Trauma Training
Trauma-Informed Couples Therapy: Polyvagal Interventions for Healing
Trainer:Â Grace Chen, PhD, LMFT
Live Training:  December 11th | 10:00 AM Central Time | Available for synchronous, live learning
On-Demand:Â Available one week after the live event
Couples therapy is most effective when itâs grounded in trauma-informed care, attachment science, and state-of-the-art neurobiology.
This training gives trauma therapists the tools to integrate the power of Polyvagal Theory into couples therapy, helping partners move beyond reactivity, heal chronic relational wounds, and build compassionate, connected relationships that last.
Youâll gain evidence-based strategies for recognizing and regulating threat responses in couples, fostering co-regulation, and working purposefully with traumaâs impact on attachment, intimacy, and connection. Walk away ready to navigate ruptures, deepen emotional safety, and transform even your most challenging couples cases.Â
Practical Interventions You'll Learn
- Map neuroception cues of safety/danger in each partner to identify triggers in the relationship
- Apply Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) pursuerâwithdrawer cycle through a polyvagal lens
- Apply Gottman Method interventions:
- Reframe criticism as a signal of sympathetic activation
- Reduce defensiveness by teaching repair statements
- Address contempt as a dorsal vagal collapse response
- Break stonewalling by co-regulation and grounding techniques
- Implement Autonomic Blueprint tracking to help couples monitor and document state shifts over time
- Reframe maladaptive patterns as protective autonomic survival responses, reducing blame and increasing compassion
What Youâll Learn In This Trauma Training
Relationships are where unspoken trauma, attachment struggles, and dysregulation often play out. Invisible to traditional talk therapy approaches they can affect every aspect of relationships. This immersive couples therapy training dives deep into Polyvagal Theory, equipping therapists with the tools to:
- Understand the nervous system dynamics underlying conflict, withdrawal, and misattunement in partnered relationships.
- Identify trauma-driven patterns that keep couples stuck, and intervene at the level of safety, not just âskills.â
- Shift partners (and yourself!) from states of defense to states of connection using practical, neurobiological interventions.
- Integrate somatic, attachment-focused, and psychoeducational strategies to repair ruptures, ignite compassion, and co-create resilient intimacy.
Whether youâre an experienced trauma therapist or newly specializing in couples, youâll leave this training with actionable techniques to foster healing, safety, and authentic connection, enabling lasting change for even your most stuck or reactive couples.
Join us to become the trauma therapist who transforms relationships at the deepest level, by working with the body, brain, and heart.
About Your Trainer, Dr. Grace Chen
Dr. Grace Chen is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, EMDR-certified clinician, and EMDRIA-Approved Consultant with extensive expertise in trauma recovery, couples therapy, and clinician development. She specializes in working with trauma survivors, particularly those with histories of childhood family trauma, and is passionate about supporting both individuals and couples in their healing journeys.
Dr. Chen currently maintains a thriving private practice in Andover, Massachusetts. She provides trauma-informed individual and couples therapy, integrating Attachment Theory, Polyvagal Theory, and EMDR therapy. She also offers both individual and group consultation for clinicians pursuing EMDR certification and clinicians who seek to integrate Polyvagal Theory in couples therapy. She is dedicated to training and mentoring new therapists, helping them build the confidence and competence needed for trauma treatment and systemic therapy.
With a PhD specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy from Michigan State University, Dr. Chen brings a strong academic foundation to her clinical work. She is an active presenter and thought leader in the field, most recently presenting âThe Marriage of EMDR Therapy and Couple Therapy through Polyvagal Theory Lensesâ at the Western Mass EMDR Network 2025 Conference and âIncorporating Polyvagal Theory into Couples Therapy: When Traumatic Experiences Get in the Way of Communicationâ at the New England Family and Systemic Therapy 2024 State of Therapy: Modern Coupling Conference. She is committed to integrating the latest research, including Polyvagal Theory, Couple Therapy, Attachment Theory, and advanced EMDR strategies, to empower both clients and clinicians to discover the transformative power within themselves.
