Houston Psychoanalytic Society
Evening Speaker Series
Trauma, Polyvagal Theory and Therapeutic Presence
J. Christopher Fowler, PhD
Thursday, May 2, 2024
7:30PM – 9:00PM Central Time

Live via Zoom
*Pre-Registration required for Zoom invitation
This event will not be recorded

Registration Fees
HPS Full Member: Free
HPS Student Member: Free
Non-Member: $30

1.5 CME/CEU/CE Credits

Instructional Level: Beginner - Advanced
One of the most damaging sequelae of trauma is the loss of trust and security in interpersonal relationships (Fonagy & Allison, 2014.) When encountering a patient with traumatic interpersonal experiences, we cannot assume a capacity to trust or to form a safe, secure attachment. Nor can we assume the capacity to learn or benefit from the therapy relationship because the edifice of trust (epistemic trust) can be so damaged as to make new ideas impossible (Fonagy & Campbell, 2017.) This evening lecture will tie together three threads of clinical and research work to help identify epistemic hypervigilance, how to use paralinguistic modes of communication to reach our patients (Gedo, 1996,) use marked-contingent mirroring to reduce epistemic distrust, and open channels of receptive language blocked by fear and attachment insecurity. The foundation of the fear response has been articulated most clearly in the polyvagal theory (Porges, 2009) and linked with a basic therapeutic presence (Geller & Porges, 2014) to aid trust and reducing fear responses in clinical encounters. Brief clinical vignettes will highlight these principles for translating to daily clinical practice.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After attending the program in its entirety, attendees will be able to:
  1. Identify the impacts of trauma on epistemic trust, attachment security, and new learning.
  2. Grasp the elements of paralinguistic communications as a crucial mode of communication in clinical encounters.
  3. Describe the psychological functions (therapist activity) that support paralinguistic communications and promote therapeutic presence.
Presenter
Dr. Fowler is Professor of Psychology in Neurosurgery, Houston Methodist Academic Institute in Houston, Texas, and Professor of Psychology in Clinical Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. He previously worked at Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and at Menninger Clinic in Houston. He is an internationally recognized personality researcher and is past editor of The Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic. His current scientific publications are in the areas of suicide, depression, neuroimaging, and treatment outcome.

REFERENCES
1) Fonagy P. & Allison E. (2014). The role of mentalizing and epistemic trust in the therapeutic relationship. Psychotherapy, 51(3):372.
2) Fonagy P., Campbell C. J. (2017). Mentalizing, attachment and epistemic trust: How psychotherapy can promote resilience. Psychiatria Hungarica, 32(3): 283-7.
3) Porges SW. (2009). The polyvagal theory: New insights into adaptive reactions of the autonomic nervous system. Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine,76(Suppl 2): S86.
4) Geller S.M. & Porges S.W. (2014).Therapeutic presence: Neurophysiological mechanisms mediating feeling safe in therapeutic relationships. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 24(3): 178.

IMAGE of vagus nerve system from CanStock
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association and Houston Psychoanalytic Society. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s)* to disclose with ineligible companies* whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

*Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.

-Updated July 2021-
Houston Psychoanalytic Society is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Houston Psychoanalytic Society maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

HPS, through co-sponsorship with the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies, also offers approved CEUs for Texas state-approved social workers, licensed professional counselors, and marriage and family therapists.
1302 Waugh Dr. #276, Houston, TX 77019
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