Monday, March 23rd
1:00 PM ET – 4:15 PM ET
Overview:
Dissociation is a common yet often misunderstood response to trauma, and stigma surrounding dissociative processes continues to exist in both society and the helping professions. Despite its prevalence as part of the human response to overwhelming experiences, clinicians may feel uncertain, fearful, or ill-equipped when addressing dissociation in practice.
This training challenges prevailing myths and misconceptions—such as “dissociation is the opposite of mindfulness” or “everyone has parts, but only people with DID dissociate”—and provides a more accurate, compassionate framework for understanding dissociation. Presented from multiple perspectives, including lived experience with a dissociative disorder, clinical practice, and trauma training, this program highlights how internal systems function and how stigma can impede effective treatment.
Participants will learn general principles for assessing dissociation, developing stabilization plans, and tailoring treatment approaches to support clients who dissociate. Emphasis is placed on paradigm shifts that reduce clinician fear, foster self-awareness, and improve the ability to provide trauma-informed, ethical, and respectful care.
Objectives:
- Define dissociation in a comprehensive manner and explain the role that it plays in complex PTSD.
- Identify three of the most common myths and misconceptions about conducting trauma therapy with people who experience dissociative responses.
- Explain how phenomenology, or listening to lived experiences of people with dissociative disorders, can help you build more effective treatment plans and strategies.
- Implement 3-5 skills for preparation/stabilization in both individual and group treatment.
- Develop a treatment plan that is both trauma-informed and dissociation-responsive using your existing therapeutic modality.
Scope and Limitations Disclosure
This course provides licensed mental health professionals with a trauma-informed framework for understanding and addressing dissociation in clinical practice. While evidence-informed principles, case examples, and stabilization strategies are presented, this training does not provide certification in EMDR, IFS, or other specialized trauma modalities. Participants are encouraged to integrate the material within their professional scope of practice and in accordance with ethical and licensure standards.
Commercial Support Disclosure
Dr. Jamie Marich is the founder of the Institute for Creative Mindfulness and author of several published works on trauma and dissociation. References to her publications or affiliated programs may be included for educational purposes only. Participants are not required to purchase any additional materials, books, or programs to complete this course. The presenter has no relevant financial relationships to disclose beyond standard speaking compensation.
Course materials are only available to enrolled students.
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Dr. Jamie Marich, LPCC-S
Dr. Jamie Marich (she/they) describes herself as a facilitator of transformative experiences. A clinical trauma specialist, expressive artist, writer, performer, short filmmaker, Reiki master, TEDx speaker, and recovery advocate, she unites all of these elements in her mission to inspire healing in others. She is a woman in long-term recovery from an addictive disorder and is living loudly and proudly as a woman with a dissociative disorder with the goal of smashing the stigma about dissociation in the mental health field and in society at large. Jamie began her career as a humanitarian aid worker in Bosnia-Hercegovina from 2000-2003, primarily teaching English and music. Jamie travels internationally, teaching on topics related to trauma, EMDR therapy, expressive arts, mindfulness, and yoga while maintaining a private practice and online education operations in her home base of Akron, OH. Marich is the founder of the Institute for Creative Mindfulness and the developer of the Dancing Mindfulness approach to expressive arts therapy. She is the developer of Yoga for Clinicians. Marich is the author of EMDR Made Simple: 4 Approaches for Using EMDR with Every Client (2011), Trauma and the Twelve Steps: A Complete Guide for Recovery Enhancement (2012), Creative Mindfulness (2013), Trauma Made Simple: Competencies in Assessment, Treatment, and Working with Survivors, Dancing Mindfulness: A Creative Path to Healing and Transformation (2015), and Process Not Perfection: Expressive Arts Solutions for Trauma Recovery (2019). Marich co-authored EMDR Therapy & Mindfulness for Trauma-Focused Care along with colleague Dr. Stephen Dansiger in 2018 and their new book with Springer Publishing Healing Addiction with EMDR Therapy: A Trauma-Focused Guide released in 2021. North Atlantic Books published a revised and expanded edition of Trauma and the 12 Steps in the Summer of 2020, and they released The Healing Power of Jiu-Jitsu: A Guide to Transforming Trauma and Facilitating Recovery in 2022. Her latest release with North Atlantic Book, Dissociation Made Simple: A Stigma-Free Guide to Embracing Your Dissociative Mind and Navigating Life, came out in January 2023. She has several more projects in the works with North Atlantic Books, including a memoir about her own spiritual abuse recovery journey growing up with one Catholic and one Evangelical parent. The New York Times featured Marich’s writing and work on Dancing Mindfulness in 2017 and 2020. HuffPost published a version of her story focusing on being a clinical professional with a dissociative disorder in 2023. NALGAP: The Association of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Addiction Professionals, and Their Allies awarded Jamie with their esteemed President’s Award in 2015 for her work as an LGBT advocate. The EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) granted Jamie the 2019 Advocacy in EMDR Award for her using her public platform in media and in the addiction field to advance awareness about EMDR therapy and to reduce stigma around mental health. Marich formerly sat on the clinical workgroup of EMDRIA’s Council of Scholars and currently sits on the editorial board of the Journal of EMDR Practice and Research.
National Approvals
eCare BHI, as the accredited and approved sponsor, maintains responsibility for all the programs and must abide by each board’s continuing education guidelines.
Professional Counselors — The National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)
E Care Behavioral Health Institute has been approved by NBCC as an approved Continuing Education Provider. ACEP No. 6703. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC are clearly identified. E care Behavioral Health Institute is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Addiction Professionals — NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC)
E Care Behavioral Health Institute is officially on file with NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC) as an Approved Education Provider. They are formally known as NAADAC Provider #139138. Please note that E care Behavioral Health Institute is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.
Social Workers — Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)
E Care Behavioral Health Institute, #1706, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. E Care Behavioral Health Institute maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 06-03-2020 – 06-03-2026.
CE Broker
CE Broker is a continuing education tracking system in which licensees track their compliance and report their completed CE hours credit (CE Broker Tracking #50-33336)
State Approvals
States that Accept ASWB-ACE Approved Providers |
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| Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut |
| Delaware | District Of Columbia | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois |
| Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland |
| Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska |
| Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio |
| Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee |
| Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin |
| Wyoming | ||||||
States that Accepts NBCC Approved Courses: |
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| Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut |
| Delaware | District Of Columbia | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Indiana |
| Iowa | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Missouri | New Hampshire | New Jersey |
| New Mexico | Ohio | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota |
| Tennessee | Texas | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | Wisconsin | |
- Nevada CPC’s and MFT’s accept ASWB-approved training
- North Dakota Board Of Counselor Examiners LAPC and LAPCS accept ASWB approved training
- Rhode Island Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage & Family Therapists MHC’s accept ASWB approved training
- Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council LPC and LPCS accept ASWB approved training
- Utah Division of Professional Licensing – CMHC’s accept ASWB approved training
- Washington State Department of Mental Health MHC’s accept ASWB approved training
- Wisconsin Council on Mental Health LPCS accepts ASWB-approved training
States that Accept NAADAC Approved Providers |
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| Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | Delaware | Hawaii | Indiana |
| Kentucky | Maine | Massachusetts | Minnesota | Montana | Nevada | New Jersey |
| New Jersey | New Mexico | North Carolina | North Dakota | Oregon | Rhode Island | Tennessee |
| Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wisconsin | Wyoming |
States that Accept APA Approved Providers |
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| Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Delaware | District Of Columbia |
| Florida | Georgia | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas |
| Kentucky | Louisiana | Maryland | Massachusetts | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri |
| Montana | Nebraska | New Jersey | New Mexico | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma |
| Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | Tennessee | Utah | Vermont | Virginia |
| Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming | |||