Trauma is held in the body and continues to shape how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world. In Complex PTSD (CPTSD), these imprints often manifest as chronic dysregulation, relational difficulties, internalized shame, and deeply rooted survival strategies. Rooted in early developmental and relational wounding, these patterns become encoded in the nervous system as implicit memory — shaping perception, behavior, and physiological response long after the original threat has passed. Clients may oscillate between states of hyperarousal, disconnection, and collapse, reflecting the nervous system’s ongoing attempts to manage what was once overwhelming.
Attending to the body’s innate intelligence is essential to working effectively with CPTSD. From a neurobiological perspective, healing requires more than insight; it requires new experience. When the nervous system learns to detect safety, the chronic withdrawal of the social engagement system begins to soften, opening space for connection, regulation, and integration. Healing is inherently multidimensional, encompassing not only the individual nervous system but also relational, intergenerational, and collective layers of experience. Understanding how trauma is somatically organized allows clinicians to meet clients with greater precision, compassion, and attunement.
Working with CPTSD requires a refined capacity to recognize and respond to states of activation as they arise within the therapeutic process. Trauma material is often accessed indirectly, through somatic triggers, shifts in affect, or subtle changes in nervous system state. Effective intervention means tracking the edges of a client’s window of tolerance and working within it, titrating contact with difficult material to challenge the nervous system without overwhelming it. A core clinical task is supporting stabilization while maintaining relational contact with the emerging experience, using precise body-oriented language and an attuned presence to foster safety, orientation, and integration.
In this workshop, we explore how Hakomi offers a powerful and nuanced approach to working with CPTSD through mindfulness, nonviolence, and somatic inquiry. Hakomi’s emphasis on present-moment awareness creates a safe, relationally attuned field in which implicit memory, core beliefs, and embodied patterns can emerge and transform. Because implicit memory is state- dependent, encoded not in narrative but in sensation, posture, and physiological responses, it is most readily transformed when accessed in the present moment through the body. This understanding aligns with contemporary research on memory reconsolidation, which suggests that deeply held emotional learning can be updated when new, nourishing experience is made available within a carefully held therapeutic relationship. Throughout the workshop, there is a strong emphasis on stabilization, pacing, and the client’s capacity for self-regulation.
Through guided experiential practices, we will engage the moving, sensing, and feeling body as a primary pathway for healing. Participants will deepen their capacity to track somatic cues and use precise, non-invasive language to support awareness of bodily experience — learning to name sensation, activation, and shifts in state in ways that increase safety, orientation, and integration.
We will also explore the role of the Hakomi therapist as a regulated, attuned presence, recognizing that the therapist’s personhood is itself a central therapeutic instrument. Co-regulation precedes self-regulation; the quality of contact a therapist brings into the room shapes what becomes possible for the client’s nervous system. We will explore how to meet activation with grounded presence and skillful intervention, supporting clients in navigating trauma material without overwhelm and facilitating integration through embodied awareness.
This is an immersive learning experience that integrates experiential exercises, mindful somatic practices, brief didactic instruction, and reflective inquiry. Participants will engage in small group processes to support integration and practical application.
This workshop requires a willingness to engage in experiential practices, mindfulness-based somatic exploration, and personal self-reflection.
In this workshop, you will learn:
Target Audience
This workshop is designed for Hakomi graduates, students, faculty, and prospective students, as well as clinicians and practitioners with an interest in somatic approaches to working with Complex PTSD.
Manuela Mischke-Reeds, MFT is a somatic trauma psychotherapist, author, and internationally recognized teacher of somatic psychology. She is a senior trainer of the Hakomi Method, and a founder of both the Hakomi Institute of California and the non-profit Embodywise. With over 30 years of clinical experience, Manuela has worked with a broad spectrum of trauma survivors, including first responders, refugees, and victims of political torture, developing deep expertise in somatic trauma recovery and healing.
Manuela is the creator of the Innate Somatic Intelligence Trauma Therapy Approach (ISITTA), a Hakomi-based trauma method that integrates somatic awareness tools and embodied mindfulness practices to promote deep healing for trauma survivors. This method is also the foundation of a comprehensive training program designed to teach therapists and practitioners how to effectively work with trauma in a somatic context.
A passionate educator, Manuela has trained hundreds of professionals worldwide on topics such as somatic psychology, trauma-informed therapy, Somatic Psychedelic Psychotherapy, and Movement Therapy. Her approach is rooted in a profound understanding of the body-mind connection and the importance of cultivating safety, presence, and compassion in the therapeutic space.
In addition to her training work, Manuela is an author. Her books include Trauma-sensitive Movement (PESI 2025), Embodied Psychedelic Therapy (co-authored with Joshua Sylvae), (Norton 2025), 125 Somatic Psychotherapy Tools for Trauma and Stress (PESI 2018), and 8 Keys to Practicing Mindfulness: Practical Strategies for Emotional Health and Well-Being (W.W. Norton 2015), each of which explores practical tools and techniques for healing trauma through body-centered practices, movement and mindfulness.
Manuela’s work is characterized by a compassionate, embodied approach to healing that empowers both practitioners and clients alike to move toward resilience and wholeness.
2 CE’s: (ACEP #5476): Hakomi Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 5476.) Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Hakomi Institute is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. CE Policy
