The Heart of Healing: Foundational Principles for Effective Therapy

The Heart of Healing: Foundational Principles for Effective Therapy (3HR) Presented by Dreya Blume, LCSW

$45.00

Course Description

This training explores the essential ingredients that underlie effective psychotherapy, beyond specific modalities or techniques. Drawing from research on therapeutic outcomes, attachment theory, and relational neuroscience, participants will examine the foundational principles that create the conditions for healing: empathy, authenticity, attunement, safety, and trust. Emphasis will be placed on the therapist’s use of self, the therapeutic alliance, and cultivating presence in the room. Through case examples and experiential reflection, clinicians will reconnect with the deeper purpose of their work and gain renewed clarity about what truly facilitates transformation in therapy.

Upon completion of the training, participants will be able to:

Identify at least five core relational principles that contribute to effective therapeutic outcomes.
Describe the role of the therapeutic alliance and the therapist’s use of self in creating safety and trust.
Apply strategies to enhance presence, empathy, and attunement in clinical practice.

Social workers completing this course receive 3 Clinical asynchronous continuing education credits.

For other board approvals, this course qualifies for 3 Clinical continuing education training.

Course Instructor: Dreya Blume, LCSW

Recording Date: 07/11/2026

Course Format

NBCC ACEP # 7091, CE Training Workshops has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP #7091. Programs that do not qualify are clearly identified. CE Training Workshops is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. CE Training Workshops designates this continuing education activity for 3 continuing education hours.

CE Training Workshops, LLC, #1770, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 08/02/2025 to 08/02/2028. Social workers completing this course receive 3 Clinical continuing education credits.

Meet Your Facilitator

Dreya Blume, LCSW, has traveled a long and winding road to arrive where she is today,as a therapist, coach, author, and group facilitator.

She has taught English in Thailand, Japan, Australia, and Hawaii. She has worked in psychiatric wards, served as a case manager, and eventually launched her own private therapy practice.

She has taught part-time as an adjunct professor for over twenty years, led multi-day international retreats, and written seventeen books, with an eighteenth on the way.

Syllabus

Introduction

Objective #1: Identify at least five core relational principles that contribute to effective therapeutic outcomes.

Client variables
Agreement on therapeutic goals and means

Objective #2: Describe the role of the therapeutic alliance and the therapist’s use of self in creating safety and trust.

The importance of rapport
How the nervous system heals in session
The role of attachment wounds

Objective #3: Apply strategies to enhance presence, empathy, and attunement in clinical practice.

Therapist use of self
Factors that facilitate attunement
Mindfulness

Summary/Q&A