Dr. Pria Alpern

03/07/2026

Shame isn’t just a feeling for many trauma survivors. It can become an identity. Jim Knipe’s work on chronic shame-based depression explains how children adopt a sense of “badness” to preserve attachment to caregivers who hurt them, and how that shame gets carried into adulthood as depression, self-hatred, and a felt sense of moral defectiveness. We’re exploring his chapter in my next trauma study group on March 19th (12–1 pm ET, Zoom). This one is for therapists: we’ll get into his AIP approach to targeting shame as a protective ego state and working toward more integrated self-understanding. ✨$40 standard / $25 reduced rate. Free for MCTS members. Session will be recorded. ✨Register at the 🔗 in bio.

03/06/2026

Let’s run through three methods for target identification in EMDR treatment planning

03/05/2026

Jonathan Shedler recently published a piece arguing that most of what gets called therapy is not, in fact, therapy at all. He is right about something important, which is that training, expertise, and sitting with discomfort are important features of clinical work. Where his argument narrows is in what it implies, that there is a recognizable standard of “real” psychotherapy, and that clinicians either meet it or they don’t. For those of us who work in the trauma field, that framing misses something fundamental about how healing unfolds. Trauma does not respond to a single theoretical lens.

03/04/2026

I teach these three fundamental target identification approaches in my EMDR basic training. If you’re a therapist considering taking EMDR basic training, see details below for my next online training cohort! ✨EMDR Basic Training (virtual, July ‘26 & Sept ‘26)✨ This training includes 50 hours combining lecture, practicum, and consultation to build competence in the eight phases of EMDR therapy (ASWB ACE + NY State approved for 40 Contact Hours). Payment plan available. 🎉 Early career and nonprofit therapists are eligible for 15% off tuition✨More details via the 🔗 in beacons

03/02/2026

You don’t have to do this work alone. Join a community of trauma. Therapist committed to growth and lifelong learning. First month free… 🔗 in my beacons.

03/02/2026

Replying to great question!

02/28/2026

✨EMDR therapists✨be sure to save this video to reference whenever you need it!

If you’re a therapist considering training in EMDR, registration is open for my next online basic training cohort this summer/fall! We start July 17. Go to my beacons 🔗 to learn more.

02/27/2026

Someone posted in a therapist Facebook group recently. Seven words: “I don’t wanna be a therapist anymore.”

The comments flooded in. Hundreds of them. Therapists who had waited tables to take a break. Therapists who’d been in the field 8 years, 14 years, 20 years, 30 years, all saying some version of: me too, me too, me too.

02/26/2026

✨EMDR Basic Training (virtual, July ‘26 & Sept ‘26)✨ This training includes 50 hours combining lecture, practicum, and consultation to build competence in the eight phases of EMDR therapy (ASWB ACE + NY State approved for 40 Contact Hours). Payment plan available. 🎉 Early career and nonprofit therapists are eligible for 15% off tuition✨More details via my beacons 🔗

02/23/2026

✨Registration is open for my virtual EMDR Basic Training coming up in July/Sept ‘26!✨ This training includes 50 hours combining lecture, practicum, and consultation to build competence in the eight phases of EMDR therapy (ASWB ACE + NY State approved for 40 Contact Hours). Payment plan available. 🎉 Early career and nonprofit therapists are eligible for 15% off tuition✨More details via the link here:

Enhance your therapy skills with our 50-hour EMDR Basic Training. This course includes 20 hours of lecture on trauma neurobiology, EMDR methodology, and treatment phases, 20 hours of supervised practicum, and 10 hours of case consultation. Ideal for mental health professionals seeking evidence-based...

02/19/2026

If you’ve been following the news in trauma and neuroscience circles, you may have seen that Polyvagal Theory is under attack. A group of 39 researchers published a paper in 2026 calling the theory “untenable.” Wikipedia has been updated to reflect the criticism. Therapists who have built their clinical practice around this framework are understandably asking: should I still be using this?

02/18/2026

Stabilization is the phase of trauma treatment that determines whether processing will succeed.

When clients have the internal capacity to stay present with difficult material through grounding, resourcing, and affect regulation, trauma work can move forward safely and effectively.

I’ve put together a free toolkit with the resourcing and stabilization scripts I use in practice. It’s designed for trauma therapists working with clients who need to build that capacity before moving into deeper work.

🔗 in bio.