Rescripting Trauma Memories with Memory Reconsolidation: Protocols for Updating Implicit Beliefs and Patterns
Live, Interactive, Virtual
Saturday, May 17, 2025
9:00AM - 4:30PM EDT
The Clinical Hypnosis Society of New Jersey is pleased to welcome Courtney Armstrong, LPC/MHSP, ASCH Approved Consultant, for one of the two advanced workshops CHSNJ will offer this year.
In Rescripting Trauma Memories with Memory Reconsolidation: Protocols for Updating Implicit Beliefs and Patterns, Courtney will explore the phenomenon of memory reconsolidation and how clinical hypnosis can be used as an adjunct in treatment to facilitate it.
This workshop is appropriate for Licensed Health and Mental Health Professionals such as: Physicians, Nurses, Social Workers, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapists, Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors, Psychologists & others holding a license to practice independently, graduate students currently enrolled and under the supervision of a licensed professional, or Master's level clinicians practicing in a non-profit setting under the supervision of a licensed professional. Students and non-licensed professional are required to submit proof of their status and supervisor.
KNOWLEDGE/SKILL LEVEL OF PARTICIPANTS: Intermediate, Advanced (It is recommended that participants have some basic hypnosis training equivalent to Level 1 ASCH or SCEH training).
About the Presenter
Courtney Armstrong, LPC/MHSP is a licensed professional counselor with 25 years’ experience who specializes in grief and trauma recovery. She is an ASCH approved consultant and the Founder of the Institute for Trauma Informed Hypnotherapy which developed a successful national hypnosis training program for the United States Veterans Health Administration and trains mental health professionals worldwide. In 2024 she was given the Presidential Award from the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis for her innovative contributions in teaching hypnosis. She has also contributed to several professional publications and is author of the books Rethinking Trauma Treatment: Attachment, Memory Reconsolidation and Resilience, The Therapeutic “Aha!” and Transforming Traumatic Grief.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Reprocessing traumatic memories can be a tough task, due to the stubborn persistence of painful emotions, thoughts, and patterns woven into the memory at both conscious and subconscious levels. Fortunately, neuroscience has revealed how clinicians can more effectively help their clients reprocess traumatic memories by harnessing the mechanisms of memory reconsolidation.
Memory reconsolidation refers to the brain's inherent ability to update a memory network with new information when the person encounters a new experience that is emotionally significant enough for the brain to change the memory’s meaning, context, and associations.
In this webinar, we will explore the phenomenon of memory reconsolidation and how clinical hypnosis can be used as an adjunct in treatment to facilitate it. Participants will learn why hypnosis can be an effective tool for eliciting memory reconsolidation and get several tools they can use to help clients rescript trauma narratives, repair attachment wounds, and foster a positive post-trauma identity.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this workshop, participants will be better able to:
1.Evaluate recent neuroscience discoveries regarding memory reconsolidation and their clinical implications for treating trauma.
2.Describe the steps of the RECON protocol, an imaginal rescripting technique to help clients reduce distress related to memories of traumatic events.
3.Describe how to integrate cognitive reframing techniques with hypnosis to rescript the client’s trauma narrative and beliefs associated with the traumatic event.
4.Identify at least two ways to help clients avoid re-traumatization while reviewing traumatic memories.
5.Discuss at least two strengths and two limitations of the research on memory reconsolidation and clinical hypnosis in trauma treatment.
TIMED AGENDA: 6 hours of Education/Instruction
8:45am – 9am Gather and Introduction
9am - 10:30am Trauma, memory, and the brain
10:30am -10:45am Break
10:45am -12:15pm Hypnosis and memory reconsolidation in trauma treatment
12:15pm -1:15pm Lunch
1:15pm - 2:45pm Hypnosis techniques for rescripting memories & implicit beliefs
2:45pm - 3:00pm Break
3:00pm - 4:00pm Hypnosis techniques for attachment trauma
4:00pm - 4:30pm Cultural considerations, limitations, and false memory debates
430pm Wrap Up, Closing remarks, Instructions
CONTINUING EDUCATION:
Please contact Rob Staffin, PsyD, President of CHSNJ at chsnj1986@gmail.com for information about continuing education credits for social workers, counselors, and psychologists.
Certificates of attendance are included in the cost of the workshop.
Certificates of attendance will be emailed to professionals who attend the entire program, provide their license number and complete a course evaluation. For questions about CEs, please email chsnj1986@gmail.com.
CANCELLATION POLICY:
A full refund less a $50. cancellation fee will be granted up to 14 days prior to the workshop. After that no refunds are available.
This workshop will be held virtually. Individuals requiring special accommodations should contact the society at chsnj1986@gmail.com.
All grievances must be in writing to Robert Staffin, PsyD, ABPH at drstaffin@gmail.com. A reply will come within 14 days.
"New Jersey social workers not pleased with a grievance resolution provided by the Clinical Hypnosis Society of New Jersey may appeal to the approving entity or their jurisdictional board."