Join Licensed Acupuncturist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner Alaine Duncan for a 5-session, year-long exploration of her 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
80 (70 for Virtual cohort) CAB CEUs: Category 1 Course by the California Acupuncture Board, Provider number 1576, for 5 weekends of 16 (14 for Virtual) hours each weekend of Live in person and Live webinar (via Zoom) continuing education.
80 (70 for Virtual cohort) NCCAOM PDAs: 16 (14 for Virtual) hours per module approved by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
80 (70 for Virtual cohort) NCBTMB CEUs: 16 (14 for Virtual) hours per module approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork.
Integrative Healing Covid 19 Policy
We are watching the expression of Covid 19 closely and will align our practice with both CDC and local recommendations at the time of each class.
If you register for an in person class and are unable to attend due to Covid or any other scheduling conflict, you are welcome to: transfer your registration to the Virtual module or review a recording without CEU credit (unfortunately we can’t give you CEU credits for watching the recording).
Three Registration Options
Our 2023-24 season will include two in person cohorts — one in Silver Spring, Maryland and another in Thousand Oaks, California. There will also be a Virtual cohort that meets live on Zoom.
#1: In Person in Silver Spring, Maryland
Crossings Healing and Wellness
8720 Georgia Avenue, Suite 300
Silver Spring, MD 20910
| MODULE | CLASS DATES: Friday/Saturday 9:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time – 80 CEUs per module |
| Metal | September 29 & 30, 2023 |
| Water | November 17 & 18, 2023 |
| Wood | March 1 & 2, 2024 |
| Fire | May 3 & 4, 2024 |
| Earth | August 9 & 10, 2024 |
#2: In Person in Thousand Oaks, California
California Lutheran University
Gilbert Sports/Fitness Center
Gilbert 253 & 254
130 Overton Court
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
| MODULE | CLASS DATES: Saturday/Sunday 9:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time – 80 CEUs per module |
| Metal | October 21 & 22, 2023 |
| Water | December 9 & 10, 2023 |
| Wood | March 16 & 17, 2024 |
| Fire | May 18 & 19, 2024 |
| Earth | August 24 & 25, 2024 |
#3: Virtual Live-Stream — Held live on-line via Zoom
A Zoom link will be provided via email a week before class date.
A note about the change to the Virtual cohort schedule/structure (as of August 3rd):
Due to the challenges of “Zoom fatigue” in virtual learning, we have decided to do our Virtual cohort in the same 7-hour day we have done in the past. Virtual students are invited to attend the Seasonal Case Consults for free to accommodate the difference in class hours between in-person and virtual cohorts. Attendance at the Seasonal Case Consults is optional, and highly encouraged.
| MODULE | CLASS DATES: Saturday/Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time – 70 CEUs per module | SEASONAL CASE CONSULTS: Friday 1:30-3:30 p.m. Eastern Time – 2 CEUs per session |
| Metal | November 4 & 5, 2023 | December 1, 2023 |
| Water | January 13 & 14, 2024 | January 19, 2024 |
| Wood | February 10 & 11, 2024 (changed as of 12/14, please contact registrar with questions) | April 19, 2024 |
| Fire | June 8 & 9, 2024 | June 7, 2024 |
| Earth | September 7 & 8, 2024 | September 13, 2024 |
Fee Schedule
| Payment Due Dates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Early Bird | $1,900 | due by September 1, 2023 |
| Regular Fee | $2,100 | after September 1, 2023 |
| Two Payments | $1,100 each | September 1, 2023 and March 1, 2024 |
| Four Payments | $550 each | September 1, 2023; January 15, 2024; April 1, 2024; and July 1, 2024 |
25% off for BIPOC, LGBTQ, and first-generation immigrants
Cancellations made 30 days prior to class will receive full refund, less $100 administrative fee.
Students are welcome to transfer their in-person registration to the virtual cohort, and vice-versa. Requests to schedule outside of your home cohort must be made at least 7 days before the scheduled class or will incur a $50 fee. Participants have the option of rescheduling their attendance for up to one year for any particular module.
Returning students: $200 per individual module
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