RELATIONSHIP STRATEGIES TO TREAT CHALLENGING TRAUMA CLIENTS
Presenter: Robert T. Muller, Ph.D.
Monday, September 18, 2023
9:00 am - 4:00pm (6.0 Contact Hours)
Clarion Inn, Elmira, NY (In-Person)
$149/person
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE
Register online OR use the downloadable brochure to pay with a check, credit card, or purchase order. 
Questions? Call Janalee Orfanides at 607-962-3148 or email her at [email protected].

This practical workshop, led by Dr. Robert T. Muller, a leading expert on trauma therapy and globally acclaimed author of the psychotherapy bestseller, Trauma & the Avoidant Client, is aimed at building our understanding of the psychotherapeutic relationship with challenging trauma clients.
As therapists, while we try to maintain a strong therapeutic relationship, in practice, this is easier said than done. Trauma clients struggle to trust the therapist: Many minimize their own traumatic experiences or become help-rejecting. Others rush into the work, seeking a “quick fix, “despite a long history of interpersonal trauma.

Drawing upon attachment theory and research, and upon a wealth of clinical experience. Dr. Muller illustrates how to work with such hard-to-treat clients, how to find points of entry, and ways to make contact. Using a relational, psychodynamic approach, we explore strategies for developing the therapeutic relationship to help the client regain a sense of trust in others. We look at therapeutic techniques through which the client is encouraged to take interpersonal risks, to mourn losses, and to face vulnerabilities. Dr. Muller follows the ups and downs of the therapy relationship with trauma survivors and specifically looks at:
  • How do we tell when we’ve unknowingly compromised safety in the relationship?
  • What happens to the relationship when clients or therapists rush into the process, and how can this be addressed?
  • And how can subtle conflicts in the relationship become useful in treatment?

​We also explore different choices therapists make in navigating the relationship -choices that often have a strong impact on outcomes. Recovery from trauma is a complicated process. When clients reveal too much, too soon, they may feel worse -making the pacing of therapy critical. Here too, the key is in the therapist-client relationship. Dr. Muller walks us through the relational approaches that help pace the process of opening up -so that clients find the experience helpful, not harmful.
Click the above image for a downloadable brochure to print out.
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​OUR PRESENTER
Robert T. Muller, Ph.D. trained at Harvard, was on faculty at the University of Massachusetts and is currently at York University in Toronto. Dr. Muller is a Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Trauma & Dissociation (ISSTD) for his work on trauma treatment. His newest book, Trauma and the Struggle to Open Up, was awarded the 2019 ISSTD award for the year's best-written work on trauma. And his award-winning bestseller, "Trauma & the Avoidant Client" has been translated widely. As lead investigator on several multi-site programs to treat interpersonal trauma, Dr. Muller has lectured internationally (Australia, UK, Europe, USA), and has been keynote speaker at mental health conferences in New Zealand and Canada. He founded an online magazine, "The Trauma & Mental Health Report," that is now visited by over 100,000 readers a year. With over 25 years in the field, he practices in Toronto.
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