Session #: 719-316
Presenter(s): Christine Courtois, Ph.D.
Session Length: 2 hr. 00 min. Event: 2009 Networker Annual Symposium Date: March 26-29, 2009
Therapists have long recognized the limitations of the traditional DSM diagnoses in meeting the challenges of highly distressed clients, who are often emotionally disregulated, dissociative, chronically self-destructive, addicted, and difficult to treat. Recently, the proposed new diagnosis of complex trauma recognizes the role of repeated developmental trauma--ongoing and severe sexual, physical, and emotional abuse by a parent or guardian--in the origin of a variety of physiological, emotional, and relational problems. In this workshop, we'll explore a multifaceted, integrated, step-by-step sequence for treating such clients: stabilizing them and providing a sense of safety; addressing and processing the traumatic material; dealing with other life issues, such as substance addiction; consolidating treatment gains; and helping the client define and establish "normal" life patterns. We'll incorporate discussions of attachment issues, emotional regulation, cognitive-behavioral skill-building, and psych-education, and discuss the critical importance of the therapist-client relationship to clinical progress.
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