Distance Training in Developing a Secure Self
This distance program, Imaginal
Nurturing, Ego States, and Attachment: An Integrated
Approach to Early Deficits, is a continuing education program
for therapists working with adults. It was developed within the context
of my EMDR work; however, while there are references to EMDR in this training,
this attachment and ego state approach can be valuable to any therapist.
This is the most up-to-date (2010) material I offer. It is not simply a video of a workshop you were unable to attend, but rather was created specifically for distance learning. In it, you will have the opportunity to "sit in on" segments of numerous sessions with a client who generously allowed some of her sessions to be videotaped to foster the learning of other therapists in the Developing a Secure Self approach. Many other clinical examples are given throughout the training. There are also two experiential segments so you have some personal experience of what you will be asking clients to do.
The format consists of:
6 DVDs of lecture with slides
a 53-page manual supporting the DVD content
1 CD providing two experiential segments
There is a test included with the manual for those applying for CE hours (cost of processing the test is $35). The program is approved for 12 hours by NASW (provider #886425802) and the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (provider #4516) and 13 hours by EMDRIA.
This program has the advantage of allowing you to proceed at your own pace, in your own time and space. No need to get overloaded with masses of material being squeezed into two days! It also makes much more sense ecologically than travelling some distance to attend a workshop and allows continuing education to be more economical.
Evaluations of the distance training program
A summary of the evaluations from this training program have been in this first year:
Content (average) 4.9 (range from 1=strongly
disagree to 5=strongly agree)
Presenter (average) 4.9
Overall workshop (average) 4.9
Some therapists' responses to the distance training program
''I'm just finishing up the 'Developing a Secure Self' distance training. I spent about 10 days (since the afternoon I got it in the mail!) immersing myself in this fantastic program. I have really, really enjoyed the wonderfully helpful insights I gained through this DVD series -- and the manual. In particular, I learned a lot about discovering the 'child parts' of clients, retrieval, and how to provide Imaginal Nurturing. I also enjoyed the refresher on various attachment types.
I found the interface of EMDR with Imaginal Nurturing to be a powerful combinaton for healing, and cannot wait to try some of this process with my own clients. I feel deeply moved and inspired to be doing this work, and feel grateful to you for your inventions/ideas while connecting in a heart space with clients." ~ Laurel Holmes, LMHC
"This presentation has been the most enlightening training I have ever taken. It has given me a lens to see my clients from an attachment approach and a method to attend to these needs of the younger parts of my adult clients in all stages of therapy, including trauma processing.
I truly appreciated understanding characteristics of my own attachment style in relation to the client's and how this can be used as a guidepost for establishing more secure therapeutic relationshiops. Gradually incorporating these new understandings has already greatly enriched my practice. The manual also, is in itself an excellent reference guide that I will keep handy in my office. I highly recommend this training. Thank you, April!"
~ Karole Holtkamp, MA LPC
Content Differences from 2002-2008 Trainings
Since my early trainings, both the approach and my teaching of it have changed, becoming more fully developed and fine-tuned. Imaginal Nurturing began in 2000 as an intervention, but over time has evolved into an ego state approach that is integrated into the whole of therapy from the conceptualization of the client and the therapeutic relationship to the therapy itself.
In my earlier trainings, I offered sample guided imagery scripts to facilitate the participant's transition into working in this way. What I have found is that many therapists stayed with the scripts and used them simply as an intervention rather than as a stepping stone to relating directly and responsively to the younger ego states of the client. There is now more emphasis on the therapeutic relationship and on DSS as an over-all ego state approach that differs from other such methods which are trauma and/or pathology based. I have made changes in the training to better facilitate the incorporation of DSS into the practice of participants.
There are new videotapes of clinical work demonstrating both the therapeutic relationship as one of attachment and of incorporating Imaginal Nurturing into EMDR therapy.
Some therapist responses to earlier Developing a Secure Self trainings
"An amazing workshop in every respect! April's work, to me, represents a very skilled approach to ego state therapy.... As a clinician/psychologist practising for almost 20 years, I can count on one hand the workshops that have changed my practice. April's is now one of them." ~ Hilary Searles, PhD
"I enjoyed your workshop and have recommended it to many people. The materials and the concepts were fabulous. You seem like a master clinician as well.... Thanks again for the great workshop. (Just to put this in perspective, I have never written a thank you after a workshop and I have been doing them for 30 years." ~ Carol Lindquist, PhD
"Thank you for your independence of thought, your creative vision, focused on the client's needs. The presentation reflected discernment, intelligence, and integrity, plus a grounded self-awareness as a basis for safety in the therapeutic environment....The material, and the affirmation of the total client, as well as resourcing the therapist with tools which impact the self-awareness of the client with empowerment and love, well, as you know, this is few and far between...." and six months later "I have been consistently pleased by the sustainability, the endurance, of the outcomes...." ~ Paul Albert, MA
"You have made an incredible contribution to our field. Thank you!" ~ Sherri Gonzales, MA MFT
The Contents of the Distance Training Program
The six DVDs are divided into chapters ranging from 20 to 48 minutes to allow you to more easily make use of the program in convenient blocks of time:
DISK#1
Chapter 1: Introduction (24 min.)
Chapter 2.: Early Research and Attachment Classification (27 min.)
Chapter 3: Attachment and Self Structure (26 min.)
Chapter 4: The Therapeutic Relationship as an Attachment Relationship
(33 min.)
DISK#2
Chapter 5: Therapy and the Child (31 min.)
Chapter 6: Imaginal Nurturing Introduction (28 min.)
Chapter 7: More Principles of Imaginal Nurturing (31 min.)
Chapter 8: Still More Principles of Imaginal Nurturing (21 min.)
EXPERIENTIAL COMPONENT CD
DISK #3
Chapter 9: Basic Imaginal Nurturing 1 (27 min.)
Chapter 10: Basic Imaginal Nurturing 2 (43 min.)
Chapter 11: The Retrieval, Traumatic Memories as Movies, and Straight
Talking (48 min.)
DISK #4
Chapter 12: Introduction to Newborn Imaginal Nurturing (41 min.)
EXPERIENTIAL COMPONENT CD
DISK #4 (continued)
Chapter 13: Newborn Imaginal Nurturing Example (28 min.)
Chapter 14: Infants and Attachment Imagery (31 min.)
DISK #5
Chapter 15: Attachment Processing (21 min.)
Chapter 16: Exploration Imagery (39 min.)
DISK #6
Chapter 17: The Relationship to EMDR - Phase 1 (37 min.)
Chapter 18: The Relationship to EMDR - Phases 2-8 (25 min.)
The accompanying 53-page manual includes the Nurturing and Encouraging Messages sheet and the Therapy Lifeline, both of which may be copied for clinical use. They are not bound with the rest of the manual to facilitate this use.
Technological Requirements for the Distance Training Program
The training program requires only the use of a DVD player and a CD player.
Continuing Education Hours
The program is approved by the National Association of Social Workers (provider #886425802) and the California Board of Behavioral Science (provider #4516) for 12 CE hours and EMDRIA for 13 hours.
In order to receive a certificate of completion for this program, you must have purchased the manual (as part of the program or on its own if you are doing the program as part of a group) and completed the test with a grade of at least 80% and submitted the course evaluation form. The test for CE hours is sent out with the manual and is to be submitted upon completion with a $35 administration fee and the course evaluation. The test requires your signature confirming that you have completed the program in its entirety and have written the test yourself. In order to be able to answer the questions on the test, you need to have seen the entire program of DVDs and used the CD.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this program.