Many clinicians who work with trauma survivors and clients recovering from addictions understand the inherently reparative and healing effect of doing face-to-face therapy. And yet, in our current realty and the need for physical distancing, we are forced to shift to online sessions. Although this transition can be difficult for therapists and clients alike, for clients with histories of trauma, abuse and neglect, the shift to tele-therapy and the reverberating impact of the pandemic on a personal and global level can be profoundly triggering, creating some unique challenges for therapists.
In this 3-hour live, interactive webinar, we will explore the cognitive, emotional, somatic and behavioral impact that these triggers can have on traumatized clients. We will process some relevant themes that therapists should be exploring with their clients including: the impact of isolation; rekindling of past trauma; issues of loss; vulnerability to relapsing; and the triggering of helplessness and uncertainty. We will also explore how deeply to go in an online session, balancing the need for clients to focus on the virus with an attempt to maintain some semblance of continuity and momentum in whatever they were addressing before the pandemic began.
Since so many therapists are inexperienced with an online therapy format, we will also process the challenges of using an online platform as we attempt to do good work from our living room or kitchen table. We will discuss the need to maintain boundaries, the very real phenomenon of “Zoom fatigue,” how to enhance a sense of attunement, and how to navigate the potential glitches that can occur during a session.
8:45-10:00 am
10:00-10:10 am BREAK
10:10-11:00 am
11:00-11:05 am BREAK
11:05-12:00 pm
