Introductory Workshop

When a Survival Strategy
Becomes an Identity

NARM®

The NeuroAffective Relational Model

An approach to working with developmental trauma, complex PTSD, and their lasting effects on people’s lives.

Introductory Workshop

What Is NARM®?

“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 No matter how withdrawn and isolated we have become or how serious the trauma we have experienced, on the deepest level, just as a plant spontaneously moves toward sunlight, there is in each of us an impulse moving toward connection and healing. This organismic impulse is the fuel of the NARM approach.”

Laurence Heller, PhD

The NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM®) was developed by Laurence Heller, PhD, and integrates psychodynamic psychotherapy, attachment theory, somatic approaches, and neuroscience into a comprehensive model for working with developmental and complex trauma.
NARM® is a process-oriented approach grounded in the present moment. Rather than focusing solely on past events, it explores how early survival patterns continue to shape our lives today—in our bodies, emotions, thoughts, and relationships.

Four Core Principles of NARM®

Supporting Connection and Internal Organization

The aim is to help clients gradually develop greater internal stability and capacity for self-regulation. The work explores the relationship between identity, emotions, and bodily responses, supporting the ability to stay connected to oneself and others.

Exploring Identity

NARM® attends to the beliefs and internal patterns people have developed as ways of adapting and surviving. These are explored with respect and without judgment, allowing clients to gradually distinguish their protective strategies from a more authentic sense of self.

Working in the Present Moment

Rather than remaining solely within the narrative of the past, the process tracks how connection and disconnection unfold in real time—what is happening right now in the conversation, in the body, and in the therapeutic relationship. This creates space for greater awareness, choice, and change.

Nervous System Regulation

NARM® integrates cognitive and emotional (“top-down”) work with somatic and sensory (“bottom-up”) work to support self-regulation, resilience, and the capacity to remain more grounded and present in everyday life.

Four Core Principles of NARM®

Why Is NARM® Relevant Today?

In today’s world, more and more people experience high levels of stress, inner tension, and difficulty connecting—with themselves, with others, and with their own bodies. Often, these experiences are rooted not only in isolated events but also in enduring patterns of adaptation formed within significant relationships.

NARM® is particularly relevant today because it offers a comprehensive approach to understanding and working with these patterns—one that respects each person’s experience without pathologizing it. The model brings together work with emotions, the body, the nervous system, identity, and relationships within an integrated framework.

This makes NARM® a valuable contemporary approach not only to addressing developmental and complex trauma, but also to supporting a deeper restoration of connection, self-regulation, and aliveness.

Who Can Benefit from NARM®?

For Practitioners

The model provides a comprehensive framework for clinical thinking and practice, linking early relational experiences with how a person functions in adulthood—in terms of regulation, identity, and relationships. This helps practitioners work with greater clarity, structure, and sensitivity to their clients’ adaptive patterns.

Professionals value NARM® for its integration of neuroscience, attachment theory, and somatic awareness, as well as its emphasis on clients’ resources and strengths. The approach supports not only an understanding of the client, but also the therapist’s own presence, sense of direction, and resilience throughout the therapeutic process.

For Clients

NARM® is particularly effective for people experiencing anxiety, depressive symptoms, relationship difficulties, chronic stress, eating disorders, or complex trauma responses, as well as those recovering from addiction. Because developmental trauma often underlies a range of mental health challenges, NARM®’s approach to early relational wounds can lead to transformation that extends well beyond symptom relief.

Adults who experienced emotional neglect, inconsistent caregiving, or overwhelming family dynamics during childhood often find that NARM® helps them reconnect with their authentic sense of self and develop healthier patterns of relating. The approach is particularly valuable for people who feel chronically disconnected from their bodies, emotions, or sense of aliveness.

NARM in Relation to Other Approaches

A Focus on Resources Rather Than Deficits
Rather than concentrating on what is “broken” or “wrong,” NARM® emphasizes connection with the organized and functioning aspects of the person. At the same time, the approach gently brings awareness to areas of disorganization without making them the central focus of the therapeutic process.

A Focus on the Present Rather Than the Past
NARM® recognizes the importance of early experiences, but focuses less on why particular patterns developed and more on how these survival styles affect present-moment experience and connection.

Integration of Body, Mind, and Emotions
Unlike approaches that work primarily at a cognitive or somatic level, NARM® integrates both “top-down” and “bottom-up” interventions. This reflects an understanding of the ongoing interplay between the body, brain, emotions, and meaning-making processes.

Survival Styles Rather Than Pathology
NARM® views adaptive patterns as initially successful survival strategies rather than pathology. This helps clients understand that their ways of coping made sense within a particular context, while supporting the development of more flexible ways of responding.

A Connection-Oriented Approach
At its core, NARM® recognizes that healing happens through connection. The capacity for authentic connection—with oneself, with others, with the body, and with life—is what supports regulation, integration, and transformation.

Upcomming

The Dilemma of Closeness

How Developmental Trauma Impacts Our Capacity for Connection and Autonomy

An Introduction to the NeuroAffective Relational Model 

January 23 – 24, Sofia, Bulgaria

Lead Trainer:
Stephan Niederwieser

Learn more

What Leading Experts Say About
NARM®

“The NARM approach 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 authentic selfhood.”

Dr. Peter Levine,

(Founder of Somatic Experiencing)

“NARM’s integration of top-down and bottom-up approaches 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,

(Developer of Polyvagal Theory)

“NARM offers clinicians a comprehensive roadmap for addressing the complex interplay between attachment, identity, and nervous system regulation. It’s a profound contribution to the field of trauma therapy.”

Richard Schwartz, PhD,

(Founder of Internal Family Systems)

“The NARM model skillfully applies the principles of Polyvagal Theory to developmental trauma treatment. Its focus on regulating the nervous system while addressing identity distortions represents trauma therapy at its most sophisticated level.”

Dr. Dan Siegel,

(Interpersonal Neurobiology)

For the First Time in Bulgaria – Starting in 2027

NARM® Professional Training

A two-year program for psychologists, psychotherapists, and professionals in the helping professions.

Training in NARM® invites us to see and understand human beings in a different way—to recognize how they adapted early in life to preserve their connection with significant caregivers. These adaptations develop into survival styles that continue to shape our identity, perceptions, and significant relationships throughout life and ultimately underlie many of the symptoms we experience.

NARM® offers a way of working that is both precise and deeply human—supporting change through awareness, autonomy, and reconnection, rather than pressure.

2 years
4 in-person
modules
An international
training team with
a lead trainer
from Germany
Professional
training for
NARM practitioners
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Curriculum Overview: The Two-Year
NARM® Practitioner Training

Module 1: Rethinking Shame, Symptoms, and Identity

Shame and guilt are not merely emotions, but deep processes that shape who we believe ourselves to be.

Dates: June 9–13, 2027

Topics covered:

  • Understanding chronic shame and guilt as hidden drivers of bodily symptoms;
  • A new therapeutic orientation: beyond pathology and “fixing”;
  • Shock trauma and developmental trauma: why the distinction matters clinically;
  • Freeze, collapse, and intrapsychic conflict;
  • NARM®’s integrative approach: beyond the divide between “top-down” and “bottom-up”;
  • Organizing principles that transform how we listen and intervene;
  • The five adaptive survival styles as expressions of the intelligence of life;
  • Distortions of the life force and how they continue to serve our efforts to preserve connection;
  • Pride-based and shame-based identifications: who are we without them?
  • The Four Pillars of NARM® as a clinical compass;
  • Establishing a therapeutic contract that supports autonomy;
  • Tracking connection and disconnection in real time;
  • The Connection Survival Style: when contact with oneself is disrupted;
  • Exploring and understanding why goal-oriented therapy can inadvertently reinforce disconnection.

Module 2: Attachment, Fear, and the Loss of Self

Dates: December 1–5, 2027

Why and how do we give up parts of ourselves to preserve attachment?

  • Developmental dynamics: attachment and separation–individuation;
  • Asking questions that open up experience rather than direct it;
  • Deconstructing experience: from narrative to the immediate moment;
  • Somatic awareness as a point of entry rather than a technique;
  • The Attunement Survival Style: when we lose ourselves in the other;
  • Working with resources without bypassing deeper dynamics;
  • Dual awareness: remaining present to both past and present;
  • Recognizing and reinforcing positive shifts;
  • The Autonomy Survival Style: control, resistance, and hidden vulnerability;
  • Working with anger and aggression without losing connection.

Module 3: The Heart, Autonomy, and Relational Intelligence

Dates: May 10–14, 2028

What role does the heart play in healing—and why do we so often avoid it?

  • The heart as an organizing center of human experience;
  • The Trust Survival Style: control, letting go, and fear of vulnerability;
  • Primary emotions versus default emotions: what are we actually feeling?
  • Revisiting anger and aggression: protection versus disconnection;
  • Narcissism and objectification as relational strategies;
  • Narcissistic versus sadistic dynamics in developmental trauma;
  • Supporting autonomy: from reactivity to participation;
  • The Love–Sexuality Survival Style: intimacy, shame, and aliveness;
  • The language of NARM®: precision without pathologizing;
  • The continuum of personality disorders through the lens of adaptive intelligence;
  • Core dilemma versus symptoms: what actually organizes the client’s experience?

Module 4: Freedom, Complexity, and Clinical Mastery

Dates: October 25–29, 2028

What does meaningful change look like beyond symptom reduction?

  • Disidentification: creating space between one’s sense of self and survival patterns;
  • Developing a working hypothesis without “fixing” the client;
  • Self-hatred and self-rejection as protective processes;
  • Therapeutic pitfalls: countertransference, acting out, and reenactment;
  • When empathy becomes a problem;
  • Efforting versus allowing: the therapist’s inner stance;
  • The interplay of survival styles: primary and secondary patterns;
  • Survival styles in intimacy and sexuality;
  • Expanding the capacity for pleasure and aliveness;
  • Working with identity without reinforcing it;
  • Supporting an increasing capacity for complexity and resilience;
  • Channels of social engagement: eyes, ears, face, and touch;
  • Integrating NARM® into clinical practice with clarity and depth.

Lead Trainer: Stephan Konrad Niederwieser, Germany

Stephan has worked as a therapist for more than three decades. His therapeutic training began with Hakomi in the late 1980s, followed by extensive training in a range of trauma-focused approaches, including Somatic Experiencing and, subsequently, NARM®, which now forms the foundation of his clinical work.

Stephan is a NARM® trainer and an assistant trainer in the NARM Post-Masters Fellow Certificate Program. As a member of the NARM® teaching team, he trains and supervises therapists in many countries around the world.

His style is guided by a quiet curiosity about how human beings come to believe they are who they are—and how, even after profoundly adverse early experiences, they can reconnect with their natural sense of trust, dignity, and authentic self-expression.

Additional Information

The training will include an international team of NARM® practitioners who will be available to participants for the required minimum of 10 personal NARM sessions and 10 NARM supervision sessions.

Fee per personal session or supervision session: €80.

These fees are not included in the training tuition and are payable separately to the therapists and trainers providing the sessions and supervision.

Training tuition: €1,200 per module, including VAT.

The training will be conducted in English, with Bulgarian interpretation provided.

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Address

Sofia

Email

academy@essence-foundation.bg

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