Many of the wounds people sustain in developmental trauma occur when the right brain is developing, which is tied to the autonomic nervous system and the polyvagal nervous system. While talk therapy can be helpful in recovery from trauma and addiction, many of the therapies we employ as practitioners can be improved upon by using techniques that access the right side of the brain, where the original traumas occurred.

1. Carlos Martinez, M.Div., MSMHC,
LPC, ACS, CET II, CSAT Candidate
Clinical Supervisor, Onsite
Workshops

2. The Right Brain and
Experiential Therapy

5. Questions that people
will ask in therapy:
Was It Even Trauma?
Do I deserve to be here?

6. People will tend to ask
these questions as a
function of their denial

7. What is hard for
clinicians sometimes is
understanding that the
client needs to deny their
reality because they are
not ready to grieve their
losses

8. While the clients’ minds
may tell them it wasn’t
real, their bodies will tell
a different story. We
need to learn how to
attune to that other story

9. ?

11. DSM V DEFINITION OF PTSD
Criterion A (one required): The person was exposed to: death, threatened
death, actual or threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual
violence, in the following way(s):
• Direct exposure
• Witnessing the trauma
• Learning that a relative or close friend was exposed to a trauma
• Indirect exposure to aversive details of the trauma, usually in the course
of professional duties (e.g., first responders, medics)
Criterion B (one required): The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced,
in the following way(s):
• Unwanted upsetting memories
• Nightmares
• Flashbacks
• Emotional distress after exposure to traumatic reminders
• Physical reactivity after exposure to traumatic reminders

12. POST TRAUMATIC STRESS
DISORDER
Intrusive thoughts such as repeated, involuntary memories; distressing
dreams; or flashbacks of the traumatic event. Flashbacks may be so vivid
that people feel they are re-living the traumatic experience or seeing it
before their eyes.
Avoiding reminders of the traumatic event may include avoiding people,
places, activities, objects and situations that bring on distressing memories.
People may try to avoid remembering or thinking about the traumatic
event. They may resist talking about what happened or how they feel about
it.
Negative thoughts and feelings may include ongoing and distorted beliefs
about oneself or others (e.g., “I am bad,” “No one can be trusted”); ongoing
fear, horror, anger, guilt or shame; much less interest in activities previously
enjoyed; or feeling detached or estranged from others.
Arousal and reactive symptoms may include being irritable and having
angry outbursts; behaving recklessly or in a self-destructive way; being
easily startled; or having problems concentrating or sleeping.

13. What can you
relate to?

28. THIS IS TRAUMA

35. THIS IS TRAUMA

36. RESPONSES TO TRAUMA
• Codependency
• Drinking/using drugs
• Self-harm
• Dissociation
• Use of pornography
• Sex, affairs
• Gambling
• Eating
• Suicidal thoughts

59. Esther Perel
Time does not exist on its
own. You have to give it
meaning. You have to shape
it.

60. WAS IT TRAUMA?
• It was trauma
• You have every right to your
experience
• You have a right to your pain and your
story
• Your history is not your destiny

61. Bibliography
Badenoch, B. (2008). Being a Brain-Wise Therapist. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc.
Dana, D. (2018). The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy. Yew York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.
Dayton, T. (2015). Neuropsychodrama in the Treatment of Relational Trauma. Deerfield Beach: Health Communications, Inc.
Harris, N. B. (2015, Feb 17). How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime. Retrieved from YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95ovIJ3dsNk&t=11s
How Trauma Can Impact Four Types of Memory [Infographic]. (2017). Retrieved from National Institute for the Clinical Application
of Behavioral Medicine: https://www.nicabm.com/trauma-how-trauma-can-impact-4-types-of-memory-infographic/
Jane Ellen Stevens. (n.d.). Got Your ACE Score? Retrieved from ACES too high: https://acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score/
Levine, P. (2010). In An Unspoken Voice. Berkely: North Atlantic Books.
Office for Victims of Crime, United States Departmentof Justice. (2017, Jan 23). The Neurobiology of Trauma and Sexual Assault.
Retrieved from Slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/hlhas300/2017-neurobiology-of-trauma-and-sexual-
assault?from_action=save
Schore, A. (2019). Right Brain Psychotherapy. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.
Starecheski, L. (2015, March 2). Take The ACE Quiz — And Learn What It Does And Doesn't Mean. Retrieved from NPR:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean
Tronick, E. (2009, Nov 30). Still Face Experiment: Dr. Edward Tronick. Retrieved from YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apzXGEbZht0&t=2s
(2017, Dec 08). Where Should We Begin? Season 1 ep 3. (E. Perel, Interviewer)