An Introduction to Working with Complex Trauma

There is much demand for professionals to support sufferers of trauma and yet there are so few specialist providers in Aotearoa. Often, providers worry that they will ‘get it wrong’ or even, ‘make things worse’. This workshop offers the basics for you to begin to gain confidence in working with complex trauma. 

An evidence-based triphasic model will be introduced as a framework to understand the adjustments you can make to your therapeutic practice. The model will help expand your ability to pace the work with your clients and expand your window of tolerance for hearing confronting material.

This introductory workshop focuses on Phase One of the model, addressing safety for you and your client, psychoeducation and other skills for working with complex trauma. We will also take a brief look at complex dissociation.  

Presenter: Diane Clare

BA, MA (Hons), Dip. Clin. Psych., AFBPS. Fellow ISSTD.; Memberships: NZCCP, MNZAP, ISSTD. Accredited Practitioner in EMDR. Vice Chair EMDRNZ Board.

Diane Clare is a registered Consultant Clinical Psychologist who trained at the University of Canterbury. Diane has worked in mental health and counselling services since 1981, first as a grief counsellor then as a psychotherapist, before becoming registered as a psychologist in 1993. She has worked in leadership and Director level roles across a range of services in both NZ and the UK. In 2022 she was made a Fellow of ISSTD in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the field of trauma and dissociation.