Managing Vicarious Trauma: Nervous System Protection for Helpers - Background Image
Live Event

Managing Vicarious Trauma: Nervous System Protection for Helpers

Sat, May 30th, 2026
11:00am – 2:15pm US Eastern Time
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About the Event

Every therapist learns to hold space for pain. What happens in the body while doing so often receives far less attention.

Research on trauma has demonstrated that trauma is not solely a cognitive experience, but also a physiological one. The nervous system may respond not only to direct threat, but also to the presence of another’s distress. When a client becomes activated, clinicians may experience corresponding physiological responses. Over time, this activation—when not fully processed—can accumulate across sessions and contribute to vicarious trauma.

Somatic approaches to trauma highlight the importance of completing the body’s stress response cycle. Without opportunities to discharge activation, clinicians may remain physiologically impacted despite cognitive processing or supervision.

This three-hour workshop addresses this gap by introducing practical, body-based strategies for managing vicarious trauma. Participants will learn to identify somatic indicators of activation during and after sessions, practice somatic discharge techniques, and develop a personalized nervous system protection protocol tailored to their individual patterns and clinical context. Participants will leave with tools that can be applied immediately in their clinical work.

Live Event This is a live online event. It will be conducted via Zoom Webinar.

Live Event Instructor

Christine Baker

Christine Baker

Dr. Christine Baker is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Supervisor. She has owned her private practice, Wayfare Counseling, for over ten years, where she has specialized working with trauma recovery and people struggling with sexual compulsivity and their loved ones. She is EMDR and somatically trained, and she has also completed the Traumatic Stress Studies certificate through The Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute under Dr. Bessel van der Kolk. Dr. Baker has also served as an adjunct professor at Richmont Graduate University for many years in their Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program, and she has provided support to many organizations and non-profits through training and education programs.

Target Audience

This live interactive webinar is intended for behavioral health professionals, including Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, MFT's and Addiction Professionals.

Learning Objectives

After taking this activity, you should be able to:

  1. 1 Identify at least three somatic indicators of vicarious trauma absorption occurring during and after clinical sessions.
  2. 2 Describe neurobiological mechanisms underlying vicarious trauma, including the roles of mirror neurons, neuroception, and incomplete defensive responses.
  3. 3 Apply at least two somatic discharge techniques to reduce accumulated nervous system activation between sessions.
  4. 4 Develop a personalized nervous system protection protocol based on individual vulnerability patterns and clinical context.

Disclosure to Learners

CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity – including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

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

Planners and Reviewers

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

Faculty

There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Commercial support

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

Use our CE Approvals tool to look up your state requirements and how can help you meet them, or log in to your member account to show approvals relevant to your licensure.

Joint Accreditation (JA)

3 Social Worker CE credit hours General
3 Psychologist CE credit hours General
Eligible until May 31st, 2026
In support of improving patient care, CE Learning Systems, LLC, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
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Logo: Jointly Accredited Provider (tm) - Interprofessional Continuing Education

American Psychological Association (APA)

3 CE credit hours General
Eligible until May 31st, 2026
Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.
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Logo: American Psychological Association

Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB ACE)

3 CE credit hours General
Eligible until May 31st, 2026
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, CE Learning Systems LLC is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 3 general continuing education credit(s).
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National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)

3 CE credit hours
Eligible until May 30th, 2026
CE Learning Systems has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5951. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CE Learning Systems is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. 3 NBCC hour(s) awarded.
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NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC)

3 CE credit hours
Eligible until May 30th, 2026
This course has been approved by CE Learning Systems, service provider of Impact CE, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #192243, CE Learning Systems is responsible for all aspects of their programming.
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NAADAC Approved Education Provider

Florida Certification Board (FCB)

3 CE credit hours
Eligible until May 30th, 2026
Impact CE, a service of CE learning Systems, is approved by the Florida Certification Board (FCB) to offer continuing education programs (Provider # 5069A).
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Missouri Credentialing Board (MCB)

3 CE credit hours
Eligible until May 30th, 2026
AddictionCounselorCE is an approved provider of the Missouri Substance Abuse Professional Credentialing Board (Provider #101). AddictionCounselorCE maintains responsibility for this course and its contents.
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New York Education Department Board of Social Work

3 contact hours
Eligible until May 30th, 2026
CE Learning Systems, LLC, (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers. Provider #0060.
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New York Education Department Board of Mental Health Counseling

3 CE credit hours
Eligible until May 30th, 2026
CE Learning Systems, LLC (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.
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New York Education Department Board of Psychologists

3 CE credit hours
Eligible until May 30th, 2026
CE Learning Systems, LLC, (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for psychologists, # PSY-0016.
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New York Education Department Board of Marriage and Family Therapy

3 CE credit hours
Eligible until May 30th, 2026
CE Learning Systems, LLC (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0045.
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Virginia Certification Board (VCB)

3 CE credit hours
Eligible until May 30th, 2026
Virginia Certification Board educational provider # 106
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Event Agenda

Agenda times are listed in US Eastern Time. That is 3 hours later than US Pacific Time. The event starts at 8:00am US Pacific Time.

11:00–11:15 AM — Welcome and opening body scan orientation (15 min)


11:15–11:50 AM — The hidden cost of holding space: what’s actually happening in the clinician’s nervous system during trauma work (35 min)


11:50 AM–12:20 PM — Recognizing absorption in real time: somatic signals during and after sessions (30 min)


12:20–12:35 PM — Break (15 min)


12:35–1:20 PM — Between-session discharge: experiential practice of four somatic tools — Threshold Shake, Wall Push, Breath of Fire, and Sound Release (45 min)


1:20–1:55 PM — Building a personal protection protocol: somatic vs. mental boundaries and the “professional body” concept (35 min)


1:55–2:15 PM — Integration, next steps, and Q&A (20 min)

Policies

If a grievance arises pertaining to your participation in our continuing education activities, please contact our support team immediately. See our full grievance policy for more information.

ADA accommodations will be made in accordance with the law; please indicate your special needs when you register by contacting us.

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If you need to cancel your registration for a webinar, please contact our support team for assistance prior to the event. Please note our refund policy, above.

If the activity must be cancelled by the provider, all attendees will receive an email notifying them of the cancellation. The email will also provide details about transferring the registration to another educational activity or receiving a refund of the registration fee. As always, you can contact our support team if you have questions or concerns.

Frequently Asked Questions

Once you register, you'll receive an email with the link and instructions to join the live event. The event will be hosted via Zoom Webinar. You may test your Zoom connection prior to the event at the Zoom Test page We recommend logging in 10-15 minutes early to be sure your connection is ready.

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