This course provides the fundamental skills for a somatically-informed clinical practice, including the use of breath awareness, the potential of touch, and the inclusion of somatic experience.  Working with breath, touch and mindful presence are some of the oldest and most fundamental forms of helping and healing. Explore the contemporary application of these modalities in healing and in psychotherapy practice. Self-awareness skills of orienting, centering, sensory awareness and attention to personal boundaries are emphasized. Topics include body and breath awareness, the psychotherapeutic touch, self–regulation, the embodied therapist, and phases of a Somatic Psychological Process.

Faculty: Kathy Kain, M.Ed. & Dyrian Benz, PsyD

Kathy Kain, M.Ed.
Kathy 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. Kathy co-authored the book, Ortho-Bionomy; A Practical Manual. 

Dyrian Benz PsyD is director of External Programs for somatic psychology at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. He is the author of Group Field: A Practitioners Guide To Essential Solutions for Teams and Groups. He conducts trainings and consults internationally in Group Field and Family Constellations. He is a former trainer and co-founder of the Hakomi Institute for experiential, mindful, body-centered psychotherapy and a Somatic Psychology educator in Santa Barbara.

Upcoming Courses:

Jan 11-16, 2009
Innovative Approaches In Relational Somatic Psychology: Living From Your Essence With Core Evolution® - (SOM 648h)
Faculty: Siegmar Gerken, PhD

March 8-13, 2009
Essentials for Embodied Psychotherapy Practice: Biosynthesis (SOM648a)
SOM 648a Somatic Psychology: Essentials for Embodied Psychotherapy Practice
Faculty: Gabriele Hoppe, MA, JoAnna Chartrand,  and Dyrian Benz, PsyD.

June 21-26, 2009
Body and Self in Relationship (SOM648c)
Faculty: Diana Fosha, PhD.