Wellbeing Wisdom

Many therapists will recognise working with clients who remain deeply convinced they are unlovable, even when the therapeutic relationship feels safe and consistent.

In attachment trauma work, entrenched low self-worth can sometimes reflect meaningful survival adaptations rather than simply beliefs to be challenged.

On Friday 22 May, I will be offering a live online training exploring EMDR approaches to attachment trauma, with a focus on working with shame, resistance and therapeutic impasse.

The workshop will include:
Conceptualising low self-worth through a trauma-informed lens
Integrating neuroscience perspectives into clinical formulation
Practical EMDR-informed strategies
Supporting gradual movement from survival patterns towards clarity

There is currently an Early Bird offer available - register by Friday 17 April to save $100

If this is relevant to your clinical work, you are welcome to learn more here: https://catherinehynes.net/emdr-for-attachment-trauma/

A clinical question I’ve been asking lately…

How do we work with clients who are engaging and relationally warm in the room, yet remain firmly convinced they are unlovable?

In attachment trauma work, I often find that entrenched low self-worth and shame have developed for understandable reasons. Sometimes what looks like resistance can reflect survival strategies shaped in earlier relationships.

I will be running a training on 22 May exploring EMDR-informed ways of working with shame and therapeutic impasse

There is currently an Early Bird offer available - register by 17 April to save $100.


If it feels relevant to your work, you can read more here: https://catherinehynes.net/emdr-for-attachment-trauma/

Where do you start when complex trauma work feels overwhelming?
Many therapists describe complex trauma therapy as feeling like a jigsaw puzzle. So many important pieces, where on earth should I begin??
When you’re sorting the puzzle pieces, the first pile has got to be anything risk-related. If a client’s current coping or circumstances place them (or others) at risk of accident, injury, or serious harm, that must be the first priority. There’s no help we can offer as therapists if the client’s safety is compromised.
Sometimes this can mean working in a different order than we might ideally prefer - jumping in and focusing on risks before trust feels fully established. But even though it's the right approach, it can feel counterintuitive.
If this resonates, I’ve written more about how I organise complex trauma therapy (including a phase-based framework) on my website.
You’re also very welcome to join my newsletter, where I share practical reflections and resources for therapists working with trauma.
Read the blog or join the newsletter here: https://catherinehynes.net/category/blog-posts/

Last Friday I had the pleasure of offering this workshop to a delightful audience over the internet. I love these live online courses for so many reasons! Participants can attend from wherever they feel most comfortable, and they don't need a travel budget to get to the course. I can be flexible to the learners' needs and conversational, unlike in a pre-recorded course, and we get to know each other over the day, which I always enjoy. Best of all, I know there are new practitioners ready to unblock their therapies and get their clients on track for the healing they need. Lots of fun! Thanks to those who attended this time!

As you probably know, we face many psychological hazards in our work as mental health practitioners. Witnessing ongoing trauma exposes us to risks of vicarious trauma. As you reflect on the year that’s ending and plan for the year ahead, it’s important to have a safety plan to ensure your own wellbeing. I have a free resource that you can download for this purpose, here:

https://mailchi.mp/7446ee55b55d/safety-plan

If you’re looking for something more thorough for yourself, I have a beautiful course designed just for you, and there is a 50% discount for you until the end of January:
5afer2026

https://catherinehynes.net/safety-planning-for-practitioners/

Are you in New Zealand? Do you want to go to New Zealand like I do?
Do you work with complex trauma and feel like you’re missing something?
Do you have clients who aren’t getting better as you’d expected, and you’re not sure why?

Dissociation may be the hidden variable. This is a comprehensive introduction to recognising, assessing, managing and treating dissociation and dissociative disorders. When you learn these skills, the skills you already have become more effective. Learning about dissociation completely changed the way I practice, and it’s empowered me to be more effective in treatment.

More details: https://buytickets.at/wellbeingwisdom/1511519

I am delighted to be offering this free webinar next month before I head over to New Zealand in July to offer Working with Dissociation to the New Zealand community of mental health practitioners. Thanks to Vania Miteva for working with me on these events! I am so looking forward to this!

Do you recognise these challenges in your work?
• A client presents with such emotional vulnerability that you can’t bring yourself to start your intervention
• A client is working hard on their therapy, but things aren’t improving, and they report a confusing “technical” problem that prevents the strategies that work for others working for them
• No matter what you propose, your client reports it won’t work for them
• You feel like you are doing more work on the therapy than a client

It’s possible that resistance is the source of the challenge.

Do you know how to manage it?

Learning to recognise and manage resistance as a process in therapy helps your clients to make more progress, and also enhances your wellbeing as therapist. Resistance refers to all the ways that people try not to feel their pain, (and all the ways we let clients do that), when facing the pain is what is needed for change. In this workshop, Catherine walks you through:

Theories of resistance in the context of complex trauma
Self-reflection on your caseload and your own profile of resistance
Practicum in triads (therapist-client-observer) to develop skills in addressing and managing resistance in your therapies.

More details and Bookings: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/wellbeingwisdom/1463899

Last night I was delighted to offer this webinar to the fine folks at AAPI, on identifying and addressing resistance in therapy. I define resistance as all the things people in therapy do both consciously and unconsciously to avoid feeling too much pain, and knowing how to address is it important to make therapy effective. This webinar is in the AAPI library now for members who missed it last night.

I am offering a practicum on this topic on 28th Feb for anyone who is noticing resistance in their therapies and wants some strategies to manage it. Details are here: https://buytickets.at/wellbeingwisdom/1463899

Hello! I am pleased to let you know that I now have some of my workshop and training information for 2025. I have some dates and venues confirmed, and others, including some webinars and other online events are still in the pipeline. I'll be offering most in-person trainings only once one per year, so make sure you book early if you're planning to do an in-person training in 2025. All details and bookings are on my website: catherinehynes.net/training/