The United States Surgeon General just released new guidance for all organizations in upholding workplace mental health and well-being.  Dr. Scott Giacomucci and the Phoenix Center for Experiential Trauma Therapy offer interactive workshops and trainings for your organization’s leadership team and frontline staff focused on helping you better embody these essential principles for healthy organizations. Here’s the five essentials outlined by the Surgeon General and the US Department of Health & Human Services: Protection from Harm Connection & Community Work-Life Harmony Mattering ..read more

Psychodrama as a Treatment for Anxiety By Scott Giacomucci, DSW, LCSW, BCD, CGP FAAETS, TEP Published March 2022 in The Group Psychologist – newsletter of APA Division 49: Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy – https://www.apadivisions.org/division-49/news-events/anxiety-treatment Psychodrama is an experiential psychotherapy approach that utilizes role playing techniques and other action methods to address psychosocial issues. Psychodrama appears to be a promisingly effective treatment for anxiety disorders and can be particularly useful in reducing fear and anxiety (Abeditehrani et al., 2 ..read more

When Talking Isn’t Enough: Action Methods in Addiction (and Trauma) Recovery By Scott Giacomucci, DSW, LCSW, BCD, CGP, FAAETS, PAT Published November 2021 in The Group Psychologist – newsletter of APA Division 49: Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy – https://www.apadivisions.org/division-49/news-events/action-methods-addiction Addiction, substance use, and overdose rates have significantly increased in recent years, particularly during the covid-19 pandemic. Relapse rates are high and many clients struggling with substance use disorder have been to treatment multiple times. Most of these ..read more

The process to obtain certification as a practitioner in psychodrama (CP) is a comprehensive process requiring 780 training hours, a year-long supervised practicum, a written exam, and an on-site exam. For full details on certification, visit the website of the American Board of Examiners in Sociometry, Psychodrama, and Group Psychotherapy. The written exam is only offered once per year in October which creates extra pressure to prepare and pass the exam for applicants. Psychodrama training has traditionally emphasized the experiential components of the learning process over didactic teaching ..read more

Trauma-Informed Care: The Basics Dr. Scott Giacomucci, DSW, LCSW, BCD, CGP, FAAETS, TEP “Trying to implement trauma specific practices without first implementing trauma informed organisational culture change is like throwing seeds on dry land” – Dr. Sandra Bloom Trauma-Informed Care There are many different aspects and nuances within a trauma-informed approach. SAMHSA (2014) describes four “R”s  as key assumptions within a trauma-informed approach. A provider that operates from a trauma-informed framework, implements the following four “R”s: Realizes that trauma has extensive impacts o ..read more

This video presents an introduction to the 4 ‘R’s of Trauma-Informed Care: -Realize -Recognize -Respond -Resist Retraumatization Each of the 4 are described in detail by Dr. Scott Giacomucci, a Fellow of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress (FAAETS). These four ‘R’s are essential knowledge for all trauma-informed practitioners, providers, and organizational leaders. The four ‘R’s provide a simplified framework for applying trauma-informed principles from the SAMHSA. See other videos on this channel for additional context including: SAMHSA’s 6 trauma-informed principles – https ..read more

We are excited to share the newly released on-demand video training by Dr. Scott Giacomucci, Addiction & Trauma: A Psychodramatic Approach, hosted by the new Action Explorations Education online education platform. This course involves a lecture on the intersection of addiction and trauma as they related to the basics of psychodrama psychotherapy. A 1-1 individual psychodrama session is demonstrated via telehealth with a focus of strength-based roles for recovery. After the psychodrama demonstration, the demo is processed and analyzed with additional insights. Here’s a trailer for a snea ..read more

Free Downloadable Handout here – https://www.phoenixtraumacenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Post-Traumatic-Growth-Handout.pdf Dr. Scott Giacomucci, DSW, LCSW, BCD, FAAETS, PAT What is Post Traumatic Growth? Post traumatic growth (PTG) is the phenomenon of growing after trauma or hardship. This idea is depicted throughout literature, history, religion, legends, and philosophy. It is certainly not a new idea, though the term “post traumatic growth” and the study of it are new. The fact that growth often occurs as a direct result of difficulties, losses, traumas, and changes is evidenced thr ..read more

The Phoenix Center for Experiential Trauma Therapy is a psychotherapy practice located in Media, Pennsylvania specializing in the treatment of PTSD, trauma, grief/loss, and substance abuse. We offer a variety of therapy services including: Individual Trauma Therapy EMDR, IFS, Gestalt, Psychodrama, Psychodynamic, Relational, Existential, Experiential, Motivational Interviewing, and CBT Group Trauma Therapy Psychodramatic and Psychodynamic Low-Cost Trauma Therapy with our graduate interns We also offer various free community groups and workshops led by interns and therapists. Note that t ..read more

By Dr. Scott Giacomucci, DSW, LCSW, BCD, FAAETS, PAT Published by APA Div 49, The Group Psychologist “Recent findings have challenged trauma therapists to consider alternative and adjunctive approaches to talk therapy and cognitive approaches. At the same time, these new findings serve to validate experiential philosophy, theories, and approaches that Jacob Moreno proposed decades prior.” Read the full article here on APA’s website – https://www.apadivisions.org/division-49/news-events/psychodrama-trauma-treatment The post Psychodrama as an Effective Treatment for Trauma and PTSD appeared firs ..read more