Center for
NVR therapy & practice (CNTP)
Standing against harm, caringly together.
Basic training
in Neuro De-escalation
Instructors: Christoph Göttl, & Elke Göttl
Course information
Recurring cycles of high emotional conflict between caregivers and children can over time devastate the relationship, impair attachment, and overwhelm caregivers’ sense of identity and agency. Behaviorally, this can result in physical aggression, acute anxiety, dissociation, substance abuse and even suicidality.
Neuro De-escalation is an intervention designed to prevent escalation and its devastating effects and transform its high-risk moments into opportunities for healing and reattachment. Professionals and caregivers learn how to cope with escalation by regaining agency over their own feelings, attitude, and actions. This is achieved through intersubjective emotional regulation, and through an embodied expression of a guiding and caring attitude within the escalating situation.
Neuro De-escalation and NVR highly complement each other. NVR addresses the longer-term, cumulative impact of recurring escalation episodes on parent-child relations (‘striking the iron when it’s cold’), while Neuro De-escalation strives to prevent or abate escalation in real time.
This module may either be taken separately, for learning how to abate escalations in real time, or as a complement to the NVR foundation level training.
The course spans 18 learning hours equally divided between three consecutive training days. The program comprises frontal presentations, discussions, guided imagination exercises, body awareness meditation, and systemic role play. The guided imagination and the systemic role play work with self-exploration of experienced situations and therefore include mindfulness and therapeutic elements. Participants are encouraged to share their personal experiences as part of the learning process.
What you will learn
The Neuro De-escalation module introduces core principles and practices. During the course participants learn:
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To understand the neurobiological foundations of escalation
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Techniques to reduce risk of escalation when working with an escalation-prone person.
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How to accompany clients before, during and after escalation
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Techniques for supporting clients to switch back to the attachment system even after they have been triggered
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Practice dealing with escalation in systemic role play
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Understand escalation as opportunity to foster attachment
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Further grow your professional skill through an emotional understanding of escalation
Duration, dates and sequence Let me know when the next course opens
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The course spans 18 net learning hours (24 including breaks), divided into three consecutive days x 6 learning hours per day.
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All trainings will take place via Zoom.
Group size
Minimum 5, maxiumum 20
Instructors
Christoph Göttl and Elke Göttl
Christoph Göttl and Elke Göttl-Resch, founders and mastertrainers of the Neuro De-escalation approach. The course will be supported by assistant trainers in neuro de-escalation.
Dr Christoph Göttl is a child- and adolescent psychiatrist and psychotherapist with a specialization in trauma therapy. He is an inspirational trainer, coach, supervisor and presenter in trauma-informed childcare and therapy. Christoph has developed neuro de-escalation, and has been teaching this approach across Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain and Belgium. Christoph has presented, with others, on the integration of Neuro De-escalation and NVR.
Elke Göttl-Resch is a psychotherapist for adults and couples and trauma therapist specializing in body psychotherapy, mindfulness, and integrates many different therapies into her unique approach to trauma therapy. Elke is also a mediator, parent coach and clinical supervisor in trauma therapy. She has been a major contributor to the development of Neuro De-escalation.
Certification:
A level 1 certificate in Neuro De-escalation will be provided to elligible participants. This certificate is mandatory for advanced trainings in Neuro De-escalation.
Fees:
$1.158 CAD / $883 USD per participant (including exchange fees and commissions).
Eligibility for participation (see also our overall admission policy)
Please note that CNTP's training program is open to participants from the Americas. To applicants from the UK, we highly recommend Partnership Projects UK's programs. They are exceptionally adept and experienced.
Admission to the NVR foundation level course is open to persons who qualify under criteria 1, 2, or 3 below:
1. Professional qualification in a social work, mental health or educational profession, with eligibility for membership in a recognised professional association, a provisional or full registration with a recognized provincial regulatory college (in Canada), or a state licensing board (in the USA). Typical professions of this kind are nursing, social work, special needs teaching, clinical psychology, counselling therapy, addictions counselling, educational psychology, psychiatry, systemic therapy. In certain cases we may invite applicants for a chat in order to help is refine our criteria, and/or assess, together, how well the course may be suited to their expectations.
2. Academic training and/or a diploma or certificate considered by CNTP as equivalent to a professional qualification, in cases where the applicant has worked in public services or NGO’s that offer organizational support such as supervision and practice guidelines, for the duration of at least two years. The individual must not be subject to current disciplinary procedures, nor have a record of misconduct in the execution of their practice.
To evidence equivalence, we kindly ask three things:
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That you send us a full CV, including your work experience
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That you attach a cover letter explaining your interest in NVR and the way in which participating in the course aligns with your goals and future plans.
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That you meet with us, on Zoom, for a chat.
Persons who do not necessarily qualify as described above – be they researchers, support workers, teaching assistants, carers in residential services, para-professionals, community leaders, administrators, mentors, social entrepreneurs – are invited to approach us (see below). We will do our best to admit those persons who in our thinking would benefit most from the Foundation Level course, while benefiting others. This open dialog embodies our commitment, as a young organisation, to learn about what people and communities need, that NVR trainings can address. This practice will continue until more general and refined admission criteria can come into being. Please note, that at this stage we are not admitting people who come as parents and are interested in parent training.
To help us reach the best decision., we kindly ask three things:
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That you send us a full CV, including your work experience
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That you attach a cover letter explaining your interest in NVR and the way in which participating in the course aligns with your goals and future plans.
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That you meet with us, on Zoom, for a chat.
The above applies mainly to the Foundation Level Training and the Neuro De-escalation introductory course, not to Advanced levels 1 and 2 eligibility criteria, which currently teach NVR as a therapy.