Liberatory Parts Work: Expanding the Map

Mariah Rooney (she/they), MSW, LICSW, is a justice- and collective-liberation oriented, queer-identifying, trauma practitioner. She works to honor and welcome all parts of individuals, families, groups and systems in order to understand stories of adaptation, survival, coping and thriving.

As a body- and nervous system-informed practitioner, educator and trainer, her clinical practice and pedagogical approaches integrate varied modalities and frameworks. Her specializations are in working with the complex manifestations of traumatic stress, attachment trauma, intergenerational trauma, systemic trauma and dissociation.

She has served as a faculty member in the graduate Schools of Social Work at Winona State University and the University of St. Thomas; a trauma-informed care consultant for the American Institutes of Research; and was previously a fellow at the Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute.

Learn more at https://mariahrooney.com/

I. Introduction to Liberatory Parts Work (Session 1)

• Critical examination of cultural and political assumptions in dominant parts-based models

• The role of systemic oppression and structural trauma in shaping internal systems

• Distinguishing adaptive survival responses from pathology

II. Foundations of Plurality, Multiplicity, and Dissociation (Session 1)

• Overview of DID, OSDD, and the structural dissociation model

• Non-pathologizing and neurodiversity-affirming frameworks

• Introduction to community-developed language and perspectives from plural communities

III. Clinical Skills for Working with Plural and Multiple Systems (Session 2)

• Consent-based communication across internal systems

• Supporting co-consciousness and cooperation without presuming integration as the goal

• Working with protector and persecutor parts shaped by violence and dehumanization

IV. Applied Practice and Stabilization (Session 2)

• Trauma-informed pacing specific to DID/OSDD

• Responding to in-session ruptures: switching, internal conflict, activation

V. Liberatory Practice Beyond the Individual (Session 2)

• Diagnostic gatekeeping and systemic navigation

• Clinician positionality, accountability, and ongoing reflective practice

Course Education Goals

• Develop a more critical, justice-informed understanding of parts-based clinical models that clinicians can carry into all areas of their practice.

• Build durable clinical skills in working with plural, multiple, and dissociative clients 

• Cultivate ongoing reflective practice regarding clinician positionality, bias, and the influence of dominant cultural narratives on diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making

• Strengthen clinicians' capacity to adapt mainstream therapeutic frameworks in response to the lived realities of multiply-marginalized clients, rather than applying one-size-fits-all models

• Foster sustained engagement with disability justice and neurodiversity-affirming principles as they apply to ongoing case conceptualization, treatment planning, and clinical supervision 

Liberatory Parts Work: Expanding the Map - Agenda
 

Live Zoom Session 1  – October 15th 8am PDT/11am EDT – Foundations and a Critical Frame – 2 Hours – 2 CEs
Parts-based models of therapy have become widely influential, but the frameworks clinicians have inherited often carry unexamined cultural and political assumptions. This session lays a critical foundation for liberatory parts work, examining how systemic oppression and structural trauma shape internal systems, and introduces foundational, justice-informed concepts for understanding plurality, multiplicity, and dissociative presentations, including DID and OSDD.

Session Content:

• Introduction to liberatory frameworks and their relevance to parts-based clinical models (15 minutes)

• Examining the cultural and political assumptions embedded in dominant parts-based approaches (20 minutes)

• How internalized oppression and structural trauma shape the formation and function of internal parts (25 minutes)

• Ways clinicians can unintentionally pathologize adaptive survival responses, and how to recognize this in practice (15 minutes)

• Foundational overview of plurality, multiplicity, DID, and OSDD through a critical, non-pathologizing lens (25 minutes)

• Introduction to neurodiversity-affirming and community-developed frameworks from plural communities (10 minutes)

• Reflection and Q&A: Examining clinician positionality and assumptions (10 minutes)

Live Zoom Session 2  – October 22nd, 8am PDT/11am EDT – Clinical Practice with Plural and Multiple Systems – 2 Hours – 2 CEs

Building on the critical foundation established in Session 1, this session moves into applied clinical skill-building for working with plural, multiple, and dissociative clients. Emphasis is placed on consent-based communication across internal systems, trauma-informed pacing, and liberatory practice approaches

Session Content:

• Review of foundational concepts and bridge to clinical application (10 minutes)

• Consent and communication practices when working with systems with multiple parts/alters (20 minutes)

• Supporting internal cooperation and co-consciousness without defaulting to integration as the presumed goal (20 minutes)

• Working with protector and persecutor parts shaped by real-world violence and dehumanization (20 minutes)

• Trauma-informed pacing, stabilization, and communication specific to DID and OSDD presentations (20 minutes)

• Navigating common clinical ruptures: switching, internal conflict, and trauma activation in session (20 minutes)

• Liberatory practice beyond the therapy room: diagnostic gatekeeping, systemic navigation, and clinician accountability (10 minutes)

Liberatory Parts Work: Expanding the Map - Learning Objectives

Session 1

1. Identify three cultural or political assumptions embedded in dominant parts-based clinical models.

2. Describe two ways that systemic oppression or structural trauma can shape the formation of internal parts.

3. Distinguish between two non-pathologizing and pathologizing framings of plurality, multiplicity, and dissociative presentations.

Session 2

1. Demonstrate two consent-based communication strategies for working with clients who have multiple parts/alters.

2. Identify three trauma-informed pacing or stabilization techniques specific to working with DID and OSDD presentations.

3. Name two clinical interventions for responding to in-session ruptures such as switching or internal conflict between parts.

Intermediate mental health care practitioners.

To receive continuing education credit, applicants must complete all CE materials, comply with attendance regulations, and submit an evaluation form for the sessions attended. It is the responsibility of the attendee to determine if CE credit offered by Academy of Therapy Wisdom meets the regulations of their state licensing/certification board.

Cost
CEs for this training are $10 for each 2-hour session.

Continuing Education credits offered:

Psychology: Not offered with this training.

Counseling:
Academy of Therapy Wisdom has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7370. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Academy of Therapy Wisdom is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. This program is approved for 2 CE Credit hours per live session, for a possible total of 4 CE Credit Hours.

NY State Mental Health Counselors: Academy of Therapy Wisdom is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0285.

Social Work:
Application for social work continuing education credits has been submitted. Please contact us at support@thereapywisdom.com for the status of social work CE accreditation.

New York Social Workers – Academy of Therapy Wisdom is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Workers as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers. #SW-0814.

Marriage and Family Therapists:
California Professionals:
Academy of Therapy Wisdom, Provider #1032323, is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs. Academy of Therapy Wisdom maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.  This course meets the qualifications for 2 hours of continuing education credit per session (for a total of 4 continuing education hours) for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

This course is $. You can purchase it here.

We offer a 14-day money-back guarantee on all of our live & on-demand courses. If you find that the training is not right for you, please email us at support@therapywisdom.com within 14 days of your purchase. You can request a full refund or exchange, whichever you would prefer.