Mindfulness Based Somatic Emotional Processing (MBSEP)

Mindfulness-Based Somatic Emotional Processing (MBSEP) was developed by Dr. Robert Weisz. It is a mindful, body-centered approach to activating intrinsic emotional processing in the brain. The processing is activated and maintained by the client’s and the therapist’s mindful, Felt Sense Attention placed upon the client’s somatic experience. The client’s emotional processing is enabled, focused, and supported through the attuned relational connection between the therapist and the client. A focus on tender, compassionate awareness creates a special quality of attention which helps to activate the healing process. MBSEP is a practical, useful method for initiating and promoting essential emotional processing. It can easily be incorporated into any therapeutic modality. This training will be Oct. 9-10 from 9am-4:30pm, with an hour lunch break at noon, MST. This training will occur in-person at our Black Mesa Behavioral Health location in San Ildefonso Pueblo (13 CEUs.)

"Described by therapists who have been trained to use it, MBSEP is not only one of the therapeutic tools they use most with their clients, it is a way of being as a therapist, and a way to be with ourselves as therapists.”

“MBSEP is a simple, deep, compassionate, and mindful process of acknowledging, processing, accepting, and honoring our direct, body-based emotional experience."

Therapist

Luke Higgins, MA, LPCC is a graduate from Southwestern College in Santa Fe and works as a therapist, clinical director, and trainer through Serna Solutions. He completed his clinical internship at the Solace Crisis Treatment Center in 2013. From 2014-2018 Mr. Higgins worked as a clinician within the Santa Fe Indian Hospital under a Federal grant. The grant was focused on the identification and treatment of co-occurring concerns related to mental health and substance use. Therapeutically, Mr. Higgins currently works with individuals who are experiencing difficulties related to psychological trauma, depression, disruptive anxiety, and/or undesirable substance use behavior. His approach to treatment is trauma-informed and involves the utilization of brain/body-based therapies such as Brainspotting, Mindfulness Based Somatic Emotional Processing, and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). Mr. Higgins is also certified as a Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories practitioner, which is an evidenced-based neurological procedure, very different from other Trauma processing modalities. Additional models utilized include Motivational Interviewing, the Community Reinforcement Approach, as well as Dialectical Behavior and Cognitive Behavioral approaches. Sessions are informed by current understandings of the human nervous system, brain states, and the means to track experience while regulating one’s emotional state individually or in concert with others.