Learn the Art of Gentle Collaboration to Work Through Stuck Moments

EMDR With The Body In Mind

Somatic Interweaves to Deepen Phase 4 & Include the Body's Wisdom

Join Melissa Benintendi LPC as she shares her expertise in using gentle somatic work to enhance the EMDR Process when clients are feeling stuck.

EMDR With the Body in Mind is a dynamic, intermediate-level training designed for mental health professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of how somatic awareness enhances trauma reprocessing and integration within the EMDR framework. This program bridges the science of embodiment with the art of trauma healing, offering clinicians practical methods for recognizing and working with the body’s wisdom throughout all phases of EMDR.

Participants will explore the role of interoceptive awareness—the ability to sense internal states—in identifying safety, distress, and adaptive self-regulation. Through lecture, case study, and experiential practice, clinicians will learn how somatic states shape behavior and how to apply body-based interventions to restore balance and coherence. The training integrates concepts such as the “river of activation” metaphor, the eight core affective circuits of the nervous system, and embodied techniques to enhance client presence, grounding, and flow of energy.

By the end of the program, participants will be equipped to incorporate somatic interweaves, movement, imagery, and tracking exercises within EMDR sessions to access and release dissociated somatic material safely. This training provides both conceptual clarity and hands-on tools for clinicians ready to bring a more embodied, neurobiologically informed perspective to their EMDR practice.

Program Level: Intermediate
CE Credit Hours: 6 hours

This course is designed to build upon the knowledge & skills acquired in completed doctoral and master level programs in psychology, counseling and mental health.

Course Agenda & Location

Course Objectives

March 27, 2026

9am CST - 5pm CST

Day 1

8:30am - Registration & Networking

9:00am - Welcome & Overview

10:am Practice

11:00 Break

11:15 Lecture

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Lecture & Practice

2:00 Break

2:15 Lecture & Practice

4:00 Lecture & Activity

4:45 Questions & Wrap Up

  • Define the role of somatic awareness in trauma-informed therapy and explain how somatic principles enhance outcomes in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) treatment.

  • Describe the concept of interoceptive information processing and discuss its clinical relevance in identifying internal signals of safety and distress.

  • Explain how somatic states influence the development of adaptive behavioral strategies that promote internal regulation and homeostasis.

  • Articulate a neurobiological model of the mind as an emergent, embodied process shaped by both internal and external sources of information.

  • Apply the “river of activation” metaphor to help clients identify and regulate patterns of somatic repression and natural energy flow.

  • Demonstrate techniques that enhance clients’ embodied awareness of present-moment safety, including grounding, imagery, and boundary-focused interventions.

  • Implement somatic interweaves during EMDR Phase 4 to facilitate expression and integration of previously dissociated somatic energy using movement, imagery, and tracking exercises.

  • Facilitate client dialogue with body-based sensations or symbolic experiences to access and integrate subconscious beliefs or suppressed energies.

  • Differentiate between memory-focused, sensation-focused, and self-state-focused somatic interventions and select approaches based on client readiness and therapeutic safety.

  • Identify and describe the eight core affective circuits of the human nervous system (e.g., SEEKING, FEAR, RAGE) and explain their relevance in guiding somatic processing within EMDR.

Cost

249.99 Full Price

EARLY BIRD Coupon Code: MBH26

EARLY Bird Ends March 10, 2026