In this experiential course you will practice the skillful application of Relational Somatic Psychology through demonstration, case presentation and collaborative consultation.  Professional application, practical and theoretical dimensions of Relational Somatic Psychology will be explored and practiced with emphasis on the therapist’s personal comfort in the relational field. How to work with one’s own “issues” of embodiment and how they affect the therapeutic process will be emphasized.

Depending on the needs of the participants, some of the potential areas to be covered are: Learning to recognize, work with and integrate the levels of processing- emotional, cognitive and somatic awareness. Gathering information by tracking, and breath awareness. Practicing recognition of self-regulation problems and how to overcome them by accessing resources, to stabilize arousal and reduce symptoms. Learning to inhibit the over-activation of defensive responses to increase the window of tolerance of arousal states.  Synthesizing bottom-up interventions with top-down approaches. Assisting clients to move from Contraction to Expansion. Exploring personal and client capacity for real compassion and increased felt sense of worth. Learning to discern, be informed by and share how somatic influences affect our relational stance in the world. Working with specific issues related to particular client/therapist needs. SBGI Course: SOM 648k

Faculty: Michael Sieck PhD. & JoAnna Chartrand 

Michael Sieck, PhD is Director of Redlands Therapy Group, a certified Bioenergetic Analyst and a Supervisor for the Southern California Bioenergetic Institute. Since 1974, he has been providing psychotherapy services. He is the editor of Relational Somatic Psychotherapy: the Collected Essays of Robert Hilton and has published several training manuals. He combines many elements of somatic, relational psychological and psychospiritual orientations in his practice.

JoAnna Chartrand is a European-trained somatic psychology educator and practitioner since 1980. Her specialty is in Somatically-Based, Transpersonal and Relational Psychology along with Trauma work. She is a trainer the co-director of The Constellation Institute of CA. and a student of the Diamond Approach, a psycho-spiritual method. She is an affiliate of the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute and co-teaches Relational Somatic Psychology.
Reading: Hilton, Robert (2007) Relational somatic psychotherapy, (Sieck, Michael, Editor)  Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, ISBN 978-1-4243-4109-2.
SBGI Course: SOM648k

This course provides the fundamental skills for the somatic-infused clinical practice, including the use of breath awareness, the potential of touch, and the presence of the somatic experience.  Working with breath, touch and mindful presence are some of the oldest and most fundamental forms of helping and healing. This course explores the contemporary application of these modalities in healing and in the contemporary psychotherapy practice. Skills of presence include self-awareness skills of orienting, centering, sensory awareness and personal boundaries. Topics include body and breath awareness, the psychotherapeutic touch, self–regulation, and the embodied therapist.

Kathy Kain, M.Ed. has been practicing and teaching bodywork for nearly 30 years.  She teaches in Europe, Australia, Canada, and throughout the U.S., and maintains a private practice in Berkeley, California.  She was a senior trainer at the College for Somatic Psychotherapy in Sydney, Australia for 12 years, where she developed the Touch Training for Psychotherapists program that she now teaches in the U.S.  Kathy teaches in the Somatic Experiencing training program, and is currently the Director of Training and Education for the Somatic Experiencing organization, the Foundation for Human Enrichment.  Kathy co-authored the book, Ortho-Bionomy; A Practical Manual. 
Reading: To Be Determined.
SBGI Course: SOM648b