6 & 7 May 2022 | Introduction to Trauma Informed Practice: Integrating Art Therapy, Embodied approaches & EMDR

This 2-day, online course is designed to enrich clinicians’ existing art therapy practice by looking at trauma-informed thinking and working with the body. It will demonstrate different ways embodied approaches can be incorporated into art therapy practice. 

Day 1 will focus on the theoretical and scientific knowledge underpinning many contemporary trauma-focused interventions, including an exploration of Damasio’s idea of somatic markers, interoceptive processes, and the centrality of the body in unresolved trauma and related difficulties. 

Day 2 will consider different approaches for working with trauma such as EMDR, movement-based practices, and working with “interoceptive imagery” as a way to externalise and explore body sensations. 

Please note that this is not a training session in EMDR or other modalities, but an introductory opportunity to explore different ways of working with embodied distress. The training will involve a theoretical introduction about trauma and the body, safety and stabilisation exercises, presentations of case studies and vignettes; as well as experiential components including art-making, and group discussion. For more information, see nilisigal.co.uk.

Materials needed:
This workshop will be delivered online via Zoom. Participants will require access to a private and confidential space with enough room to make art. You will require ready mixed paint or finger paints, chalks or soft pastels, oil pastels, charcoal, A3 paper, masking tape and printouts of body template (PDFs will be sent in advance).

A copy of the presentation slides and a list of the books referenced in the workshop will be emailed to all participants after the workshop.

Facilitator/s:

Nili Sigal qualified as an art therapist in 2009. She set-up and co-coordinated the Special Interest Group on Complex Trauma, PTSD and Dissociation, for the British Association of Art Therapists, facilitating and organising regular events across the UK. Her training in EMDR further built on her interest in the embodied nature of trauma and working with trauma-related “body memories”, both though reprocessing and art-making. 

She ran the clinical meetings for the London Art Therapy Centre for several years and wrote their monthly blog.

Nili has been a presenter at several conferences, co-produced videos and papers with service users and published book chapters and articles about art therapy, private practice, EMDR and trauma. She currently works for the NHS, where she specialises in trauma-focused art therapy with adults who have severe and complex mental health difficulties. She is a supervisor and an approved EMDR therapist. Nili has a particular interest in the body-mind connection and advocates for incorporating embodied thinking into art therapy practices, especially when working with traumatised clients.