Trauma is a phenomenon that impacts all of our lives. This course will cover: the origins of trauma, the definition of trauma, the natural adaption to regulate and the vulnerability to substance use, history of treatment, anatomy of the brain, stress response, ACE Study and its correlation to addiction, discussion of the impact of in utero through age five, different types of trauma, ways to repair the brain, ways to build resiliency, and the future of trauma studies. This course will cover the impact of racial trauma and the ways incarceration has traumatized persons of color, particularly men of color, as black men have been disproportionately overrepresented as drug-using offenders. Review of treatment interventions will include top-down TF CBT, talk therapy, cognitive restructuring, exposure versus bottom-up SMART, Yoga therapy, Brainspotting, EMDR, etc.

Learning Objectives

• As a result of this training participants will be able to identify a minimum of at least two examples of acute versus chronic trauma
• As a result of this training participants will be able to describe at least one way the sympathetic nervous system functions differently than the parasympathetic nervous system.
• As a result of this training participants will be able to recognize at least two different types of top-down approaches versus bottom-up approaches.

Instructor Bio

Joel Levine has been a multi licensed therapist and educator therapist for the last twenty five years, completing his Masters in Social Work, at Fordham University, with a Specialization in Substance Abuse and a two year post graduate training program in Family Therapy from the Multicultural Family Institute of Highland Park, New Jersey with Monica Mc Goldrick, LCSW and Nydia Garcia Preto, LCSW, as well two years of post-graduate training with The Center for Family, Community and Social Justice. He has also completed a one-year study with William Miller, the founder of Motivational Interviewing entitled Project Elicit, designed to provide clinicians with fidelity to the model, is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of trainers (MINT) and has been recognized by MINT as an approved trainer. He has recently completed all three levels of the Gottman Training.

He is licensed as a: Marriage and Family Therapist, Clinical Social Worker, Professional Counselor, and a Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor. In addition, he is a Clinical Fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, a member of the American Family Therapy Academy, Academy of Certified Social Workers and is certified as an Approved Clinical Supervisor, Certified Clinical Supervisor; NASW NJ approved Supervisor and AAMFT Approved Supervisor. He is recognized as a leader in the field of marriage and Family Therapy by the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, recently serving as board president for the State of New Jersey. He is also certified as a Certified, Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) Masters Addiction Counselor, Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Substance Abuse Professional, and a Nationally Certified Counselor.

He has a passion for working with families and their communities. He currently is a full-time therapist and partner in a private practice in Verona, New Jersey providing supervision and marriage and family therapy, specializing in couples therapy.

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