ABOUT THE PROGRAM

This unique 3-month online certificate program is designed for individuals, practitioners and educators wanting to explore a unified somatic approach to trauma-informed care: including a deeper understanding of the body’s relationship with social, environmental, developmental, relational, spiritual, and cultural wounding and healing.

Bringing together world renowned Somatic Trauma Therapy teachers into one program, our intention is to offer a holistic framework for understanding and working with trauma from a body-centered perspective. This extraordinary program offers a collection of practical tools that will help you access the innate wisdom that guides the healing process for yourself and your work with others.

What is trauma?

A holistic approach to trauma defines trauma not as an event, but rather as a disruption and overwhelm to our body-mind’s capacity to adapt, thrive, and flourish.  

Trauma can occur when:

• There is too much too soon

• There is too much for too long

• There is not enough for too long

• Power and agency have been taken away from the person or collective

• The stressors outweigh the resources available to navigate them

• When our primal protective instincts, intuitions, and responses are thwarted

• There is not enough time, space, or permission to heal 

It is essential that we consider social, developmental, and cultural factors when reflecting on a client’s trauma history. By not acknowledging these contextual factors we do the individual a disservice.

The symptoms of trauma may occur immediately or emerge over time from the compounding stress and challenges of processing and adapting to the experiences of life. Symptoms of trauma emerge as the body and mind attempt to cope with and resolve the stressors. 

The effects of trauma may include: 

• Physical symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, tightness in the body, muscle tension, digestion challenges, and constrictions around the breath. 

• Emotional symptoms such as flatness / inability to feel, fear, anxiety, panic, overwhelm, loss of choice, difficulty feeling comforted, anger, and shame.

• Psychological symptoms such as dissociation, mental rumination, low self worth,  negative self talk, self blame, memory challenges, depression, and loss of interest in activities. 

• Relational / Social symptoms such as isolation, loneliness, relational and attachment reenactments. 

Trauma can lead to feelings of powerlessness, helplessness, and groundlessness. It interferes with our ability to feel real in body and mind, it disrupts our very sense of existence, and takes us away from the present moment. However, as Dr. Peter Levine, creator of Somatic Experiencing says “Trauma is a fact of life. It does not have to be a life sentence.”  

Symptoms are the gateway to healing trauma. Our job as practitioners and educators is to listen and hear the messages and wisdom encoded in the body.

Join the revolution of coming home to the body and rediscovering how it can truly transform our lives and the world!