Addressing Addiction in a Disconnected World: Practical Tools & Techniques
Most addiction treatment is built around getting the behaviour to stop. Relapse prevention plans, behavioural interventions, the whole architecture aimed at elimination. Megan Salar’s position is that this is why relapse keeps arriving. If nobody has addressed what the behaviour was actually doing for the client, and what was missing that made it necessary, it will be back, and the client will read that as further proof that they are the problem.
Her second move is the one most training avoids. She is willing to talk directly about what the addiction gives a person, including the dopamine and the genuinely positive feeling attached to it, on the grounds that a treatment plan built on pretending there is nothing good in it will not survive contact with reality. And she works from a broad definition: a behaviour that starts to damage your life, relationships, health and wellbeing. That takes in substances, but also social media, gaming, shopping, sex and relationships.
The through-line is disconnection. She spends real time on attachment and addiction, on what is missing culturally that makes this so hard to treat, and on why the reaching for something starts where connection is absent. Six hours across neurobiology, engagement with the clients who are hardest to reach, the stages of change and how to help someone move through them, relapse, crisis management, and the self-compassion this work requires from the clinician as much as the client.
You’ll walk away with
- A working definition of addiction broad enough to cover what you are actually seeing, from substances through to behaviours nobody screens for
- The case against treatment goals built purely on elimination, and what has to be addressed alongside the behaviour for the change to hold
- Relapse examined through the neurobiology rather than as failure, including the positive feeling attached to the behaviour that most treatment plans quietly refuse to name
- Attachment and addiction worked as a single subject, so disconnection becomes something you can treat rather than a backdrop you observe
- Enough neurobiology to explain to a client what is happening to them, particularly around use that began in adolescence and what that does to a developing brain
- Engagement techniques for the clients whose behaviour is most entrenched and who have usually been through several unsuccessful attempts already
- Stages of change applied in both individual and group settings, with what actually moves someone from one to the next
- Crisis management specific to addiction rather than borrowed from general practice
- Psychoeducation that tells a client the truth about how common this is without normalising it, so they stop carrying it as evidence of being uniquely broken
- Self-compassion and self-motivation work for clients who have lost any sense of agency, and the same for the clinician sitting with it
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CPD Information For Mental Health Professionals
Enjoy complete flexibility with 100% self-paced learning you can access anytime, anywhere, and on any device. This course is included with your Tatra Training membership, along with every other course in the library.
Course Duration: 6 learning hours
Certificate and CPD hours: On completion you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion to support your CPD records. Your certificates are yours to keep.
Assessment: Complete a short quiz at the end (80% pass mark), which you can resit as many times as needed.
Revisit Anytime: Come back to the course as often as you like while your membership is active, whenever you want a refresher for practice.
CPD Eligibility: This program may be suitable for CPD for professionals such as:
- Psychologists
- Counsellors and Psychotherapists
- Social Workers
- Community Workers
- Mental Health Nurses
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Occupational Therapists
CPD requirements vary between professional bodies, so please check with your association or credentialing body to confirm you can claim CPD hours/OPD points for this program and what evidence they require.
Course Content
Meet Your Instructor
Individuals struggling with complex trauma and addiction - and the practitioners trying to help them - can find that traditional approaches sometimes fall short when addressing the deep, intertwined wounds that drive both conditions. Megan Salar has built her career around this challenging intersection, becoming an internationally recognised expert who combines evidence-based EMDR therapy with raw authenticity to create breakthrough healing experiences for both clients and the clinicians who serve them.
As an EMDR Trainer, Practitioner and published author of EMDR for Dummies (2023) and The EMDR Workbook for Trauma and PTSD (2023), and The EMDR Flip Chart (2023), Salar brings unique expertise that bridges clinical excellence with lived experience. Her previous ownership of an award-winning intensive outpatient treatment center (Best in Practice, 2019) demonstrates her ability to create effective treatment programs, while her current role as Owner/Founder of The Mental Survivalist reflects her commitment to revolutionising how we approach trauma and addiction recovery. Her training of thousands of clinicians across the United States and internationally positions her as a leading voice in trauma-informed care.
Salar's expertise spans EMDR therapy, trauma treatment, addiction counseling, PTSD treatment, anxiety disorders, clinical supervision, and what she calls "authentic healing." Her approach recognises that lasting recovery requires more than technique - it demands courage to face one's authentic self and work through the "messiness" of trauma and addiction simultaneously. She specialises in treatment-resistant cases, dual diagnosis presentations, and training clinicians who want to move beyond more surface-level interventions to create genuine transformation.
What sets her training apart is authentic vulnerability combined with clinical expertise. Salar doesn't just teach EMDR protocols - she shows practitioners how to create the authentic therapeutic relationships necessary for deep healing while managing their own emotional responses to intense trauma work. Her integration of personal recovery experience with advanced clinical training gives her unique insight into what actually creates lasting change.
For your practice, expect to gain specific EMDR techniques for addiction and trauma, tools for managing blocked processing and treatment resistance, and frameworks for building genuine therapeutic relationships with challenging clients. Her approach particularly benefits clinicians working with dual diagnosis cases, those wanting EMDR training outside traditional EMDRIA structures, or practitioners seeking to integrate authenticity and clinical excellence.
Quick Win: Salar's "authentic check-in" technique helps practitioners quickly assess their own emotional state before sessions - helping to prevent burnout while creating the genuine presence that facilitates deeper client healing and therapeutic breakthroughs.
Qualifications
- MSW, Clinical Social Work, Northwest Nazarene University 2011
- Advanced Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ACADC) 2018-2022
- Certified Clinical Trauma Professional - Level II (CCTP-II) 2017-2023
- Certified EMDR Practitioner 2018
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker 2011-2023
- Registered Clinical Supervisor 2018-2023
Authored Books
- EMDR for Dummies: The Breakthrough Therapy for Overcoming Anxiety, Stress, and Trauma (2024)
- The EMDR Workbook for Trauma and PTSD: Skills to Manage Triggers, Move Beyond Traumatic Memories, and Take Back Your Life (2023)
- The EMDR Workbook for Addiction (forthcoming 2026)
- The EMDR Flip Chart (2023)
Professional Experience & Leadership
- Owner & Founder, The Mental Survivalist, 2023–present
- Owner, Recoverhe Counseling & Consulting, 2016-2023
- Certified EMDR Trainer, Independent Practice, current
- Clinical Trainer & Consultant, International
Clinical Experience
- Owner and Clinical Director, Addiction and Trauma Recovery Services, 2015–2020
- Various clinical positions in addiction prevention, intervention, treatment, and continuing care services
- Clinical supervision and training of other clinicians
Clinical Specialties
- EMDR therapy for complex trauma and addiction
- Integration of trauma and addiction treatment
- Treatment-resistant trauma presentations
- Clinical supervision and consultation
- Authentic therapeutic relationship building
- PTSD treatment and anxiety disorders
- Evidence-based trauma treatment modalities
Ready to develop authentic therapeutic relationships that create breakthrough results with complex trauma and addiction cases? Discover how Megan Salar's evidence-based yet deeply personal methods can help you integrate clinical excellence with the genuine presence that facilitates lasting healing.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 5
- Topics 0
- Duration 6 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English