There are 10 training sessions a year, once a month, except for July and December (see schedule).
The training takes place on Saturdays, between 11 AM and 6 PM EST (New York time). During these 7 hours, we have 6 hours of experiential classes and 3 breaks (a break of 45 minutes for lunch or dinner, and two 10-minute breaks).
Each Saturday training session is focused on a topic. Trainees are expected to listen to the audio/video lecture and read the course materials before the monthly online gathering.
To make the most of the online time without adding to internet fatigue, courses are pre-recorded. Online time is only for experiential learning.
Each training session consists of the following:
– Process group (85 minutes): Practicing what we preach, i.e. using an integrative focusing approach to process life issues as well as what arises as part of being part of a group.
– Q & A on this weekend’s topic (45 minutes).
– Demo on this weekend’s module (45 minutes).
– Experiential application of the weekend’s topic (85 minutes): Trainees work in dyads to apply the weekend’s topic. We then discuss as a group.
– Supervision (85 minutes): We work on cases presented by trainees.
Below are the themes of some of Year 1’s modules:
How to work with trauma safely with IFT
From the beginning, establishing a sense of competence and safety that you will build upon with the rest of the program.
If you’ve been working with trauma, you know how crucial it is to establish a sense of safety and trust before any work can happen. In this module, we will show how IFT is especially geared to establishing safety and trust.
Introduction to embodied experiential dreamwork
How to approach dreams and work with them constructively and creatively. You will learn how to approach a dream in an embodied way that naturally opens the exploration to more. You will gain confidence in helping your clients re-enter their dream space to discover their own sense of what it means.
Putting Focusing and the felt sense within the context of other somatic psychotherapies
Over the past century, somatic psychotherapies have opened new perspectives on what it is like to be human. More recently, this work has been enriched by the findings of evolutionary psychology and neuroscience. Felt-sensing and Focusing allow us and our clients to have a direct experience of these powerful concepts and use them in our work together.
Trauma and addiction treatment with the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model
This model combines the latest theories of how the nervous system responds to threat with a deep experiential approach that empowers clients to creatively contribute to their own healing from trauma and addiction.
