Trauma, Affect Dysregulation and Shame: Treating the Seeds of Self-Destructive Behaviors

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Speaker

Lisa Ferentz, LCSW-C, DAPA Related seminars and products

The Ferentz Institute

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Lisa Ferentz, LCSW-C, DAPA, is a recognized expert in the strengths-based, de-pathologized treatment of trauma and has been in private practice for over 35 years. She presents workshops and keynote addresses nationally and internationally, and is a clinical consultant to practitioners and mental health agencies in the United States, Canada, the UK, and Ireland.

She has been an adjunct faculty member at several universities, and is the founder of “The Ferentz Institute,” now in its 12th year of providing continuing education to mental health professionals and graduating over 1,600 clinicians from her two certificate programs in Advanced Trauma Treatment.

In 2009, she was voted the “Social Worker of Year” by the Maryland Society for Clinical Social Work. Lisa is the author of Treating Self-Destructive Behaviors in Trauma Survivors: A Clinician’s Guide, 2nd Edition (Routledge, 2014), Letting Go of Self-Destructive Behaviors: A Workbook of Hope and Healing (Routledge, 2014), and Finding Your Ruby Slippers: Transformative Life Lessons From the Therapist’s Couch (PESI, 2017). Lisa also hosted a weekly radio talk show, writes blogs and articles for websites on self-harm and self-care, and teaches on many webinars.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Lisa Ferentz maintains a private practice and is the Founder and President of the Ferentz Institute. She receives royalties as a published author and is a consultant for Northwest Hospital. Lisa Ferentz receives a speaking honorarium and product royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Lisa Ferentz is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the American Psychotherapy Association.

Objectives

1. Explain the relationship between self-destructive behaviors, trauma, attachment, developmental stressors and affect dysregulation.
2. Describe a chronic cycle of self-harm and the ways in which dissociation and anxiety influence the process.
3. Describe and utilize CARESS, an alternative to standard safety contracts.
4. Implement at least 3 creative strategies that help re-ground and re-establish a sense of safety in triggered trauma survivors.
5. Identify the recurring themes in the artwork of traumatized clients and learn how to work with art in session.
6. Describe the impact of counter-transference when working with self-destructive behaviors.

Outline

The Connection: Attachment and Affect Regulation

• The four attachment styles and their impact on child development
• The challenge of attaching to unavailable or abusive caretakers
• The connection between trauma, attachment, and the self-narrative of shame
• Living in a state of affect dysregulation and the impact of hypo- and hyper-arousal
• Exploring the dynamics of attachment and affect regulation through videos

Working from a Strengths-Based Perspective

• Advantages to de-pathologizing destructive behaviors
• The impact this paradigm has on the therapeutic relationship

Trauma Re-Enactment

• Meta-communication of self-harm
• “Telling” without talking
• Why acts of self-harm are not arbitrary
• Why your clients hurt themselves

Breaking the Cycle of Self-Destructive Behaviors

• What sets the behavior in motion
• Why it escalates
• What reinforces it

Extinguish Self-Destructive Acts: Creative Interventions

• The connection between trauma, attachment, and the self-narrative of shame
• The “management” of self-harming behavior
• Journaling to understand triggers
• Re-framing cognitive distortions
• Using guided imagery for untenable thoughts and feelings
• Safe place imagery and containment
• The power of incorporating breath work
• Using the body for somatic resourcing and grounding
• Short-circuiting flashbacks and dissociation

Why Standard Safety Contracts Don’t Work and What to Do Instead

• Incorporating CARESS – a unique proven approach
• Eliminating the power struggles in treatment
• Processing clients’ artwork

Target Audience

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