Holistic Mental Health Specialist Certificate

Full Course Description

Ancient Wisdom for Today’s Ailments: Connecting the Body, Mind, and Spirit

The long-term impact of trauma and stress are more than just mental health issues: they’re at the root of almost 80 percent of chronic illnesses in our modern culture. But ancient spiritual practices involving guided imagery, chanting, drawing, and movement allow us to reconnect with the innate healing power of our bodies, minds, and spirits. Experience processes that deepen access to the imagination and the inner wisdom that can guide personal journeys of growth, resilience, and recovery in a range of clinical contexts and settings. You’ll explore:

How to use the genogram to help clients build resilience and hope, and attune to their sense of well-being
Guided imagery practices to use with clients in therapy as well as community settings to help heal the body and heighten experiences of personal growth
Practical exercises involving writing, drawing, and chanting that reestablish a connection with the heart when trauma and stress have shut off that channel to inner wisdom
How to use music and movement in sessions to get around emotional blocks without spoken words

Program Information

Objectives

Evaluate the connection between trauma, stress, and chronic illness.
Apply three writing and drawing practices in a clinical setting to heal the effects of stress.
Use the genogram as a clinical tool to deepen work with clients around health, resilience, and hope.
Demonstrate guided imagery practices to use with clients in therapy and in community settings to help heal the body and heighten experiences personal growth.
Assess how to help clients access inner strengths through creative processes that tap into the imagination.

Outline

Explain the connection between trauma, stress, and chronic illness.
- Participants will increase their understanding of the current chronic illness incidences in the US population, and their understanding of the physiology of the stress response. 
- The didactic portion of this objective will include a review of the current research on intergenerational trauma, stress perception, and health
Apply three writing and drawing practices in a clinical setting to heal the effects of stress.
- Participants will explore the current research on the impact of journaling on stress perception and chronic illness. 
- They will engage in writing exercises to address their own health challenges, along with those of their patient population. 
Use the genogram as a clinical tool to deepen work with clients around health, resilience, and hope.
- Participants will create a "theme-focused" genogram around a current symptom or challenge in their lives
- The research from this module of the training is based on the work of McGoldrick and the Center for Mind-Body Medicine.
Use music and movement in sessions to get around emotional blocks without spoken words.
- Participants will deepen their understanding of the use of music as a tool for parasympathetic dominance and creativity. 
Assess how to help clients access inner strengths through creative processes that tap into the imagination.
- Participants will be guided in the appropriate application of personal and professional use of imagery, music, chanting, and journaling as tools for accessing innate wisdom. 
Describe guided imagery practices to use with clients in therapy and in community settings to help heal the body and heighten experiences personal growth.
- Participants will deepen their understanding of the use of imagery for trauma healing, managing stress, and understanding their own physiology.

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychotherapists
Therapists
Marriage & Family Therapists
Addiction Counselors
Case Managers
Physicians
Nurses
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 01/07/2021

Bringing the Body into Therapy: Clinical Tools from Relationship Repair and Somatic Experiencing

When it comes to tapping into clients’ natural resources for healing from trauma, the body is an invaluable tool. Not only does it store information about our early attachment experiences, but it shows the signs of epigenetic and transgenerational influences. The body reveals how trauma negatively impacts relationships with friends, partners, colleagues, and loved ones. But research and experience show that trauma behaviors aren’t set in stone. Pulling from the latest developments in Somatic Experiencing and neuroplasticity, this recording will teach you a dynamic toolkit of body-oriented approaches for treating early developmental trauma as well as helping clients improve nervous-system regulation and repair relationships. You’ll explore:

The neurophysiological and embodied underpinnings of healthy relationships
How to create a vibrant experience of resilience and wholeness in your work
How implicit memory shapes our physiological and psychological responses to trauma and recovery
Three skills to work with the autonomic nervous system to rebound from trauma and overwhelm

Program Information

Objectives

Appraise the concepts of attachment theory, interoception, and the window of tolerance in the treatment of psychological trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Evaluate the theory that traumatic memories are stored primarily in implicit memory.
Formulate a treatment process based on the approach of Somatic Experiencing for the treatment of trauma and discuss risks and limitations.
Practice three skills to work with the autonomic nervous system to rebound from trauma and overwhelm.

Outline

Introduction to Rupture and Repair cycles in attachment relationships, Interpersonal Neurobiology from a somatic perspective
Present Somatic Experiencing and the Window of Tolerance in the Autonomic Nervous System Model
Introduce interoception-based tracking and stabilization tools
Utilizing interoception in Relational repair models with demonstration
Explore attachment theory from a physiological lens
Mirroring intervention for attachment disruption

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Art Therapists
Nurses
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 03/11/2022

Nutrition and Integrative Methods for Trauma

Evidence-based research suggests that there are significant limitations to pharmaceutical interventions for PTSD. Nutritional and integrative strategies for PTSD can be an effective addition. Yet how do we help clients understand the connections between their physical well-being and traumatic etiologies? What methods and interventions do we choose, at what stage of recovery, and who is a viable candidate? This workshop will explore the latest research and clinical applications of culinary, nutritional, herbal, and psychedelic medicine. You’ll discover how to ethically incorporate these methods into your practice and learn reliable tools to help your clients improve their well-being. You’ll explore:

How and when to introduce clients to integrative and nutritional methods to enhance well-being
How to provide your clients with a comprehensive overview of nutrition, food preparation, and mindful eating
Specific yogic, somatic, and breathing exercises to improve digestion, anxiety, and panic
What research tells us about psychotropic medication and viable alternatives

Program Information

Objectives

Identify 4 integrative and nutritional strategies that enhance mood and sleep in PTSD.
Utilize stage-based methods to assist in the treatment of trauma.
Determine 3 clinical strategies to introduce and incorporate integrative and nutritional methods.
Evaluate the scientific literature on psychotropic medicine for PTSD and complex trauma.
Determine stage-specific anaerobic and aerobic exercise and self-care methods to decrease dissociative symptoms in clients.

Outline

Core Integrative and nutritional strategies that enhance mood and sleep in PTSD
Clinical assessments in nutritional psychology and their utility for PTSD
Stage-based integrative methods for PTSD recovery
Clinical strategies to introduce and incorporate nutritional support
Scientific literature on psychotropic medications for PTSD symptoms

Target Audience

Counselors
Marriage and Family Therapists
Social Workers
Physicians
Psychologists
Addiction Counselors

Copyright : 10/03/2024

Applied Polyvagal Theory in Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery

Trauma recovery is as much about healing the body as it is the mind. Yet, so often, the focus of healing involves retelling the story of the past without addressing the physiological imbalances that trauma leaves in its wake. While you might recognize the value of bringing the body into trauma treatment, you might not know how to do this effectively.

Join Arielle Schwartz, PhD, CCTP-II, E-RYT, international leading voice in the healing of PTSD and complex trauma as she bridges the path of healing between the psyche and the body. Grounded within the principles of Polyvagal Theory, affective neuroscience, and trauma-informed care, Dr. Schwartz will guide you through research-based somatic tools and yoga-based breath, movement, and awareness practices to reduce the burdens of trauma, anxiety, obsessive thinking, and feelings of hopelessness from your client’s body and mind!

Program Information

Objectives

Apply polyvagal theory within therapeutic yoga with researched practices for mind-body health.
Evaluate you client’s nervous system states as related to autonomic cues of stress and signs of safety.
Demonstrate grounding and orientating techniques that increase clients resources.

Outline

Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga for Trauma

Evidence showing how working with the body can maximize healing
Naturally stimulate the vagus nerve to enhance physical and emotional health
Skills to help clients come out of chronic stress
Yogic based breath, movement, and awareness practices
- conscious breathing is the fastest way to reduce stress and regulate nervous system
- Tools to help clients safely release stress and trauma from the body

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Case Managers
Addiction Counselors
Art Therapists
Marriage and Family Therapists
Nurses
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 10/13/2023

Grief & Trauma in the Bones: Mindfulness & Indigenous ways of healing

Experience Dr. Marianela Medrano, Ph.D., LPC, CPT, a writer and mindfulness teacher, as she walks you through innovative interventions that you can use to help your clients move from mourning into the spiritual experience of grieving and healing from Historical Trauma and Grief. Drawing on her expertise as a scholar, researcher, and psychotherapist, Dr. Medrano blends case studies with creative strategies for long-lasting transformation in your client's lives. Explore the interfacing relationship between historical/contemporary events, the ensuing trauma, and the impact that the erasure of indigenous ways of grieving via rituals has had on many peoples, and how to creatively and culturally appropriately facilitate the mourning process aborted for some. Unresolved Historical Grief is pernicious and travels intergenerationally; learn the power of ancient wisdom to heal personally and collectively. In other words, the long-range impact of unresolved grief among the BIPOC populations is a must-focus for consciously aware clinicians.

Program Information

Objectives

Investigate traditional healing practices suitable for individuals, groups, and families coping with grief and loss.
Develop strategies to counter narratives of extinction, erasure, and cultural/religious/racial superiority that contribute to historical grief and trauma.
Implement interventions aligned with the collective mindset of individuals and groups affected by historical grief and trauma, fostering a sense of empowerment and cultural affirmation.

Outline

I. Understanding the Spiritual Nature of Grief and Mourning

A. Definition of grief as a spiritual outcome of mourning

B. Importance of mourning in ritualizing feelings

C. Risks and Limitations

II. The Consequences of Restricted Mourning

A. Explanation of how restricted mourning stifles grief

B. Discussion on how unresolved grief can manifest as illness

III. Integrating Compassion-Based Rituals into Grief Work

A. Introduction to the concept of Karuna (compassion/mercy)

B. Exploration of different compassion-based rituals

C. How Karuna guides individuals through the process of loss and grief

IV. Conclusion

A. Recap of the significance of mourning in spiritual grief work

B. Emphasis on the importance of compassion-based rituals in facilitating the grieving process

C. Encouragement to embrace the wisdom of grief as guided compassion practices

Target Audience

Addiction Professionals
Licensed Clinical/Mental Health Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychologists
Social Workers

Harnessing Mindfulness to Combat Cravings, Anxiety, and Addiction, and Habits in Mental Health Practice

What if the root of addiction isn’t in the substances itself, but somewhere deeper? While addiction can be difficult to overcome, mindfulness may offer a promising step forward in treating it. Through his clinical work and neuroscience research studies, as well as by developing digital therapeutics for habit change, Judson Brewer will discuss the elementary mental mechanism that promotes cravings and addictions which dates back to prehistoric days. He will explain how our brains employ reward-based learning and intermittent reinforcement to construct habits gradually; these habits are hard to break. In this session, Judson will describe why habits form and simple ways that we can break unhealthy ones ranging from smartphones to stress eating and even anxiety. He will also show how we can use these to build our natural capacities of awareness, kindness, and curiosity.

Program Information

Objectives

Participants will be able to analyze how habits are formed and perpetuated.
Participants will be able to determine how mindfulness affects default mode network brain processes.
Participants will be able to apply mindfulness approaches to change addictive habit patterns.

Outline

Why is it so hard to concentrate?

How habits are formed and what you can do to change them

Prefrontal cortex and cognitive control
Context dependent memory

Training resilience with mindfulness

Target Audience

Counselors
Educators
Marriage and Family Therapists
Nurses
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions