Psychotherapy clients with histories of childhood abuse and complex relational trauma are ubiquitous, and have notoriously high drop-out rates. These clients have been unable to heal past emotional injuries and often have difficulty handling exposure-based therapies, which usually are not designed for attachment related problems. Successful therapy requires helping clients access and explore painful feelings in order to modify maladaptive emotions. Emotion-Focused Therapy for Trauma (EFTT) is the only empirically-verified treatment for both men and women suffering from complex trauma, and the only research-based treatment for trauma outside of CBT.

This 2-day workshop will:

• Present theory on treating complex trauma, PTSD, and survivors of child abuse.
• Identify steps in the process of resolving past relational issues, as well as key ideas about case formulation, and emotion focused theory for understanding trauma.
• Discuss selected research, particularly as related to the change process and implications for practice.
• Give video examples of expert therapists, and case vignettes, related to the treatment of complex trauma. Specifically these will demonstrate the use of methods inspired by gestalt for dialoguing with imagined significant others in an empty chair.
• Provide hands-on practice in small groups and personalized supervision in the use of these emotion focused interventions.