Join Licensed Acupuncturist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner Alaine Duncan and Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner Tracey Post for a 5-session, year-long exploration of an East meets West approach to restoring balance and regulation in survivors of traumatic stress.
- Follow the 5 Elements and the 5 Seasons of the Chinese agricultural calendar — and their interface with self-protective responses found in animal predator-prey relationships and described in western neuroscience in general and PolyVagal Theory in particular.
- Be amazed at the innovative approaches to support balance and regulation in trauma survivors that emerge out of this East meets West approach.
- Receive in-depth didactic and hands-on instruction and practice to help trauma survivors complete missing or thwarted steps in the Self-Protective Response.
- Acupuncturists, body-workers, medical providers, and somatically-oriented mental health clinicians are welcome.
Central to The Tao of Trauma classes are the supervised clinical practice sessions in each module. Students “lend” their nervous system/energy body to fellow classmates to explore and practice the interaction, observation, and touch skills inherent in The Tao of Trauma model.
Dyadic practice merges cognitive learning with body wisdom, cultivates deeper somatic awareness in the therapeutic experience of both practitioner and client — and builds the fabric of the class. They are the heart and soul of the classroom model.
Video Introduction
CEUs
70 ASWB CEUs (pending): Association of Social Work Boards
70 CAB CEUs: Category 1 Course by the California Acupuncture Board, Provider number 1576, for 5 weekends of 14 hours each weekend of live in person continuing education.
70 NCCAOM PDAs: 14 hours per module approved by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
70 NCBTMB CEUs: 14 hours per module approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork.
Registration Options
Our 2025-26 season will include two in person cohorts: One in Silver Spring, Maryland and another in Hamilton Township, New Jersey.
#1: In Person in Silver Spring, Maryland
Crossings Healing and Wellness
8720 Georgia Avenue, Suite 300
Silver Spring, MD 20910
| MODULE | CLASSES HELD: Friday/Saturday 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time – |
| Metal | Awaken Arousal | October 3 & 4, 2025 |
| Water | Signal Threat | January 9 & 10, 2026 |
| Wood | Mobilize a Response | March 20 & 21, 2026 |
| Fire | Restore Coherence | May 29 & 30, 2026 |
| Earth | Digest the Gristle | September 11 & 12, 2026 |
#2: In Person in Hamilton Township, New Jersey
Location TBD
| MODULE | CLASSES HELD: Friday/Saturday 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time – |
| Metal | Awaken Arousal | September 26 & 27, 2025 |
| Water | Signal Threat | November 21 & 22, 2025 |
| Wood | Mobilize a Response | March 6 & 7, 2026 |
| Fire | Restore Coherence | May 15 & 16, 2026 |
| Earth | Digest the Gristle | August 14 & 15, 2026 |
Fee Schedule
| Payment Due Dates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Early Bird | $2,100 | on or before August 15, 2025 |
| Regular Fee | $2,500 | after August 15, 2025 |
| Two Payments | $1,300 each | September 1, 2025 and March 1, 2026 |
| Four Payments | $650 each | September 1, 2025; January 15, 2026; April 1, 2026; and July 1, 2026 |
Scholarships available.
Payment and Cancellation Policy
If you registered as part of a payment plan, please note the dates for each of your payments. We do not store your credit card information and can’t make charges ourselves, so you are responsible for making those payments using THIS INSTALLMENT PAYMENT FORM.
Cancellations made 30 days prior to class will receive full refund, less $100 administrative fee. Students who cancel their registration after the Final Payment deadline will NOT receive a refund of any amount.
Participants have the option of rescheduling their attendance for up to one year for any particular module.
It is important to attend the full training for the optimum learning experience. If you must leave for any length of time during the training, please inform the registrar, an assistant, or the instructor.
Invitations to join a class from the waiting list will be sent via email when space becomes available.
Students who are registered for a class will receive email reminders with hand-outs 10 days before class. Students are responsible for checking their email, including spam folders, for these reminders and notifications.
Rave Reviews from Graduates of The Tao of Trauma
Thoughts From Other Students
I love the Tao of Trauma. I love how ancient the wisdom is and that we carry this knowledge in our bodies and all our systems. It’s pretty much magic.
Many learning nuggets I can put into practice right away.
Terrific holding of the group, safe enough container to remain curious through the 2 days. The 2 days felt spacious.
I appreciated Alaine’s ability to be clear with words – and the way she has synthesized all her knowledge and experience.
Alaine holds her classes with such openness, steadiness, with a totally welcoming but precise energy. I knew that I could ask things even if they “weren’t relevant for everyone.” She makes every question relevant. And she holds every student with esteem, which gave me the courage to keep thinking outside of the box.
I adored the course and the time spent with everyone and was in absolute AWE of the demonstrations by Alaine and the experience I had in the dyads.
This class has opened up a new level of thought/intention related to touch and informed my understanding of trauma in a way that has great coherence. I long for more information on the ANS and trauma. I am so appreciative.
It’s already helped me be more present with my patients this week.
This material resonates deeply in both a personal and a professional way for me. I’m a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner – and I think it’s absolutely incredible that you have woven what I learned in that training with TCM in such a solid and beautiful way. Brilliant!
I feel like I’m coming to my clients this week with new curiosity, greater clarity and enhanced awareness of when/how to utilize the practices from class.
More on Each Module
METAL. The Self-Protective Response begins and ends with somatic awareness, supported by the Metal Element.
Embodying successful survival leaves our interoceptive system available to provide clear and unencumbered information to awaken arousal to future risks.
Practice cultivating somatic mindfulness, touching the skin as a boundary organ, and restoring regulation in the diaphragms after global arousal.
More info: ToT-Autumn
WATER. The whole body is alarmed when the Water Element signals threat.
Explore the Kidney/Heart axis, the Polyvagal System, the impact of consuming fear on morbidity, mortality, and the inter-generational impact of traumatic stress.
Learn skills to restore a sense of safe container, build capacity in the Kidney/adrenal system, and re-establish regulation in the brain stem.
More info: ToT-Winter
WOOD. The Wood Element mediates our fight or flight response.
Thwarted mobilization can result in chronic pain, lack of embodied awareness and challenges in orienting to safety and danger.
Learn skills to support proprioception in the sinews, capacity to orient to threats, and a return to benevolence in the Liver Blood.
More info: ToT-Spring
FIRE. The Fire Element functions of relationship, connection and coherence are deeply impacted by trauma.
Profound vulnerability and shame require nuanced approaches to restore the Kidney/Heart axis, the pericardium’s capacity for connection, the Triple Burner’s infrastructure for connection and the Heart spirit’s gift of coherence, propriety and regulation.
Learn skills to restore the infrastructure and capacity for connection and whole-body regulation.
More info: ToT-Summer
EARTH. The Earth Element is vulnerable to freeze/shutdown in trauma.
Explore the visceral brain and the impact of pre and peri-natal trauma on adult morbidity and mortality and community health.
Learn ways to help move memories out of muscle tissue, support restoration of the gut biome, help patients digest food and experiences, and find stability.
More info: ToT-LateSummer