When the Past Lives in the Body
with Special Guest Terry Real
Early Bird Registration Available
$199 Early Bird | $249 Regular
(Bessel van der Kolk & Frank Anderson, MD)
Thursday, September 3, 2026
9:00am – 12:00pm PT | 12:00pm – 3:00pm ET
Session 2
(Frank Anderson, MD)
Monday, October 5, 2026
9:00am – 10:30am PT | 12:00pm – 1:30pm ET
A recording will be available to registered participants for 90 days.
When the body carries what words cannot
Traumatic experiences don’t simply stay in the past. They live on in the body—through sensation, posture, breath, movement, emotion, and patterns of connection and disconnection—often long after the mind understands that the danger has passed.
People may feel tense or numb, restless or collapsed, disconnected from pleasure or safety, or unable to fully relax into relationships without always knowing why. These responses are not failures of insight or effort; they reflect what the body learned during moments when survival mattered more than reflection.
Psychiatrist and trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk, MD has spent decades helping us understand how the body remembers what could not be fully processed at the time—how experience is encoded beyond words, and why healing often requires approaches that engage sensation, movement, imagination, rhythm, and relationship.
In this special two-part Learning Lab, Bessel and Frank come together to explore what it truly means for the past to live in the body—and how healing can unfold when we listen to the body’s language rather than trying to override it.
About the Program
As host of this Learning Lab, Frank Anderson brings an integrative, trauma-informed perspective that helps bridge research, clinical understanding, and lived experience. Throughout the program, Frank serves as the through-line—slowing the conversation, grounding it in clinical reality, and supporting participants in making meaning of embodied experience over time.
In the main session, Bessel van der Kolk will explore how traumatic experiences are carried in the body—shaping sensation, emotion, movement, attention, and the capacity for connection. Drawing on decades of research and clinical work, he will speak to why talking about what happened is often not enough on its own, and why healing frequently requires approaches that involve the body directly.
Bessel will address common embodied trauma patterns such as chronic tension, numbness, collapse, vigilance, and disconnection, helping participants recognize these responses as meaningful adaptations rather than signs of pathology or failure.
Bringing his integrative clinical lens into dialogue with Bessel’s work, Frank Anderson serves as the primary integration guide for this Learning Lab. He helps translate embodied insight into understanding—supporting participants in learning how to notice, relate to, and work with bodily responses in ways that honor pacing, safety, and meaning. Together, they invite reflection on what the body has learned, what it has been protecting, and how a greater sense of grounding and presence can emerge gradually.
Key Themes We’ll Explore
How traumatic experiences are remembered and expressed through the body
Why trauma is not just a story we tell, but something we feel and carry
Common bodily patterns such as tension, numbness, collapse, vigilance, and disconnection
Why insight alone often doesn’t lead to lasting change
The role of movement, sensation, rhythm, imagination, and relationship in healing
How embodied awareness can support safety, presence, and reconnection over time
This Program Is For
- Individuals who notice trauma-related bodily patterns and want a deeper understanding of what they mean
- People interested in an embodied, experiential approach to healing that honors the whole person
- Mental health clinicians, therapists, coaches, and healthcare professionals seeking to integrate embodied perspectives into trauma-informed care
- Clinicians interested in how bodily memory shapes therapeutic change
- Practitioners looking to expand clinical language around trauma responses in non-pathologizing, compassionate ways
- Anyone curious about how the body remembers—and how healing can unfold with patience and care
This Learning Lab supports reflective clinical practice and conceptual understanding rather than prescriptive techniques. Content explores trauma responses as adaptive, embodied survival strategies shaped by experience, context, and relationship.
Session 1
(Bessel van der Kolk, MD & Frank Anderson, MD)
When the Past Lives in the Body: What the Body Remembers
Hosted by Frank Anderson, MD with Special Guest Bessel van der Kolk, MD
Thursday, September 3, 2026
9:00am – 12:00pm PT | 12:00pm – 3:00pm ET
Schedule in Pacific Time
- 9:00 – 9:15am PT | Welcome, Opening Meditation & Orientation with Frank
- 9:15 – 10:45am PT | Special Guest Teaching with Bessel van der Kolk
- 10:45 – 11:30am PT | Teaching Dialogue with Frank & Bessel
- 11:30 – 12:00pm PT | Community Q&A & Closing with Frank & Bessel
Session 2
(Frank Anderson, MD)
Integration Discussion: Making Sense of Embodied Memory
Hosted by Frank Anderson, MD
Monday, October 5, 2026
9:00am – 10:30am PT | 12:00pm – 1:30pm ET
Frank Anderson returns to host a dedicated integration session, revisiting what emerged around trauma, embodied memory, and the lived experience of carrying the past in the body.
This session emphasizes metabolizing insight rather than rushing toward action—allowing understanding to land not only intellectually, but emotionally and somatically. Frank reflects on how bodily responses develop in moments of overwhelm, why they persist even when danger has passed, and how listening to the body can gently support change over time.
Between sessions, participants are invited to reflect privately with Frank on what they noticed following Session 1—what felt newly visible, what questions arose, and how embodied patterns may have shown up in their own lives or clinical work. These reflections can be shared through a written integration form and will be reviewed and synthesized to help shape the focus of the integration discussion.
From there, Frank shares how these dynamics can be worked with within an integrative approach—offering realistic, body-respecting pathways that honor pacing, safety, and capacity.
Program Access & Integration
If you are unable to attend either live session, a recording will be available for 90 days following the program.
Participants are welcome to submit questions, reflections, and feedback between sessions. These submissions will be reviewed by Frank and thoughtfully integrated into the Session 2 integration discussion, allowing the conversation to be shaped by the community’s lived experience—even when engaging asynchronously.
This Integration Session Is Designed to Support
Making embodied trauma concepts understandable and usable
Recognizing bodily responses as meaningful adaptations rather than personal failures
Integrating body awareness alongside cognitive and relational approaches
Reflecting on how trauma may be showing up in one’s own body or in clients
Considering gentle, realistic experiments to support grounding, safety, and presence
About the Learning Lab
The Learning Lab is designed to offer both depth and digestion: time to learn from trusted voices, space to reflect, and a return to community for integration. Rather than rushing toward change, this format invites thoughtful awareness, shared inquiry, and realistic shifts that unfold over time—held and led by Frank as host.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
This Learning Lab is designed for a wide range of participants—mental health clinicians, coaches, helping professionals, and individuals interested in understanding relational patterns, boundaries, and the impact of early survival strategies.Whether you’re grounded in somatic therapy, attachment work, parts-informed approaches, or you’re simply looking for insight into your own lived experience, the program offers thoughtful, accessible teaching that can support both personal reflection and professional growth.
No prior familiarity is required. While some attendees may know Frank’s writing and teaching, each Learning Lab is structured to be fully accessible whether you’re new to his integrative approach or looking to deepen your understanding.
Each Learning Lab includes:
• A live main session with Frank and a featured expert including teaching, dialogue, and community Q&A
• A follow-up integration session, led by Frank, to revisit themes and support embodied, realistic application
• Optional written reflection prompts, which participants can submit between sessions to help shape the integration discussion
Session lengths may vary by Lab, but all programs take place live on Zoom and include access to session recordings.
Not a problem!
All registrants receive access to the full replay of both sessions for 90 days after the program concludes. You’re welcome to watch (and rewatch) at your own pace.
Yes.
Teaching segments may include lecture, dialogue, and reflective prompts. Each session also includes time for live Q&A, giving participants the chance to bring forward questions about the material, their work, or their lived experience.
Absolutely.
The Learning Lab is educational, reflective, and supportive. Many participants attend because the material resonates with their own history. You are encouraged to move at your own pace, take breaks as needed, and seek personalized support outside the program if emotions arise.
Please note: This program is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for therapy.
The Learning Lab offers clinical insight, case-informed discussion, and developmentally and neuroscience-informed framing, but it is not a step-by-step clinical certification program.
Instead, it supports:
• reflective understanding of integrative concepts
• deeper understanding of patterns as adaptive
• integrative, relational ways of conceptualizing experiences
Clinicians often find the material directly applicable to their work, while lay participants value the clarity and validation it brings to their own relational dynamics.
After you register, you’ll receive a confirmation email with:
• Your Zoom link(s) for the live sessions
• Instructions for how to join
• Any relevant program materials
After the program ends, you’ll receive an email with a link to the 90-day replay portal, where you can watch the recordings at any time.
Recordings are available for 90 days following the final live session.
To honor the agreements with our host and special guests, extensions cannot be provided.
Yes.
Participants may submit questions or reflections between sessions using our written integration form. Frank reviews all submissions and incorporates themes and questions into the Session 2 integration discussion, ensuring asynchronous participants remain part of the learning process.
You may request a full refund up to 7 calendar days before the first live session begins. After that point, all sales are final.
Refunds may incur a nominal processing charge (approximately $25).Additional notes:Registration covers the entire program (all sessions). We are unable to offer partial refunds, credits, or prorated adjustments if you miss one or more sessions.
Access to the recordings remains available for 90 days regardless of live attendance.
If promotions or sale prices occur before or after your purchase, we cannot retroactively adjust your registration fee.
Please reach out to our team anytime—we’re happy to help with questions about registration, access, or program expectations.
Healing doesn’t mean erasing the past.
It means helping the body feel safer in the present.
Reserve Your Spot
Need Help?
For support with courses, programs, or consultation groups, please contact programs@frankandersonmd.com