Australia | US
Professional Training is now offered in the US time zone – starting March 2025
The Institute of Somatic Psychotherapy (IOSP) is delighted to offer mental health practitioners a training program in Somatic Psychotherapy that puts the embodied relationship between client/patient and practitioner at the centre of attention.
The IOSP program aims to provide participants with the theoretical foundations and experience of incorporating embodied relating in 2-person clinical practice. The program is generic and school independent. The focus throughout the training is on embodied practice – the embodiment of the client, the embodiment of you, and you with the client.
The US training will be delivered by Guest Lecturers: Susan Aposhan, Dr Rae Johnson and Dr Jennifer Tantia who are based in the US, Lisa Frese, as well as the founders Ernst Meyer and Veronik Verkest who are located in Australia. Each module has a particular theoretical focus, an interactive practical component and is supported by set readings.
The 15 x 2-hr seminars and 12 x 2-hr syndicates will be held Friday afternoon in the Americas on a near forthnightly basis starting in March to November- see US brochure for exact dates.
- US East Coast Friday 5-7 pm
- US West Coast Friday 2-4pm
Modules
- Foundations of Body/Somatic Psychotherapy
- Sense of Self and Embodiment
- Relational Psychotherapy and Verbal and Non-verbal Communication
- Trauma-informed Practice
Students will gain an understanding of:
- What Somatic Psychotherapy is, and what is not considered to be Somatic Psychotherapy
- How to become more embodied and how to help others become more embodied
- How trauma affects the body-mind Self and how to address it
- A deeper understanding of Somatic Psychotherapy and how to incorporate a wide variety of approaches, practices and exercises
- The somatic connections with and components of meditation and mindfulness practice
- How to practice Somatic Psychotherapy effectively, even without touching
- How Somatic Psychotherapy approaches can be used to enhance other specific clinical presentations
- How to communicate our Somatic Psychotherapy practice and make our work more visible.
Program Options
Course students have two distinct options to participate in the IOSP Somatic Psychotherapy Training Program:
1: ‘Full Somatic Psychotherapy Training Program’ consists of, and requires participation in the following:
- 15 live online 2-hour fortnightly Seminars
- Set readings and exercises
- 12 fortnightly Syndicate meetings
- Significant Self-study
- Journaling
- Course Tutor Contact
- Project work
Participants can expect a more indepth experiential training and learning process through the Syndicate meetings – available as part of Option 1 only.
Both options are for already trained, qualified and practising counsellors, psychotherapists, social workers and other professional mental health practitioners. All full course applicants will be interviewed.
The next Full Somatic Psychotherapy Training Program starts in March 2025
Non-refundable application processing fee: $250 (USD)
Full fee : $2,500 (USD)
2: The ‘Seminar Only’ program gives access to and participation in:
- 15 live online 2-hour fortnightly Seminars
- Set readings and exercises
Book and pay below for our seminars-only course for 2025.
Total cost $1,800 (USD)
Both options are for already trained and qualified ‘mental health practitioners’ who are looking for continuing education.
Timeline – Download brochure (above) to see dates and times
Entry Requirements
Applicants are required to have:
- undergone at least 200 hours of relevant training in a ‘mental health’ qualification such as: psychotherapy, social work, counselling, psychology or psychiatry.
- current experience working with people in these fields on a one-on-one and/or group basis.
- self-awareness, emotional maturity and intellectual capacity for both experiential learning and academic study.
Full Program applicants please review course requirements prior to registration. Interviews will be scheduled following registration to further explore aspects of the course and ensure all applicants adequately meet requirements.
For any initial enquiries, please contact us.