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When Connection Goes Awry: Exploring Our Fear Cascade and How to Engage It for Cooperation and Growth

  • Wellbeing
  • Webinar
  • 1 CE Hour

Description

Felt safety is the cornerstone of our ability to connect and regulate. Yet, at times we may be safe, but not feel safe. Our outward response to loss of felt safety may vary, but neurobiologically there is a pattern which can help us find our way back to felt safety. The “Fight or Flight” response tells only part of the story of how we respond to stress (loss of felt safety). We will dive into our full stress response cycle and explore tools to help us end the battle to stop “behavior” and shift to helping ourselves and others create the resilience, belonging, and courage to work cooperatively.

Specific Learning Objectives and Agenda: At the end of the session, participants will be able to –

  • Use the Fear Cascade and Cliffs of Safety to identify the survival skills learned in both safe and unsafe relationships.
  • Engage Lift Off, Landing, and Cooling Your Jets to identify ways to regulate and the connections between safety and comfort.

Presenters

Photo of Mary Vicario

Mary Vicario Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Supervisor

Mary Vicario is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Supervisor (LPCC-S) and a Certified Trauma Specialist (CTS) with over 30 years’ experience working with trauma survivors of all ages and ability levels and training on trauma informed care nationally and internationally.  She has been a People-to-People delegate to China and Mongolia with the American Counseling Association and guest lectured and participated in a conference on human trafficking in Germany.  She holds a Certificate in Traumatic Studies from the Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute and has also been honored with a CASA award for cooperative casework.  Mary was an expert witness in child abuse for over 10 years, and in the past three years has worked with and trained First Responders. 

As a former teacher, clinician and clinical director and now as the founder of Finding Hope Consulting, LLC, Mary has many years’ experience working with trauma survivors, addictions and training.  Receiving ongoing training at international trauma conferences, The Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at Wellesley College, The International Center for Growth in Connection, and Harvard Medical School since 1992, she has been bringing home to Ohio the latest in neuroscience and trauma research to create cutting edge training and programming for individuals of all ages and ability levels and the systems that work with them.  Based on her training in Relational-Cultural Theory and Relational Neuroscience, Ms. Vicario’s work centers around the knowledge that all growth occurs in relationship and all relationships are embedded in culture. 

Ms. Vicario is a trainer and coach for the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program and co-authored the Foster Parents' Survival Guide, a textbook chapter in Counseling Children and Adolescents:  Connecting Theory, Development and Diversity bySondra Smith-Adcock and Catherine Tucker Eds through Sage Publishing, and other trauma informed articles and curricula.  She has been an expert witness on abuse since 1989, has been honored with a Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Award for cooperative casework, and clinically managed a program assisting Hamilton County Ohio for eight years creating cross system care for the 300 most at-risk youth in the county.  Mary is a proud participant in multiple grants to further develop and link trauma informed care across systems and communities in the United States and is honored to provide Trauma Responsive Care Certification through the Tristate Trauma Network for anyone working with trauma survivors. 

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