Episode 791: What It Takes To Be A Trauma Therapist with Janina Fisher, PhD
Jan 11, 2024
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Janina Fisher, licensed clinical psychologist and former instructor at Harvard Medical School, discusses trauma treatments, her webinar series for Turkish therapists, and the development of a test for trauma clients in this engaging podcast.
Being present and understanding clients' experiences is crucial, and a therapist's emotional reaction can exacerbate clients' shame and distress.
Therapists should seek postgraduate education in trauma to better understand trauma and provide effective targeted treatment.
Deep dives
Introduction and Trauma Therapy Background
Dr. Janina Fisher, a licensed clinical psychologist and trauma expert, discusses her background in trauma therapy and the importance of cultivating a therapist's authenticity, genuineness, and vulnerability. She explains that being present and understanding clients' experiences is crucial, and that a therapist's emotional reaction can sometimes exacerbate clients' shame and distress. She emphasizes the importance of developing a mindful relationship with clients and providing a sense of understanding and acceptance.
Trauma Training and Awareness
Dr. Fisher highlights the inadequacy of trauma training in graduate programs worldwide and the lack of focus on trauma in therapeutic approaches. She argues that trauma-related disorders are often misunderstood or misdiagnosed, leading to ineffective treatment approaches. Dr. Fisher emphasizes the need for therapists to seek postgraduate education in trauma and recommends training courses that provide a comprehensive understanding of trauma and its neurobiology. She asserts that by better understanding trauma, therapists can provide more effective and targeted treatment to clients with trauma-related symptoms.
Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST)
Dr. Fisher introduces her trauma-informed parts approach called Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST). TIST integrates techniques and concepts from various therapeutic approaches and focuses on understanding and working with different parts of the individual. These parts correspond to survival responses like fight, flight, fear, submission, and cry for help. By identifying and developing a mindful relationship with these parts, clients can begin to navigate and manage their distressing experiences. Dr. Fisher discusses a case example where TIST helped a client with a history of failed treatments and harmful coping mechanisms find relief and collaborate in the therapeutic process.
Janina Fisher, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and a former instructor, Harvard Medical School. An international expert on the treatment of trauma, she is an Advisory Board member of the Trauma Research Foundation and the author of three books:
Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Self-Alienation (2017),
Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma: a Workbook for Survivors and Therapists (2021), and
The Living Legacy Instructional Flip Chart (2022).
She is best known for her work on integrating mindfulness-based interventions into trauma treatment, and she is also the creator of Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST) therapy.