EMDR level one training- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma.
Shapiro’s (2001) Adaptive Information Processing model posits that EMDR therapy facilitates the accessing and processing of traumatic memories and other adverse life experience to bring these to an adaptive resolution. After successful treatment with EMDR therapy, affective distress is relieved, negative beliefs are reformulated, and physiological arousal is reduced. During EMDR therapy the client attends to emotionally disturbing material in brief sequential doses while simultaneously focusing on an external stimulus. Therapist directed lateral eye movements are the most commonly used external stimulus but a variety of other stimuli including hand-tapping and audio stimulation are often used (Shapiro, 1991). Shapiro (1995, 2001) hypothesizes that EMDR therapy facilitates the accessing of the traumatic memory network, so that information processing is enhanced, with new associations forged between the traumatic memory and more adaptive memories or information. These new associations are thought to result in complete information processing, new learning, elimination of emotional distress, and development of cognitive insights.
2 day intensive course in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy)-
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy. Its main goals are to teach people how to live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and improve their relationships with others.
DBT was originally intended to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD), but it has been adapted to treat other mental health conditions.
DBT can help people who have difficulty with emotional regulation or are exhibiting self-destructive behaviors (eating disorders and substance use disorders). DBT is sometimes used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
DBT incorporates a philosophical process called dialectics. Dialectics is based on the concept that everything is composed of opposites and that change occurs when there is a "dialogue" between opposing forces.
In more academic terms, dialectics can be summarized as thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. The process makes three basic assumptions:
- All things are interconnected.
- Change is constant and inevitable.
- Opposites can be integrated to form a closer approximation of the truth.
In DBT, a patient and therapist work to resolve the apparent contradiction between self-acceptance and change to bring about positive changes in the patient.
Nutritional and Integrative Medicine for Mental Health professionals with Dr. Leslie Korn- This self-paced online certification training is designed to be a practical guide through the complex relationship between what we eat and the way we think, feel, and interact with the world. Some of the main concepts covered in this 17 hour course were;
Nutrition, Diet and Culinary Medicine
- Food as "brain-mind-medicine"
- Fats: essential fatty acids, toxic fats, fish oil
- Protein: the building blocks of happiness
- What nutrients improve mental health and cognitive function
- Vitamins, minerals, glandulars, and special nutrients for the non-nutritionist
- Hormones
- Balance blood sugar to balance mood
- Cultural and genetic variations
- Enhance digestion for mental health
- Thyroid function and mental health
- The Complex Relationships between Mental and Physical Health
- Strategies to reduce inflammation: the major factor in depression, anxiety, bipolar, and ADHD
- Chronic illness, fibromyalgia
- Anxiety and digestion
- The Second brain: microbiome, probiotics and GABA, and anxiety
- Sleep, adrenal health, and rhythms
- Anger, alcohol abuse, and liver health
- Genetics, depression and brain
- PTSD and auto immune, addictions, and cognition
- ADHD, ASD, and food sensitivities
- Integrative approach recovery from addictions
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an approach to psychotherapy that identifies and addresses multiple sub-personalities or families within each person’s mental system. These sub-personalities consist of wounded parts and painful emotions such as anger and shame and parts that try to control and protect the person from the pain of the wounded parts. The sub-personalities are often in conflict with each other and with one’s core Self, a concept that describes the confident, compassionate, whole person that is at the core of every individual. IFS focuses on healing the wounded parts and restoring mental balance and harmony by changing the dynamics that create discord among the sub-personalities and the Self.
IFS was developed in the 1990s by family therapist Richard Schwartz, Ph.D., who developed the concept of an undamaged core Self that is the essence of who you are, and identified three different types of sub-personalities or families that reside within each person, in addition to the Self. These include wounded and suppressed parts called exiles, protective parts called managers, that keep the exiled parts suppressed, and other protective parts called firefighters, that distract the Self from the pain of exiled parts when they are released. For example, an exiled part may be the trauma and anger of earlier abuse, emotions that are suppressed by the manager, while the firefighter may be an alcohol addiction or behavior such as overeating that distracts the client from facing and re-experiencing those uncomfortable emotions. These parts can be healed, transformed, and better managed by the Self by achieving the three goals of IFS:
1) Free the parts from their extreme roles
2) Restore trust in the Self
3) Coordinate and harmonize the Self and the parts, so they can work together as a team with the Self in charge.