Healing Implicit Trauma: Harnessing Unconscious Processes and Neuroplasticity
Your client is having panic attacks and cannot tell you what set them off. Something in the environment is cueing a memory they have no conscious access to. EMDR and most trauma protocols start from the assumption that the client can reach the material and process it, so with this client they stall before they begin.
Dan Short’s approach is to stop trying to retrieve it. Rather than hunting for a memory the conscious mind is not offering up, he works with what he calls unconscious intelligence, on the basis that the mind can do a great deal of problem solving without conscious awareness being involved at all. The client keeps outside awareness whatever needs to stay there. The work happens through imagery, metaphor and suggestion instead. He grounds it in memory reconsolidation, the finding that a memory destabilises each time it is recalled and is rewritten on the way back into storage, and in research on imagined experience producing physical change in the brain.
Three hours. The first half is the theory and a full demonstration on a volunteer, using a written script that he provides. He is direct that the script is training wheels: it exists so you can do this on Monday without having to improvise, and you take it off when you no longer need it. The second half is class discussion of the method, including detailed feedback from Roxanna Erickson and from participants who had already used the script with their own clients.
You’ll walk away with
- A working distinction between trauma the client can reach and trauma they cannot, and why the second kind stalls protocols built on retrieval
- A complete hypnotic script for building a safe internal space and working with implicit material, demonstrated in full so you have seen it delivered before you use it
- Memory reconsolidation as a working model: destabilisation on recall, the emotional arousal that has to be present, and why the new information has to be relevant to the existing memory
- Co-regulating anxiety rather than suppressing it, by building an incompatible feeling such as safety, surprise, hope or in some cases anger, and why suppression tends to make the anxiety worse
- Utilisation in practice, including what to do when a client opens their eyes mid-script and says they are not ready, and how that refusal becomes the intervention
- Permissive, open-ended suggestion that lets the client’s own material shape the session, so you are not required to guess what image will work for this person
- The consent conversation, the ethical framing for reading from a script, and his stated contraindication for clients who are not reliably distinguishing what is real
- Practical positioning for safety: eyes open for as long as needed, a fixed point in the room, a blanket or a cushion, and idiomotor signalling as both consent and commitment
- Bridging a capability the client already has in one setting across into the setting where they need it, illustrated with a case that turns on the client’s own occupation
- Generalising the work outside the room, using emotional anchors and forward predictions that give the client something to act toward
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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: 3 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
Traditional therapy approaches that rely heavily on conscious insight can miss the profound healing potential that emerges when clinicians learn to work with clients' unconscious resources. Dan Short has spent over three decades mastering the art and science of Ericksonian hypnosis, becoming one of the world's leading authorities on unconscious process work and brief therapeutic interventions.
As Director of the Milton H. Erickson Institute of Phoenix and Executive Director of the Phoenix Institute of Ericksonian Therapy, Dr. Short represents the direct lineage of Milton Erickson's revolutionary approach to psychotherapy. His book Hope and Resiliency, co-authored with Betty Alice Erickson and Roxanna Erickson Klein, has been translated into seven languages and stands as a definitive guide to Ericksonian principles. His extensive research includes over 1,500 hours studying the original Erickson archives, giving him unparalleled insight into the master therapist's methods.
Dr. Short's expertise spans Ericksonian hypnosis, brief therapy, domestic violence treatment, trauma therapy, and couples/family therapy. His approach demonstrates how therapeutic relationships themselves become vehicles for transformation when practitioners learn to engage clients' unconscious wisdom. He specialises in showing clinicians how small shifts in language, timing, and therapeutic presence can create profound changes that bypass conscious resistance and accelerate healing.
What sets his training apart is depth combined with practical application. Short doesn't just teach hypnotic techniques - he shows practitioners how to cultivate the therapeutic artistry that makes Ericksonian approaches so effective. His international teaching at institutes in France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Japan gives him cross-cultural insights into how unconscious processes operate across diverse populations.
For your practice, expect to gain specific skills in therapeutic hypnosis, tools for accessing clients' unconscious resources, and frameworks for creating transformational therapeutic relationships. His methods particularly benefit clinicians who want to move beyond symptom-focused approaches to facilitate deeper, more lasting change.
Quick Win: Short's "therapeutic choice architecture" technique helps clinicians structure conversations so clients naturally discover their own solutions - often creating breakthrough insights that traditional directive approaches miss.
Qualifications
- Ph.D., Counseling Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2000
- M.A., Counseling, University of North Texas, 1993
- APA-accredited internship, Houston, TX, 1996
- Licensed Clinical Psychologist
- Nearly 30 years of clinical experience
- Over 1,500 hours of research in Milton Erickson archives
Authored Books
- Making Psychotherapy More Effective with Unconscious Process Work (2020)
- From William James to Milton Erickson: The Care of Human Consciousness (2020)
- Transformational Relationships (2010, Zeig, Tucker & Theisen)
- Hope and Resiliency (2005, co-author with Betty Alice Erickson & Roxanna Erickson Klein, Crown House Publishing, translated into Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian)
Teaching & Roles
- Director, Milton H. Erickson Institute of Phoenix
- Executive Director, Phoenix Institute of Ericksonian Therapy
- Adjunct Faculty, International Society of Hypnosis (ISH) Educational Board
- Clinical Instructor, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine
- Visiting Faculty, Various Ericksonian Institutes Worldwide
- Former Associate Director, Milton H. Erickson Foundation
- Former Executive Editor, Milton H. Erickson Foundation Newsletter (5 years)
Professional Practice
- Private Practice Psychologist, Scottsdale, AZ, 2003–present
- Clinical Supervisor, Graduate interns, various programs, ongoing
- Former Graduate Faculty Member, Argosy University
- Consultation groups for professionals, Phoenix metropolitan area
Featured Publications
- Multiple professional articles, book chapters, treatment manuals
- Blog author, Behavior.net
- Collaborative author, SAGE Encyclopedia of Counselling and Theory
- Academic researcher with extensive publications in professional journals
Speaking & Training
- International conference faculty worldwide
- Milton H. Erickson Foundation conference presenter
- Visiting faculty: France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Japan
- YouTube presentations on Ericksonian therapy
- Global educational workshops and seminars
Ready to unlock your clients' unconscious healing resources? Discover how Dr. Short's Ericksonian methods can transform your therapeutic presence and help clients access profound change through their own innate wisdom.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 3
- Topics 0
- Duration 3 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English