Jan Winhall, M.S.W., P.I.F.O.T.
Dear Fellow Practitioners,
I’ve dedicated 45 years of my life to the practice and exploration of trauma and addiction therapy. My journey has been deeply influenced by the incredible individuals I’ve had the privilege to work with, especially the women in my early groups who taught me the profound importance of listening beyond words.
What I learned from those women is the basis of everything I am sharing with you in this course. I learned to listen ‘freshly,’ with neutral ears, to what the women had to say.
Eventually, through research and experience, I began to understand how and why these behaviors are ways of surviving what they’d been through… That’s part of what I’ll teach in my new course, Treating Trauma and Addiction With The Felt Sense Polyvagal Model.
In this course, we’ll delve into the somatic experiences that shape our understanding of trauma and addiction, exploring how these experiences are not maladaptive behaviors but rather adaptive responses rooted in our autonomic nervous system and our need to survive.
I invite you to join me on this journey of learning and discovery. We’ll explore the intersections of polyvagal theory, the felt sense, and the profound wisdom of the body. Together, we will move beyond traditional paradigms and embrace a holistic approach that honors the complexity of human experience.
Foundations of the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model
In this module, Jan gives a brief history of her work with trauma and addiction clients and how she learned and developed the model she’s teaching in the course. Some of the key things you’ll take away from the module are:
A paradigm shift from seeing trauma-related behaviors as maladaptive to understanding them as adaptive survival strategies. Jan emphasizes the importance of presence and how it fosters a more profound understanding and connection with clients.
The five key theories that underpin the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model, including Feminist Theory, Focusing, Interpersonal Neurobiology, the Learning Model of Addiction, and Polyvagal Theory. Jan explains how these theories inform her approach to trauma and addiction.
Jan discusses the critical relationship between trauma, triggers, and addiction. She challenges the notion that trauma therapy can be separated from addiction therapy and provides insights on how to address these interconnected issues in clinical practice.
Experiential Psychotherapy: Finding the Felt Sense
In this module, Jan introduces her mentor Eugene Gendlin’s research-based somatic process, which focuses on the importance of the felt sense in fostering connection with embodied wisdom. Focusing helps clients to begin the journey of coming into connection with their body. She guides attendees through the six steps of Focusing, emphasizing the need for safety in this practice.
Key takeaways include:
Jan goes over the six steps of focusing and stresses the importance of a relaxed approach, emphasizing exploration without performance anxiety.
Jan introduces Gendlin’s Experiencing Scale, a tool that helps therapists assess a client’s level of embodied integration. She provides examples of how to encourage clients to deepen their experience and move toward greater self-understanding.
The concepts of the Felt Shift and Focusing in Partnerships – Jan explains how felt Shifts, ‘Aha” moments, are indications of deep somatic healing. She also delves into the dynamics of focusing partnerships in dyads or triads, highlighting the importance of deep, embodied listening and co-regulation. She emphasizes how these practices facilitate therapeutic outcomes.
Bringing the Body to Mind – Interpersonal Neurobiology
In this module, Jan discusses Dan Siegel’s nine domains of integration within interpersonal neurobiology, exploring how each domain contributes to a comprehensive understanding of mental and emotional health.
Other key takeaways include:
Jan examines the intersection of attachment theory and neurobiology, focusing on the role of the prefrontal cortex in regulating emotions and fostering secure attachments.
Window of Tolerance: explaining how therapists can help clients move from states of chaos or rigidity to a place of integration and calm.
Jan wraps up the modules by guiding participants through a tender practice of revisiting early memories of being soothed, helping them connect these experiences to their current self-soothing techniques.
Trauma and Addiction – A Polyvagal Lens
In this module, Jan explores the adaptive nature of trauma-related behaviors through the lens of polyvagal theory. She explains how creating a sense of safety is vital to helping clients shift out of these behaviors.
Some other key takeaways include:
The Felt Sense Polyvagal Model: Jan introduces the 7 Fs model, which illustrates how the autonomic nervous system governs responses to trauma. She emphasizes the importance of understanding addiction as an adaptive behavior within this framework.
Polyvagal-Informed Focusing: This covers the role of the autonomic nervous system in shaping our responses and judgments. Jan teaches how to use focusing and polyvagal theory to retune these responses.
Neuroception and Interoception: Jan explains these concepts and their significance in therapeutic practice. She provides exercises to help participants tune into their bodies and regulate their autonomic states.
Learning Model of Addiction
In this module, Jan challenges the traditional view of addiction as a brain disease, presenting a neuroplasticity-informed perspective by Marc Lewis, that emphasizes the brain’s capacity to heal and adapt.
Other key takeaways include:
Develop an understanding of the brain’s structures involved in addiction, explaining how disconnects in these areas contribute to addictive behaviors.
Jan introduces the Four Circle Harm Reduction Practice, a tool for helping clients navigate their addictive and dissociative behaviors by addressing triggers and developing healthy behaviors and social connection. This tool provides therapists and clients with a practical roadmap for healing trauma and addictive behaviors.
Jan concludes the module by summarizing the core concepts of the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model, emphasizing the centrality of the autonomic nervous system in healing trauma and addiction.
Here's what you can expect from each module of this course:
A chapter from Jan’s book: “Treating Trauma and Addiction with the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model: A Bottom-Up Approach”
A chapter from Jan’s newest book: “20 Embodied Practices for Healing Trauma and Addiction: Using the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model”
An On-Demand Demo: on Focusing where Jan shows how the steps of focusing are used in sessions to treat trauma.
An On-Demand Demo: on how to use the Four Circle Harm Reduction Practice as a roadmap to guide the process of healing from trauma and addiction.
An interview between Jan and Dr. Andrew Tatarsky: about his Harm Reduction approach to treating clients with addiction, and how his work and Jan’s are similar in many ways…
PLUS, You’ll Get All Of These Incredible Bonuses…
Meet Your Presenter
Jan Winhall, M.S.W., P.I.F.O.T.
is an author, teacher, and seasoned trauma and addiction psychotherapist. She is an Educational Partner and Course Developer with the Polyvagal Institute where she offers a training program based on her book Treating Trauma and Addiction with the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model, Routledge 2021. Completion of four levels leads students to become Felt Sense Polyvagal Model Facilitators. She is an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Toronto and a Certifying Co-Ordinator with the International Focusing Institute. Jan is Co-Director of the Borden Street Clinic where she supervises graduate students. She enjoys teaching all over the world. Jan’s new book Twenty Embodied Practices for Healing Trauma and Addiction: Using a Felt Sense Polyvagal Model is due out March 2025 with Norton. It is a manual for her first book, designed for the general public.
Kim Wood –
This course was set out in a really helpful way to navigate the recorded videos, the slides and handbook and to attend the live sessions. I learnt a lot and it has given me confidence going forward with my mindfulness meditation teaching. It has given me new insights into my own somatic healing and a practical tools to use on a daily basis. I highly recommend the course and the chance to have live sessions with Jan Winhall. Jan is such a knowledgeable, skillful and deeply thoughtful teacher and I hope to study with her again!