Clinical Topics & Methods Category

The Disconnected Brain: Understanding Brain- Behaviour Relationships in Complex PTSD and Dissociative Disorders

1.5 CE Hour
6 members have taken this course
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About the Course

While the neuroscience of trauma has become a burgeoning field in recent times, it is often difficult for clinicians to translate the research findings into clinically relevant signs and symptoms and to integrate this knowledge into treatment planning. This workshop will provide an overview of how the brain responds to threat at different stages of development and how prolonged or repetitive trauma and neglect during childhood can compromise slowly maturing regulatory and integrative functions. The workshop will include an update of the most recent neuroimaging research supporting the role of survival mode brain mechanisms in trauma spectrum disorders, including complex PTSD and dissociative disorders. Throughout the workshop the implications of this research for clinical treatment issues will be addressed.

This course is based on the recorded webinar, The Disconnected Brain: Understanding Brain- Behaviour Relationships in Complex PTSD and Dissociative Disorders created by Jocelyn (Jan) Ewing, PhD in 2019.

Publication Details

Publication Date: February 21, 2019

Course Material Author

Jocelyn (Jan) Ewing, PhD

Dr Ewing is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society (FAPS), with AHPRA specialist endorsements in both clinical psychology and clinical neuropsychology. She has specialised for over thirty years in the medico-legal evaluation of closed head injury and the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic syndromes, particularly those relating to military service and childhood maltreatment. She holds a PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology from the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Melbourne. She is a Fellow of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists and a founding member and Fellow of the College of Clinical Neuropsychologists. She is also a founding member and Fellow of the Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment. She has served as Chair of the Queensland Branch of the College of Clinical Neuropsychologists and President of the Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment and as a member of the Queensland Professional Conduct Review Panel and the Queensland Nursing Council Health Assessment Advisory Panel. She is also a member of the Advisory Panel for the Blue Knot Foundation (formerly Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse, ASCA). She has been a DVA and VVCS provider for more than 20 years. In addition to private practice, she lectures around Australia on the neurobiology and treatment of psychological trauma across the lifespan and the assessment of feigning and exaggeration in clinical and medicolegal practice.

Jocelyn (Jan) Ewing, PhD authored the material only, and was not involved in creating this CE course. They are identified here for your own evaluation of the relevancy of the material this course is based on.

Course Creator

ISSTD Staff

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Target Audience

This course is recommended for an Intermediate to Advanced level of participants' knowledge

Learning Objectives

After taking this activity, you should be able to:

  1. 1 List the major components of survival mode
  2. 2 Describe the major findings regarding the impact of trauma and neglect on the developing brain
  3. 3 Explain the different brain activation patterns associated with hyper and hypo-arousal and their implications for treatment

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The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

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The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Material Authors

There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Course Creator

ISSTD Staff – There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Commercial support

There is no commercial support for this distance-learning course.

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