Dates: Fridays, 11 September – 13 November 2026 (no classes 9 & 16 October)
Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm (UK Time)
Format: 8 × 2-hour live Zoom classes
CPD Award: 16 hours CPD
Tutor: Vicky Gaughan
Fee: £240 (US $320)
- Complementary therapists: massage, reflexologists & others
- Yoga
- Pilates
- Physiotherapists
- Other therapists
- Others
Please contact us if you are not sure if this course suits you
+447575759234 (WhatsApp or calls)
info@bodyology.org.uk
- What trauma is and what it isn't from a physiological perspective
- How to recognise nervous system states in your clients and yourself
- How to create genuine safety through consent, choice and trauma-informed language
- How to read what the body may be communicating without complicated diagnosis
- How to adapt your touch, pressure and pacing to nervous system responses
- How to respond safely when emotions arise, while staying within your scope of practice
- How to protect yourself from compassion fatigue and burnout
- A practical framework you can apply in your very next treatment
Trauma is not simply something that happened in the past. It is a continuous, living experience sealed in our nervous system, originating from overwhelming experiences that have not yet been resolved.
As bodyworkers, we mainly focus on our clients’ muscles, fascia, breath and movement. This workshop will focus on the nervous system involved in trauma. Many of the clients are experiencing stress, anxiety, grief, chronic pain, the after-effects of invasive medical procedures, childhood adversity or overwhelming life events. They may never use the word ‘trauma’ — yet their bodies often tell the story.
This course will help you become a trauma-aware practitioner. Not by turning you into a psychotherapist, but by teaching you to recognise what your clients' nervous systems may be communicating, how to create a safe space to work with such clients, and your professional boundaries so you can apply your compassion.
Drawing on Polyvagal Theory, Somatic Experiencing®, Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy, attachment theory and interpersonal neurobiology, this course offers practical skills you can begin using immediately.
By the end of the course, you will improve your knowledge not only of how your clients' nervous systems function, but also of your own.
Vicky Gaughan is a body psychotherapist, Hakomi Trainer, Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist, massage and bodywork educator, and trauma specialist with over 30 years’ experience supporting people to heal through the wisdom of the body. Drawing on Hakomi, somatic psychotherapy, Polyvagal Theory, bodywork and mindfulness, she creates learning environments that are experiential, compassionate and deeply grounded in the nervous system.
Her teaching invites practitioners to move beyond techniques, developing the embodied presence, relational awareness and practical skills needed to work safely and effectively with trauma. Alongside her professional training, Vicky’s work has been shaped by her own lived experience of adversity, resilience and transformation. Growing up in a working-class community and navigating the impact of developmental trauma has given her a profound appreciation for the intelligence of the body and the human capacity to heal within safe, attuned relationships.
She is passionate about making trauma-informed practice accessible, integrating neuroscience with ancient wisdom, while honouring diverse cultural perspectives and the many ways our histories of family, community and society become embodied. Her teaching is known for its warmth, authenticity, depth and unwavering belief that healing is possible throughout life.
Week 1 — Understanding Trauma Through the Body.
Theme: Trauma is held in nervous systems, not in events.
You'll explore: what trauma is and isn't; "Big T" and "little t" trauma; developmental and shock trauma; chronic stress; why the body remembers; neuroplasticity and hope; an introduction to body-first thinking.
In practice: body awareness meditation, tracking sensations, resourcing, and exploring your Window of Tolerance.
By the end of this week you'll understand trauma from a physiological rather than pathological perspective.
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Week 2 — The Nervous System as Your Greatest Clinical Tool.
Theme: Polyvagal Theory made practical.
You'll explore: the autonomic nervous system; sympathetic mobilisation; dorsal vagal shutdown; ventral vagal connection; neuroception; co-regulation; and why clients don't "choose" their responses.
In practice: mapping your own autonomic states; voice, eye and breath exercises; recognising state shifts.
By the end of this week you'll begin recognising nervous system states in yourself and your clients.
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Week 3 — Safety Before Technique.
Theme: The therapeutic relationship regulates before hands do.
You'll explore: psychological and relational safety; choice and consent; predictability; boundaries; power dynamics; cultural humility; trauma-informed language.
In practice: giving and receiving clear consent, body language awareness, invitational language.
By the end of this week you'll understand how safety changes treatment outcomes.
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Week 4 — What the Body May Be Communicating.
Theme: Reading the body with curiosity rather than diagnosis.
You'll explore: breathing, eyes, voice, muscle tone, stillness, fidgeting, temperature, protective patterns, holding, and startle responses.
In practice: observation exercises, mindful noticing, tracking without interpreting.
By the end of this week you'll have developed observational skills — without assuming meaning.
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Week 5 — Touch Through a Trauma-Informed Lens.
Theme: Every touch communicates.
You'll explore: when touch heals and when it overwhelms; pressure, rhythm and pacing; permission and choice; working with clients who freeze; touch aversion; medical trauma; pain science.
In practice: imagined sessions, reflective exercises, pressure experiments.
By the end of this week you'll know how to adapt your treatment to nervous system responses.
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Week 6 — Working With Activation Without Becoming the Therapist.
Theme: Staying within your scope of practice.
You'll explore: fight, flight, freeze, collapse and appease/fawn responses; emotional release; when tears arise; grounding; resourcing; referral pathways; professional boundaries.
In practice: role plays, grounding techniques, containment skills.
By the end of this week you'll know how to respond safely — without practising psychotherapy.
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Week 7 — The Therapist's Nervous System.
Theme: You are part of the treatment.
You'll explore: co-regulation; compassion fatigue; burnout; vicarious trauma; embodied presence; mindfulness; Loving Presence (Hakomi); self-regulation; professional sustainability.
In practice: building your self-regulation toolkit — resourcing, orienting, movement, and the Voo/Vu sound.
By the end of this week you'll have built your own resilience alongside your clinical competence.
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Week 8 — Bringing Everything Together.
Theme: From theory into confident practice.
You'll explore: case studies; treatment planning; ethical dilemmas; integrating trauma-informed principles into your existing treatments; review and future learning.
In practice: working through client scenarios, creating your personal action plan, celebration and reflection.
By the end of this week, you'll leave with confidence and a practical framework you can apply immediately.
We are here if you need some help.
Email: info@bodyology.org.uk.
WhatsApp +447575759234.
phone +447575759234
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