Frank Anderson – Treating Complex Trauma Clients at the Edge: How Brain Science Can Inform Interventions

Description

Handouts

Outline

Experiential Treatments – Integrating neuroscience and psychotherapy

• Necessity of utilizing physical, emotional and relationship aspects in therapeutic intervention

Problems with traditional phase oriented treatment

• Negative evaluation of symptoms – ignoring their protective function

Internal Family Systems

• Understanding symptom presentation as positive efforts pushed to extremes
• Welcoming and integrating all parts of an individual
• Identifying intent of symptomology, importance of avoiding shaming

Redefining trauma related diagnoses and integrating overactive protective mechanisms

• Disorganized attachment
• Borderline Personality Disorder, Dissociative Identity Disorder

Therapist factors – vulnerabilities

• Impact of therapist parts acting as separately as the clients we work with
• Responding effectively to personal triggers

Symptoms of post trauma

• Hyperarousal, hyperarousal, psychic wounds
• Importance of obtaining permission before addressing psychic wounds

Experiential exercise – self-awareness, response to triggers
Mind-brain relationships

• Neuroplasticity, neural integration
• Neural networks associated with trauma
• Implicit nature of trauma memories

Autonomic nervous system

• Role of cortisol
• Sympathetic hyper-arousal
• Characteristics of extreme symptom activation and mixed states

Therapeutic responses

• Choosing compassion or empathic responses
• Providing auxiliary cognition
• Strategies to avoid contributing to hyperarousal
• Top down strategies to separate or unblend

Case presentation – example of permission seeking, direct access and unblending
Polyvagal Theory

• Dorsal and ventral branches
• Activating strategies, responding to hypo-arousal, blunting

Faculty

Frank Anderson, MD Related seminars and products: 7

---

Frank Anderson, MD, completed his residency and was a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is both a psychiatrist and psychotherapist and specializes in the treatment of trauma and dissociation. He is passionate about teaching brain-based psychotherapy and integrating current neuroscience knowledge with the IFS model of therapy.

Dr. Anderson is a lead trainer at the IFS Institute with Richard Schwartz and maintains a long affiliation with, and trains for, Bessel van der Kolk’s Trauma Center. He serves as an advisor to the International Association of Trauma Professionals (IATP) and was the former chair and director of the Foundation for Self-Leadership.

Dr. Anderson has lectured extensively on the Neurobiology of PTSD and Dissociation and wrote the chapter “Who’s Taking What” Connecting Neuroscience, Psychopharmacology and Internal Family Systems for Trauma in Internal Family Systems Therapy – New Dimensions. He co-authored a chapter on “What IFS Brings to Trauma Treatment in Innovations and Elaborations in Internal Family Systems Therapy” and recently co-authored Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual.

Dr. Anderson maintains a private practice in Concord, MA.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial:
Frank Anderson maintains a private practice. He receives a consulting fee from the Center for Self Leadership. Dr. Anderson receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.
Non-financial: Frank Anderson is the President of the Foundation for Self Leadership.