy needs to be paced and the trauma left unexplored until the client has sufficient skills to feel more in control of trauma symptoms. This enables clients to manage primary symptoms such as hyper-arousal, flashbacks and dissociation and learn vital skills to reduce negative coping strategies such as self-harm and self-medication. However, this is often easier said than done as clients can find this incredibly hard.
This course looks at the first stage of phased trauma treatment where the primary aims are to establish safety and stabilisation.
There is no one method that works for all clients so in our practical workshop the learning (including experiential activities) will include:
- the importance of assessment – including trauma history, current symptoms and looking at current lifestyle
- how a client’s ability to stabilise is impacted by lack of sleep, poor diet, and other ‘inflammatory’ factors
- assessing a client’s level of arousal to better pace therapy
- management of panic attacks and flashbacks
- creation of safety plans
- a variety of grounding and stabilisation methods
- creating and utilising a ‘felt sense’
- relaxation techniques
- different ways to use journaling
This is course two in our series on working with trauma. Discounts are available if you book, and pay for three or four courses together.