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When Trust Is the Wound: A Trauma-Informed Framework for Clinicians Working with Partners of Sex and Porn Addicts

Wednesday, November 4th, 2026   10:00 AM EST -1:00 PM EST
Esti Schonbrun, LCSW-C
$59.99 USD

Discovery or disclosure of a partner's sexual addiction or compulsive pornography use is not simply a relational rupture — it is a traumatic event, one that produces symptoms indistinguishable from post-traumatic stress disorder and often layered with complex grief, identity disruption, and physiological dysregulation. Yet partners of sex and porn addicts have historically been mischaracterized within clinical frameworks as codependent or complicit — a lens that compounds harm rather than facilitating healing.

This three-hour training offers clinicians a trauma-informed, somatically-grounded foundation for working ethically and effectively with this population. Drawing on the current research on betrayal trauma, and somatic approaches to nervous system stabilization, participants will develop a working framework for understanding the unique clinical presentation of partners in betrayal trauma, distinguishing it clearly from prior codependency and co-addiction models. The training addresses the three-phase trauma treatment model  — stabilization, remembrance and mourning, and reconnection — and applies it specifically to the clinical realities of this population, including disclosure dynamics, anger, shame, identity fragmentation, and somatic sequelae. Special attention will be given to the role of deception as a form of relational abuse and its implications for treatment. Participants will leave with practical clinical tools and an expanded conceptual framework for holding this work with skill and integrity.

About the Presenter

Esti Schonbrun LCSW-C, is the founder of MindEmbodied, a practice specializing in whole-system integration. For over a decade she has worked at the intersection of somatic psychotherapy, depth psychology, and interpersonal neurobiology. She works clinically with individuals navigating complex relational trauma and also provides supervision and trainings in her field.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Identify the clinical presentation of betrayal trauma in partners of sex and porn addicts, distinguishing trauma-based symptomatology from codependency and co-addiction frameworks, and articulate the ethical implications of each model for clinical treatment.
  2. Apply a trauma-informed, phase-based treatment framework — including somatic and nervous system-aware interventions — to support stabilization, grief processing, and relational recovery in partners experiencing complex betrayal trauma symptoms.
  3. Demonstrate clinical decision-making skills specific to the treatment context of sexual betrayal, including navigating disclosure dynamics, working with betrayal trauma anger, assessing for complex PTSD presentations, and recognizing the role of deceptive sexuality as a form of intimate partner harm.

Agenda:

Understanding Betrayal Trauma: A Paradigm Shift

  • Defining betrayal trauma in the context of compulsive sexual behavior and pornography use
  • From codependency and co-addiction to a trauma-informed framework
  • Deceptive sexuality as a form of relational abuse — clinical implications
  • Overview of the APSATS Multidimensional Partner Trauma Model (MPTM)

(25 minutes)

Clinical Presentation: What Does Betrayal Trauma Actually Look Like?

  • PTSD and complex PTSD presentations in partners
  • Betrayal trauma anger — physiological, psychological, and spiritual dimensions
  • Shame, identity fragmentation, and disruption of relational reality
  • Somatic sequelae: hypervigilance, dissociation, and body-based symptoms
  • Common clinical misreads and diagnostic pitfalls

(30 minutes)

Brief Somatic Reset (5 minutes)

Phase-Based Trauma Treatment Applied to Betrayal

  • Herman's three-phase model: stabilization, remembrance and mourning, and reconnection
  • Phase one: safety, psychoeducation, and somatic stabilization
  • Phase two: processing disclosure, grief, and loss of relational reality
  • Phase three: identity reconstruction and relational decisions
  • Navigating disclosure dynamics in treatment

(25 minutes)

Case Vignette: Clinical Decision-Making in Practice

  • What phase of treatment would you assign this client, and why?
  • What interventions would you prioritize in the first two sessions?
  • What clinical landmines do you see — and how would you navigate them?

(25 minutes)

Break (10 minutes)

Somatic and Whole-System Approaches to Partner Trauma Treatment

  • Why the body cannot be left out of betrayal trauma treatment
  • Nervous system regulation as the foundation of phase one work
  • Practical somatic tools: orienting, grounding, pendulation, and titration
  • Scope of practice considerations for clinicians without somatic training

(20 minutes)

Experiential: A Somatic Stabilization Tool in Action (15 minutes)

Q&A, Synthesis, and Resource Review (20 minutes)

Close

This workshop offers 3 Live Interactive Continuing Education Credits

This presentation is open to:
  • Social Workers
  • Professional Counselors
  • Therapists
  • Psychologists
  • Licensed Mental Health Practitioners
  • Medical Doctors and Other Health Professionals
  • Other professionals interacting with populations engaged in mental health based services
Course Level: intermediate
Level of Clinician: intermediate
  • New practitioners who wish to gain enhanced insight surrounding the topic
  • Experienced practitioners who seek to increase and expand fundamental knowledge surrounding the subject matter
  • Advanced practitioners seeking to review concepts and reinforce practice skills and/or access additional consultation
  • Managers seeking to broaden micro and/or macro perspectives

Participants will receive their certificate electronically upon completion of the webinar and course evaluation form.

Disability Access - If you require ADA accommodations, please contact our office 30 days or more before the event. We cannot ensure accommodations without adequate prior notification. Please Note: Licensing Boards change regulations often, and while we attempt to stay abreast of their most recent changes, if you have questions or concerns about this course meeting your specific board’s approval, we recommend you contact your board directly to obtain a ruling. The grievance policy for trainings provided by NEFESH INTERNATIONAL is available here Satisfactory Completion Participants must have paid the tuition fee, logged in and out each day, attended the entire workshop, and completed an evaluation to receive a certificate (If this is a pre-recorded program, a post-test with a passing grade of 80% to receive a certificate.) Failure to log in or out will result in forfeiture of credit for the entire course. No exceptions will be made. Partial credit is not available. Certificates are available after satisfactory course completion by clicking here.
There is no conflict of interest or commercial support for this program.
  • This program meets the requirements for the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists. These CE credits may be applied toward AASECT certification and renewal of certification. AASECT Knowledge Areas: Developmental Sexuality, Health/Medical factors that influence sexuality, Intimacy Skills, Learning theory and its application, Range of sexual functioning and behavior, sexual and reproductive anatomy, Socio-cultural and familial factors. May be used for Sex Therapy Training ST1, ST2, ST3, ST4, ST5, ST6, ST7.
  • Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists. #CAT-0122.
  • Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0129.
  • Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0325.
  • Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0275.
  • Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0129.
  • Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0325.
  • Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0774.
Refund Policy:
Full Refund until 48 hours before scheduled date.
48 hours before: full refund less $5.00 processing fee. After event no refund will be given.
*exclusions apply for reasonable need and cause.