Upcoming Learning Labs

Learning Lab workshops feature thought leaders in San Diego and beyond who are experts in clinical therapy, health + wellness, fitness, parenting, leadership and other areas of interest to the Potentia community.

Treating Complex Trauma with Internal Family Systems, Presented by Frank Anderson, MD

Skill Level: Advanced

When: January 31, 2018, 9am – 5pm (registration begins at 8.45am). Includes two 15 minute breaks and a 90 minute lunch break.

Where: Point Loma Nazarene University Fermanian Business Center, 3900 Lomaland Drive, San Diego, CA 92106 (click for map).

Cost: Different pricing options available. See below for more details.

Regular Ticket: $200 each

Student Rate (must have valid student ID): $125 each

Discount Rate for Groups of 2 (price is per person): $175 each

Discount Rate for Groups of 3 (price is per person): $150 each

Discount Rate for Groups of 4 (price is per person): $125 each

Lunch included. To register and pay, click here.

Therapists often get shaken and lose confidence in their approach when treating clients who suffer from complex trauma. It’s common to encounter multiple co-morbidities such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse and eating disorders as well as early attachments that that frequently cause unsolvable relational dilemmas within the therapeutic relationship. Extreme responses also show up including rage, panic, shame or suicidal desperation, which activate parts in the therapist, causing them to be too rigid or at times cross the therapeutic line. This workshop provides an essential road map for treating relational trauma with the Internal Family Systems Model (IFS) of therapy, an evidence-based non-pathological approach which believes that all “parts” have good intentions and that when clients access their inner resource called “Self energy,” they can intuitively heal traumatic wounds. We will explore the neuroscience basis of PTSD and Dissociation and show how it can actually inform therapeutic decision-making, especially when working with extreme symptoms commonly associated with complex trauma.

You’ll discover:

  • How to stay clear and calm while working with clients in extreme states.
  • The difference between a compassionate and empathic response and how each can either benefit or escalate your client.
  • When it’s necessary to take over and “be the auxiliary brain” for your client and work from the top-down.
  • When it’s best to slow things down, hand over control and work with the body.
  • How best to overcome common roadblock that interfere with healing relational wounds.

This workshop will include meditations, didactics, video examples and experiential exercises.

Educational Objectives:

After completion of this workshop, participants will:

  1. Participant will be able to identify the difference between a manager and a firefighter.
  2. Participant will be able to apply the theory of memory reconsolidation to the unburdening process.
  3. Participant will be able to describe 3 qualities of Self energy.
  4. Participants will be able to identify parts of them that get triggered when clients are activated.
  5. Participants will be able to identify parts of them that get triggered when clients are withdrawn or numb.
  6. Participants will be able to rename common mental health diagnoses in relation to parts of the self.

Ce-Classes.com will be providing CEs for this workshop. Professionals can obtain their CEs by clicking on this weblink.

Certificates are awarded online after completion of the workshop. Participants print their own certificate after registering at ce-classes.com, entering a keycode, and completing an evaluation form.

About The Instructor: Dr. Frank Anderson began his journey by earning his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1985, followed by his M.D. degree from Rush University Medical School in 1989. He completed his residency in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. After graduation, he stayed on as a clinical instructor at Harvard while working as a staff psychiatrist at the Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute under the direction of Bessel van der Kolk.

In 1994, Dr. Anderson launched his private practice, centered on the treatment of trauma, including single-incident trauma, complex trauma, dissociative identity disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Providing compassionate care, he also specializes in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues. Patients benefit from Dr. Anderson’s psychopharmacology expertise as well as his training in sensory motor psychotherapy (SP) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).

Dr. Anderson’s professional focus expanded in 2004 after he met his mentor and friend Richard Schwarz, Ph.D., founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS), a model that combines systems thinking and multiplicity of the mind. Dr. Anderson learned to integrate the IFS model into his passion for psychopharmacology, neurobiology and trauma therapy; He and Dr. Schwartz currently teach IFS, Trauma and Neuroscience, a five-day intensive training for therapists. In 2013, Dr. Anderson was named chairman of the Foundation for Self Leadership (FSL)—a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing IFS via research, scholarships and outreach.

Today, Dr. Anderson serves as FSL executive director and continues to provide consultation, individual therapy and couples therapy at his office in Concord, Mass. Additionally, he maintains an active career as a speaker, teacher, consultant, writer and researcher who travels the globe, often conducting seminars, workshops and training programs. He also remains affiliated with the Center for Self Leadership and Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute. Find out more about Frank at www.frankandersonmd.com.

To register, click here.

This workshop is held in facilities which are in compliance with the Americans Disabilities Act. Please contact info@potentiatherapy.com if special accommodation is required.

All complaints and grievances are reviewed within 5 working days. Formal grievances are required to be written, and will be responded to within 10 business days.

A huge thank you to our sponsors, Center For Discovery and Reasons Eating Disorder Center.

– – – – –

Sign up for our mailing list to keep up-to-date on upcoming Learning Labs!

If you would like to speak at a future Learning Lab or have a recommendation for a Learning Lab topic, please contact Rebecca Bass-Ching.