Redefining Trauma with Anna Saviano | POP 869

A photo of Anna Saviano is captured. She is the group practice owner of Heartland Therapy Connection. Anna is featured on the Practice of the Practice, a therapist podcast.

Are you an EMDR therapist? Can the definition of trauma be broadened to help more people? Can you use EMDR during intake to set the course for the best-fit treatment plan?

In this podcast episode, Joe Sanok speaks about redefining trauma with Anna Saviano.

Podcast Sponsor: Blueprint

A photo of the Blueprint podcast sponsor is captured. Blueprint sponsor the Practice of the Practice podcast.

Providing great therapy day after day can be challenging – even for the best of us!

At Blueprint, they believe that nothing should get in the way of you doing your best work, which is why they created a platform that provides therapists with an array of clinical tools – things like therapy worksheets, intervention ideas, and digital assessments – that are designed to help you and your clients can stay connected and confident throughout the care journey. Even better, Blueprint helps streamline your documentation so that you can spend less time on your notes and more time on the things that matter.

To learn more and request a free 30-day trial, visit blueprint-health.com

Meet Anna Saviano

A photo of Anna Saviano is captured. She is the group practice owner of Heartland Therapy Connection. Anna is featured on the Practice of the Practice, a therapist podcast.

Anna Saviano is the group practice owner of Heartland Therapy Connection. Her therapeutic practice focuses on resolving past issues that continue to interfere with the client’s current life. Anna is also a Licensed Professional Counselor trained in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) and certified in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).

Anna has a wide range of professional experience, including working as an Intake Specialist at MOCSA (Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Abuse) and at Two Rivers Psychiatric Hospital early in her career. She has been an adjunct professor at UMKC for over ten years.

Visit the Heartland Therapy Connection website, and connect with them on Facebook and Instagram.

Connect with Anna on Instagram and LinkedIn. See also Life Plot Twist.

In This Podcast

  • Fleshing out the understanding of trauma
  • Use EMDR during intake
  • Top EMDR specialist news
  • Anna’s advice to private practitioners

Fleshing out the understanding of trauma

Trauma is a wide-ranging umbrella term for many different types of events, emotions, or situations that happened either once-off or habitually to a person that has some type of recurring impact on their present lives.

Really to say [that] some of the stuff that you went through as a kid might still be messing with you and it doesn’t have to have been “that bad” … that’s a lot of times what people will do [which is to] minimize or dismiss their experiences because, “Well, it wasn’t as bad as that guy”.

Anna Saviano

Therapy and trauma work should be available to anyone to improve their lives. They do not have to “qualify” for therapy.

Use EMDR during intake

During intake sessions with new clients, be sure to listen out for any adverse life events that they may have experienced.

These are the traumas or events that contribute to “negative cognitions”, the thoughts that they have about themselves or the world around them that get in the way of them leading a freer, more peaceful life.

If you’re listening for that, you can hear it at the beginning of treatment and it really can shape how the work goes, and I think it goes faster and people get more results more quickly and benefits more quickly because I can conceptualize it through that lens that EMDR provides.

Anna Saviano

Top EMDR specialist news

Right now, EMDR specialist therapists are doing the necessary and good work of destigmatizing trauma.

Things that happened when you were younger count as trauma and you don’t have to live this way … you don’t have to achieve just for the sake of achieving, you can do it, but with a healthier, more holistic attitude and your life doesn’t depend on it.

Anna Saviano

Therapy, especially after the pandemic, is bringing people’s attention to the good work and the benefits that can be done from engaging in it.

People do not have to trudge through and carry on living in harmful cycles in their lives, because there is a way to change them and improve their quality of spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical living.

Anna’s advice to private practitioners

Don’t be scared of working with trauma. Sitting with patients that are dealing with trauma while using EMDR can offer up some of the most magical work and transformation.

Sponsors mentioned in this episode:

Useful links mentioned in this episode:

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Meet Joe Sanok

A photo of Joe Sanok is displayed. Joe, private practice consultant, offers helpful advice for group practice owners to grow their private practice. His therapist podcast, Practice of the Practice, offers this advice.

Joe Sanok helps counselors to create thriving practices that are the envy of other counselors. He has helped counselors to grow their businesses by 50-500% and is proud of all the private practice owners that are growing their income, influence, and impact on the world. Click here to explore consulting with Joe.

Thanks For Listening!

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