Hopeless, anxious, isolated. For many clients with complex PTSD, life can be a draining march of negative feelings and rejection. And for the therapists who treat them, it’s often difficult to cultivate hope while addressing trauma-related volatility and vulnerability. Fortunately, incorporating Internal Family Systems techniques into treatment has been shown to heal relational trauma and early attachment wounds, allowing therapists to create that elusive, hopeful path forward. In this workshop, you’ll discover how to:  

• Unload distorted thoughts and beliefs; discharge troubling physical sensations; and release feelings of unworthiness, loneliness, and unlovability 
• Address protective client parts in a trauma-specific manner, and gain their permission to access hidden vulnerabilities 
• Clarify which cognitive, body-centered, and emotional tools release deeply engrained pain 
• Apply neuroscientific understanding to therapeutic decisions about extreme symptoms, and address common adaptations of relational trauma, like neglect, shame, and substance use 

Frank Anderson, MD, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in Concord, MA, specializes in the treatment of trauma and dissociation. A lead trainer at the IFS Institute, he’s affiliated with Bessel van der Kolk’s Trauma Center and advises the International Association of Trauma Professionals. His most recent book is Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems.