Self-Trust and Integrated Resilience A Framework for Synthesizing Therapy Level 1: Working Experientially With Clients

Juliane Taylor Shore, LPC, LMFT, SEP holds an MA from St. Edward’s University in Counseling and is the founder and clinical director of IPNB Psychotherapy of Austin, where she trains and supervises therapists. She specializes in applying Interpersonal Neurobiology to the healing of trauma and the creation of relational health with clients she sees. She uses her knowledge of the brain and the implicit mind to go decisively to the root of the issue with gentleness and depth.

Jules has given workshops on a variety of subjects, including the ongoing training of integration of Polyvagal Theory Memory Reconsolidation and Interpersonal Neurobiology for counselors, educators, and supervisors. She has been a specialist in trauma recovery and couples counseling for over 13 years and loves to work experientially because that is how to meet and invite shifts in the implicit mind. She wants to help people find the love, connection, and grace they have always longed for, both in themselves and with each other.

In addition to seeing therapists for consultation and teaching, Jules offers intensives for couples and individuals who come from all over to do in-depth work in a brief format.

In recent years, many outcome studies have shown how efficacious experiential therapy work can be in healing. Everything from depression and anxiety treatment to trauma treatment are having good outcomes when the client feels empowered in the room and the work is experiential. Being able to bear witness to the self kindly is an integral part of experiential work. Studies have also shown increased regulation and increased general well-being both physically and mentally when a person has self-compassion. There is an art to helping clients learn how to use experiential therapy, treat themselves with kindness, and feel empowered in a co-created, growth-oriented, healing space.

This training is also level one of a larger training in an integrative therapy method. The Self-Trust and Integrated Resilience (STAIR) Method is a framework for synthesizing therapy. It is built on principles grounded in interpersonal neurobiology and outcome research and is designed to help you integrate the tools you already have so that your work can be efficient, deep, and empowering for your clients. The goal of this therapy is to help clients increase trust in themselves and to give them the tools to support their brain integration. Integration in this interpersonal neurobiological understanding refers to systems within the brain staying differentiated and being in helpful relationship with each other. This method is also designed to support you in growing your confidence, growing your kindness towards yourself, and supporting your clients through brain-wise treatment planning. This method is designed to help you learn how to help both you and your clients work with your brain’s natural supportive and resilient functions, add tools you need to support natural resilience, and organize the tools you already have into a fluid and adaptive system that flexes with your client to support their growth in their way.

Whether you take this course as a stand-alone training or you are ready to jump into a larger training journey, your work with your clients will deepen and the way you approach yourself and this work will be revitalized with compassion and curiosity in this course.

• Session 1: Brain Integration and Mental Health – 43 mins
  In this session, you will explore how a definition of mental health that is rooted in complexity theory matches our understanding of how brains function in different states of integration.
• Session 2: Theory of Change and Goals of Therapy – 28 mins
  In this session you will learn what research tells us about how brains change and begin to weave that into your goals for therapy to support your client’s ability to respond with flexible brain integration patterns. In this session you will see clinical examples of positive therapeutic shifts in experiential work so that you can begin to identify in your sessions markers of positive movement.
• Session 3: Treatment Planning in Experiential Therapy – 53 mins
  In this session you will explore how a definition for mental health that is rooted in complexity theory matches our understanding of how brains function in different states of integration. Learning Objectives: Describe brain integration from an open dynamic complex systems lens Define mental health through a complex systems lens In this session you will learn what research tells us about how brains change and begin to weave that into your goals for therapy to support your client’s ability to respond with flexible brain integration patterns. In this session you will see clinical examples of positive therapeutic shifts in experiential work so that you can begin to identify in your sessions markers of positive movement.
• Session 4: Focus to Maintain Brain States that Support Change – 18 mins
  Neurobiological insights can be used to know more about what experiential elements to add in the moment to moment flow of your sessions. In this session, you will learn how to keep yourself focused on supporting brain change states as you work. You will also see clinical tape of examples of making interventions that support brain change states.
• Session 5: Differentiating between Treatment Planning and Individual Interventions – 37 mins
  In this session, you will learn to separate the treatment plan from intervention choices. The treatment plan has multiple levels and you can use it to guide where to focus the work. The individual interventions you use will help increase the experiential nature of your work and support your client’s brain to stay in a state that supports change. You will see case examples in this session of co-creating treatment plans and of smaller clinical decisions so that you can see those in practice.

• Session 1: Power Within the Therapy Room – 36 mins
  In this session, you will explore the differences between power over/power under ways of experiencing power and power with ways of perceiving and interacting with power. Shifting to a power with stance can significantly shift the way you show up in the clinical space.
• Session 2: Differentiate First, Link Second – 40 mins
  In this session, you will learn a core principle of how brain integration occurs that has many types of interventions within it. You will also learn how to increase integration between the two hemispheres of the brain with a right-left-right version of this principle. You will see clinical tape of this skill.
• Session 3: Slow Down to Go Experiential – 52 mins
  In this session, you will focus on core skills of the experiential therapist. You will learn how to slow a client down, refocus on in-the-moment processing and begin to teach your client to use the therapy space in a different way than many conversations they have in their day-to-day lives. You will see clinical tape of all of these interventions.
• Session 4: Contracting Macro and Micro – 1 hour 23 mins
  In this session, you will learn the intervention of contracting and learn to apply that intervention in macro and micro ways. You will learn nuances of contracting and when it is complete and how to greet parts of the client that may be saying no to an offering contract in subtle ways. You will see clinical examples of contracting in big and small ways that serve to create a correlated therapeutic space.
• Session 5: Psychoeducation in Contract Creation – 38 mins
  In this session, you will learn several psychoeducation interventions that can help your clients lean into neurobiological understanding to become more comfortable with the therapy process. You will see role-play examples of contracting in big and small ways that serve to create a correlated therapeutic space.

• Session 1: The Neurobiology of Witnessing Mind – 27 mins
  In this session, you will learn about the system in the brain that regulates subcortical areas through non-judgmental witnessing and compassion
• Session 2: Activating the Witnessing Mind – 1 hour 36 mins
  In this session, you will learn three interventions that can activate the witnessing mind. You will also learn how to differentiate between tracking that is done from the witnessing mind system and the task-oriented system. This session will include clinical tape to help you take these skills into your therapy room.
• Session 3: Tracking the Body – 1 hour 29 mins
  In this session, you will learn body tracking skills and learn how to teach your client to track their physical sensations. You will also learn what areas of the brain you are talking to when you are tracking various sensations. This session will include clinical tape to help you take these skills into your therapy room.
• Session 4: Tracking Emotions and Images – 33 mins
  In this session, you will learn about the outcome data associated with differential tracking of emotion and you will gain clinical skills that weave image and historical tracking together with the body tracking skills from the previous sessions to increase your clients self-discovery. This session will include clinical tape to help you take these skills into your therapy room.
• Session 5: Growing Self-Compassion – 1 hour 16 mins
  In this session, you will learn interventions that will increase the client’s self-compassion experiences and that will help you identify blocks to self-compassion that might need to be addressed. This session will include clinical tape to help you take these skills into your therapy room.
  

• Session 1: Neurobiology and Multiplicity of Mind – 13 mins
  In this session, you will learn about the multiplicity of mind theory from a neurobiological perspective.
• Session 2: The Core Elements of Parts Work – 26 mins
  In this session, you will learn about core elements that most parts models share and learn about how to orient to different kinds of parts.
• Session 3: Differentiating Witnessing Mind from Other Parts – 35 mins
  In this session, you will learn how to help a client stay in witnessing mind while moving into relationship with parts. This session will include clinical tape.
• Session 4: Creating Connection – 38 mins
  In this session, you will learn how to help a client develop working relationships with their parts. This session will include clinical tape.
  
• Session 5: Creating a Parts Map – 1 hour 46 mins
  In this session, you will learn how to use a parts map to increase witnessing mind and increase activation simultaneously. This session will include clinical tape.

• Session 1: Polyvagal Theory, Social Baseline Theory and Therapeutic Presence – 25 mins
  In this session, you will learn the basics of autonomic nervous system function as described in polyvagal theory. You will be exposed to ideas about how minor threat responses may become blocks in your clinical work. You will also learn Social baseline Theory which offers explanations for the increased regulation often seen when people are not alone.
• Session 2: The Four Core Relationships – 19 mins
  In this session, you will look at how the therapist’s relationship with themself influences therapeutic outcome. You will revisit the neuroscience of self-compassion and wonder about how these neuroscience insights might guide you in burnout prevention. You will also learn about two other relationships that are essential to enacting a power-with-therapeutic alliance: your relationship with not knowing and your relationship with of-courseness.
  
• Session 3: Creating a Being With Yourself Practice – 20 mins
  In this session, you will create a practice that is unique to you that will deepen your self-compassion and relaxation while working clinically.
• Session 4: Parts Work with Yourself – 1 hour 32 mins
  In this session, you will be guided into a relationship with your own parts with particular focus on your protective system. You will work to increase your compassion for your protective system through internal experiential work and deepen your understanding of how this system might be active when you work with clients.
• Session 5: Differentiating Treatment Plan and Intervention for the Agenda Difficulty – 27 mins
  In this session, you will learn to differentiate low-level threat responses in the autonomic nervous system from the needed treatment planning and focus within session to create therapy spaces that work effectively for your clients.
• Session 6: Integrating your Skills and the STAIR Method – 1 hour 28 mins
  In this session, you will be introduced to a map that can guide integration of therapeutic skills from across any modality into a cohesive framework. You will learn how to organize the core skills of experiential work that you have learned throughout the course into the map to help your clients reach their therapeutic goals. You will learn how to use this map fluidly while in session so that you maintain clinical focus while honoring the client’s experience and empowerment.
  

Learning Objectives

• Describe brain integration from an open dynamic complex systems lens.
• Define mental health through a complex systems lens.
• Name the necessary elements that support brain change and learning.
• Identify two therapeutic goals that lead to greater mental health and wellness.
• Identify two brain states that require more integration.
• Name two interventions that create experiences through therapeutic interventions that maintain change states.
• Name two challenges to assessing regulation and activation.
• Describe at least three interventions that support the “differentiation first, link second” principle.
• Describe how the use of the “right-left-right intervention” increases cross-hemispheric integration.
• List two interventions that help you refocus the work in the moment.
• Identify the difference between micro contracting and marco contracting.
• Describe three key differences between the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
• Name three interventions that activate “witnessing mind”.
• Describe how to differentiate between witnessing mind self-tracking and task-orienting self-tracking.
• Name two interventions that break down how to do experiential work so that clients learn to use experiential therapy space.
• List three interventions that will help a client learn to track their body.
• Name a challenge with clients who track with great detail and name an intervention to respond to this challenge.
• Apply an intervention that helps clients differentiate emotions when in overwhelm.
• Use psychoeducation to increase client participation in experiential interventions.
• Identify two interventions that may increase self-compassion.
• Describe how to talk to clients about the neurobiology of self-compassion to increase client interest in growing this capacity.
• Describe the neurobiological underpinnings of the multiplicity of mind theory.
• Describe how parts work can increase access to the witnessing mind system within the brain.
• Name three different kinds of parts.
• Name two potential intentions that parts might have.
• Describe two common helpful orientations towards protective parts.
• Describe two common helpful orientations towards hurt parts.
• Identify three interventions that help keep witnessing mind differentiated from other parts.
• Describe an intervention that aides clients in increasing coherence with their parts.
• Identify three interventions that help keep witnessing mind listening to parts with curiosity and compassion.
• List four questions that are helpful to ask parts to get to know the subcortical understanding of the client’s history with more depth.
• Identify how the parts map intervention helps maintain a state that supports brain change.
• Name when parts mapping might be too activating for a client.
• Describe how to guide a client through a parts map.
• Describe the function of the autonomic nervous system as laid out in polyvagal theory.
• Recognize how the ANS warning state shows up for you within clinical situations.
• Name the three core relationships that support therapeutic presence.
• Describe the differences between a treatment plan and an agenda.
• Describe the differences between maintaining focus in clinical moments and agenda.
• Identify the five key elements of the STAIR Method map.
• Name which of the STAIR Method elements add regulation.
• Name which of the STAIR Method elements add activation.
• Organize your clinical tools on the map.

Intermediate mental health care practitioners.

To receive the 20 Distance Learning/Home Study continuing education credit, applicants must complete all course materials, purchase the CEs, submit an evaluation form, and pass a post-test with a score of 80% or greater. It is the responsibility of the attendee to determine if the CE credit offered by Academy of Therapy Wisdom meets the regulations of their state licensing/certification board.

Continuing Education credits offered:

Psychology: Not offered for this training.

This course is $1497 or 3 payments of $527. 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.