The Soul of Dissociation: A Comprehensive Course for EMDR Therapists with Amy Wagner, LMHC, LMFT (Online)

March 7-9, 2024

10:00am-5:30pm ET each day


Deepen your knowledge of the nuances of the dissociative response process through trauma-focused, attachment-informed and resiliency lenses. During the three-day training, you will expand and grow your adaptive networks through community learning, experiential activities and invitations to understand your own inner landscape of parts and dissociative responses. Best practices will become clearer, and strategies explored for transitioning this innovative learning experience to your clinical practice based in EMDR therapy. 

Attendance at the entire event is required to receive CE. No partial credit can be given.

This is the core course of the Institute for Creative Mindfulness' Advanced Certificate in Dissociation Studies for EMDR Therapists.

OBJECTIVES

After this course, participants will be able to:

1. Identify five indicators of a dissociative presentation in clients 

2. Differentiate dissociation facts vs. fiction  

3. Imagine the client’s perspective of the dissociative response experience through practice  and experience of DES assessment 

4. Identify and compare five current models of working with internal dissociative systems 

5. Identify and describe five grounding resource skills to use with clients and internal systems  during Phase 2 of EMDR 

6. Demonstrate internal parts mapping intervention with clients experiencing a dissociative  response 

7. Identify client’s dissociative profile and plan for crisis situations through development of  relationship with internal parts 

8. Evaluate their own internal parts landscape and identify ways their parts intersect with  clients in therapy room 

9. Understand parenting uniqueness for people experiencing a dissociative response 

10. Interpret client’s attachment patterns and identify five ways attachment patterns affect the  therapeutic relationship 

11. Identify five ways client self-identity regarding sexual and gender orientation are affected  by dissociation 

12. Identify five hidden traumas that affect people with a dissociative response 

13. Develop a deeper understanding of the intersection of dissociation and being a member of  the LGBTQ+ community 

14. Apply no fewer than five dissociation informed mindfulness skills in clinical settings

15. Recognize healthy boundaries, shame responses and how both intersect with client trauma  narrative 

16. Develop and implement a comprehensive treatment plan for clients experiencing  dissociation 

17. Describe the importance of including interventions around the topics of money, food,  sexuality and health care with dissociative clients 

18. Identify five ways to increase somatic awareness in session with clients 

19. Discuss the importance of personal expressive arts self-care practice to reduce burnout; implement a plan accordingly

By Registering for this Training, You Acknowledge and Agree to the Following:

  • Attendance: Your presence at the entire training is required at all sessions. No partial credit can be awarded. 

  • Technological Requirements: Attendance at all live sessions on the indicated dates is mandatory for completion of this course. These live lecture and practicum sessions will be hosted by the video conferencing platform Zoom. Links for joining these live sessions via zoom are included in the course portals. These links will prompt you to download the Zoom software if you have not already done so, and will then connect you to the session. Please plan on joining a few minutes early for troubleshooting if you are not already familiar with the platform. For more information on how to join a Zoom meeting, please read through the following article: https://www.howtogeek.com/662339/how-to-join-a-zoom-meeting/. By registering for these trainings, you acknowledge that you meet the technological requirements needed to participate. If you require technical assistance, you are required to reach out to your instructor at least one week prior to the start of training. 

  • Training Information & Eligibility: You have read our EMDR Therapy Training information page prior to registering. The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is an EMDRIA-approved provider to serve clinicians in the United States and Canada, only with certain limited exceptions. If you are a clinician living outside of the United States or Canada, we suggest that you contact the Institute for Creative Mindfulness first or check with your regional organization (e.g., EMDR Europe, EMDR Asia, EMDR Australia). A U.S.-based training may not be accepted for accreditation in your country.

  • Payment: The cost of this training is $325.00. Please notify our office at [email protected]  with any questions about payment for this training. Note that requests for refunds are governed by ICM's Organizational Policies.

  • Refund/Cancellation Policy:  You have read and agree to ICM's Organizational Policies, which stipulate the terms for refunds, cancellations, and resolving grievances and disputes.

  • Correspondence from Training Organization: The Institute for Creative Mindfulness regularly sends correspondence about the training, including an email confirmation at registration and several emails leading up to each training. The emails presently come from [email protected]. Additionally, The Institute for Creative Mindfulness may send out emails from [email protected] . If you are not receiving these emails, you are required to check your spam folder as correspondence from new organizations often ends up there. Once you receive your first correspondence, please save the email to your address book. If you have not received a confirmation email or other correspondence from the organization within seven days of the event, it is your responsibility to reach out to us by email or phone.

  • Continuing Education: You agree to check in to and be knowledgeable about the continuing education approvals that are required for members of your profession in your state. Many states do not require specific approvals; several states require specific approvals; many accept national organization approvals or providers from other states. Please double check with your state requirements and also carefully look at the approvals that have been secured for the training for which you are registering. You many contact the training organization [insert you email here] with any questions PRIOR to the training. 

  • Professionalism: You will show up on time and be fully present for each session, acting in a professional manner. You will reach out to your faculty member or any assistant if any unexpected problems arise. Staying present for online learning can come with its unique set of challenges, and you agree to take full responsibility for addressing your needs in the area of grounding and self-care during the training. You agree to refrain from all alcohol and illicit drug use during the training and agree to speak with your faculty member or an assistant if you anticipate that your impairment due to prescribed medications might pose a problem during the training. The faculty and staff reserve the right to remove trainees at any time if the trainee creates an unsafe or unprofessional environment for you or for other trainees, or for any other reason, at their sole discretion.

  • Accommodations: The Institute for Creative Mindfulness follows the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We ask that if you are in need of any special accommodations that will allow you to take your training with us online, please email us with any special requests thirty days before the scheduled training. If, during the training, a need for an accommodation arises, you are expected to contact your instructor and/or practicum assistant immediately and we will discuss the best possible solution.


  • Confidentiality: There is no client relationship or other privilege that would create a duty rising to the level of clinical confidentiality in this training setting; however, you are expected to respect the confidentiality of other trainees in the group, and your trainer will explain the importance of confidentiality. Trainees who observe a problem with another trainee are expected to bring the problem to the lead trainer or other training staff. Similarly, if a staff member observes an issue with professionalism, they reserve the right to discuss that issue with the lead trainer.

  • Preparedness for Doing Your Own Work: Throughout the training, you will be expected to participate in a working practicum experience in the role of therapist, client, and observer. This means that you will be expected to do a small piece of your own, authentic clinical work. If you are currently in counseling or being treated for a mental health condition, it is recommended that you speak with your provider, alerting them that you are participating in the training. If you have received a major mental health diagnosis (past or present), you acknowledge that you are taking this training and engaging in this practicum at your own risk, and agree to alert faculty or training staff before or during the training if any complications arise. You acknowledge that everyone taking part in the practicum experience is new to EMDR therapy and agree to keep the space as safe as possible for all involved. If any problems arise, you agree to address them with faculty or staff members.


Email [email protected]  with any questions or concerns. After registering for this course you will receive an email from Thinkific, which will ask you to complete your registration and give you access to the course portal. 

About the Instructor

Amy Wagner

Amy S. Wagner, M.A., LMFT, LMHC – Amy shares those are the fancy letters one puts behind their name to look like colleagues in the professional world. If you really want to get to know Amy from her bio, words like pioneering rebel, creative visionary, vulnerable disrupter, and gentle warrior would best describe her. However, she is sure you want to know a bit more about her credentials…so here is the real deal, along with the compulsory academic stuff. Amy began her journey to be a therapist during mid-life when she got a call from God (maybe it was an iMessage she ponders) while sitting in church one Sunday with her family. Amy reports it hit her like a brick and was honestly the last message she wanted to hear. Although she was “in therapy” and on a messy healing journey to heal childhood wounds, being a therapist was nowhere near her radar. Amy talked to her Pastor, who kept nodding at her while he shared the all-knowing smirk. Amy told him she was not taking the call; reporting she was going to hang up on God. “Sure Amy,” he replied, “you can do that, but you are really hanging up on yourself”. Checkmate! That began a decade-long journey to today. Since dropping out of college at 19 to open a dance studio (which began the best 15 years ever, and is another story), Amy had to finish her undergrad degree. Seven math classes later and Amy received a B.S from the University of Central Florida and was at Rollins College a month later, where she graduated with an M.A. in Mental Health Counseling and Certificate in Marriage/Family Therapy. Amy feels blessed to be a multifaceted human, thanks to an amazing dissociative response to some tough early life experiences. Amy views dissociation as a gift and knows that “if trauma is walking in the door, dissociation is parking the car”. She specializes in working with complex and developmental trauma and dissociation in all layers of our lives, individuals, couple relationships, and family systems. Amy believes we are all influenced and guided by systems; the systems inside of us and the systems that make up our personal worlds. Back in grad school she became trained in EMDR and quickly began the certification journey. Amy is honored to be EMDR Certified and on the Consultant in Training adventure. In her work with clients and consultees, you will notice Amy weave in expressive arts and sand tray interventions. She is holistically based as a therapist, consultant, mentor, and human.

Continuing Education Approvals

The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is approved by the following organizations to offer 18 continuing education (CE) credit hours for this course:

State of Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage and Family Therapist Board

The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is an approved provider of continuing education by the State of Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage and Family Therapist Board for counselors, social workers, and marriage/family therapists. Approval: #RCS091306

American Psychological Association

The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is approved by American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Institute for Creative Mindfulness maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

National Board for Certified Counselors

The Institute for Creative Mindfulness has been approved by NBCC as an Approved  Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6998. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC  credit are clearly identified. The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. 

Association of Social Worker Boards

Institute for Creative Mindfulness, #1735, 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. Institute for Creative Mindfulness maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 03/16/2021 – 03/16/2024. Social workers completing this course receive 18 continuing education credits.

This course is APPROVED by the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA)

The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is an approved training provider in EMDR Therapy by the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) Approval: #10002. EMDRIA is not a provider of continuing education, although they do authorize training providers in EMDR therapy after a rigorous approval process. The EMDRIA approval number for this course is #10002-151.

A General Note About Approvals

Please also note that APA-approved sponsors are accepted by many state boards, such as California BBS and major licensure boards within the state of Pennsylvania. In both of these cases, separate paperwork does not need to be filled out. Many state boards also accept out-of-state providers, which is why our Ohio approvals appear on every training. In some states, pre- or post-program approval forms must be sent, and you are responsible for checking into the rules of the licensure board in your state as to what is required. Please let the Institute for Creative Mindfulness know if you need support documentation in any way for these pre or post-program approval applications.

Course Curriculum

    1. Course References & Resources

    2. Completing the Course Evaluation and Receiving Your CE Certificate

    3. Course Evaluation (Needed for CEs)

About this course

  • $325.00
  • 11 lessons
  • 0 hours of video content

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