The Neuroscience of State Change: Breaking Free from Chronic Reactivity
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You know the client. Bright, insightful, motivated. They can explain exactly where the pattern comes from. Then a look from their partner or an email from their boss sends them straight back into it.
It isn’t a lack of insight, and it isn’t a lack of effort. Something else is driving the outcome.
In this course, Dr Carol Kershaw draws on 40 years of clinical practice, and three decades running a neurofeedback clinic with her husband and co-author Dr Bill Wade, to show what that something is: the state the nervous system is in. In a reactive state, attention narrows, memory closes down and the same old story replays. In a calmer, more open state, people can suddenly think, remember and choose differently. You can’t reason a nervous system out of a survival state, but you can help it find its way into a different one.
Carol shows you how. You’ll see why reactivity is a learned state rather than a fixed trait. You’ll learn how state-dependent memory explains the client who “knows it but can’t access it”, and why insight tends to follow regulation rather than lead it. Then she gives you the tools: quick attention shifts, wide-angle perception, focusing on space, the future self conversation and Ericksonian hypnotic language. There are also two guided practices you can use in session, including a full inner sanctuary induction.
If you’ve ever watched a client understand everything and change nothing, this course gives you a different place to start.
You’ll walk away with
- A clear way to see reactivity as a learned state, not a personality trait
- An understanding of state-dependent memory, and how to use it with clients who freeze under pressure
- Questions that uncover a client’s hidden resources, not just their deficits
- Ways to create safety in the room so the nervous system can settle
- Quick state-shift tools you can teach in minutes: attention shifts, wide-angle perception, grounding and slow breathing
- Neuro-state training, to help clients practise the states they want more of
- A plain-language grasp of brain rhythms, brainwaves and microstates, and why they matter in the therapy room
- Ericksonian approaches to the future self and to hypnotic language
- Two guided practices for use in session, including a full hypnotic induction
- A 34-page course handbook with scripts, worksheets and practice tools
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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: 3.5 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.
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Meet Your Instructor
Stress, anxiety, and trauma that overwhelm traditional talk therapy approaches often respond dramatically to brain-based interventions that tap into the mind's natural healing capabilities. Carol Kershaw has spent over four decades perfecting this integration, becoming an international authority on the neuroscience of therapeutic change.
As Co-Director of the Milton H. Erickson Institute of Houston since 1983, Dr. Kershaw has trained thousands of clinicians worldwide in combining clinical hypnosis, neurofeedback, and evidence-based psychotherapy. Her three books - including Brain Change Therapy: Clinical Interventions for Self-Transformation (W.W. Norton) and The Worry-Free Mind (Career Press) - translate complex neuroscience into practical clinical tools. Recognition as both a Fellow in EEG Biofeedback and Approved Consultant for the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis reflects her mastery of brain-based therapeutic approaches.
Dr. Kershaw's expertise spans clinical hypnosis, neurofeedback, trauma resolution, couples therapy, and peak performance coaching. Her approach combines Milton Erickson's naturalistic hypnosis methods with cutting-edge neuroscience research, showing clinicians how to activate clients' innate capacity for change at the neurological level. She has presented her work internationally - from NASA to medical teams in Saudi Arabia - and regularly teaches at Evolution of Psychotherapy conferences, Erickson Congresses, and major professional meetings.
What sets her training apart is the seamless integration of science and artistry. Kershaw doesn't just teach hypnosis techniques or neurofeedback protocols in isolation - she shows practitioners how to weave together multiple modalities to create powerful therapeutic experiences. Her methods help clinicians move beyond symptom management to facilitate genuine neuroplastic change.
For your practice, expect to gain specific skills in clinical hypnosis for trauma and anxiety, practical neurofeedback applications, and brain-based interventions that accelerate therapeutic progress. Her approach particularly benefits clinicians working with clients who haven't responded well to traditional therapy or who need rapid symptom relief.
Quick Win: Kershaw's "brain change breathing" technique teaches clients to shift from sympathetic to parasympathetic nervous system activation in minutes - a foundational skill that enhances every subsequent therapeutic intervention.
Qualifications
- Ed.D., Counseling and Psychology, Texas A&M University-Commerce (now East Texas A&M University), 1979
- M.Ed., Counseling, University of North Texas, 1976
- M.S., Speech Communication, University of North Texas, 1971
- B.S., Secondary Education, University of Texas at Austin, 1969
- Licensed Psychologist, Texas no(#22130), 1981
- Fellow, Board Certified in EEG Biofeedback (BCIA)
- Approved Consultant, American Society of Clinical Hypnosis
- Approved Supervisor, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
Selected Books
- The Worry-Free Mind: Train Your Brain, Calm the Stress Spin Cycle, and Discover a Happier, More Productive You (2017, co-author with Bill Wade)
- Brain Change Therapy: Clinical Interventions for Self-Transformation (2012, co-author with Bill Wade, W.W. Norton)
- The Couple's Hypnotic Dance (author)
Teaching & Roles
- Co-Director, Milton H. Erickson Institute of Houston, 1983 - present
- Consulting Psychologist, Brain Change International, 2016 - present
- Psychologist, Institute for Family Psychology, 1983 - present
- International workshop presenter, 2006 - present
Featured & Recognition
- Invited speaker for NASA
- Featured on MindMovies Inspiration Show (2024)
- Invited author, Family Therapy Magazine
- Faculty, Milton Erickson International Congresses (2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)
- International presentations: Saudi Arabia, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Canada, Italy, Australia
- Workshop presenter, Esalen Institute
Ready to harness your clients' neuroplastic potential for lasting change? Discover how Dr. Kershaw's brain-based methods can transform your therapeutic effectiveness and accelerate client breakthroughs.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 16
- Topics 0
- Duration 3.5 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English