Specialty Trainings

Specialty trainings are developed by SPI faculty, and designed for alumni of SP’s training courses.

SP for Complex Trauma and Dissociation

Developed by Dr. Janina Fisher

A Sensorimotor Psychotherapy approach is uniquely suited for clients with complex symptoms and disorders. Clients with Complex PTSD or Borderline Personality Disorder benefit from the emphasis on mindfulness and present day focus, while dissociative disorder clients benefit from working with the body that is a shared whole for all parts. Even when complex clients are body-phobic or have difficulty with movement and action, the techniques can always be adapted to suit their special requirements. This course is also designed for clients who present additional challenges such as suicidality, self-harm, addictive behavior and eating disorder. Slowing the pace, working with ‘slivers’ of information, combining body and parts work, capitalizing on the principles all contribute to expanding the Window of Tolerance.

The training in Complex Trauma and Dissociation consists of approximately 50 contact hours divided into 2 to 4 multi-day modules, for a total of 8 days. Modules are typically spaced 6-8 weeks apart; trainings typically complete within 3-6 months.
  • Challenges in treatment of complex trauma and dissociative disorder clients
  • Dysregulated autonomic arousal
  • Impulsive and unsafe behavior
  • Difficulty connecting to one’s emotions and body
  • Dissociative compartmentalization
  • Difficulty sustaining dual awareness
  • Hypoactive and hyperactive defenses
  • Addressing barriers to effective treatment
  • Increasing the client’s capacity for mindfulness and top-down regulation
  • Working with the body with body-phobic clients
  • Overcoming traumatic reactions through the practice of new actions
  • Titrating interventions for dysregulated clients
  • Facilitating neuroplasticity through repetition and practice
  • Resolving inner conflicts that impede healthy boundaries and defenses
  • Working with memory with dysregulated clients
  • Reorganizing orienting and defensive responses with dissociative clients
  • Helping dysregulated clients sustain dual awareness
  • Processing present experience and implicit memory
  • Becoming a neurobiological regulator
  • Somatic countertransference
  • Attunement and contact with fragmented individuals
  • Interactive regulatory techniques for dysregulated/dissociative clients

View Continuing Education/Continuing Professional Development Documents

Candidates for the training in Complex Trauma and Dissociation must fulfill each of the following criteria to be considered for enrollment:

  • Successful completion of Level I Training – Trauma
  • Recommendation from Level I trainer
  • Completion of Application
The body’s intelligence is largely an untapped resource in psychotherapy, yet the story told by the “somatic narrative”—gesture, posture, prosody, facial expressions, eye-gaze, and movement—is arguably more significant than the story told by words.
Pat Ogden and Janina Fisher

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