Mitigating Traumatic Stress with Somatic Interventions

These workshops are designed for clinicians interested in body based techniques to mitigate traumatic stress. Interventions that change physiology need to be able to bypass the rational brain and reach the autonomic nervous system. Using the work of Stephen Porges, Peter Levine, Bo Forbes and others, you will learn concrete skills to change physiology and promote the regulation of your clients.

The effects of trauma can be devastating. Whether the trauma is acute, chronic, early developmental cultural or ancestral, as clinicians, it is essential to know how to orient the client to a felt sense of safety and power in the physical body.

Each session starts with 30 minutes of therapeutic yoga, followed by lecture and experiential. The sessions can be taken separately, though it is recommended to take the first one to get the foundational information.

We will cover:

Session 1 (3/2)

-Yoga for Digestion

-The polyvagal theory and the physiology of traumatic stress 

-Exploring dynamics and ethics of touch

-Techniques to support a felt sense of grounding

Session 2 (4/6)

-Yoga for Immunity (the Lymphatic System)

-How to work with the Sympathetic system

-Somatic interventions to support discharge and create neural platforms for boundary making and empowerment

Session 3 (4/27)

-Restorative Yoga 

-The physiology of collapse

-Strategies to identify and support collapse in session

Session 4 (5/11)

-Yin Yoga for Embodiment

-How to guide interoception and neuroception

-The importance of a felt sense of containment and how to support that with somatic techniques

Session 5 (5/25)

-Pranayama (breath work)

-The anatomy of the breath and how to use the breath to change physiological states

-Embodying the pause

5 Saturdays, 3/2, 4/6, 4/27, 5/11, 5/25

4-6:30, 

10 CEs pending2 (per session)

Each session can be taken individually, though it is recommended to take the first session because it lays the foundation.

$70 per session (includes CEs). To hold a spot you can PayPal payment to Alicia.barmon@gmail.com  (friends/family) for as many sessions as you plan to attend. Full refunds up to one week before.

At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:

Demonstrate understanding of the Polyvagal Theory and its application to working with traumatic stress.
-Apply somatic interventions to mitigate traumatic stress.
-Use the breath to change physiological states.
-Identify high tone and low tone dorsal states and support the completion of high tone dorsal states.
-Assess physiological states as they arise.
-Utilize somatic interventions to complete sympathetic activation.
-Create neural platforms for empowerment, stabilization and safety.

This is a beginning level program.

Accommodations for the Differently Abled

Individuals needing special accommodations, please contact: Alicia Barmon, Alicia.barmon@gmail.com, 617.319.1162.

It is the participant’s responsibility to check with their individual state boards to verify CE requirements for their state. 

Continuing Education Credit is pending through The Maryland Board of Professional Counselors. 

Only 8 spots

Please email Alicia for more information and to sign up. alicia.barmon@gmail.com

Alicia Barmon, LCPC, is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Yoga Therapist in Frederick, MD.

Grievance Policy

Ahimsa Therapy seeks to ensure equitable treatment of every person and to make every attempt to resolve grievances in a fair manner. Please submit a written grievance to: Alicia Barmon, Alicia.barmon@gmail.com, 617.319.1162. Grievances would receive, to the best of our ability, corrective action in order to prevent further problems.

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Trauma Informed Yoga for Yoga Teachers

50 hours

Learn how to transform the lives of trauma survivors through the healing practice of yoga. This 50 hour training module will explore many different types of trauma, how they manifest in the body and the tools necessary to create a safe and supportive space for healing. Trauma informed yoga presents an opportunity for those who have experienced trauma to heal as a whole person, tapping into the inner resources needed to find peace and safety through the mind, body and spirit. Participants will gain a clear understanding and framework for teaching any type of yoga through a trauma informed lens. This comprehensive module will offer tools and knowledge from the growing field of trauma research, yoga and mindfulness and will equip teachers with the knowledge and confidence to guide their students through a yoga practice that will help to manage, ease and begin to dissolve symptoms of trauma. This training takes place over 3 weekends and will include lecture, experiential learning, discussion, sample trauma informed classes, practice teaching, and much more. Some topics included are:

• Making the connection: the impact of trauma & the intersection of yoga
• Methodology and applications of trauma informed yoga
• Neurobiology & science of trauma and its impact on the physical, mental & emotional body
• The stress response and the nervous system
• Foundations of teaching trauma informed yoga
• Breath, mindfulness and trauma
• Yoga postures, breathing techniques, and meditations to support trauma survivors and aide in self-regulation
• Creating trauma informed cuing, sequences, theming & series
• Creating culturally sensitive healing spaces & supporting students
• Creating surveys, intakes and measuring outcomes
• Finding your niche as a trauma informed yoga teacher
• Triggers, language, touch and trauma informed savasana
• Self-awareness (how our personal life experiences inform our work)
• Vicarious trauma & self-care

Ethics & boundaries
To lead this timely and sensitive topic, we are bringing together two highly qualified teachers. Shelley Pentony is a Trauma Certified Yoga Teacher, a National Trainer on violence and prevention, and has many years of experience working with trauma survivors. Alicia Barmon, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Psychotherapist, yoga teacher and body worker, brings her extensive professional training in the effects of trauma on the nervous system.

Registration for the complete training is required. $725, $600 if a Sol Yoga Member or a YTT alum. This training qualifies toward Part B of Sol Yoga Advanced Yoga Teacher Training. CEU’s available.

Group meets Friday night 6-9pm, Saturdays 12-5pm & Sundays 9-4pm during these 3 weekends: Sept 21-23 / Oct 12-14 / Nov 2-4. Additional outside assignments are included to receive 50 hours of CEU’s.

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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF YOGA –

February to May 2020

This four weekend, 100 hour deep training program dives specifically into a more therapeutic approach to yoga from the perspective of Yoga Psychology, Yoga Therapy and Trauma Informed Yoga. It will expose you to the mechanics of stress, teach you how to identify trauma, support transformation and facilitate healing through yoga. This module will also be a deep dive into your own work- an exploration of liberation through the koshas and an inquiry into the yoga of relationship with self and other. Led by C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, Somatic Psychotherapist and SEP Alicia Barmon and experienced Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher Trainer Shelley Pentony. These gifted therapists, trainers and teachers are leading the way in this emerging field. You will be held and learn to hold space for yoga as a profoundly healing practice. This training can also be taken independently for 100 CEU’s or paired with Parts A & C to complete Sol’s 300 hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Certification through the Yoga Alliance. Entire 100hr training is $1600. If registering for additional programs, significant discounts and payment plans may be available.