(HS Webb 059067 2022) Finding the Wounded Child Inside the Monster: Applying a DBT-Focused Lens to Trauma and Addiction

Course overview

Studies indicate that approximately 2/3 of all people with substance use disorders report experiencing some form of physical or sexual trauma during childhood. These studies suggest the primacy of utilizing a trauma-focused lens in addressing both addiction and the inherent attachment disturbances and trauma in the treatment space. We'll cover the key features for successful work with dually-diagnosed client diagnosed with PTSD with Borderline Personality Disorder features and substance abuse disorders. These clients are impacted by early and ongoing developmental trauma. Dr. Webb integrates top-down and bottom-up strategies for addressing the traumatized minds and bodies of clients who have been failed so many times that they have sought "externalized caregivers" in the form of drugs and alcohol. This approach promotes adherence to treatment and strengthens the therapeutic alliance through "authoritative therapy" which promotes a new lens to understand the attachment trauma inherent in PTSD and BPD and to validate the need for a means to regulate an overreactive body and invalidating environment.