Toolbox for Therapists and Their Clients
Self-care of the therapist
Trauma therapists need to work on their own self care. The experience of witnessing many terrible histories in their patients, the frequently challenging therapeutic relationship with trauma survivors, make the therapist self care very important. But during the pandemic time, a new situation appears, where professionals are on the one hand the ones who help others, and on the other one direct affected by the general stressful environment.
This video series includes some reflections and tools for improving therapists’ self care.
Psychiatrist and psychotherapist trained in various orientations, incl. Group Therapy, Cognitive Analytic Therapy, Systemic Therapy and trauma-oriented therapies. PhD in Medicine and specialist in Criminology. She is member of the European Society for Trauma and Dissociation (ESTD) and is Vice President in the EMDR Spanish Association.
Anabele Gonzales
MD, PhDTowards a Safe Foothold in the Present
A safe foothold in the present is required as part of the process of healing from past trauma as well as dealing with crises such as the corona-pandemic. This involves the building of regulatory skills to help the individual to regulate difficult emotions, impulses, and dissociation related to past trauma and current crises. Containment and grounding skills are emphasized as important to learn and master early in treatment. The following videos give suggestions for different approaches to containment and grounding. They are designed for survivors of complex trauma, and may be utilized in collaboration with their therapists. The videos include; two introductory videos followed by eight videos with different approaches to containment and grounding strategies, and a video summarizing the main learning points. The text of the manuscripts can also be downloaded directly, see link below.
Transcription
- Introduction I: General Strategies for Coping with Stress and Crisis
- Introduction II: About Containment and Grounding
- 1. Mental grounding
- 3. Using your senses to ground yourself
- 5. Distraction
- 6. Safe place
- 7. Containing Memories
- 8. Relationships as a Container
- 9. Breathing and Containing
- Summing up: Steps towards a safe foothold in the present
Links to available translations of the texts:
Therapist, supervisor, trainer, and researcher in the area of trauma and dissociation. National work location: Department for Trauma Treatment, Modum Bad Psychiatric Center, Norway. Period: 2019-2022.
