Beyond Internalization of the Perpetrator: Theory, Assessment, & Treatment Consideration Across Development for Children

 Description

This webinar series examines in detail the complex victim-perpetrator dynamics within traumatized clients and in the therapeutic relationship. Clinicians often need to identify and work with internalized perpetrator parts, ranging from ego states to dissociative parts, which have multiple layers of meaning and intricate defenses. These parts are interconnected with victimized parts of the self through trauma, creating a cycle of internal (and sometimes external) aggression. In this series, we explore how internalization of the perpetrator occurs and what its many manifestations look like. We discuss the intersection between shame and sadism, how to understand it, and how to effectively address these challenging dynamics within the client and the enactments that occur in the therapeutic relationship. We will emphasize the therapeutic relationship and the clinician’s countertransference, focusing on managing our own fear, disgust, shame, avoidance, and appeasement. Next we cover detailed and practical aspects of assessment, case conceptualization, and decision-making. In the final webinar, we explore treatment issues in depth and with ample case examples. By the end of this series, attendees will have a comprehensive toolkit for approaching internalized perpetrator dynamics with greater confidence, understanding, and clarity.

CHILDREN & YOUNG ADOLESCENT’S TRACK

July 18, 2025
Module 1 (4 hours)
Theory and Etiological Models

This module explores how children internalize perpetrator figures, particularly when the perpetrator is also an attachment figure. We will examine how identification and introjection function as defenses to preserve the relationship, often at significant psychological cost. Within a dissociative self-system or matrix of ego states, these internalized parts can carry aggression, shame, and the imprint of betrayal.

We will discuss betrayal trauma, where the child's dependence on the perpetrator creates pressure to adapt in ways that maintain the attachment—often by aligning with or becoming like the aggressor. Clinicians will learn to recognize different shades of aggression and the distinct motivational systems that drive them, including those rooted in attachment, dominance, predation, and defense.

Understanding these internal dynamics is essential for attuning to the child's inner world, navigating the therapeutic relationship, and supporting integration. This knowledge informs treatment strategies that can improve emotional regulation, increase internal safety, and foster a more cohesive and compassionate self-experience.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this module, participants will be able to:

1. Describe how children internalize perpetrator figures, particularly when the perpetrator is also an attachment figure, and how this shapes the child’s inner world.
2. Explain the function of identification and introjection as survival strategies that preserve attachment in the context of abuse and betrayal.
3. Recognize the clinical manifestations of internalized perpetrator parts within dissociative self-systems or ego state structures.
4. Define betrayal trauma and identify the psychological mechanisms by which dependence on an abusive caregiver may lead to alignment with the aggressor.
5. Differentiate between forms of aggression directed inward and outward, and analyze their connections to internalized dynamics and dissociative defenses.
6. Identify core motivational systems—such as attachment, dominance, defense, and predation—that may influence the expression of internalized aggression and conflicted self-states.
7. Apply this understanding to enhance clinical attunement within the therapeutic relationship and to deepen assessment of dissociative and relational dynamics.
8. Utilize knowledge of internalized perpetrator processes to inform treatment strategies that promote emotional regulation, increase internal safety, and foster integration and self-compassion.

July 19
Module 2: History Taking, Case Conceptualization, and the Many Shades of Shame, Aggression, and Internalized Perpetrators

This four-hour module provides a comprehensive framework for history taking, case conceptualization, and therapeutic engagement with children and adolescents who have experienced chronic relational trauma. These youth often present with intense shame, internalized aggression, and fragmented self-states—sometimes shaped by the internalization of abusive or neglectful caregivers. The module explores how these dynamics impact behavior, identity, and the therapeutic process.

Clinicians will learn how to gather and organize clinical information in a way that illuminates the child’s internal world, relational environment, and system of self-protections. Participants will explore the internalization of the perpetrator within dissociative or ego state systems, and how this process contributes to self-hatred, aggression (towards self and others), and identification with the aggressor. Emphasis will be placed on recognizing both overt and subtle signs of this internalization and the importance of creating a map that guides safe and attuned intervention.

Therapists will also examine the many manifestations of shame—including submission, self-attack, avoidance, and externalized aggression—and how these expressions may obscure unmet needs, core pain, and attachment wounds. This module will emphasize the therapeutic relationship as a central healing context, where cycles of shame and aggression can be disrupted through relational repair, co-regulation, and compassionate presence.

A developmentally attuned approach to aggression will be offered—not as a behavior to be eliminated, but as a relational signal rooted in survival, pain, and distorted attachment. Participants will learn how to understand and work with aggression using key motivational systems:

• The Play System to promote mastery, expression, and emotional regulation
• The Attachment System to foster safety, co-regulation, and relational trust
• The Exploration System to support curiosity, agency, and reflection
• The Collaboration System to shift internal power imbalances and promote cooperative, restorative dynamics

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this module, participants will be able to:

1. Conduct history taking that attends to internalized perpetrator dynamics and dissociative processes in children and adolescents impacted by chronic trauma.
2. Identify signs of loyalty, idealization, or mirroring of abusive figures within ego state systems and dissociative self-structures.
3. Recognize punitive, critical, or aggressive self-states and assess associated risks for self-harm, suicidal ideation, or externalized aggression.
4. Explore the multifaceted expression of shame across behavioral, relational, and intrapsychic domains, including its link to aggression and withdrawal.
5. Assess key risk factors such as secrecy, caregiver denial, systemic invalidation, and their impact on the child’s internalized dynamics and treatment trajectory.
6. Evaluate caregiver capacity for emotional reciprocity, co-regulation, and their role in reinforcing or repairing attachment-based wounds.
7. Analyze the child’s broader environmental context, including family, school, and community responses to trauma, as part of a comprehensive assessment.
8. Develop trauma-informed, attachment-focused case conceptualizations that reflect dissociative processes, internal conflict, and relational adaptations.
9. Prioritize treatment planning based on internal system dynamics, defensive adaptations, and developmental needs across relational and intrapsychic domains.
10. Manage the therapeutic relationship as a central intervention for repair, integration, and transformation, with attention to transference, countertransference, and therapeutic boundaries. 

July 27
Module 3  (4 hours)
Therapeutic Interventions

This four-hour module explores specialized therapeutic interventions for children and young adolescents who carry trauma bonds and exhibit idealization or loyalty toward the perpetrator within an ego state system or dissociative inner structure. The training provides an in-depth understanding of the complexities of inner conflict, victim-perpetrator dynamics, and the process of restructuring the child’s relationship with self and internal parts.

A key focus of this module is the integration of reflective function and mirroring techniques to enhance attunement, foster self-awareness, and support the child’s capacity for emotional regulation. Through a relational lens, participants will explore ways to engage the non-offending caregiving system to increase co-regulation, facilitate secure attachment experiences, and create a foundation for healing. This module will also explore the delicate work of differentiating and binding traumatic information, identity aspects, and distorted internalized dynamics while maintaining the child’s sense of safety and coherence. Participants will examine techniques for working through loyalty conflicts, attachment wounds, and dissociative defenses with a developmentally sensitive approach.

Participants will gain practical tools drawn from a range of evidence-based modalities, including:

• Parts Work to identify, engage, and integrate ego states, dissociated or conflicted inner states
• Play Therapy and Sandtray Therapy to externalize and process trauma in a developmentally attuned manner
• EMDR to address trauma processing while maintaining balance and homeostasis
• Polyvagal-Based Interventions to support nervous system regulation and relational safety
• Reflective Function and Mirroring to strengthen self-perception and reset metaperceptions that maintain the alliance and idealization to the perpetrator
• Dyadic and Systemic Work to repair relational ruptures and reinforce secure attachment patterns
• Storytelling and Narrative Restructuring to help children integrate fragmented experiences and reshape internalized meanings around abuse, oppression and power imbalances

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this module, participants will be able to:

1. Describe therapeutic strategies for addressing trauma bonds and the child’s attachment and idealization toward a perpetrator, particularly when embedded within dissociative or ego state systems.
2. Apply a multimodal, integrative, and transtheoretical treatment approach that incorporates EMDR, parts work, play therapy, sandtray therapy, somatic therapies, expressive arts, Gestalt-based interventions, and polyvagal-informed techniques.
3. Identify and engage dissociated, conflicted, or perpetrator-aligned ego states to foster integration, emotional regulation, and internal safety within the child’s self-system.
4. Use reflective function and mirroring to support the child’s capacity for self-awareness, challenge distorted metaperceptions, and gradually shift the internalized alliance with the perpetrator.
5. Integrate somatic consciousness and body-based techniques to increase embodied awareness, facilitate regulation, and safely access trauma-related material stored in implicit memory systems.
6. Implement expressive arts and Gestalt-based interventions to externalize internal conflict, promote emotional expression, and deepen the child’s connection to authentic aspects of self.
7. Engage non-offending caregivers in dyadic and systemic interventions that reinforce co-regulation, repair relational ruptures, and support the development of secure attachment patterns.
8. Facilitate narrative and symbolic processing through storytelling, play, and creative methods to support meaning-making, deconstruct internalized abuse narratives, and promote integration of fragmented experiences.