Cardiology, Autonomic Regulation, and Trauma: Understanding Heart–Body Dynamics Through Sensorimotor Psychotherapy™

Format: Live Online Learning
Date: October 22, 2026 | 11:00 AM–1:30 PM ET (find your timezone)
Access: Live + 90-Day Recording & Material Access
Presenters: Alessandra Ciolfi, LCP, CBT RP & Stefano Bianchi, MD

When a client says, “My heart is racing,” what might their body be communicating?

A pounding heart. Tightness in the chest. A sudden awareness of heartbeat. When cardiac sensations emerge in therapy, they can raise important clinical questions about the relationship between the heart, autonomic nervous system, trauma, attachment, and present-moment experience.

Join Certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapy™ Trainer Alessandra Ciolfi and cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist Stefano Bianchi, MD, for an interdisciplinary exploration of what clinicians can learn when cardiology and body-oriented psychotherapy enter the conversation.

Throughout this live learning experience, clinicians will explore:

• How stress and trauma may influence autonomic regulation and cardiac sensations
• Connections among arousal, emotion, bodily sensation, and the perception of threat
• How attachment and lived experience may shape the way clients notice, interpret, and respond to sensations from the heart
• Ways to approach experiences such as a racing or pounding heart and chest sensations with clinical curiosity
• How body awareness within Sensorimotor Psychotherapy™ can contribute to clinical understanding
• Important distinctions between psychotherapeutic exploration and appropriate medical evaluation

Bringing together psychotherapeutic and cardiological perspectives, this session offers clinicians a more nuanced framework for listening not only to what clients say, but also to what may be unfolding through the body as they say it.

Designed for mental health practitioners interested in trauma, attachment, autonomic regulation, and integrating an embodied perspective into clinical practice. No previous Sensorimotor Psychotherapy™ experience is required.

Join live or access the recording and course materials for 90 days following the event.

Cost: $159 | CEs: 2.5