NARM® – Working with Complex Trauma and Developmental Trauma
An Introductory Workshop in The NeuroAffective Relational Model™

“The spontaneous movement in all of us is toward connection, health, and aliveness. No matter how withdrawn and isolated we have become, or how serious the trauma we have experienced, on the deepest level there is in each of us an impulse moving toward connection and healing. This force inherent in all of us can be compared to what makes a plant turn toward the sun. This organismic impulse is the essence of the NARM approach.”
Dr. Laurence Heller, founder of NARM

The NeuroAffective Relational Model™ (NARM®) is a contemporary psychotherapeutic approach for working with developmental trauma, complex trauma, and their long-term impact on identity, emotions, the body, and relationships.

From the perspective of NARM, many of the difficulties we face as adults — chronic shame, self-criticism, disconnection from ourselves, difficulty setting boundaries, people-pleasing, inner emptiness, or problems with intimacy — are not signs of weakness or defect. They are often intelligent adaptations that were formed early in life when connection, attunement, and support were not sufficient.

Instead of asking, “What is wrong with this person?”, NARM directs attention toward other questions:

How is this person’s experience organized today?

What strategies did they develop in order to survive?

And what remains alive, healthy, and capable of connection within them?
One of the innovative aspects of NARM is that it integrates both bottom-up and top-down work. This means that the approach pays attention not only to the thoughts, narratives, and identifications that organize our experience, but also to the ways trauma affects the nervous system, the body, emotional regulation, and our sense of aliveness.

For this reason, NARM does not work only through insight and talking, but also through a more subtle tracking of what is happening in the organism here and now. This opens the possibility for greater self-regulation, more connection, and deeper inner change.

NARM is a non-regressive, non-pathologizing, and resource-oriented method that integrates work with the nervous system, identity, emotions, and relationships. The approach is both precise and deeply respectful of the person.

What leading experts say about NARM

“NARM provides clinicians with key tools for working with the complex legacy of developmental trauma. Dr. Heller’s work brilliantly links somatic awareness with relational dynamics in a way that is both profound and accessible.”
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score

“NARM represents a significant advancement in our understanding of developmental trauma. By addressing the adaptive survival styles that once protected us but now limit our capacity for connection, NARM offers a compassionate path toward our authentic self.”
Dr. Peter Levine, founder of Somatic Experiencing

“The integration of top-down and bottom-up approaches in NARM creates a uniquely effective methodology for working with developmental trauma. It honors both the wisdom of the body and the importance of meaning-making in the healing process.”
Dr. Stephen Porges, originator of Polyvagal Theory

In this introductory workshop, we will explore the following questions and themes:

What developmental trauma is and how adaptive survival strategies are formed
The connection between early misattunement, nervous system dysregulation, and distortions of identity

The five core adaptive themes in NARM

How NARM works in the present moment without fixing the person in their history
The four pillars of the NARM process
How this approach supports greater connection, agency, inner resilience, and aliveness

During the workshop, there will also be a demonstration of the method, as well as an introduction to the two-year professional training, which will take place in Bulgaria for the first time in 2027/2028.

Who is this workshop for?
This event is open to people who would like to learn more about the NARM approach and become more closely acquainted with it — psychotherapists, psychologists, coaches, physicians, psychiatrists, body-oriented practitioners, as well as other professionals who work with people and are interested in trauma, connection, and regulation.

The workshop is introductory and informational.
The subsequent two-year professional training is intended for professionals with at least 2 years of experience in their therapeutic practice.

This introductory workshop is a valuable opportunity to get a feel for the spirit of NARM, encounter its core principles, and sense whether this approach resonates with your personal and professional path.

About the trainer: Stephan Niederwieser
Stephan has been working as a therapist for over three decades. His therapeutic training began with Hakomi in the late 1980s, followed by extensive advanced training in a range of trauma-oriented approaches, including Somatic Experiencing and later NARM, which today forms the foundation of his clinical work. His style is guided by a quiet curiosity about how human beings come to believe they are who they are — and how, even after early adverse experiences, they can return to their natural sense of trust, dignity, and authentic self-expression.

Stephan is a NARM teacher and supporting trainer in the NARM Post-Masters Fellow Certificate Program. As a member of the NARM faculty, he trains and supervises therapists in many countries around the world.

When: July 4, 10:00–17:00, with a 1-hour lunch break
Where: on the ZOOM platform
Participation fee: €75 for registrations until June 15 and
€95 after that date

BOOK HERE

Информация за водещия: Щефан Ниидервизер

Щефан работи като терапевт повече от три десетилетия. Терапевтичното му обучение започва с Hakomi в края на 80-те години, последвано от задълбочени обучения в различни травма-ориентирани подходи, включително Somatic Experiencing и впоследствие NARM, който днес е в основата на клиничната му работа. Стилът му е воден от тихото любопитство към това как човешките същества започват да вярват, че са това, което са — и как, дори след ранни неблагоприятни преживявания, могат да се върнат към естественото си усещане за доверие, достойнство и автентично себеизразяване.

Щефан е преподавател в NARM и асистиращ обучител в програмата NARM Post-Masters Fellow Certificate Program. Като член на преподавателския екип на NARM, той обучава и супервизира терапевти в много страни по света.