Healing Trauma with Compassion-Based Approaches

The Essential Role of Compassion in Internal Family Systems (IFS) (Richard C. Schwartz, PhD)¶

• Discover strategies for working with the key parts in the IFS Model—Managers, Firefighters, Exiles, and Self—and how trauma shapes their development and behavior.

• Explore how unburdening trauma responses through IFS allows both you and your clients to reconnect with core qualities like compassion and curiosity.

• Learn to identify and overcome common challenges in trauma-focused IFS work, such as rushing the process or confusing parts, to ensure effective healing.

Richard C. Schwartz, PhD is the creator of Internal Family Systems, a highly effective, evidence-based therapeutic model that de-pathologizes the multi-part personality. His IFS Institute offers training for professionals and the general public. He is currently on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, and has published five books, including No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model. Dick lives with his wife Jeanne near Chicago, close to his three daughters and his growing number of grandchildren.

Christopher Willard, PsyD is a clinical psychologist, author, and consultant based in Massachusetts. He has spoken in over thirty-five countries, and has presented at two TEDx events. He is the author of twenty books, including Growing Up Mindful(2014), How we Grow Through What We Go Through ( 2022), and Feelings are Like Farts (2024). His thoughts on mental health have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, mindful.org, cnn.com, and elsewhere. He teaches at Harvard Medical School.

Healing Trauma in a Toxic Culture: A Compassionate Approach (Gabor Maté MD, CM)¶

• Learn how embodying ”the five levels of compassion” can help clients reconnect with their authentic selves.

• Explore how trauma and emotional stress, such as childhood abuse or systemic racism, can manifest as physical conditions, and learn strategies for integrating this awareness into your therapeutic approach.

• Uncover the hidden links between trauma and destructive behaviors, and empower your clients by addressing the root causes rather than just the symptoms.

Gabor Maté, MD, CM (pronounced GAH-bor MAH-tay): is a retired physician who, after 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. The best-selling author of five books published in nearly 40 languages, including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction, Gabor is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness. For his ground-breaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. His most recent book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture is a New York Times and international best-seller. His next book, co-written with his son Daniel, will be Hello Again: A Fresh Start for Parents and their Adult Children, based on their popular workshop.

From Trauma to Transformation: Applying Compassion-Focused Therapy in Clinical Settings (Deborah Lee, PhD)¶

• Understand how trauma affects brain states and learn to identify these states to guide therapeutic goals and interventions more effectively.

• Discover the importance of integrating both cognitive and physiological approaches in trauma therapy, ensuring a holistic path to healing.

• Learn practical techniques to help clients transform traumatic memories into compassionate, cohesive narratives that foster integration and emotional healing.

Deborah Lee, PhD is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Head of Berkshire Traumatic Stress Service and OPCOURAGE Integrated Services for Veteran Mental Health for the South East of England. She is also an honorary Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical Psychology at University College London. Dr. Lee has worked in the field of trauma for 32 years and specializes in the treatment of PTSD and Complex PTSD. Her clinical and research interests include working with shame and self-loathing in the context of interpersonal trauma. She has pioneered the development of compassion focused therapy for trauma and complex PTSD and authored the best selling self help book, The Compassionate-Mind Guide to Recovering from Trauma and PTSD: Using Compassion-Focused Therapy to Overcome Flashbacks Shame, Guilt, and Fear (2013). Dr. Lee is also interested in using her model to enhance existing exposure-based trauma memory techniques such as EMDR, prolonged exposure, enhanced reliving, imagery rescripting. More recently she has developed a group-based intervention called “compassionate resilience” to be delivered as part of phased based treatment approaches for CPTSD. The approach is being used as part of a current RCT treatment trial evaluating phased and non-phased cognitive therapy for CPTSD. Dr. Lee has widely contributed to the dissemination of her clinical program through writing and delivering clinical workshops, keynote addresses, and podcasts in North & South America, Europe, Japan, and Australia.

Healing Legacy Burdens: Intergenerational Trauma, IFS, and Self-Compassion (Deran Young, LCSW, Capt/USAF (retired))¶

What you’ll learn

• Explore how cultural and collective legacy burdens, such as internalized racism, cishet patriarchy, ageism, and classism, impact mental and spiritual well-being, and learn to identify these burdens within yourself and others for deeper healing.

• Understand the dynamics of systemic oppression, including racism, cishet patriarchy, ageism, poverty, and classism, and explore the intersectionality of these issues and their cumulative impact on a sense of belonging and spiritual well-being.

• Identify common stuck points, including negative beliefs, attitudes, and external constraints faced by historically marginalized populations, and develop strategies rooted in self-compassion and cross-cultural awareness to support healing.

Deran Young, LCSW, Capt/USAF (retired) is a licensed therapist specializing in racial trauma and legacy burdens. She is also a co-author of the New York Times best-seller You Are Your Best Thing, a retired military officer, and founder of Black Therapists Rock. Black Therapists Rock is a non profit organization with a network of over 30,000 mental health professionals committed to reducing the psychological impact of systemic oppression and intergenerational trauma. Deran obtained her social work degree from University of Texas, where she studied abroad in Ghana, West Africa for two semesters creating a high school counseling center for under-resourced students. She has visited over 37 different countries and her clinical experience spans across four different continents. Her passion for culture and people has led her to become a highly sought after diversity and inclusion consultant working with companies like BBERG, Facebook, Linked In, and YWCA. She resides in the Washington, DC area with her young son.

Shame and Trauma: The Transformative Power of Self-Compassion in Healing (Christopher Germer, PhD)¶

• Discover the inverse relationship between shame and self-compassion, supported by theory and empirical evidence.

• Identify mechanisms through which self-compassion alleviates trauma and shame.

• Practice simple, safe skills to alleviate trauma associated with shame.

Christopher Germer, PhD is a clinical psychologist and lecturer on psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School. He co-developed the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program with Kristin Neff in 2010 and they wrote three books: The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook, Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout, and Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program. MSC has been taught to over 250,000 people worldwide. Dr. Germer is also the author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion and he co-edited two influential volumes on therapy:Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, and Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy. Dr. Germer lectures and leads workshops internationally and he has a small psychotherapy practice in Massachusetts, USA.

Cultivating Compassion: Science-Based Practices and Insights (Kelly McGonigal, PhD)¶

• Discover the essential elements for cultivating compassion, recognizing it as a dynamic emotional response that involves attuning to suffering without needing to fix it.

• Identify and understand barriers to compassion, such as empathic distress and pseudo-inefficacy.

• Learn practical techniques to enhance both your and your clients’ biological capacity for compassion, fostering greater emotional readiness and resilience.

Kelly McGonigal, PhD, is a health psychologist who specializes in understanding the mind-body connection. She is the best-selling author of The Willpower Instinct, and The Upside of Stress. Her latest book, The Joy of Movement, explores why physical exercise is a powerful antidote to the modern epidemics of depression, anxiety, and loneliness.

Healing Through Presence: A Neurobiological Approach to Trauma (Daniel J. Siegel, MD)¶

• Discover key insights from the neuroscience of trauma and learn how to tailor them to your clients’ unique temperaments and tendencies.

• Gain an understanding of Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) and explore how its concepts can be applied to trauma work through integration and differentiation.

• Learn how to create a therapeutic environment that fosters healing through presence, attunement, resonance, and trust.

Dan Siegel, MD is the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute and Founding Co-Director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA, where he was also Co-Principal Investigator of the Center for Culture, Brain, and Development and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine. An award-winning educator, Dan is the author of five New York Times best-sellers and over fifteen other books which have been translated into over forty languages. As the founding editor of the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology (“IPNB”), Dan has overseen the publication of one hundred books in the transdisciplinary IPNB framework which focuses on the mind and mental health. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dan completed his postgraduate training at UCLA specializing in pediatrics, and adult, adolescent, and child psychiatry. He was trained in attachment research and narrative analysis through a National Institute of Mental Health research training fellowship, focusing on how relationships shape our autobiographical ways of making sense of our lives and influence our development across the lifespan.

The Body as an Ally for Healing (Raymond Rodriguez, LCSW, Rev.)¶

• Explore the essential role of the body in healing trauma.

• Understand the three phases of trauma work: resourcing, processing, and re-engaging with daily life.

• Discover specific somatic techniques like orienting and pendulating to help clients self-resource.

Raymond Rodriguez, LCSW, Rev. is a Latino Clinical Social Worker with over twenty years of experience in working with community-based clinical practice. He received his Social Work degree from Columbia University School of Social Work. He is a family therapist with clinical interests in the areas of immigration, diversity, LGBTQ empowerment, spirituality, and working with marginalized communities. In the last decade he has become a trauma specialist assisting clients with complex psychological trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He is certified in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). He has extensive training and practice in family systems therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Structural Dissociation and Ego States Psychology, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and psychodynamic psychotherapy. He served as a counselor faculty at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York, and adjunct lecturer at Columbia University School of Social Work and Smith College School of Social Work. He was also a faculty and member of the Executive Committee of the Trauma Studies Center of the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy and at the Integrative Trauma Studies Program of the National Institute for Psychotherapy. He is currently on faculty with the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute. He formerly served on the Board of the National Association of Puertorrican and Hispanic Social Workers. He lives in New York with his partner and son.

Embracing the Possibility of Post-Traumatic Resilience (Christopher Willard, PsyD)¶

• Explore post-traumatic growth and how to nurture it without encouraging toxic positivity, helping the client focus on becoming the person they want to be during challenging times.

• Discover the role of co-regulation in therapy through the turbulence metaphor, and learn how staying calm and creating a safe environment can enhance emotional support for clients.

• Explore practical strategies for your own well-being, including the CALM technique, exercise, and gratitude practices, to support mental health, manage negative emotions, and stay focused on the goals of therapeutic work.

Christopher Willard, PsyD is a clinical psychologist, author, and consultant based in Massachusetts. He has spoken in over thirty-five countries, and has presented at two TEDx events. He is the author of twenty books, including Growing Up Mindful(2014), How we Grow Through What We Go Through ( 2022), and Feelings are Like Farts (2024). His thoughts on mental health have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, mindful.org, cnn.com, and elsewhere. He teaches at Harvard Medical School.

Self-Compassion for Burnout: Caring for the Caregiver (Kristin Neff, PhD)¶

• Learn self-compassion practices to support your well-being and safeguard against burnout.

• Discover how recognizing the distinction between empathy and compassion can transform your perspective and enhance your practice.

• Cultivate an environment in which both you and your client are resourced by compassionate presence

Kristin Neff, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first empirical studies on self-compassion more than twenty years ago. She has been recognized as one of the most influential researchers in psychology worldwide. Kristin runs the Self-Compassion Community, an online learning platform where people can learn the skill of self-compassion with the help of others. She is author of the best-selling books Self-Compassion and Fierce Self-Compassion. Along with her colleague Chris Germer, she developed the empirically-supported Mindful Self-Compassion program and co-founded the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. They co-wrote the best-selling The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook and have a new book called Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout coming out in September 2024.

Balancing Trauma Sensitivity: Validating Client Experience While Nurturing Inner Strength (David Treleaven, PhD)¶

• Discover how to create balance in trauma sensitivity to validate a client’s experience without overemphasizing their trauma, which can obscure their inner strength.

• Learn practices for cultivating a grounded approach that challenges clients while providing support.

• Explore the pros and cons of the mainstream attention on trauma, and its impact on psychotherapy practice.

David Treleaven, PhD, is a prominent trauma specialist, author, and educator known for his work in trauma-sensitive mindfulness. With a PhD in Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies, Treleaven’s research focuses on the intersection of mindfulness meditation and trauma. His groundbreaking work has highlighted the potential risks of mindfulness practices for trauma survivors, shaping a more nuanced approach to meditation in various settings. In 2018, Treleaven published Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness: Practices for Safe and Transformative Healing, a pivotal resource for mental health professionals, meditation teachers, and trauma survivors. As a sought-after speaker, Treleaven has presented at prestigious institutions worldwide, including UCLA, Brown University, and Oxford University. He founded the Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness community, offering training programs for professionals working with trauma survivors. Treleaven’s influence extends across trauma studies, mindfulness, and mental health fields. He regularly contributes to academic journals and popular media, advancing the discourse on safe and effective trauma healing practices. His work continues to guide professionals in recognizing trauma, responding skillfully, and adapting mindfulness techniques to support healing while avoiding retraumatization. Treleaven’s approach has become instrumental in developing more inclusive and safety-oriented mindfulness practices.

Intergenerational Healing and Soul Wounds: Expanding Beyond Conventional Western Views (Eduardo Duran, PhD)¶

• Understand the concepts of “soul guilt” and “soul wound” and their significance in trauma work.

• Learn how to bring awareness and healing to intergenerational trauma through the use of the genogram.

• Explore the limitations in Western medical approaches to diagnosing and treating trauma.

Eduardo Duran, PhD is a Vietnam Veteran who started his academic training after being discharged from the US Navy. He has worked in Indigenous communities most of his professional life. Clinical work in communities has informed his theoretical and clinical approaches to psychotherapy. His work is informed by traditional teachings from Indigenous elders that continues to unfold into an ongoing hybrid model to address individual and collective soul wounding. Early on he was providing community psychological interventions when an Indigenous Woman Elder approached him and told him that he needed to write and publish what she heard him speak about. That meeting with the Elder has resulted in several books including: Native American Post Colonial Psychology, Healing the Soul Wound, Buddha in Redface and Quantum Coyote Dreams the Black World. The unfolding themes in these writings are an integration of traditional Indigenous and Western cosmology as these interface with the shape shifting of consciousness in our present Zeitgeist. Eduardo lives in Bozeman Montana.

Bringing Self-Compassion into Therapy: Trauma Sensitive Strategies (Sydney Spears, PhD)¶

• Explore inclusive, compassionate, and self-compassionate therapy when working with survivors of trauma and oneself as a therapist.

• Learn trauma-sensitive self-compassion techniques with a focus on applying culturally-aware methods to support survivors.

• Integrate effective trauma-sensitive practices by combining trauma-sensitive approaches with mindful self-compassion in therapy.

Sydney Spears, PhD, (she/her) identifies as a cisgender Black-multiracial woman. She has deep passion for elevating and advancing global social justice, equity, and compassion in the world. Consequently, Sydney has been highly committed to providing and integrating non-oppressive, strengths-based, and trauma-sensitive practices within her private practice and teaching. In the recent past, Sydney has worked as a faculty member for the University of Kansas-School of Social Welfare. Her academic teaching has been centered on cultural diversity, cross-cultural practice, anti-oppression, and racial identity issues. She has also worked with children, adolescents, military veterans, and adults across educational systems and mental health social services. Sydney is currently serving as the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging (DEIB) for the Center of Mindful Self-Compassion, and she is also a certified Mindful-Self Compassion (MSC) teacher. In terms of advancing trauma-sensitive practices, Sydney serves as a member of the leadership team for the Boston area Center for Trauma and Embodiment and facilitates trauma-sensitive sessions as a certified provider. Sydney recently published a very user-friendly and experiential workbook for those who are interested in practicing mindfulness and self compassion. The workbook is called Finding Self-Compassion: A Mindfulness Workbook for Getting to Know and Love Yourself.

An Evolutionary Understanding of Compassion in Therapy (Paul Gilbert, FBPsS, PhD, OBE)¶

• Learn about the scientific underpinnings of compassion-focused therapy, and how CFT addresses trauma and integrates personal practices for effective intervention.

• Examine the evolutionary basis of emotional and motivational systems, including caregiving, competition, and sexuality, and their impact on mental health.

• Learn techniques for applying CFT, such as using imagery, empathy, and compassion to address trauma, manage emotions, and support clients in their healing journey.

Paul Gilbert, FBPsS, PhD, OBE, is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Derby and honorary visiting Professor at the University of Queensland. Until his retirement from the NHS in 2016 he was Consultant Clinical Psychologist for over 40 years. He has researched evolutionary approaches to psychopathology with a special focus on mood, shame, and self-criticism in various mental health difficulties for which Compassion Focused Therapy was developed. He was made a Fellow of the British Psychological Society in 1993, President of the BABCP 2002-2004, and was a member of the first British Governments’ NICE guidelines for depression. He has written/edited 23 books and over 300 papers and book chapters. In 2006 he established the Compassionate Mind Foundation as an international charity with the mission statement: To promote wellbeing through the scientific understanding and application of compassion. There are now a number of sister foundations in other countries. He was awarded an OBE by the Queen in March 2011 for services to mental health. He established and is the Director of the Centre for Compassion Research and Training at Derby University UK. His latest book is a major edited book with Professor G. Simos Compassion: Clinical Practice and Applications (2022).