Somatic Trauma Therapy
Crash Course:
Core Skills and Interventions to Treat Trauma through the Body
Whether you're new to Somatic Therapy or an experienced practitioner looking for a refresher, this training is for you. Join in-demand trainer Stacy Ruse, LPC as she guides you through the core principles and techniques of Somatic Therapy. Stacy will explain the why behind somatic healing in clear, accessible terms -- and better still, offer practical tools you can immediately implement with your clients.
When you enroll, you'll learn:
- Key strategies for effectively assessing and understanding your clients' body awareness
- Techniques to help clients release stored tension and trauma through body-focused interventions
- How to work with emotional blocks and somatic defenses
- Practical approaches for creating safety and trust in the therapeutic relationship
- How to integrate somatic practices into your sessions for lasting transformation
Designed to be beginner-friendly, yet rich in actionable techniques and insights, this course will empower you to integrate somatic therapy into your practice with confidence.
Sign up today and start using somatic tools to transform your work with clients.
- Live Q&A with Stacy Ruse, LPC, E-RYT-500
- 90-day replay access
- Up to 6.25 CE hours
- Learn alongside peers doing this exact work
- Live Q&A with Stacy Ruse, LPC, E-RYT-500
- 90-day replay access
- Up to 6.25 CE hours
- Learn alongside peers doing this exact work
- Introduction to Somatic Therapy:
- Overview, goals, and importance in trauma treatment
- Understanding Trauma Disruption:
- Pathology of maladaptive trauma storage
- Emotional, sensory, and belief manifestations
- Fragmentation and dissociation
- Neural network reinforcement in unprocessed trauma
- Natural vs. Incomplete Stress Responses:
- Key concepts of adaptive resolution vs. frozen trauma states
- Polyvagal Theory Basics:
- Ventral vagal complex and its role in safety and connection
- Hyperarousal vs. hypoarousal in trauma
- Head, heart, and gut “brains”
- Psycho-neuro-endocrine-immune system interrelation
- Neuroception: Recognize safety and danger
- Create safety in therapy
- Reduce hyperarousal and build trust
- Prevent re-traumatization
- Emotional Regulation and Resilience:
- Techniques to buffer stress and traumatic memories
- Empower clients to take an active role in their healing journey
- Interoceptive Awareness: Develop self-awareness through bodily sensations
- Heart Coherence Understanding and Practice
- Core Somatic Practices:
- Two hand techniques
- Mind body awareness
- Breathing exercises, body scans, and paired muscle relaxation
- Gentle touch and heart-focused compassion practices
- The Science of Embodiment Practices:
- Interoception, exteroception, and proprioception
- Body awareness and empowerment through movement
- William Reich’s body armor and belts of tension
- Somatic Trauma Processing:
- Pendulation, titration, sequencing, and repatterning: Techniques for releasing stored trauma
- Somatic Questions
- Slow conscious movement and breathwork for release
- Lack of body awareness and other issues
- Tailor techniques to individual client needs
- Integration in clinical practice and with other methodologies
- Potential risks and limitations
- Q&A and wrap-up: Recap and final questions
- Introduction to Somatic Therapy: overview, goals, and importance in trauma treatment
- Understanding Trauma Disruption
- Pathology of maladaptive trauma storage
- Emotional, sensory, and belief manifestations
- Fragmentation and dissociation
- Neural network reinforcement in unprocessed trauma
- Natural vs. Incomplete Stress Responses: adaptive resolution vs. frozen trauma states
- Polyvagal Theory Basics: ventral vagal complex; hyperarousal vs. hypoarousal; head, heart, and gut "brains"; psycho-neuro-endocrine-immune interrelation
- Neuroception: recognizing safety and danger; creating safety in therapy; preventing re-traumatization
- Emotional Regulation and Resilience: buffering stress; empowering clients in their healing
- Interoceptive Awareness: developing self-awareness through bodily sensation
- Heart Coherence: understanding and practice
- Core Somatic Practices: two-hand techniques; mind-body awareness; breathing exercises, body scans, paired muscle relaxation; gentle touch and heart-focused compassion practices
- The Science of Embodiment: interoception, exteroception, proprioception; body awareness through movement; William Reich's body armor and belts of tension
- Somatic Trauma Processing: pendulation, titration, sequencing, repatterning; somatic questions; slow conscious movement and breathwork; working with lack of body awareness
- Tailoring techniques to individual client needs
- Integration in clinical practice and with other modalities
- Potential risks and limitations of somatic techniques
- Q&A and wrap-up
Learning Objectives -- Upon Completion You Will Be Able To:
- Define how trauma disrupts natural adaptive processing
- Utilize Polyvagal Theory concepts to create safety and connection in therapy
- Examine foundational somatic techniques, including interoceptive awareness, titration, sequencing, and somatic repatterning
- Choose somatic interventions clients can use when they are in acute distress
- Develop emotional regulation in clients using body-based tools and mindfulness practices
- Arrange a safe therapeutic environment to prevent re-traumatization of clients
- Identify risks and potential limitations of somatic techniques in the treatment of trauma
Here's exactly what you'll be able to do Monday morning.
Backed by hundreds of verified evaluations from clinicians just like you.
Clinicians have flown across the country just to sit in her training. This December, you don't have to.
Stacy Ruse, LPC, E-RYT-500 is an Evergreen EMDR consultant and clinician, IFS therapist, and founder of Aglow Counseling. She's a trauma expert who specializes in using IFS Therapy, EMDR, and Somatic therapies to unravel the intricate threads of trauma and guide clients towards empowerment and resilience. Her approach, while deeply rooted in trauma-informed methodologies, is characterized by a transpersonal twist that transcends the boundaries of traditional therapy. Stacy is certified in EMDR as well as a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) and Certified Yoga Instructor.
Whatever brought you here -- curiosity, a client who's plateaued, a sense that something's missing from your current approach -- you're in the right place. All of it is welcome.
This isn't a training where I'll hand you a protocol and send you on your way. What we're going to do is something more fundamental. We're going to look at what actually happens inside a person when trauma doesn't get to complete itself -- when the nervous system gets thwarted mid-response and learns to hold on instead of let go. And then we're going to explore, gently and practically, how to help the body finally finish what it started.
Whatever modality you work in -- IFS, EMDR, DBT, attachment-based work, something else entirely -- this integrates. I'm not asking you to set down what you already know. I'm inviting you to go deeper underneath it. Because the nervous system is the foundation every one of those approaches is sitting on.
Here's what I know after years of this work: slow is the fast. Most of what we're calling transformation happens in micro moments, not dramatic breakthroughs. And the nervous system -- yours and your clients' -- needs to feel safe enough before it can release anything it's been holding. That's not a philosophy. That's biology.
You'll leave with practical tools you can use on Monday. You'll also leave with something I find just as important: a way of understanding the body's protective wisdom -- including the parts that look like resistance, shutdown, or dissociation -- that will change how you sit with your most complex clients.
-- Stacy Ruse, LPC, E-RYT-500Already using IFS, EMDR, or DBT?
This training was built to go deeper underneath all of it -- not replace any of it.
Hundreds of clinicians took this training. Here's what they wrote about it.
Somatic therapy isn't a replacement for what you already do.
It's the foundation everything else was always sitting on.
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Questions about group registration? Call PESI at 1-800-844-8260
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Both trainings are held in the heart of their cities.
If you're driving in, arriving the night before is worth it -- here's why.
The Crowne Plaza sits at the center of downtown Knoxville -- an IHG Torchbearer Award winner, one of only three Crowne Plazas in the Western Hemisphere to earn the distinction. Rooms are well-appointed, service is attentive, and the location puts you within walking distance of everything worth doing in Knoxville.
The Omni Nashville is one of the city's premier properties -- directly connected to the Country Music Hall of Fame, three on-site restaurants including a live music bar, a rooftop pool, and a full-service spa.
What clinicians ask before they register.
One day. The tools your hardest clients have been waiting for.
- Live Q&A with Stacy Ruse, LPC, E-RYT-500
- 90-day replay access
- Up to 6.25 CE hours
- Learn alongside peers doing this exact work
- Live Q&A with Stacy Ruse, LPC, E-RYT-500
- 90-day replay access
- Up to 6.25 CE hours
- Learn alongside peers doing this exact work