Foundations of Trauma Therapy: Two-Day Live Virtual Intensive (September 18-19, 2026 Pilot)

A two-day live virtual intensive for licensed mental health clinicians who want to think across trauma modalities, not within one.

This is a pilot cohort

This September delivery is a pilot. The cohort is small and invited, and participants are asked to give direct feedback on pacing, depth, and what should change. The material is finished. The delivery is being tested.

No continuing education credit is attached to this pilot, yet. CFBL Institute is not currently an approved NBCC provider. The application is pending completion of this training. Hours from this delivery cannot be counted toward licensure renewal, and nobody should register expecting that they can. An accredited cohort will be offered once approval is in place.

What this intensive is

A foundations intensive. It does not certify you in EMDR, IFS, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, TIST, CPT, PE, or any other proprietary trauma model. It teaches you how to think across them. The curriculum is organized around clinical competencies and core trauma treatment questions rather than loyalty to a single modality.

Across two days you will examine the history and ethics of trauma treatment, current diagnostic frameworks, the neurobiology of traumatic stress with honest attention to where the evidence ends, evidence-based protocols, somatic and parts-based and attachment work, complex trauma and dissociation, and the cultural and structural dimensions of trauma. The intensive distinguishes established evidence, emerging evidence, theoretical models, and clinical wisdom, and refuses to collapse them.

What you will be able to do after

• Describe the historical and ethical foundations of contemporary trauma practice, including the political development of PTSD and the ethical lessons of the recovered memory wars.
• Differentiate DSM-5-TR PTSD, ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD, and the major diagnostic rule-outs including borderline personality disorder, major depressive disorder with psychotic features, dissociative disorders, and somatic symptom disorder.
• Distinguish established neurobiological findings from theoretical scaffolding used in clinical training, and apply that distinction to psychoeducation with clients.
• Apply trauma-informed assessment and integrative case formulation, including phased treatment planning across stabilization, processing, and integration.
• Evaluate the evidence base, indications, and limitations of major trauma treatment modalities including CPT, PE, EMDR, somatic approaches, parts-based work, and attachment-based treatment.
• Identify scope-of-practice considerations for proprietary trauma modalities and articulate the difference between modality-informed clinical work and certified protocol delivery.
• Construct culturally responsive integrative trauma formulations that address race-based, identity-based, and structural contributors to trauma presentations.

Who this is for

• Licensed clinicians who treat trauma and want a more deliberate integrative framework.
• Clinicians trained in one or two trauma modalities who want to think more clearly across the field.
• Supervisors and consultants refining how they teach trauma practice.
• Final-year graduate students in clinical and counseling programs under supervised training.

What this intensive is not

• Not a certification in any proprietary trauma model.
• Not a survey of techniques you can deliver on Monday without further training.
• Not a wellness training or a healing experience. The register is clinical and intellectual.
• Not a marketing channel for any specific modality.

Logistics

• Dates: September 18 and 19, 2026.
• Schedule: 9:00 AM to approximately 5:00 PM Eastern each day, including breaks and a one-hour lunch.
• Platform: Zoom. Live captioning available by default.
• Format: Small working cohort. Discussion-based rather than lecture-based, and participants should expect to be asked what they think.
• Materials: Pre-read packet sent in advance. Slide deck distributed after the intensive.
• Prerequisites: Current licensure or pre-licensure status in a mental health discipline, and a graduate-level foundation in psychopathology. The intensive assumes clinical competence and does not translate basic clinical vocabulary.
• Recording: Sessions are recorded and made available to participants for review.

Faculty

Angela N. Serravalle, PsyD, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in Delaware (License B1-00011250) and a Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health (PC-0000609). She is the founder and clinical director of Center for Balanced Living and CFBL Institute. She is EMDRIA Certified and an EMDR Approved Consultant, a National Certified Counselor through NBCC since 2009, and holds additional credentials in Trauma-Focused CBT, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, Trauma Conscious Yoga Method, Ecotherapy, and Breathwork. She has held adjunct faculty appointments at Wilmington University and Delaware Technical and Community College. Her clinical practice focuses on trauma-related presentations and complex comorbidities.

Disclosure

Dr. Serravalle is an EMDRIA Certified Therapist and EMDR Approved Consultant. EMDR is discussed in the intensive and is presented critically. The program does not certify participants in EMDR. Dr. Serravalle receives no royalties, ownership distributions, or paid teaching compensation from EMDRIA, the EMDR Institute, or any other proprietary trauma training organization reviewed in the program content.

Accessibility and grievances

Live captioning is enabled by default. Materials are provided in screen-reader-compatible formats. Accommodation requests are handled within five business days. Written grievances are acknowledged within five business days and resolved within fourteen. Contact Dr. Angela Serravalle at clinical@balancedlivingde.com or (302) 608-3780.