Lisa Larson has been a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for over 23 years. After seven years in private practice doing "cognitive-behavioral" or "talk therapy", Lisa had a life-altering event that changed the course of her life and transformed her therapeutic orientation. She and her son flat lined (or clinically died) in 2005 from two different allergic reactions three weeks apart (both have recovered). Lisa was acutely traumatized with the normal symptoms of trauma: loss of appetite, insomnia, anxiety, panic, restlessness, hyper-vigilance, and constant retriggering of the traumatic events. She had a classic case of PTSD. No amount of talk therapy worked. But after two sessions of EMDR (a powerful trauma modality developed and rigorously researched at Stanford University) she was back to being herself.
As Lisa continued to train in the most powerful trauma modalities, she saw her traumatized clients heal quickly and permanently. She learned that her years as a talk therapist were missing the most crucial piece required to heal those with simple or severe trauma, the body. Those with complex trauma and PTSD are enslaved by their own neurophysiology. True healing requires releasing the individual from the trapped body memories that trigger chronic fight/ flight or numb/ freeze responses. No amount of talking or praying can remove the body’s relentless hold on the traumatized.
A dream was born in Lisa. She was determined to do something about the unnecessary physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual torment of the traumatized. She opened Pacific Counseling & Trauma Center, dedicated to offering the most cutting edge trauma modalities to anyone who suffers. She brought out the best trauma clinicians in the world to train her staff in releasing trauma from the body, mind, heart and spirit. She is passionate about letting the world know that trauma and PTSD are not something you have to live with and that freedom is possible.
Currently, she trains other therapists in Brainspotting as a Certified Brainspotting Trainer under David Grand, PhD, the founder of Brainspotting.
How to do a Brainspotting Intensive
This training is designed for Brainspotting practitioners seeking to deepen their clinical skills and offer transformative Intensive experiences for their clients. Through a structured, trauma-informed framework, participants will learn how to conduct comprehensive assessment, intake, and treatment planning for both individuals and couples preparing for Brainspotting Intensives. The course emphasizes identifying client readiness, clarifying goals, and integrating assessment data to inform case conceptualization and session sequencing.
Participants will explore how to select and combine Activa...Read moreted and Expansion Brainspots to optimize regulation, processing, and integration. Emphasis will be placed on ethical practice, documentation, and the use of structured assessment tools to track progress and outcomes. Each participant will receive a complete set of client-facing and clinician-facing forms to support assessment, informed consent, and treatment planning throughout the Intensive process.
This training integrates didactic learning with clinical application to promote competence, confidence, and effectiveness in conducting Brainspotting Intensives within a trauma-informed and evidence-aligned framework. Less...
Learning Objectives
- Utilize provided assessment and documentation tools to ethically structure, monitor, and evaluate Brainspotting Intensive sessions.
- Describe the structure, pacing, and flow of a Brainspotting Intensive, and differentiate it from traditional weekly psychotherapy sessions.
- Identify five key components of an individualized intake and treatment plan for Intensive clients—Diagnosis, Therapeutic Goals, Timeline of Traumatic Events, Negative Cognitions, and Positive Resources.
- Apply four Brainspotting frames to address shame, imposter syndrome, self-loathing, and pervasive negative cognitions.
- Implement at least three clinically appropriate combinations of Activated and Expansion Brainspotting frames to resolve unresolved traumatic experiences.
- Discuss ethical and practical considerations in offering Intensives, including informed consent, scheduling, pacing, documentation, and post-Intensive follow-up care.
Target Audience
All mental health professionals welcome.
Learning Levels
- Intermediate
Friday, February 06, 2026
Live Interactive Webinar
09:00 AM PST - 06:00 PM PST
EARN 7.5 CE Credit Hours
About the speaker
Lisa Larson, LMFT
Founder of PCTC, Brainspotting Trainer
Agenda
No CEs awarded for breaks or lunch.
9:00 to 9:45: Lecture: Overview, Review of Learning Objectives, and Introduction to the clinical and ethical benefits of offering Brainspotting Intensives.
Overview of assessment, intake, and treatment planning components at the onset of the Intensive.
9:45 to 10:30: Lecture: Learn 5 of the most potent Expansion Frames to heal self-loathing and deeply entrenched shame. Discuss strategies for identifying and processing core shame material.
10:30 to 10:45 Break
10:45 to 12:15 Lecture and Demonstration on Healing Core Shame. Interventions focused on healing core shame. Instructor models assessment integration, attunement, and frame selection.
12:15 to 12:45 Debrief the Demonstration on Shame and Q and A
12:45 to 1:45 Lunch
1:45 to 2:15 Lecture: Learn Brainspotting Combinations to heal your client’s trauma history, safely, effectively, and thoroughly. Learn to utilize the most thorough frames and optional resources, to ensure your clients have access to processing throughout.
2:15 to 3:45 Demonstration on Healing Core Trauma. Instructor highlights client readiness assessment, regulation strategies, and sequencing of frames.
3:45-4:00 Break
4:00 to 5:30 Practicum, Small-group practice, Participants apply assessment, frame selection, and documentation tools.
5:30 to 6:00 Questions and Answers
CE Information - Earn 7.5 CE Credit Hours including
7.5 Clinical Hour
CE Approvals
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
EngagedMinds Continuing Education is hereby recognized as a CAMFT-approved Continuing Education Provider. Provider number: 1032895
Association of Social Work Boards (How to do a Brainspotting Intensive)
How to do a Brainspotting Intensive is cosponsored by Lisa Larson, LMFT. How to do a Brainspotting Intensive, 6562, is approved by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program to be offered by EngagedMinds Continuing Education as an individual course. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE course approval period: 1/9/2026-1/9/2028. Social workers completing this course receive 7.5 clinical continuing education credits.
National Board for Certified Counselors
EngagedMinds Continuing Education has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7455. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. EngagedMinds Continuing Education is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
New York State Education Department's State Board for SW
EngagedMinds Continuing Education is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0676.
New York State Education Department's State Board for LMHC
EngagedMinds Continuing Education is recognized by the New York State Education
Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an
approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health
counselors. #MHC-0284.
Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an
approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health
counselors. #MHC-0284.
New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners
EngagedMinds Continuing Education is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0117.
New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology
Erena DiGonis, LCSW, PLLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0270.
CE Process Info
Each professional is responsible for the individual requirements as stipulated by his/her licensing agency. Please contact your individual licensing board/regulatory agency to review continuing education requirements for licensure renewal. Please note: You must attend "live" (in real-time) to earn CE credits.
Before the event, you will receive an email from CE-Go with access to the virtual event. After the event, you will receive access to your evaluation and continuing education certificate via a personalized "attendee dashboard" link, hosted on the CE-Go website. This link and access to the virtual event will be sent to the email account you used to register for the event.
Upon accessing the CE-Go "attendee dashboard", you will be able to:
- Complete evaluation forms for the event
- Download your continuing education certificate in a PDF format
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the CE-Go platform, please contact CE-Go at 888-498-5578 or by email at support@ce-go.com Please Note: Emails for this event will come from "support@ce-go.com".
If you have any continuing education related questions, please contact your event organizer.
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