Dissociation is not a defect to be eliminated. It is an adaptive shift in how the nervous system processes information under overwhelm. Across two half-day sessions, this training gives you a somatic, non-pathologizing framework for recognizing dissociation across the clinical spectrum and working with it directly.
Early-bird code UD2026 saves $30 through October 30, 2026 (Central) · Standard price $319.99
Live virtual · 90-day replay access · Secure checkout · Instant confirmation · Zoom link in your account · CE certificate issued upon attendance verification · APA-Approved CE Sponsor
Presented by
Melissa Benintendi,
MA, LPC
Owner and Senior Trainer, The Body in Mind · EMDRIA Approved Trainer & Consultant · Trauma, PTSD and Dissociative Disorders
Diagnostic categories describe what dissociation looks like from the outside. They say considerably less about what to do in the room when a client goes quiet, blank, or somatically absent. This training approaches dissociation from the inside out: as a lived, embodied shift in perception, interoception, and awareness that can be tracked, tolerated, and worked with.
LPCs, LMHCs, and licensed counselors working with trauma, complex trauma, and dissociative presentations.
LISWs, LMSWs, and psychologists seeking a dimensional, somatically informed alternative to purely categorical assessment.
LMFTs and master’s-level clinicians who encounter dissociation in session and want a framework for responding to it.
This training presents dissociation as a normative, adaptive neurobiological process that alters the flow of information processing in response to perceived overwhelm, rather than solely as a pathological condition. Drawing on phenomenology, affective neuroscience, and contemporary trauma theory, it holds the lived, embodied experience of dissociation alongside traditional diagnostic frameworks rather than in place of them.
You will work across the dissociative spectrum, from everyday dissociative processes to complex presentations such as dissociative identity disorder, with attention to developmental considerations and clinical differentiation. Core treatment principles center on increasing environmental and relational safety, strengthening present-moment embodied awareness, and gradually expanding tolerance for previously dissociated sensations and emotions.
Interventions are organized into three complementary domains: memory-focused, body and sensory-focused, and ego state-informed. The limits of grounding as a standalone intervention are addressed directly, with emphasis on safe expression and integration of dissociated material through somatic and relational process inside an attuned therapeutic relationship.
Eight learning objectives covering what dissociation is, how to recognize it across the spectrum, and how to sequence treatment.
01
Define dissociation as a disruption or discontinuity in the integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior, and describe how dissociative responses may function adaptively during overwhelming threat or trauma.
02
Differentiate dissociative experiences across a clinical spectrum, from transient and common dissociative phenomena to clinically significant dissociative disorders, including depersonalization/derealization disorder and dissociative identity disorder.
03
Describe phenomenological and neurobiological mechanisms underlying dissociation, with attention to changes in perception, sensation, interoception, embodiment, and awareness.
04
Evaluate the clinical utility and limitations of DSM-based dissociative disorder categories, including when dimensional, trauma-informed, and somatic/embodiment-based conceptualizations may provide additional clinical information.
05
Identify common subjective and observable indicators of dissociation, including disruptions in time, space, perception, memory, embodiment, attention, and relational engagement.
06
Apply trauma-informed core treatment principles for working with dissociation, including increasing safety, strengthening present-moment embodied awareness, and gradually expanding tolerance for dissociated or avoided material.
07
Compare how memory-focused, body/sensory-focused, and parts/ego-state-informed interventions may be sequenced or integrated when treating dissociation, with attention to safety, pacing, clinical attunement, and the limits of the current evidence base.
08
Apply the course concepts to clinical case examples through live consultation and discussion, including dissociation-informed assessment, somatic indicators, treatment pacing, and intervention selection.
When a clinician can name what is happening in a client’s body, hold it as adaptive rather than alarming, and choose an intervention that matches the client’s current tolerance, dissociation stops functioning as a wall in the work and starts functioning as information about it.
Assessment, somatic tracking, pacing, and intervention selection are built to move directly into clinical practice, starting with your next session.
8 CE credits (under review) · Secure checkout · Code UD2026 saves $30 through October 30
Live Training
$319.99$289.99
Early bird · Save $30 before October 30, 2026 (Central)
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Understanding Dissociation: Definition, Spectrum, and Mechanism
Treating Dissociation: Safety, Sequencing, and Integration
All times Central. Breaks are scheduled between sessions and excluded from CE time. Live attendance in full is required for CE credit.
Owner and Senior Trainer, The Body in Mind · EMDRIA Approved Trainer & Consultant · Trauma, PTSD and Dissociative Disorders
Melissa Benintendi is the Owner and Senior Trainer at The Body in Mind in Springfield, Missouri. With nearly two decades of clinical experience, she specializes in treating trauma, PTSD, and dissociative disorders using EMDR and somatic therapies. She leads individual and group therapy intensives and retreats, provides private therapy, and trains clinicians nationwide through basic trainings, advanced workshops, and certification consultation.
From 2016 to 2025 she served as Director of Clinical Embodiment at Beyond Healing Center and Institute, where she developed integrated EMDR and somatic therapy models and co-created the podcasts Notice That and Beyond Trauma. She is an EMDRIA-approved consultant and trainer, a doctoral student in Integral and Transpersonal Psychology at CIIS, and an adjunct professor at Evangel University.
Read Melissa’s Full BioEMDR & Beyond is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. EMDR & Beyond maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
This program has been submitted for 8 continuing education credits. Approval and final credit hours are pending confirmation and will be posted here once received. This program does not carry EMDRIA credit.
Certificates are issued electronically after attendance verification and completion requirements are met. To receive CE credit for live virtual attendance, participants must attend the entire program in real time. Partial credit is not available, and viewing a recording does not qualify for live credit.
This training is intended for doctorate- and master’s-level mental health professionals, including psychologists, LMFTs, LMHCs, LPCs, LISWs, LMSWs, and other master’s-level practitioners. Licensed professionals are responsible for contacting their regulatory board to determine individual course approval.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
Refunds are available within three (3) days of course purchase, less a $50 processing fee. Purchases made after this period are non-refundable.
Written grievances should be submitted to Kenya Rocha at kenya@emdrandbeyond.com. Grievances will be reviewed and, when appropriate, corrective action will be taken to prevent future occurrences.
This course complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). There is no known commercial interest or conflict of interest related to this workshop. Accommodation requests: contact Kenya Rocha at kenya@emdrandbeyond.com in advance.
Course content is grounded in current peer-reviewed literature on dissociation, interoception, and somatically informed trauma treatment. The full reference list submitted with this program’s accreditation application is below.
Two half-day sessions, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM Central both days. Early-bird pricing (code UD2026) ends October 30, 2026. Registration closes November 10, 2026.
APA-Approved CE Sponsor · Live virtual · 90-day replay access · Secure checkout · Instant confirmation
