A 2-Day Workshop

February 23rd and 24th, 2025

10:00 AM - 4:45 PM EST

If you have any difficulty registering, please contact us here.

"Easy Ego State Interventions: How to Effectively Use Parts Work" is a two-day,  continuing education workshop designed to equip clinicians with practical skills in ego state therapy and EMDR. This workshop will focus on helping therapists identify and work with clients’ functional and dysfunctional ego states, facilitating trauma resolution, and addressing complex psychological issues such as dissociation, personality disorders, and attachment trauma.

Participants will explore how ego state therapy can be applied to treat a wide range of clinical challenges, including trauma, dissociative identity disorder (DID), personality disorders, and chronic pain. The workshop will enhance understanding of nervous system activation states and body responses in trauma. Clinicians will learn advanced interventions such as the Two-Hand Interweave technique, the Theory of Structural Dissociation, and specialized tools like the Dissociative Table and Imaginal Nurturing protocol.

Our challenging and traumatic experiences cause the creation of protective ego states knows as parts that are the result of our adaptation to those challenging situations. As time moves on those parts continue their roles as reactors and protectors and can be obstacles to our current emotional growth. They need to be acknowledged and appreciated so they can realize that they can let go of their reactivity to the challenges of the past and become integrated with the core self in the here and now. This is a delicate and sophisticated communication that is guided by the therapist to achieve the healing of the past wounds.

PRESENTER:

After 40 years in clinical practice, Robin Shapiro has become a master clinician, clinical consultant, writer of psychotherapy books, conference speaker, and workshop presenter. Throughout her career, Robin has acquired expertise in EMDR, ego state therapy, somatic therapy, attachment-focused therapies, and many other modalities. She is skilled at synthesizing diverse therapy modalities and explaining them, simply, and often entertainingly, to other therapists. Robin is known for her practical explanations of clinical issues and their solutions in her books, presentations, and consultations. Her books include EMDR Solutions: Pathways to Healing (Norton, 2005) and EMDR Solutions II: Depression, Eating Disorders, Performance and More (2009) and Trauma Treatments Handbook: Protocols Across the Spectrum (2010), Easy Ego State Interventions (2016),and Doing Psychotherapy (2020). She has presented at several EMDR conferences, ISSTD, and many other venues. Robin is currently consulting to 20 monthly groups and many individual therapists and teaching her ego state training around the world.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Identify and differentiate between healthy, flexible ego states and dysfunctional dissociative states using case examples and guided experiences.
2. Demonstrate the ability to use the Two-Hand Interweave technique to help clients sort emotions, thoughts, and conflicting introjects in therapeutic sessions.
3. Implement a basic ego state trauma protocol to process traumatic memories across a diverse range of client populations.
4. Design therapeutic interventions to assist survivors of sexual abuse in building trauma-free, fulfilling sexual relationships.
5. Integrate knowledge of Polyvagal Theory, trauma histories, and body types to accurately assess client needs and develop tailored treatment plans.
6. Recognize and diagnose personality disorders (e.g., Borderline, Narcissistic) as dissociative in nature and implement effective ego state interventions for treatment.
7. Apply advanced ego state therapy techniques to address trauma bonds, attachment to abusers, and help survivors create healthier, current relationships.
8. Identify the diagnostic features of DID and utilize specialized tools such as the Dissociative Table and Switching Places to work with different parts of the personality.
9. Employ containment strategies, including the Rage Room protocol, to manage destructive parts in clients with DID and other dissociative disorders.
10. Implement Ego State Therapy with EMDR to Address Chronic Pain and Overactive Immune Systems

AGENDA:

Day 1: Ego States and Trauma Work

10:00 – 12:00 AM: Introduction to Ego State Therapy

• Overview of Ego State Theory
  • Defining ego states: functional vs. dysfunctional
  • Introduction to dissociation and normal ego state functioning
• Guided Experience: Identifying Ego States
  • Participants engage in an experiential exercise to identify their own ego states, promoting self-reflection and understanding.
• Ego States vs. Dissociative States
  • Clinical signs of dissociation and how to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy states
• Polyvagal Theory & Ego States
  • Understanding how autonomic nervous system responses (fight, flight, freeze, fawn) correspond to ego states, with a focus on Polyvagal Theory
• Interactive Discussion
  • Open discussion and Q&A on participants’ personal reflections from the guided experience.

12:00 PM – 12:15 PM: Break

12:15 PM – 1:00 PM: Trauma, Attachment, and the Body

• Impact of Trauma on Ego States
  • Exploring how trauma fragments ego states
  • Attachment trauma and its effects on state development
• Theory of Structural Dissociation
  • How trauma results in the splitting of the personality into different ego states
• Accessing Functional vs. Dysfunctional States
  • Techniques for recognizing and accessing ego states in therapy sessions
  • Case examples on trauma splits and roles of different states
• Practical Exercise:
  • Participants practice finding and listing their own parts, understanding which ego states are activated in different scenarios.

1:00 PM – 1:45 PM: Lunch Break

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM: Ego State Therapy and Trauma Protocols

• The Two-Hand Interweave Technique
  • A step-by-step guide to using the Two-Hand Interweave to help clients sort emotions, thoughts, and conflicting introjects
  • Live demonstration of the technique with a case example
• Working with Simple Trauma Using Ego States
  • Introduction to a simple trauma protocol, incorporating ego state therapy
• Life Span Integration Practice
  • Applying Life Span Integration techniques to resolve trauma across the life cycle
• Role-Play Exercise:
  • Participants work in pairs to practice the Two-Hand Interweave and simple trauma protocols.

2:45 PM – 3:00 PM: Afternoon Break

3:00 PM – 4:45 PM: Working with Survivors of Abuse

• Attachment to Abusers and Healing Relationships
  • Ego state therapy interventions to address attachment to abusers
  • Helping clients break trauma bonds and develop healthy relationships
• Working with Sexual Abuse Survivors
  • Utilizing ego state therapy to help survivors of sexual abuse rebuild a healthy, fulfilling sex life with current partners
  • The Imaginal Nurturing Protocol for clients with younger parts attached to trauma
• Couples Therapy & Ego State Work
  • Interventions for healing relationship patterns with ego state therapy
  • The “Bad Boyfriend Protocol”: Helping clients use their functional adult states to make healthier relationship choices
• Case Example & Role-Play:
  • Role-play scenarios with clients dealing with abusive relationships and trauma bonds.

Day 2: Advanced Techniques in Dissociation and Trauma

10:00 – 12:00 AM: Personality Disorders and Ego States

• Personality Disorders as Dissociative States
  • Rethinking personality disorders (Borderline, Narcissistic) as dissociative in nature
• Clinical Work with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
  • Techniques for managing intense emotional dysregulation and dissociative aspects of BPD
• Working with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)
  • Differentiating between exhibitionist and codependent narcissists, and strategies for treating each
• Discussion and Case Study Review:
  • Case studies showcasing ego state interventions with BPD and NPD clients.

12:00 PM – 12:15 PM: Break

12:15 PM – 1:00 PM: Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

• Introduction to DID
  • Diagnosing and treating Dissociative Identity Disorder
  • Core concepts from the Theory of Structural Dissociation applied to DID
• Practical Tools for Working with DID
  • The Dissociative Table technique: How to communicate and mediate between different ego states
  • Healing Places and “Switching” Places
  • Role of protector parts and how to manage them
• Demonstration:
  • Live demonstration of the Dissociative Table technique, followed by a discussion on how to apply it to different cases.

1:00 PM – 1:45 PM: Lunch Break

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM: Advanced Trauma Therapy with DID

• Managing Trauma with DID Clients
  • Trauma-focused therapy strategies tailored for DID clients
  • Modified EMDR and Life Span Integration techniques
• The “Rage Room” Protocol
  • Managing destructive protector parts with the Rage Room and containment techniques
  • Case examples and video demonstration
• Self-Care for Therapists
  • Recognizing vicarious trauma and self-care strategies when working with high-dissociation clients
• Group Practice:
  • Participants will practice using containment techniques and modified trauma protocols.

2:45 PM – 3:00 PM: Afternoon Break

3:00 PM – 4:45 PM: Integration and Final Stages of Treatment

• Final Stages of DID Treatment
  • Working towards integration of ego states
  • Facilitating functional collaboration between parts
  • Long-term maintenance strategies for clients after integration
• Working with Highly Dissociative Clients (Non-DID)
  • Recognizing dissociation in non-DID clients and adapting techniques to less severe cases
• Case Consultation & Discussion:
  • Participants can bring case examples for group consultation, discussing difficult dissociative clients and treatment strategies.

Webinars included in this package:

Easy Ego State Interventions: Strategies for Working With Parts DAY 1

Easy Ego State Interventions: Strategies for Working With Parts DAY 2