"Trauma-Integrating Somatic Spiritual Direction" - a CSD Webinar - November 12, 2026

"Trauma-Integrating Somatic Spiritual Direction" Webinar | Thursday, November 12, 2026, from 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm (CST)

“Trauma-Integrating Somatic Spiritual Direction” will introduce participants to important foundational elements for developing and strengthening their competent and compassionate contemplative practice of bearing witness to trauma.  The workshop will:

• Distinguish the important distinctions between “being with” and “working with” trauma in developing a professional scope of practice.
• Explore the “etymology of practice” through a process of discovery in the definitions in a personal scope of practice lexicon.  Specifically, the words “trauma, spirituality, somatic, and structural dissociation” will be unpacked for application. 
• Investigate the possibilities for applied spiritual practice at the intersections of theology and modern traumatology.
• Integrate key concepts from Polyvagal Theory, Attachment Theory, and Internal Family Systems into applied theory and outline possible pathways for continued study.

The presentation will be accessible to new spiritual care practitioners, support those with an established practice, and offer resources for those discerning a call to trauma-informed and trauma-integrating spiritual caregiving. 

**Attendees who request CEUs for this Webinar will receive 0.3 CEUs.

The Rev. Dr. Shannon Michael Pater, Psy.D.

“Shannon Michael” Pater has been researching, writing, and maintaining a private practice of spiritual direction, supervision, and apprenticeship at the intersections of modern traumatology, theology, and spiritual direction for over 20 years.  

He has lived on three continents, taught in-person on four, and traveled to five (and hopes to make a run at all seven).  His academic work focuses on the intersections of neurobiology (especially Polyvagal Theory), neuroplasticity, Attachment Theory, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and the Wisdom Traditions into somatic and communal integration.  While academically rigorous and curious, the hallmark of his contributions are “applied theory” (what can we do with what we learn).  

In 2019, he sold, donated, or gave away most of what owned him and departed the US for India on a one-way ticket.  The 2020 global pandemic made him an international COVID refugee and left him stranded in a small Himalayan village for 21 months (he was neighbors with H.H. the Dalai Lama).  He currently lives in a parsonage with Marley (his canine companion and daily spiritual director) on the southeast coast of Massachusetts, the former stomping grounds of Mary Oliver.  For more information on his research and private practice, please visit:  NoticeTheJourney.com.  

Please Note:

• Registration is a 3-page process. Your registration is not complete until you
  • (1) click “register & checkout” on this page,
  • (2) click “checkout” on the next page, and
  • (3) click “confirm” after you enter your credit card information, and your payment will be processed on the following page.
• Refunds for cancellations received in writing 7 days before the start of the event will be granted minus a $25 administrative fee.
• If you have any questions or concerns regarding your registration, please email theoexternalprograms@smu.edu