A Natural Processing Training for Psychotherapists
A somatically based, process-oriented approach to working at the highest levels of desperation and hopelessness.
June 5–6, 2026 | 9:00–4:00 PT
11 CE Credits
$495 early bird | $550 standard registration
Register before May 5 to get the early bird rate.
Recording available for those who cannot attend live.
Presenter: Craig Penner, LMFT
When suicide is present, therapy moves into territory where there are no easy answers, no formulas, and no guarantees. These moments require therapists to go all the way in—to remain fully present in the face of desperation, uncertainty, and real risk. At the same time, we must carefully assess safety, capacity, and our own limits, while functioning within the realities of mandated reporting and professional responsibility.
This two-day professional training offers a somatically based and process-oriented approach to suicide assessment and intervention, based on the principles of Natural Processing. Participants will learn how to work with suicidal clients without retreating from the intensity of the moment. Instead, the training emphasizes tracking resilience, pacing the process, and staying relationally engaged at the edge of clients’ overwhelm.
Rather than avoiding suicidal material out of fear of “making things worse,” we explore how careful somatic and emotional tracking can reveal emerging resilience that is often hidden beneath despair. When therapists are able to stay present with “not knowing,” clients may discover a new capacity to tolerate sensation, emotion, and thought—sometimes finding possibility where only a dead end had seemed to exist.
The training also addresses the therapist’s internal experience when working with suicide, including fear, over-responsibility, hesitation, and limits. Participants will develop greater confidence in holding honest, grounded positions that integrate full presence with realistic clinical and legal parameters, including mandated reporting.
Judicious use of bilateral stimulation (adapted from EMDR) will be discussed as a potential support for somatic and emotional processing, with careful attention to assessment, timing, and contraindications.
This training is designed for licensed mental health professionals and advanced trainees seeking greater depth, confidence, and resilience in working with suicidal clients.
Training methods include:
didactic teaching, case examples, group discussion, role plays, and experiential exercises.
Topics include:
Engaging from a position of “not knowing” in the context of high stakes
Challenges and benefits of the therapist going “all the way in”
The “draw” to suicide and the dynamics of despair
Suicide risk assessment within a relational, somatic framework
Establishing honesty while functioning as a mandated reporter
Desire ↔ despair and ambivalence as clinical leverage
Tracking client resilience and pacing sessions safely
Possible signs of a new emerging path of “processing capabilities”
Therapist resilience and how it is perceived by clients
Therapist fears, limitations, and ethical dilemmas
Assessing safety and the use of bilateral stimulation
Working with “What’s the point?” and loss of meaning
Joint assessment of harm, safety, and reporting decisions
Therapist self-care and sustainability when working with dynamics of the suicide
CE information:
This 11-hour course includes 6 hours in suicide risk assessment and intervention. It is offered through an ASWB ACE-approved provider. Participants are responsible for confirming that the content meets their state’s suicide training requirements.
This course meets the 6-hour suicide risk assessment and intervention training requirement for California BBS licensees.