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Digital Seminar

Attachment-Centered Trauma Therapy: Healing Therapeutic Ruptures and Restoring Bonds


Speaker:
Robert T. Muller, PhD
Duration:
6 Hours 10 Minutes
Language:
Presented in EN, subtitles in EN, handouts in EN and FR
Format:
Audio and Video
Copyright:
Jun 20, 2025
Product Code:
POS150194
Media Type:
Digital Seminar


Description

This practical workshop, led by Dr. Robert T. Muller, author of psychotherapy bestseller: Trauma and the Avoidant Client, builds our understanding of the therapeutic relationship with challenging trauma clients.

As therapists, we try to maintain a strong therapeutic relationship, but this can be easier said than done. Drawing on attachment theory and research, and using a relational, integrative approach, Dr. Muller follows the ups and downs of the therapy relationship in trauma work. He points to choices therapists make in navigating the process, examining how they affect outcome.

Specifically, we look at relationship patterns in trauma work, and how these can lead to troubling therapist-client enactments. When left unchecked, such patterns lead to ruptures in the relationship. In trauma work, how do we repair a ruptured alliance? And how can we help clients grow from the experience? This workshop looks at such issues in detail.

Theory is complemented by case examples and therapy segments. We draw from Dr. Muller's most recent therapy book, Trauma and the Struggle to Open Up, winner of the 2019 ISSTD award for the year’s best written work on trauma.

Credit

Program Information

Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationships

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.



Canada Credit - *

NOTE: Tuition includes one free CE Certificate (participant will be able to print the certificate of completion after passing the online post-test (80% passing score) and completing the evaluation). Instructional methods will include PowerPoint, didactic lecture, and others.

Continuing Education Information:  Listed below are the continuing education credit(s) currently available for this non-interactive self-study package. Program content is reviewed periodically per accrediting board rules for currency and appropriateness for credit. Credit approvals are subject to change. Please note, your licensing board dictates whether self-study is an acceptable form of continuing education, as well as which credit types are acceptable for continuing education hours. Please refer to your licensing board's rules and regulations. If your profession is not listed, please contact your licensing board to determine your continuing education requirements and check for reciprocal approval. 
For other credit inquiries not specified below, please contact info@pesi.com or 800-844-8260 before purchase.

Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the authorized practice of your profession.  As a licensed professional, you are responsible for reviewing the scope of practice, including activities that are defined in law as beyond the boundaries of practice in accordance with and in compliance with your profession's standards.  

For Planning Committee disclosures, please see the statement above.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.

 


Canada Credit - ---

Earn up to 6.0 CE hours. Please see below, for more details, as credit amounts vary by jurisdiction and profession. 


Canada Credit - Canadian Counsellors and Psychotherapists

PESI, Inc. is approved by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association to offer continuing education for counsellors and psychotherapists. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for the program. This self-study activity is approved for 6.0 credit hours.


Canada Credit - Canadian Psychologists

PESI, Inc. is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for the program. This program is approved for 6.0 self-study continuing education hours. Full credit statement at: www.pesi.com/cpa-statement


Canada Credit - Social Workers - National ASWB ACE

PESI, Inc., #1062, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: January 27, 2023 - January 27, 2026. Social workers completing this course receive 6.0 Clinical continuing education credits.

 

Course Level: Intermediate Format: Recorded asynchronous distance. Full attendance is required; no partial credits will be offered for partial attendance.

 

Canadian Social Workers: Canadian provinces may accept activities approved by the ASWB for ongoing professional development.


Canada Credit - Other Professions

This self-study activity qualifies for 6.0 continuing education clock hours as required by many national and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Save your activity advertisement and certificate of completion, and contact your own board or organization for specific requirements.



Handouts

Speaker

Robert T. Muller, PhD's Profile

Robert T. Muller, PhD Related seminars and products


Robert T. Muller, PhD, completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard, was on faculty at the University of Massachusetts, and is currently a professor at York University in Toronto. Dr. Muller is a fellow and member of several scientific societies and is the 2024 recipient of the Pierre Janet Award for his work in the field of trauma treatment. His most recent psychotherapy book Trauma & the Struggle to Open Up was awarded the 2019 Written Media Award for the year’s best written work on trauma. And his award-winning bestseller, Trauma & the Avoidant Client has been translated widely. As lead investigator on several multi-site programs to treat interpersonal trauma, Dr. Muller has lectured internationally. He founded an online magazine, The Trauma & Mental Health Report that is now visited by over 100,000 readers a year. With over 30 years in the field, he practices in Toronto.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Robert Muller maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with York University and is the director of Trauma Practice for Building Healthy Communities. He is the founder and editor of The Trauma & Mental Health Report. He receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Muller receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Robert Muller is an editorial board member for Attachment: New Directions in Psychotherapy and sent Relational Psychoanalysis, the Open Journal of Medical Psychology, and the International Society for the Study of Trauma & Dissociation. He is a manuscript reviewer for several peer review journals, for a complete list contact PESI, Inc. Dr. Muller is a member of the Ontario Psychological Association and is a fellow with the International Society of the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.

 

 

 


Additional Info

Program Information

Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)

Access never expires for this product.

For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepesi@pesi.com.


Questions?

Visit our FAQ page at https://www.pesicanada.ca/faq or contact us at https://www.pesicanada.ca/contact-us.


Objectives

  1. Use an attachment theory framework in relational trauma work.
  2. Identify therapist-client relationship patterns in trauma treatment.
  3. Determine therapist’s feelings regarding trauma work in the therapeutic process.
  4. Identify problematic relational enactments.
  5. Determine conflicts and relational ruptures to get treatment back on track.
  6. Use conflicts and relational ruptures to bring about posttraumatic growth.

Outline

Opening Up About Trauma: A Relational Process

  • When trauma teaches silence: “You mustn’t tell anyone!
  • How trauma stories “leak out” in therapy—even when clients resist opening up
  • Avoidance in trauma work: Why clients sidestep painful feelings and relationships
  • Mutual avoidance: When both therapist and client unconsciously steer away from trauma—“This feels too overwhelming!
  • Risks and limitations of the research

Pacing the Process: Using the Therapeutic Relationship to Regulate Disclosure

  • Recognizing when a client rushes into trauma work—and why it can backfire
  • Techniques to slow down and create a sense of safety before diving deeper
  • When the therapist moves too fast: Understanding the impulse to push forward
  • How rushing—on either side—can destabilize the process and undermine progress

The Therapist’s Inner World: Navigating Your Own Attachment in Trauma Treatment

  • Understanding how your own attachment history shapes clinical interactions
  • Countertransference patterns in trauma therapy—and how they show up in session
    • The rescue fantasy: The urge to “fix” or save the client
    • Feeling bullied by the client: Power struggles and therapist reactivity
    • Compassion fatigue and disengagement: When hopelessness sets in
  • Using self-awareness to strengthen therapeutic connection and resilience

Conflict as a Catalyst: Navigating Ruptures and Repairs in Therapy

  • How enactments—unconscious relational patterns—create ruptures in therapy
  • Spotting when the therapeutic relationship is going off track
  • The rupture-repair process:
    • Looking inside: The therapist’s role in relational breakdowns
    • Validating: Acknowledging the client’s experience without defensiveness
    • Providing containment: Rebuilding safety and trust
    • Mentalizing: Helping clients reflect on their own emotional responses
  • Turning conflict into growth: Using relational challenges to deepen the alliance

This structured approach ensures therapists walk away with practical, actionable skills they can use immediately—without adding extra time or complexity to their sessions.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professionals
  • Case Managers
  • Licensed Clinical/Mental Health Counsellors
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Occupational Therapists
  • Psychotherapists
  • Psychologists
  • Social Workers

Reviews

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Overall:      4.8

Total Reviews: 37

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