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Digital Seminar

From Insight to Embodiment

Integrating Trauma-Informed Yoga into Clinical Practice
Average Rating:
   105
Faculty:
Joanne Spence, DMin, ERYT 500, C-IAYT, YACEP
Duration:
1 Hour 05 Minutes
Format:
Audio and Video
Copyright:
Sep 09, 2026
Product Code:
NOS096781
Media Type:
Digital Seminar
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Description

This session explores how brief trauma-informed yoga and body-based practices can complement traditional psychotherapy by supporting bodily awareness, regulation, and therapeutic engagement. Drawing on current research and clinical experience, the presenter examines the potential benefits and limitations of embodied approaches, with an emphasis on client choice, informed consent, safety, and professional scope of practice. Through clinical examples, demonstrations, and brief experiential exercises participants will explore ways to introduce practices such as breath awareness, grounding, and gentle movement while remaining responsive to individual client needs and preferences.


You'll learn to:

  • Evaluate when brief embodied practices may be appropriate based on client preferences, treatment goals, professional competence, and scope of practice.
  • Introduce simple trauma-informed practices using choice-based language, appropriate pacing, and individualized adaptations.
  • Recognize potential discomfort or adverse responses and determine when to modify, pause, or discontinue a practice.
  • Integrate embodied practices as complementary supports within established psychotherapeutic approaches.
     

Credit

Faculty

Joanne Spence, DMin, ERYT 500, C-IAYT, YACEP's Profile

Joanne Spence, DMin, ERYT 500, C-IAYT, YACEP Related seminars and products

Joanne Spence, D.Min, ERYT-500, C-IAYT, YACEP, is a recovering social worker, yoga therapist, educator, and author. She is the author of Trauma-Informed Yoga: A Toolbox for Therapists: 47 Simple Practices to Calm, Balance, and Restore the Nervous System (PESI Publishing, 2021) and the forthcoming How to Die Well: A Practical Guide for the Living, her fourth book. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Australian Social Work and The Arts in Psychotherapy. With over two decades of experience, Joanne trains clinicians and educators nationally and internationally in trauma-informed, body-based practices. She is the founder and executive director of Yoga in Schools and has taught in hospitals, mental health settings, schools, churches, and correctional facilities, as well as at professional gatherings such as the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, Omega Institute, and Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. Her work bridges clinical insight and embodied practice, emphasizing practical, accessible approaches to supporting nervous system regulation in individuals experiencing trauma, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, ADHD, and sleep disturbances. 

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Joanne Spence has employment relationships with Yoga Abbey 300 Yoga, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Veteran's Administration, Urban Osis Pittsburgh, and Yoga in Schools. She receives compensation as a consultant and speaker and royalties as a published author. Joanne Spence receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Joanne Spence has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Additional Info

Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)

Access never expires for this product.

For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepesi@pesi.com.


Questions?

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Objectives

  1. Differentiate between cognitive (top-down) and body-based (bottom-up) approaches to trauma treatment and how they may complement psychotherapy within an established treatment plan.
  2. Evaluate clinical considerations for introducing trauma-informed embodied practices including client preferences, informed consent, professional competence, and scope of practice.
  3. Apply brief trauma-informed embodied practices such as breath awareness, grounding, or gentle movement using choice-based language and appropriate pacing.

Outline

Introduction and Rationale for Embodied Practices

  • Integration of body-based practices alongside verbal psychotherapy
  • Presenter's clinical experience using yoga-informed approaches in mental health settings
  • Potential benefits of brief embodied practices for awareness, regulation, and therapeutic engagement
  • Embodied practices as complementary rather than stand-alone treatments

Research Evidence and Clinical Limitations

  • Overview of research on yoga-based interventions for PTSD and related symptoms
  • Limitations of current evidence, including study variability, small samples, and limited long-term outcomes
  • Individual differences in responses to embodied practices
  • Avoiding unsupported claims about regulation and treatment outcomes

Trauma-Informed Principles and Facilitation

  • Core principles:
    • Client choice, autonomy, and informed consent
    • Appropriate pacing and flexibility
    • Inclusive, invitational language
  • Importance of tone, timing, and therapeutic relationship
  • Supporting nonverbal participation and accommodating individual differences

Clinical Appropriateness, Ethics, and Scope of Practice

  • Evaluating client preferences, clinical goals, and appropriateness of embodied practices
  • Professional competence and distinctions between yoga-informed practices, yoga instruction, and yoga therapy
  • Recognizing potential adverse responses, including distress, pain, dizziness, and withdrawal
  • Determining when to modify, discontinue, consult, or refer

Introduction to Brief Trauma-Informed Practices

  • Overview and demonstration of:
    • Breath awareness
    • Grounding and visual orientation
    • Gentle seated movement and postural adjustments
  • Adapting practices to individual needs, abilities, and preferences
  • Integrating brief practices into established psychotherapy

Experiential Learning and Clinical Application

  • Guided exercises involving grounding, orientation, and body awareness
  • Reflection on individual experiences and responses
  • Identification of trauma-informed facilitation principles
  • Practice rewriting directive instructions into choice-based invitations

Monitoring Responses and Clinical Integration

  • Distinguishing observable behavior from assumptions about internal regulation
  • Recognizing when practices should be paused, modified, or discontinued
  • Applying the five-step clinical integration framework:
    • Ask: Assess appropriateness, consent, and competence
    • Offer: Provide clear, choice-based options
    • Observe: Monitor client responses
    • Adapt: Modify or discontinue as needed
    • Integrate: Connect experiences to treatment goals
  • Documentation, consultation, and clinical safety considerations

Summary and Clinical Takeaways

  • Review of trauma-informed facilitation and clinical integration principles
  • Reinforcement of client autonomy, safety, and scope of practice
  • Integration of embodied practices alongside verbal psychotherapy
  • Importance of continued learning and professional development
     

Target Audience

  • Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Psychologists
  • Physicians
  • Case Managers
  • Marriage and Family Therapists
  • Other Mental Health Professionals

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