Janina Fisher Ph.D.

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Oakland, CA
Janina Fisher Ph.D.

Janina Fisher is an international expert on the treatment of trauma and dissociation, a trainer for It has been a privilege to learn with them and from them.
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I have had the good fortune to have been taught by or worked alongside the giants in the field of psychological trauma: first, Judith Herman, then Bessel van der Kolk, and, most recently, Pat Ogden. And as much as these pioneers taught me, the most powerful and gifted teachers I have are my patients. These survivors have given me a window into the inner experience of the legacy of trauma, taught me what always to say and what never to say, helped to validate or disprove what the experts and theorists were claiming. We now understand that trauma’s imprint is both psychological and somatic: long after the events are over, the body continues to respond as if danger were everpresent. My professional mission has been to bring this understanding of trauma to both clients and their therapists as a psychotherapist, consultant, and trainer of clinicians looking for answers to helping their traumatized clients. I believe the key to healing is not just knowing what happened but transforming how the mind, body, and soul still remember it. Janina Fisher, PhD is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Instructor at the Trauma Center, an outpatient clinic and research center founded by Bessel van der Kolk. Known for her expertise as both a therapist and consultant, she is also past president of the New England Society for the Treatment of Trauma and Dissociation, an EMDR International Association Credit Provider, a faculty member of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, and a former Instructor, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fisher has been an invited speaker at the Cape Cod Institute, Harvard Medical School Conference Series, the EMDR International Association Annual Conference, University of Wisconsin, University of Westminster in London, the Psychotraumatology Institute of Europe, and the Esalen Institute. Dr. Fisher lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics related to the integration of research and treatment and how to introduce these newer trauma treatment paradigms in traditional therapeutic approaches.

02/02/2026

Psychoeducation for Trauma

01/28/2026

Fear doesn’t start in our thoughts – it starts in the body.

A racing heart, tight muscles, shallow breath.

When we learn to notice the sensations instead of fighting them, we create space to feel safer.

01/23/2026

Janina Fisher & Ruth Lanius

Why must grounding come before mindfulness for dissociative clients?

Ruth Lanius joins me for a rich discussion of neuroscience, dissociation, emerging treatments, and the future of trauma care.

🎧 Listen now – https://janinafisher.com/resources/janinas-podcast/

01/21/2026

01/19/2026

Embracing Our Fragmented Selves: A New Approach to Working with Trauma-Related Parts

Trauma is not only about what happened—it’s about how overwhelming experiences are held in implicit emotional and somatic memory. This webinar introduces clinicians to Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST), a non-pathologizing, compassion-based approach to understanding fragmentation as an adaptive survival response.

🗓 Thu, 22 Jan 2026
⏰ 18:00–19:00 GMT

Register now: https://app.tpn.health/education/embracing-our-fragmented-selves-a-new-approach-to-working-with-tr-e5322ad5

01/16/2026

Janina Fisher with Tiff Kopp & Clayre Sessoms

What if stabilization isn’t a limitation—but the foundation for depth?

Senior TIST facilitators Tiff Kopp and Clayre Sessoms join Janina Fisher to explore curiosity, humor, and “knowing nothing” as powerful tools for healing without retraumatization.

🎧 Listen now – https://janinafisher.com/resources/janinas-podcast/

01/15/2026

The Structural Dissociation Model, created by Onno van der Hart, Ellert Nijenhuis, and Kathy Steele, proposes that splitting occurs because of the brain’s innate ‘fault lines’ dictated by its differentiated structures and their functional specialization. Though children are born with both hemispheres intact, they are right brain dominant for most of childhood.

In addition, the corpus callosum, the brain structure that makes possible right brain-left brain communication, only becomes fully elaborated after age twelve. Thus, in the early years of childhood, right brain experience occurs relatively independent of left brain experience, a hypothesis supported by research demonstrating a correlation between abuse and/or neglect in children and under-development of the corpus callosum compared to normal controls.

This finding would support the view that adaptation to trauma necessitates a longer period of parallel development of right and left brains, resulting in deficits in integration between the two hemispheres.

01/13/2026

Trauma work changes when we stop saying “I feel…” and start saying, “A part of me feels…”

That simple shift helps clients feel safer, more understood, and more open to healing.

Bring this parts language into session with my new workbook Embracing Our Fragmented Selves.

https://tinyurl.com/3mybnzk7

01/09/2026

This issue is not the event – we should start with all the changes that trauma has brought about in who you are right now.

In the first episode of season 2 of my podcast, In Conversation with Janina Fisher, I am joined by Bessel van der Kolk, and we talk about how trauma therapy has changed – and what still needs to evolve.

In this wide-ranging conversation, we reflect on decades of shared work, the body’s role in healing, and where the field is headed next.

🎧 Listen now on all streaming platforms

Watch now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U0rnJLRsfI&t=9s

01/07/2026

We put a lot of stakes into the stories that the client tells. The tradition in the field is usually to take a history at the first visit and then to assume that this is the complete history.

Trauma research says that this is unlikely because, when we have trauma responses, the prefrontal cortex is inhibited, and the language and verbal expression centres of the brain shut down so that we don’t have access to words and narrative memory.

So, think about your clients who carry this diagnosis and think about the symptoms that tell their story.

01/01/2026

In a traumatic world, it is better to assume danger than to trust safety, so the brain and body don't recognize that the threat is over.

It l takes practice to focus on the proof that you survived – no matter what happened.

12/30/2025

Trauma fragments the self, leaving behind parts of us that carry fear, rage, shame, hopelessness, and despair. In Embracing Our Fragmented Selves, internationally renowned trauma therapist Dr. Janina Fisher offers a clear and compassionate approach to working with these parts and restoring a sense of inner harmony.

Grounded in structural dissociation theory, parts work, and sensorimotor psychotherapy, this workbook teaches trauma survivors to:

➡ Understand their symptoms as expressions of different parts
➡ Notice, unblend from, and befriend traumatized parts
➡ Recognize self-destructive behaviors as the behavior of protector parts
➡ Offer reparative experiences to wounded young parts

Whether you’re a trauma survivor or therapist, this book serves as a reminder that every part of us, no matter how wounded or extreme, is deserving of care. Healing begins when we meet those parts with support, appreciation, and acceptance.

Pre-order now: https://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Our-Fragmented-Selves-Therapists/dp/1683738918/
This Work will be released on January 6, 2026.

Address

5665 College Avenue, Suite 220C
Oakland, CA
94618

Website

http://www.janinafisher.com/

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My Story

I have had the good fortune to have been taught by or worked alongside the giants in the field of psychological trauma: first, Judith Herman, then Bessel van der Kolk, and, most recently, Pat Ogden. And as much as these pioneers taught me, the most powerful and gifted teachers I have are my patients. These survivors have given me a window into the inner experience of the legacy of trauma, taught me what always to say and what never to say, helped to validate or disprove what the experts and theorists were claiming. It has been a privilege to learn with them and from them. We now understand that trauma’s imprint is both psychological and somatic: long after the events are over, the body continues to respond as if danger were everpresent. My professional mission has been to bring this understanding of trauma to both clients and their therapists as a psychotherapist, consultant, and trainer of clinicians looking for answers to helping their traumatized clients. I believe the key to healing is not just knowing what happened but transforming how the mind, body, and soul still remember it. Janina Fisher, PhD is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Instructor at the Trauma Center, an outpatient clinic and research center founded by Bessel van der Kolk. Known for her expertise as both a therapist and consultant, she is also past president of the New England Society for the Treatment of Trauma and Dissociation, an EMDR International Association Credit Provider, a faculty member of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, and a former Instructor, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fisher has been an invited speaker at the Cape Cod Institute, Harvard Medical School Conference Series, the EMDR International Association Annual Conference, University of Wisconsin, University of Westminster in London, the Psychotraumatology Institute of Europe, and the Esalen Institute. Dr. Fisher lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics related to the integration of research and treatment and how to introduce these newer trauma treatment paradigms in traditional therapeutic approaches.