EMDR Advanced Training
Polyvagal Theory and EMDR
Unlock the Power of the Nervous System
Trainer:Â Rebecca Kase
Available on-demandÂ
Do you feel confused about Polyvagal Theory and how to apply it to clinical practice?
Do you want to know how to integrate Polyvagal Theory into EMDR therapy?
Wanting to feel more confidence with your EMDR practice?
Join EMDR and Polyvagal Theory expert, Rebecca Kase for this advanced EMDR workshop. Author of Polyvagal informed EMDR: A neuro-informed approach to healing (2023), Rebecca literally wrote the book on how to integrate Polyvagal into the 8 phases of EMDR.Â
Polyvagal Theory offers powerful insights into how the autonomic nervous system (ANS) shapes our responses to trauma, making it a natural companion to EMDR therapy. This course combines Polyvagal Theory with EMDR’s protocols, giving therapists the tools to approach trauma from both a neurological and somatic perspective. By learning how the ANS impacts memory storage and recall, you’ll deepen your ability to guide clients toward adaptive processing.
Understanding the vagus nerve and the three autonomic circuits—dorsal, sympathetic, and ventral—is central to this training. The vagus nerve is the link between mind and body, influencing how clients experience safety, connection, and danger. By mastering this foundational concept, you’ll gain a clear framework to assess client responses and tailor interventions to support their nervous system’s unique needs. This knowledge is essential in helping clients navigate trauma with greater resilience and stability.
A core part of this course is exploring neuroception—the body’s unconscious scanning for safety or threat. Neuroception can drive clients’ emotional and physiological states, impacting their therapeutic progress. With practical techniques to leverage neuroception, you’ll be able to create a safe space for clients, allowing for more effective reprocessing and integration. These strategies help clients engage the vagal brake, facilitating a regulated and empowered experience during sessions.
Integrating Polyvagal Theory with EMDR transforms the therapeutic relationship and enhances trauma care. This course gives you the skills to co-regulate with clients, ensuring they feel safe and supported throughout their journey. Join us in expanding your understanding of trauma and learn how to bring Polyvagal Theory to life in your practice, helping clients access healing at a deep, lasting level.
This course was recorded on August 22-23rd, 2024.
Available asynchronous-on demand learning.
Free resource from Rebecca Kase
Understanding the Nervous System: A Practical Guide to Polyvagal Theory by Rebecca Kase.
COURSE DETAILS
This course begins by grounding you in the basics of Polyvagal Theory and how it complements EMDR’s Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. You’ll explore how the ANS and memory storage interact, understanding why some memories become stuck in maladaptive states. Through this lens, you’ll learn to recognize autonomic cues that signal where clients are in their trauma responses, laying a foundation for targeted, polyvagal-informed interventions
One key focus is on assessing neuroception and how it can either hinder or support therapeutic progress. You’ll gain techniques for tuning into neuroceptive cues, like subtle shifts in body language or tone, which reveal whether clients feel safe or are entering defensive states. By recognizing these signals, you’ll be able to respond adaptively, using the tools of Polyvagal Theory to create a therapeutic environment that fosters safety and openness.
This training also emphasizes the role of the vagal brake, a mechanism within the vagus nerve that moderates arousal levels in response to perceived threats or comfort. Learning to engage the vagal brake in sessions helps clients shift from heightened states of defense to a more grounded, ventral state, which is essential for effective EMDR reprocessing. You’ll explore practices like anchoring and paced breathing, which enhance vagal tone and support clients through challenging moments.
Finally, we dive into advanced techniques that integrate Polyvagal Theory with EMDR’s desensitization and reprocessing phases. By aligning these models, you’ll be able to help clients reframe and integrate traumatic memories more deeply. This course equips you with the skills to recognize when clients are ready for each phase, ensuring they experience safe, controlled reprocessing. Join us in mastering this integrated approach and transforming the way trauma is addressed in therapy.
AGENDA
Day 1
- Orientation to course and environment
- Overview of Polyvagal informed EMDRÂ
- The autonomic nervous system: mixed states, Phase 1 and clinical interventions
- Neuroception, case conceptualization & clinical interventions
- Q&A
- The vagal brake, vagal tone, and how to build vagal resiliency
- The social engagement system and the EMDR process
- Therapeutic presence
- PVT & AIP overview for Phase 1 and 2 work
- Q&A
Day 2
- Phase 1 Polyvagal informed case conceptualization: why safety comes first, how to track the nervous system to determine readiness
- Introduction to the Preparation Hierarchy
- The Preparation Hierarchy and aligned interventions
- PV-EMDR Treatment Planning & Phase 3 Assessment
- Q&A
- PV-EMDR Phase 4 Desensitization- tracking states, anchoring techniques, interweaves
- Phase 5 & 6 of PV-EMDR
- Phase 7 of PV-EMDR
- Phase 8 of PV-EMDR
- Q&A and course wrap up
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Analyze the research on Polyvagal Theory and relevant criticisms.
- Describe at least two core premises of Polyvagal Theory.
- Analyze the three circuits of the autonomic nervous system, and describe correlated physical and psychological symptoms for each circuit.Â
- Explain how the social engagement system is influenced by autonomic defenses.
- Assess commonalities between Polyvagal Theory and AIP, and describe how to apply these theoretical models to case conceptualization.Â
- Describe at least two premises of the social engagement system, and how those premises relate to the client-therapist relationship.
- List at least two of the four domains of the Preparation Hierarchy, along with corresponding interventions.
- Apply at least two Polyvagal inspired interventions to Phase 2 Preparation work to support stabilization and readiness for reprocessing.
- Analyze the components of the Phase 3 Assessment EMDR protocol through the lens of Polyvagal Theory.
- List at least two Polyvagal informed interweaves.Â
- Explain how Polyvagal Theory relate to phases 5 & 6 of EMDR reprocessing.
- Explain the role of Polyvagal Theory in Phase 7 closure, and at least 2 techniques to close an EMDR reprocessing session.Â
ABOUT YOUR TRAINER, REBECCA KASE
Trauma Therapist Institute Founder Rebecca Kase is recognized as one of the foremost EMDR trainers in the U.S. She is an LCSW, professional EMDR consultant and trainer, registered yoga teacher, and author of Polyvagal Informed EMDR: A Neuro-Informed Approach to Healing (2023). Rebecca has been practicing in the field of trauma counseling since 2006. She’s an expert in working with complex trauma and dissociation and has practiced in both nonprofit and private practice settings. In her own therapy practice, Rebecca incorporates yoga therapy, ego states, somatic approaches, Polyvagal Theory and EMDR into her work with clients, which includes veterans and adults with Complex PTSD. Rebecca is known as a skillful, clear and enthusiastic teacher. She’ll keep you engaged and make you giggle, even in an online trauma training course!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
