Workshop Details

Cape Town

📅 31st July – 2nd August 2025 | 🕣 08:30–17:00

📍 Cape Town Lodge - 101 Buitengracht St, Cape Town City Centre

💰 R 6800 – Includes workshop materials, lunch, refreshments & parking

*Payment plans available on request*

👩‍🏫 Presented by Dr. Lauren Moss

To book email Angela at - 📧 admin@counsellingpsych.co.za

What Does Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy Mean?

Being trauma-informed means having an attuned awareness of the diverse ways in which individuals may experience trauma—whether through acute incidents, chronic stress, or relational wounds—and understanding how these experiences can shape a person’s emotional development, identity, nervous system regulation, relationships, and overall health. Trauma is not defined solely by the event, but by its impact on the person and their ability to process, integrate, or recover from it.

Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy involves knowledgeably and compassionately exploring the effects of trauma on a client’s life, with sensitivity to the emotional, psychological, and physiological imprint it may leave. It acknowledges that trauma is often held not just in the mind, but in the body and nervous system, and can manifest in subtle or overt ways throughout a person’s life.

A core principle of trauma-informed care is the belief in the innate resilience of all individuals—the understanding that people are not defined by what has happened to them. Rather, they possess the capacity for healing, transformation, and reconnection with their authentic Self. This orientation shifts the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” and ultimately, “What’s needed for healing?”

Trauma-Informed Psychotherapists take into account each client’s unique lived experience, particularly how traumatic events may have led to the internalisation of unhelpful beliefs about the self, others, and the world. This may include feelings of shame, disempowerment, or disconnection. The work is not necessarily centred on reprocessing the trauma directly, but on creating a therapeutic environment rooted in safety, trust, collaboration, empowerment, and choice.

This approach emphasises a relational and holistic process. The therapist and client work together to build a secure, attuned relationship that becomes a space for re-regulation, integration, and the rediscovery of inner resources. Rather than pathologizing trauma responses, trauma-informed psychotherapy seeks to understand them as adaptive survival strategies that once served a purpose.

About the Workshop

This 3-Day Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy Workshop offers an immersive, experiential exploration of trauma and healing. It is designed for therapists and helping professionals who wish to deepen their understanding and refine their practice through a trauma-informed lens.

Key areas of focus will include:

• A Holistic Understanding of Trauma: Exploring both the psychological and neurobiological effects of trauma, including how trauma impacts memory, identity, emotional regulation, and somatic experience.

• The Intersection of Biography and Biology: Understanding how early relational and developmental trauma can shape attachment patterns, nervous system functioning, and core beliefs.

• Developmental Theory in Practice: Examining how childhood trauma leads to adaptive strategies that may serve as both protective and limiting in adult life.

• Therapeutic Skills and Presence: Building the foundational qualities needed to be a trauma-informed therapist, including attunement, non-pathologizing stance, cultural humility, and embodied presence.

• Working Relationally: Learning how to co-create safety in the therapeutic alliance, support self-regulation, and empower clients to reconnect with their sense of agency and wholeness.

Participants will leave with not only theoretical insight but also practical tools, somatic awareness, and greater confidence in supporting clients through a trauma-informed approach. This workshop is suitable for both new and experienced practitioners who are committed to deepening their clinical sensitivity and working in ways that are ethical, compassionate, and grounded in the latest understandings of trauma and healing.

Feedback from past attendees:

“Incredibly enriching and informative. Fulfilled a need not only to enhance competence professionally, but personally”

“This course gave me so much knowledge about my own traumas as well as how to handle clients stories”

“The content was excellent and presented in a professional and compassionate manner, highly recommend to medical professionals”

“This course went beyond my developmental expectations and I would highly recommend it to all colleagues. Trauma informed training should be compulsory in all training institutes for new psychologists”

About the Presenter

Dr. Lauren Moss is a Counselling Psychologist with experience working in private practice, NGOs, tertiary education, and corporate settings. She specialises in supporting clients who have experienced both past and present trauma. Driven by a deep personal and professional curiosity, Dr. Moss is passionate about understanding how the body and mind respond during crises and the adaptations they make in the aftermath of trauma. Her work explores contemporary perspectives on trauma, attachment, and neurobiology, equipping her with a comprehensive understanding of trauma’s complexities and how best to support clients in their healing process.