Relationships and Regulation
This is the third part of a eight-part workshop series.
- Neuroception
- Safety and threat
- Regulation – the Window of Tolerance
Understanding what’s going on in our heads – how our brain’s work – can help us become better practitioners and help our clients make sense of their experiences in ways that reduce self-blame and self-criticism.
Although the human brain is probably one of the most complex structures around, some of the principles on which it works are easily explained. You don’t have to be a neuroscientist to get a better understanding of the brain and nervous system!
This workshop will provide you with ways to make sense of the responses of the nervous system to threat and safety and to explain them in ways that are easy to understand for both you and your clients.
Psychoeducation can be enormously useful for clients to help them make sense of what’s happening to them although this resource can be resisted in some therapeutic approaches that value the practitioner not taking an ‘expert stance’ in relation to the client.
I like to think of it as ‘information sharing’ and doing this in the context of the therapeutic relationship can be a way for the therapist and client to explore the clients’ experiences together to make sense and meaning. I find that doing this can allow the client to make connections between their current experiences and past events in a way that is less likely to result in blame – for self or others.
In the workshop we will look at threat and safety, responses to acute and chronic stress, using the body as an ally, and practical ways to work with anxiety, panic and stress that are backed up by sound, up-to-date, scientific research. There will be opportunities to try out some of these practical tools, as well as informational input, and time for discussion.
By completing this workshop, you are taking a significant step towards fulfilling the entry requirements for the Advanced Certificate in the Application of the Polyvagal Theory in Counselling & Psychotherapy. This essential course, offered by Temenos Education, is available on a ‘Pay What You Can’ basis. For more details, visit: https://www.temenos.education/courses/online-advanced-certificate-in-the-application-of-the-polyvagal-theory-in-counselling-psychotherapy.
Course Content
Presenter
Maggi McAllister-MacGregor is a highly experienced counsellor, supervisor, and trainer in private practice, with over 25 years of working in the field. With a strong foundation in neuroscience and biology dating back to her first degree in the 1970s, Maggi has developed a particular passion for Polyvagal Theory and its role in understanding how we navigate life’s experiences.
Her expertise in bereavement work is rooted in years of hands-on work in hospices, where she provided compassionate care to individuals nearing the end of life as well as bereaved families and friends. In addition, she has served as a supervisor for Cruse Bereavement, further deepening her understanding of grief and loss.
Maggi’s approach integrates scientific insight with therapeutic practice, helping professionals better understand how bereavement impacts the autonomic nervous system— both psychologically and physiologically. Her workshops offer an engaging, informed, and compassionate perspective on working with grief through the lens of Polyvagal Theory.
