Michele Solloway

Michele Solloway, PhD, MPA, SEP, LMC, LMT/BCMBT

Dr. Solloway is a national expert in understanding how trauma impacts our lives, with a focus on how to prevent trauma and heal from it. She has integrated various areas of her research, practice, and community work to focus on child and family health, health care for marginal and vulnerable populations, and trauma reduction/resilience building. She has over 30 years’ experience in neuroscience, health services, and policy research with a more recent focus on childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Dr. Solloway is also a nationally certified healing arts practitioner and transformational life coach with training in Somatic Experiencing™, polarity, craniosacral, and massage therapies, and energy medicine. She maintains a private practice and is currently Chair of the Somatic Experiencing International Board of Directors (www.traumahealing.org) - an international organization operating in 44 countries that trains marriage and family
therapists, psychologists, social workers, bodyworkers, medical providers, and others in somatic trauma resolution. Dr. Solloway is also an ACEs master trainer for the state of Maryland, a member of the Maryland State Trauma-Informed Care Commission Subcommittees on Training and Implementation, and a member of the Maryland Essentials for Childhood & State Council on Child Abuse and Neglect. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Neurobiology (UC Berkeley), a Master’s of Public Administration (San Francisco State University) and a doctorate in City & Regional Planning (UC Berkeley).

Somatic Experiencing™: A Practice Guide for Reducing Stress and Resolving Trauma
Saturday | May 6, 2023
11:45 am - 1:15 pm
(1.5 CEs)

Workshop Description:

This session offers both didactic and experiential learnings. Participants will learn about key symptoms and expressions of trauma, how trauma is held in the body, and why, when addressing trauma with your clients, it is essential to work with the body. This session will provide a grounding in Somatic Experiencing™ (SE) principles. SE is a gentle, non-invasive modality developed by Dr. Peter Levine through the multidisciplinary study of stress physiology, psychology, ethology, biology, neuroscience, indigenous healing practices, and medical biophysics, and with more than 45 years of successful clinical application. Participants will also learn about the neuroscience underlying SE and be able to compare top-down and bottom-up approaches to trauma release and nervous system regulation. Participants will have the opportunity to experience SE tools and learn practices that help regulate the nervous system including grounding, slowing down, orienting, tracking, connecting to self, and pendulation. Finally, there will be a brief discussion of how SE can be integrated into clinical practice and opportunities for training. A short question and answer period will be provided at the end of the session.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify key symptoms and expressions of trauma
• Distinguish between cognitive (top down) and somatic (bottom-up) techniques
• Explain the concept of the “window of tolerance” and its role in nervous system regulation
• Explain and apply simple practices to reduce trauma symptoms

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