Healing the Storm: Integrative Approaches to Affect Dysregulation in Refugee Trauma

Certificate of Completion

To be issued with a Certificate of Completion you need to view the recordings by clicking on the modules listed under ‘Course Content’ below. You will need to watch the recordings in full to be issued with a certificate. If you prefer to watch individual recordings only, then click on the links for the individual recordings in the ‘Course Description’ below.

Course Description

Refugee trauma can profoundly disrupt the nervous system’s ability to regulate emotions, creating intense feelings, hyperarousal, somatic distress, and difficulties managing stress. This free Clinical Master Class will explore how clinicians can support survivors in navigating the storm of affect dysregulation through integrative, trauma-informed, and skills-based approaches that foster stability, recovery, and resilience.

Recording 1: Alexandra Wilson, Mental Health Social Worker, Director, Mindful Recovery Services and the Central Coast DBT Centre. Recording Link: https://youtu.be/TyRRAKXXgA0

Recording 2: Demiana Willing, Psychologist, Neurofeedback Counsellor, STARTTS. Recording Link: https://youtu.be/XMq8jqmcNJk

Recording 3: The Q&A panel discussion facilitated by STARTTS’ CEO and Clinical Psychologist, Jorge Aroche. Recording Link: https://youtu.be/kinYEd9C984

This webinar was recorded on 12 November 2025. © STARTTS

Duration: 80 minutes. 

What you’ll gain

✅ A clear understanding of how refugee trauma disrupts affect regulation across the biopsychosocial system.
✅ Insights into hyperarousal, emotional overwhelm, and somatic symptoms as survival adaptations rather than weaknesses.
✅ Practical strategies drawing from DBT, neurofeedback, and other integrative therapies to strengthen emotional regulation and distress tolerance.
✅ A detailed case study demonstrating the use of neurofeedback within a multimodal treatment approach for a young Syrian refugee.
✅ Tools for reframing problem behaviours as functional attempts at regulation, reducing shame, and empowering clients.
✅ An exploration of the role of validation, therapeutic relationships, and stigma reduction in fostering resilience.
✅ A Q&A panel moderated by Jorge Aroche, STARTTS CEO and Clinical Psychologist.

This webinar is ideal for:

• Mental health professionals including psychologists, counsellors, and social workers
• Trauma specialists and community mental health practitioners
• Clinicians working with refugee and asylum seeker clients
• Professionals supporting children, adolescents, and families affected by complex trauma
• Anyone interested in integrative and neurobiologically informed approaches to emotion regulation in trauma recovery