Understanding Trauma and the Brain    

A workshop with Phyllis Lorenz, MFT

Provided by Family Paths (CEU Provider #62239) in conjunction with Chabot-Las Positas Community College District and Alameda County through Title IV-E Funding. This training is geared towards family partners, resource family advocates, social workers and clinicians working with children, youth and families involved with CFS or probation in Alameda County. This workshop is available to you free of charge.

Training Description:  The effects of trauma on the nervous system are pervasive. This is complicated when stressors that commonly effect foster youth act as repeated reminders of the trauma(s). This is always the case when the trauma(s) in question contributed to the home removal of the youth. Further complicating this, many biological parents of foster youth are themselves victims of trauma. When not properly understood and addressed, these issues may affect the adults’ efforts in furthering the overall success of the youth.

 This introduction to the ways that trauma effects the nervous systems of children, youth and adults will offer useful insights to those helping clients recover from trauma. As a result of this workshop, participants will be able to (1) understand the effect of trauma on the developing brain (2) understand the relationship between trauma and dissociation (3) recognize signs of dissociation (4) talk about the Window of Tolerance, Hyper arousal and Hypo arousal (5) increase their sense of competence and confidence in helping regulate children/youth/adults and bring them back into the window of tolerance.

The Trainer:  Phyllis Lorenz, MFT has extensive experience and training in working with trauma related issues including childhood physical and sexual abuse, domestic violence, verbal abuse, and attachment disorders. These types of issues often result in difficulty regulating emotional arousal, causing persons to either over-react or shut down emotionally. Either of these responses create challenges for being in healthy and nurturing relationships and can negatively impact parenting. She works with individuals and couples to develop skills that can help them be more present emotionally and thus more effective in relationships with partners, children and others. She is certified in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and is trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) levels I and II.

CEUs:  This training meets the qualifications for 3 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.  A 15 minute break is not included in the total CEU time awarded. CEUs will be awarded in person at the end of the training.  Provided by Family Paths, Provider #62239 thru CAMFT CEPA. We will be unable to provide attendees with certificates of completion if more than 15 minutes of course content is missed.

Agenda:

• 8:30     Registration Opens
• 9:00     Welcome & Introductions, Intro to the neurobiology of trauma
• 9:45     Attachment and brain development
• 10:15   Dissociative Continuum
• 10:45   Overview of phase oriented trauma treatment
• 11:30   Transforming trauma response patterns
• 12:00   Wrap up and Evaluations 
• 12:15   Close of training

Parking:  Please note this training will be at our Oakland downtown offices and unfortunately we do not have parking available. Options include:  There is 2 hour meter parking around the building. There are also multiple $7 lots in the area. These usually require cash. In addition we are located walking distance from 19th street BART station.  And if you are open to a little walk, there is free parking across the freeway on 18th street. Please allocate enough time to find parking in the area. Here's the parking map for around our office:  http://en.parkopedia.com/parking/oakland/

Disability Accommodation: Family Paths will make reasonable efforts during the training to accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities and/or medical conditions in accordance/compliance with the State Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and applicable statutes. To request an accommodation due to a disability/medical condition during this training, please contact the Clinical Training Coordinator no later than 5 days before the training. This building where the training takes place is wheelchair accessible and has disabled parking available.

Please Note:

Please send any requests for accommodations for disability or any questions to Trainings@familypaths.org

Cancellation Policy:  We do not charge for our trainings at present and space is limited. If you cannot attend we ask that you contact us as soon as possible in order to open up that seat to someone else. Contact us at Trainings@familypaths.org. If a training is cancelled, participants are notified via email no later than one week prior to the training if possible.  If a trainer has an emergency and notifies the training department in less than week, those registered for the training are notified as soon as possible.  Training registrants are provided the makeup date that is scheduled for the training.

Training Grievance Policy:  Family Paths is committed to providing a work/learning environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity.  A participant of trainings has the right to seek a remedy for a dispute or disagreement through Family Path’s policies for filing complaints/grievances for participants.  Training participants may use available informal means to have decisions reconsidered before filing a formal complaint/grievance. No retaliation of any kind shall be taken against a participant for filing a complaint/grievance. In an effort to provide the highest quality services to participants in our trainings, you are encouraged to report immediately any concerns regarding your training experience to the Clinical Training Coordinator who will provide the complaint form.  All participant complaints/grievances should be in writing (which may be in your own language) to the Clinical Training Coordinator, Family Paths, 1727 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Suite #109 Oakland, CA 94612or by email to Trainings@familypaths.org. Once a complaint or grievance has been submitted, you can expect a response no later than ten (10) business days.  Upon receipt the Clinical Training Coordinator will conduct a formal review of the complaint/grievance and will attempt a timely resolution, taking appropriate corrective action if warranted by the investigation. If no resolution is forthcoming, or the problem is not satisfactorily resolved, the participant may direct any complaint/grievance to the Program Administrator, Family Paths’ Clinical Director.

                                                             Any questions?

                                         Email us at Trainings@familypaths.org