course »Trauma and Mindfulness

, 9:00 am—2:00 pm
County: Alameda County
CEUs: 5
Location: Oakland
Sponsor: Fred Finch Youth & Family Services
Phone: 510-482-2244
It is very difficult for therapists and case workers to remain consistently present to individuals who carry extensive histories of trauma, abuse, abandonment and betrayal. The poignancy and pain of these individuals often affects therapists and case workers to the point of affectively shutting down, intellectually detaching and relationally disconnecting. All of this is usually done in the name of not becoming overwhelmed or demoralized, in terms of one’s capacities to help and care. The capacity to engage emotionally and be mindfully present, without having to fix and solve all of a client’s problems and injuries in the moment, is a very important capacity that anyone working with a traumatized population should have.

This workshop will help therapists and case workers develop the capacity to remain present, focused and emotionally connected without having to judge, label and/or pathologies what they or their client are experiencing. The mindful emphasis is on being affectively and descriptively present to what is happening in the here and now and without being distracted by a need for solutions and/or without succumbing to feelings of panic and therapeutic paralysis.

Focus in the workshop will be on the use of acquiring:
  • Regulated and mindful forms of breathing
  • The capacity to internally observe (self-monitor) without judging what one is experiencing, while suspending the need to take action taking until one has fully experienced, been present to and understood the client.
  • An improved awareness of being in one’s body, i.e., awareness of what one is feeling on a bodily level at every moment.
  • Paying attention and allowing everything to occur without holding onto, rejecting or judging what is happening and being experienced, even if it is painful and distressing.
Benefits will be:
  • Improved abilities to concentrate and attend
  • Feelings of being anchored and grounded in the midst of stressful and distressful situations
  • An improved capacity to let things evolve without blame or regret
  • An improved capacity to notice opportunities and act in timely and appropriate ways.