How to Help Clients Tolerate Dysregulation and Come Back From Hypoarousal
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with Bessel van der Kolk, MD;
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with Bessel van der Kolk, MD; Pat Ogden, PhD; Ruth Lanius, MD; PhD Dan Siegel, MD; and Ruth Buczynski, PhD
Sign up for a Gold Membership
HI, I just finished listening to the back talk on the 4th module. Concerning breath work. Heartmath offers a tool you can attach to your cell phone or computer and exercise breathing with a direct feedback. It helped me a lot to learn how to breath better and my hypoarousal is less.
Thanks again for all this awesome material and information, it is a pleasure to learn!
Hi my name is Naomi, and I desperately want to purchase the gold membership. I have been following you for a while and when I saw this opportunity reveal itself, I wanted to be on board. Unfortunately I have not got the funds for the membership right now. The minute I do, which will be approximately a week, I want to purchase your gold membership. I am afraid I will miss this opportunity, one very important to me. So I am wanting to find out how much longer is this amazing opportunity available, or open to. When will you be finishing up this really reasonable offer? The work you are doing and sharing is invaluable to me and will be for my clients. So can you please tell me when the golden membership opportunity finishes?
Hi I’m working with BPD and moderate intellectual disability in a 28 year old woman. She is delightful but often violent. I hbegan with ACT for Teens with her, drawing concepts and ideas she responded to in a book she could ask her support staff to read to her. She has remembered some of these concepts and yesterday I introduced movement as a way to become grounded when she was feeling anxious or angry and ready to act out… Your other ideas about movement have been confirming and given me width to my plan. teaching her new skills is a slow process but she is currently asking and wanting help. Thank you!
I plan to do more education with coworkers and clients about the importance of knowing how to induce the relaxation response. This session affirmed my use of “parts of self” when working with hypoarousal.
I am so grateful to be able to access this for free; and profound thanks to you for not putting it behind a professional barrier. I am much better able to see what resources I already have that are validated by this research and discussion, make choices about where to concentrate my efforts, and be more compassionate to myself and others.
I will use the technique to bring the client’s attention to their bodily sensations in order to ground them and use the breathing techniques. I will also pay extra attention to the movements and general body language. Thank you, it is incredibly generous to make those seminars available for free.
This was a fantastic webinar, I appreciated having the different professionals share their opinion and give real examples. I will use the tools and the approach of first teaching clients what is going on, what is this process before doing the work with them.
Thank you
I thoroughly love your topics, I have purchased some, but right now I am a bit strapped in the cash area. Trying to do training on workplace readiness and these suggestions have helped the people I serve. Thank you!
I plan on talking about the window of tolerance to my client and suggesting that a goal of therapy would be to help him develop tools to move towards the window. I also plan on talking with him about how by doing imaginal exposure exercises (we are doing Prolonged Exposure protocol), we are accessing the lower brain response while engaging the cortical brain.
I would appreciate comments from the presenters about how Prolonged Exposure is consistent with and not consistent with the material in the training. For example, are the PE interventions (psychoeducation, breating retraining, imaginal exposure & in vivo exposure) consistent with those recommended by this training? Are the rationales simply different, i.e., change mechanisms are similar but talked about differently (I would be curious, for example, if good outcome PE patients would show good outcomes with measures the presenters would use). How would the presenters enhance the efficacy of PE (i.e., how would they modify the PE interventions)?
Hi, I’ve been working with a cient, who’s goal is to play music with others. At present he’s learnt to play all the instruments himself, layingdwn tracks and making his own recordings. Last week I tried to introduce him to a group of clients who also play music. My client was overwhelmed with this idea. I discussed this with my team leader, and floated the idea of offering to pick up one of the instruments myself and play with him, my TL thought this might be too personal and inappropriate. Using the learning from today, I can evidence base this idea in the service of neurofeedback. Hopefully me playing with the client will give him the skills to learn to tolerate being around others.
Thank you for the series. I am happy to be reminded about the window of tolerance. I will continue to bring awareness of the body, over and over again, into my sessions. Thanks.
Thank you! These webinars are wonderfully explained. I will use the breathing techniques with my clients.
Thank you! From a MD, Msc, CCFP, FRCPC, PhD – one of the greatest presentation I have heard in my life.
I will use the diagnostic tip, however,
How are PTSD sleep problems different from depression sleep problems?
Is transcranial magnetic stimulation contraindicated or will it help for the PTSD population who also is diagnosed with Depression?
It is clear that my family all seem to suffer from anxiety & ADD problems. 2 of my 3 daughters suffer from PTSD symptoms and I really want greater understanding of our life experiences and behaviour responses.
As a South African living in the UK after a failed 30 year marriage,presented me with a host of traumatic experiences.
By watching this series, I hope to discover ways of understanding emotional trauma & finding tools to facilitate the healing process.
Even getting myself to exercise, cope with every day tasks takes discipline. Using mindfulness, music, walking or driving through nature in the forest are ways I can help myself as well as others. Sleep is a chronic problem.
Mental health issues in the UK are seriously overlooked. GP’s are given 10 minute slots with a patient and are quick to dispense prescriptions that sometimes have potentially more serious side effects.
Psychotherapy and clinical psychologists are very rarely available unless you can afford the costs incurred by going to private therapists.
I now live on the most basic Pension and cannot afford much more than paying the basic normal bills.
Growing up surrounded by adults with mental health issue results in children & Grandchildren having their own mental health issues whether now or later in their lives when they become parents. The pace of life and accelerating changes in the world add to the pressure and stress the Community.
I am grateful for the free assistance that is available to see how therapies & tools can help aid disregulation, dissociation when experiencing trauma etc.
Thank you for the invaluable information which I have collected today. I am a victim of physical and psychological trauma where the physical trauma has been present for 19 years (lacerated lady parts) inflicted at maternity services. I suffer from lacerated pelvic floors fistula, rectocele and, cystocele bowel disease and incontinence. I am dealing with my physical trauma actively by seeking alternative care from abroad but I must get my mental state stable. I possess an abundance of hatred towards my abusers as they held the highest power of trust in my opinion and failed me terribly. They deny knowingly ignoring my pleas for repair. They left me mutilated vaginally and rectally because an inferior member of staff (and colleague) inflicted the injury. This has had a severe impact upon my marital relationship and my children all of who have suffered PTSD with me. It’s been a very long journey but there’s more to go.
I’m a life coach and I help moms who lose their temper. Today’s session was affirming, thank you. I teach moms how to notice when their “button” is being pushed (they come to me unaware of their body’s physical sensations when something is getting on their nerves). Once they develop that awareness, I teach them to breathe slowly and name three feelings words to help get their rational brain back online. I learned some new vocabulary from this session, which was the “window of tolerance.” I help these moms expand their window of tolerance by noticing, self-regulating and engaging with the present moment. (Note: you might consider sending out an email to ask for donations too – I would like to send in a donation because I’m a very small business at present, but I appreciate your work!)
Very interesting the subject and the approach. If there were a simultaneous translator into Spanish, there would be more audience. Thanks and cordial greetings to fellow speakers.
Today’s session reminded me of things I teach my own students but sometimes forget myself – particularly in regards to watching and how being acutely aware of where my clients are in their bodies and how their behavior compares to their norm can change everything, save lives and build a crucial trust. I am one of those people in an odd place in regards to being here. I run a non-profit leading peer groups & doing interventions & outreach for people with SMI. I train group leaders and the police, and speak, and am on councils and respected in the community, despite my lack of degrees. I’m studying PRYT, and I’m a client too. I am so grateful for Ruth’s message at the beginning. It was utterly terrifying, then comforting, and I got to watch my mind and my body cycle through their well-established pattern while listening to the voices on the screen describe it to me. I get to use this training in my work every day and I’m grateful to know it doesn’t need to be a secret that I use it for myself as well.
I am am a massage therapist and while I understand that this is not our bailiwick, this information is so helpful. I’ve been practicing for 26 years and I can tell you I have used many of your recommendations intuitively. Not to do what you do, but to enhance how my work helps a client in life and if they work with a therapist. The crossover is complementary.
What I find fascinating is that while I can hold a space for a client, i have never applied these to myself. I have always has therapists, but knowing this from your point of view will help my therapist and I work better together. I, as a patient, need to know this (I assume because my work leads me to understand what you are saying) and I personally need to integrate it with the other side of my brain.
This class is like mylanation for my healing process. Thank you.
cute dog, is a good shaman lol
Thank you very much for these online sessions, as a recent graduate and part-time telephone/webchat counsellor, I’m deeply appreciative of the opportunity to learn more from so many experts in the field, for free. Really appreciative of this gesture and will sign up for gold membership when my economic situation improves. I’ve also been recommending this series to colleagues, peers and anyone who I feel will benefit from it.
Thank you for these very informative sessions. I am a professional coach and do a lot of personal development work in the company of horses with individuals and groups. I am hearing skills and noting similarities that really explain “why horses” can be a gateway for clients to access personal awareness, self acceptance, self authority, through mindfulness and living in the moment, somatic awareness all of which are skills present or developed in the company of horses, when the horses get to make and act in their choices based on their assessment of the humans in their presence. I appreciated the cautionary note about asking clients to connect to their bodies. I’m looking forward to more on that next week. I liked to hear confirmation that breathing in particular focusing in the exhale is a way to self soothe. The window of tolerance metaphor really landed for me and will be useful in my work with homeless young adults.
I also laughed at the simplicity of the message: “shut up and be still”. Again with the stated precautions.
I am currently part of a treatment team working on a big university-lead study to measure the efficacy of equine interventions for Veterans with PTSD. The other member of my team is an lpc and we are all getting supervision.
THANK YOU for your welcoming comments to non professionals! I so appreciate this series. I am not a therapist but I have volunteered as a life coach and AD-HD advocate in schools and on our local board of CHADD. These guidelines you are offering speak to our humanity and recognizing our body is a reservoir of hidden information about what we need to be happy, healthy and creative. I am so grateful so many people spend their lives learning how to help others untangle the snarls of pain, fear and sadness that are often accumulated as we go through life. The good news: where there is life there is hope. Even after a stroke, my aunty was happy to feel the sun on her face, to see the moon at night. We have so many wonders to explore and share, and being set free of the cage of terror and exhaustion makes it that much better.
This is a wonderful and informative series. I am a teacher and an individual who has lived through much trauma myself. This series has provided much new information on trauma and the brain and how to re regulate oneself. It has given me insights and tools that I can use with children and with myself. Particularly the noticing as well as identifying what resources one has to use when reliving trauma. Thank you.
This is a wonderful and informative series. I am a teacher and an individual who has lived through much trauma myself. This series has provided much new information on trauma and the brain and how to re regulate oneself. It has given me insights and tools that I can use with children and with myself. Particularly the noticing as well as identifying what resources one has to use when reliving trauma. Than you.
Thank you so much for doing this series . Why it’s important to me to understand the process in the way I need to I do not know . But understanding the clinical and the neurophysiological of it ,in some way does . It helps me to understand the the therapy I am receiveing .
That was amazing! I am going to use the self-soothing tools with my clients, starting with working on exhaling more slowly. As well, helping clients enter back into the distress tolerance window by orienting them to the here and now, standing up, moving. Also, helping my clients engage in acceptance process. Thank-you!
Thank you for carrying those who cannot afford a membership. I have three students doing their practicum with me and have asked them to listen to your broadcasts and record the time towards their practicum hours. Thanks for being there. When is your next conference?
Hi Helen,
The next session will be on Wednesday, November 7th.
I’m following up with an email to you with more details.
Best,
Michelle
NICABM Staff
Hi Ruth, I’m not a practioner. My stepdaughter is doing her Honours in psychology which is how I came across your site on FB. I’m having a bit of difficulty tuning in. I was confused,but think maybe the Australian timezone converter has the incorrect date on it. We are a day ahead.
I have a BSC so hope I may be able to follow your broadcasts. My interest stems as I’m pretty sure I suffer from many of the effects of brain trauma. I was in a car accident 35 years ago. I was in ICU with head injuries. I have no recollection of the event. My grandmother was killed. I am reasonably sure, (without having been professionally assessed), that I have frontal lobe damage.
I have emotional dissociation when loved ones die. I couldn’t really grieve my grandmother, I lost a son 7 years ago to cancer. I have to reach down deep inside myself to feel my pain now. I just can’t grieve. I suspect it’s a subconscious method of protection as a result of my head injuries.I also suspect that it doesn’t do me any good. I was a scholarship class student. I spent a year at high school in the US and was considered to be in line for an Ivy League college. However life didn’t play out that way. I never achieved my full potential, not half of it, and have suffered with alcoholism…..I am now a stay at home mother of 3 and 4 year olds. I am 45. I was fortunate enough to be able to have more children. It is seriously all I can cope with. I take Naltrexone and Seroquel-X-RAY and Effexor-XR .
I think I’m one of the candidates you’re discussing. I hope your lectures will enlighten me, and help me. I realise I will need professional help to make changes, but so far nothing has worked. I thought I’d start by figuring it out myself. Hoping there is a lecture at 9pm Australian ES time tonight that I will be able to tune in to. I would appreciate any feedback you have.
Kind regards
Felicity Stewart
Hi Felicity,
I’m sorry you had difficulty with the timezone converter.
I’m about to send you an email with more information about how to tune in.
Best,
Michelle
NICABM Staff
hi Michelle, I, too, got the wrong time following your timezone converter. so, this one was the 1st session I could follow, at leas in part. next week I’ know better I hope.
This series is such a great resource!
I see many different clients during a week of work as a private practice music therapist, across multiple setting and I see practical applications with both adults clients and preschooler students with trauma!
In the preschool program, we screen the kids as a team and I would like to use an ACES screening to identify kids at risk. Today, when going through signs of hypoactive patients, I am reminded that it’s not just the kids begging for attention that we need to look closely at, but also the quiet disengaged students that need a closer look as well.
I will need to really listen again. I work at an inner city school, K to 6, and we have children who are probably processing and reliving trauma. While the science behind PTSD is fascinating equally important will be the treatment approaches. I do think I will be signing up for the Gold membership as long as I can still acquire all that comes with the original offer.
Thank you so much for this free webinar. It has been so beneficial to my practice. I’ve read The Body Keeps the Score and have applied the vagal nerve concept in working with my clients. What I found most beneficial in today’s webinar is the differences in identifying Bipolar Disorder and Trauma-Related Dysregulation – that of a lack of sleep. Clients have been relieved to learn about their vagal nerve. I am certain clients will be relieved to also learn there might not be a diagnosis of bipolar disorder as it often brings clients more anxiety or dissatisfaction toward themselves.
I have the honor of teaching substance abuse disorder interns, counselors and students. I am always working on methods to help them understand the importance and possible effects of trauma in a person’s life. I really enjoyed the “toletance zone”
I have over 20 clients whom have some kind of developmental delay and have trouble with Executive functioning. I love that you not only gave examples but you gave strategies to work with our clients.
nice to be able to escape to somewhere instead of handling stuff. but we can’t all do that nor do we all want to. i don’t want to have to go to the woods or something to escape, cause it’s the only good i get. i can’t. i’m poor. we want to be able to be IN society as we should, to interact, to discern, to feel that we can at some time BE present and not hijacked by a damaged nervous system.
regulating down , in a process of healing, is fine, but it can’t be the whole life. at some point, the goal of thriving and not just surviving is what is desired. most of the time, the already inset tude of agencies and social workers is just survival. not good enough for many of us.
i gave my therapist the webinar addy so she could watch. i hope it will help her understand taht i am hypoaroused, b/c she keeps expecting me to be hyper.
Thank you for good advice. I am going to try to help my daughter heal from severe PTSD. Her medical funding has run out and she is still suffering.