Melissa Harte
The Australian Institute for Emotion Focused Therapy
Title: Practical ways of working with trauma using Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT): Including processing painful/traumatic experiences using Focusing
Biography
Biography: Melissa Harte
Abstract
Background: Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is one of the most rigorously researched forms of humanistic practice and has been shown to be efficacious in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Working trauma requires careful consideration around avoiding re-traumatisation and recognising dissociation. Aim: This workshop will provide participants with introductory knowledge and theoretical understanding of the EFT model and an expanded Focusing model for trauma processing will be briefly presented. Approach: Practical skills taught include grounding, developing dual awareness as proposed by Barbette Rothschild, developing a safe place to promote self-soothing and simple but effective methods to assist with hyperarousal. This model proposes that if a traumatic memory is accessed via bodily felt-sense in conjunction with emotional arousal and activation of other schematic elements, it is possible to reprocess the event in such a way that the person is no longer plagued by the painful aspects of it and not re-traumatised by the re-remembering that occurs when asked to retell their story. If the person is able to express the appropriate primary emotion and articulate their needs within the remembered experience, the associated painful emotional charge is lessened. The event is remembered as having occurred but the emotional intensity is greatly reduced. This reprocessing of the traumatic event is more than a desensitising of that traumatic experience. Conclusion: Participants will be able to apply knowledge gained from this workshop and integrate into their work with their trauma and non-trauma clients immediately as no prior knowledge of EFT is required.