Annual Cognitive Behavioral Trauma Therapy Course

Click here to register for the course. Questions can be sent to the trainings coordinator – Noa Noa@metiv.org

The course is recognized by:

  • The Psychologists Association
  • ITA
  • Continuing Education Credits

Opening Date

13 October 2021

Last date of registaration

will be updated

Location

Metiv Center

Scope

Biennial (two year) course including 40 sessions per year

Days & Hours

Wednesdays 13:00-17:30

  • First of its kind course in Israel
  • Dynamic content based on clinical experience and accumulated research at Metiv
  • Innovative
  • Experiential learning process
  • Accountability to students
  • Financial affordability

Why study CBT at Metiv?

Much of the content taught in the program is unique to Metiv and is based on years of research conducted in our research unit. We update our curriculum on an ongoing basis based on the results of research conducted at Metiv and around the world, alongside the results of the many treatments conducted by our treatment unit.

* The first of its kind CBT course in Israel with twenty years of experience in the field.

* First course in the world that teaches CBT therapy for complex trauma.

* First course that teaches “listening” (MCBT) as part of a CBT curriculum

* First of its kind course in Israel that teaches trauma treatment based on the body-soul through the method of Somatic Experiencing SE

The course is based on an experiential learning process, that brings together different approaches and theories in order to create a holistic training experience. Our emphasis on experiential learning creates a strong group dynamic environment in which students explore and experience together. The process creates space for further professional development based on peer learning, beyond frontal teaching.

We are in constant two-way contact with our students. We are sensitive to their professional needs and development and strongly believe in adjusting the dynamics of the course, including the training process, when necessary.

Participants complete the course with a clear professional identity as trauma therapists. They join a peer group that serves as a support network for people with similar knowledge and expertise, which continues in the years following completion of the course.

From the beginning, as the first center for the treatment of psycho-trauma in Israel, we have made it our mission to raise public awareness of the existence and impact of mental trauma, and to make effective and research-based treatment accessible to the general population, especially the poor. Therefore, it is important for us to offer Metiv’s training at an affordable price.

Details

First Year: Simple Trauma

Participants will acquire the skills necessary to diagnosis and treat using cognitive exposure therapy according to the three phase model. The course will focus on treating Simple Trauma- i.e., trauma induced by exposure to a one-time traumatic event in adulthood.

תכנים:

  • Phenomenology of trauma
  • Cognitive effects of trauma
  • Identification and diagnosis of trauma victims
  • Healthy coping and the development of PTSD
  • Acute stress disorder (ASD)
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Cognitive behavioral treatment models
  • Treatment and the three phase model:
    Stabilization Phase: diagnosis, psycho-education, functional analysis, building a therapy plan, learning self-regulation techniques Processing: verbal and nonverbal methods Integration: Building a continuous narrative, using of cognitive interventions according to Ellis (REBT) and Beck (CT)

Second year: Treating Complex Trauma

Complex PTSD is caused by exposure to many or prolonged traumatic events, such as captivity, prolonged battle, domestic violence or childhood abuse or neglect.

Many therapists recognize in symptoms such as difficulty trusting, self-destructive tendencies, Alexithymia (difficulty expressing emotions in words), chronic depression, and symptoms related to borderline personality disorder or dissociative symptoms. Many of these symptoms may be attributed to complex trauma and are often resistant to conventional therapy.

Pierre Janet developed the three-phase model for treating such disorders in the 1800s, and his model, which has since been adapted and revised by modern day clinicians( e.g. v.d. Hart), is now recognized as the treatment of choice for complex trauma disorders. Individuals with complex trauma often suffer from a wide range of associated disorders such as substance abuse, deficits in social skills and various anxiety disorders that need to be dealt with before the trauma is addressed, making treatment lengthier and more complex than usual. The course offers evidence based methods for treating severe personality disorders.

תכנים:

  • Origins of complex trauma – etiology: effects of violence, sexual abuse, war, captivity and other factors
  • Phenomenology: characteristics and diagnosis of complex trauma disorders
  • Complex trauma and depression: diagnosing and treating depression and traumatic grief
  • Complex trauma and anxiety: characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of the following disorders: agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, simple phobias, OCD, social anxiety, including social skills acquisition and problem-solving strategies
  • Trauma and destructiveness: Treatment impulse control problems and impulsivity, addiction treatment
  • Trauma and difficulties in building a therapeutic relationship: cognitive behavioral strategies for building trust, enlisting co-operation and commitment to therapeutic goals
  • Trauma and severe personality disorders: phenomenology, diagnosis, Linehan’s therapy model (DBT)
  • Trauma and the body: body image, fears about health, eating disorders, and trauma’s impacts on sexuality
  • Trauma and Dissociation: phenomenology, diagnosis and treatment based on the Structural Dissociation model (Professor van der Hart)
  • Trauma, psychiatric crises and psychosis
  • Among the methods that will be taught: Mindfulness according to Siegel and Kbat-Zinn, ACT according to Hayes, and Schema Therapy by Young

Course Details

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has been recognized as the leading treatment method for individuals suffering from simple and complex trauma.

This comprehensive training program provides the theoretical framework and clinical skills to treat post traumatic disorders using state of the art, evidence based trauma treatment methods (Exposure Methods, e.g. Foa et al., Cognitive Processing Therapy, e.g. Clark, Ehlers et al.) and embeds them in a three stage treatment model (Janet, Van de Hart) that paces the different interventions so as not to overwhelm patients with painful recollections before they have learnt to regulate their arousal level. Our training emphasizes mind-body approaches and includes third wave CBT treatment modules such as mindfulness, DBT and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

The program is intended for mental health professionals who work with traumatized people or encounter people suffering from anxiety or depression, including social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, art therapists, occupational therapists, school counselors and clinical criminologists.

Teaching methods include lectures, reading and the discussion of academic papers, live demonstrations and movies, practice of learned techniques and clinical guidance on cases. These methods are effective for treating trauma as well as treating anxiety disorders, dissociative disorders, depression and a range of other disorders.

Registration & Payment

Testimonials from

“I just completed the CBT Trauma Treatment Training Program at METIV, and want to share my experience as well as pass on the info below. The course has been extremely helpful to me as a therapist in private practice. I have gained a wealth of tools and techniques for treating clients dealing with trauma or anxiety that I did not have before, as well as a much deeper theoretical understanding of trauma. I find myself using knowledge from the course with clients all the time–my clients are the true beneficiaries of my taking this course! Learning with Gafnit Aghassy is a privilege. She is a master therapist who truly has “the touch,” and while I have learned many techniques from her, her ability to be truly present and respectful and enter into the reality of the other transcends any specific modality. The main crux of the learning is through her demonstrating different techniques and approaches on students in the class (yes, you will have to bring your real life issues), providing lots of opportunities to watch her work. We then work in pairs or small groups so everyone is both therapist and client many times over- the best kind of learning. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.”
Miriam Friedman
MSW
“I completed the METIV trauma-focused CBT training 4 years ago. Since then I have been using the different treatment approaches and techniques I acquired in the course, helping patients cope with a wide range of symptoms and disorders. I am surprised time and time again about how quickly it is possible for patients to overcome anxiety disorders and return to adaptive functioning. The approaches and conceptualizations I learned in the course help me both in short term interventions and in long term dynamically oriented treatments.”
Kathy Ish Shalom
Clinical Psychologist in Private Practice and Child Care Institutes
“A few words about the training in Trauma focused CBT at METIV. When friends ask me what I gained from the course, I tell them that it is more than simply CBT. As someone who has previously been trained by senior mental health professionals, and accumulated much therapeutic knowledge along the way, I feel that this course was unique. The manner in which it was conducted and the many live demonstrations and exercises, enabled all of us to experience the different stages of the therapeutic process and to understand it on a deep, personal level. The theoretical models and concepts became very clear and tangible as a result. The learning experience was very empowering, and gave me and my fellow student true confidence in our abilities, which ultimately benefits our patients in the long run.”
Miri Drabkin
senior educational councelor, Magen Avraham-Limudei Hashem institute for Special Education, Jerusalem.
“Every professional treating PTSD is familiar with the frustration that often accompanies these difficult treatments. As a psychiatrist leading a unit that treats dozens of war veterans, I am intimately familiar with the feeling that sometimes nothing can be done to relieve a patients’ suffering despite my intense desire to help. In this sense the METIV training on trauma focused CBT, led by Gafnit Aghassy, opened my eyes to a new world. In the course of the two year training I gradually began to see that there is much I can do for many of the patients I previously felt were beyond my help. The therapeutic techniques and approaches seeped into other therapies I give, which are not PTSD related. My patients benefited from this, and as their therapist, I did as well.”
Dr. Oren Tene
Senior Psychiatrist, Head of Army Veterans Unit, Dept. Of Psychiatry, Ichilov Tel Aviv Medical Center

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