Guilt, Shame & The Trauma Survivor: Integrated Modalities to Move Therapy Forward

CPD

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Faculty

Lisa Ferentz, LCSW-C, DAPA Related seminars and products

The Ferentz Institute

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Lisa Ferentz, LCSW-C, DAPA, is a recognized expert in the strengths-based, de-pathologized treatment of trauma and has been in private practice for over 35 years. She presents workshops and keynote addresses nationally and internationally, and is a clinical consultant to practitioners and mental health agencies in the United States, Canada, the UK, and Ireland.

She has been an adjunct faculty member at several universities, and is the founder of “The Ferentz Institute,” now in its 12th year of providing continuing education to mental health professionals and graduating over 1,600 clinicians from her two certificate programs in Advanced Trauma Treatment.

In 2009, she was voted the “Social Worker of Year” by the Maryland Society for Clinical Social Work. Lisa is the author of Treating Self-Destructive Behaviors in Trauma Survivors: A Clinician’s Guide, 2nd Edition (Routledge, 2014), Letting Go of Self-Destructive Behaviors: A Workbook of Hope and Healing (Routledge, 2014), and Finding Your Ruby Slippers: Transformative Life Lessons From the Therapist’s Couch (PESI, 2017). Lisa also hosted a weekly radio talk show, writes blogs and articles for websites on self-harm and self-care, and teaches on many webinars.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Lisa Ferentz maintains a private practice and is the Founder and President of the Ferentz Institute. She receives royalties as a published author and is a consultant for Northwest Hospital. Lisa Ferentz receives a speaking honorarium and product royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Lisa Ferentz is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the American Psychotherapy Association.

Objectives

1. Describe the differences between guilt and shame and why shame impedes healing in trauma therapy work.
2. Identify at least three specific dynamics of trauma and early childhood coping strategies that promote and sustain shame.
3. Identify four indirect benefits that clients receive from retaining guilt and shame emotions.
4. Explain the role of the Inner Critic and Internal Family Systems as a therapy model that promotes shame reduction.
5. Describe the role that attunement and the therapeutic relationship play in helping clients process shame.
6. Implement at least two creative strategies to enhance client curiosity and self-compassion in therapy.
7. Design a treatment plan that incorporates three creative strategies that promote shame healing that helps to move trauma therapy forward.

Outline

Guilt, Shame and Common Client Misconceptions

• The nature of abuse specific to your client
• Common misconceptions of guilt
• Life experiences that manifest as guilt
• The caretaker as perpetrator
• Attachment and abuse
• ”Participation” guilt in sexual trauma
• Case study: when Susan believed the abuse was her fault

Psychoeducation: Navigating Guilt

• Assess and identify the presence of guilt and shame
• The meaning and function of both guilt and shame as adaptive for survival
• Finding ways to make guilt productive and reparative
• Self-destructive coping behaviours
• From paralyzed to taking extraordinary action
• Reframe symptoms
• Cognitive reframing & behavioural strategies
• Case study: Janet and survivor guilt

Shame: The Root of Who I Am

• The mistake of using guilt and shame interchangeably: for clinician and client
• Pervasive and debilitating: intractability of shame emotions
• When your client presents as “hopeless”
• The trauma survivors’ DSM: dirty, crazy weird, abnormal
• Case study: Alex’s inner critic and its impact on self-worth

Treatment Planning: Techniques from Internal Family Systems (Schwartz)

• Working with parts, the language and clinical benefit
• The Inner Critic: the protector part for future survival
• Exploring the secondary gain of shame and why letting go is complicated

Cognitive and Emotional Antidotes to Shame in the Clinical Setting

• Leading the client to curiosity
• Working with attachment and familial loyalty
• Self-compassion: transformational skills that evoke empathy
• The impact of self-talk
• Writing experiential: the crossroad of a thought

Integrating Creative Modalities to Process Guilt & Shame

• Using art therapeutically – processing clients’ artwork
• Experiential: Body Mapping
• Accessing somatic resources that help reduce guilt and shame
• Experiential: Two-handed writing to increase compassion between parts
• Exploring spirituality and religious observance

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Case Managers
• Addiction Counselors
• Therapists
• Marriage & Family Therapists
• Nurses
• Other Mental Health Professionals