Psycho-Physical Therapy

Explorations in Somatic Psychotherapy

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Professional Training in Somatic Psychotherapy

There are no plans at this time to offers this training in Calif.

6 three-day weekends (18 full days - 111 class hours)

CEs Available for MFTs, LCSWs, & LPCs




Overview of Training:
The Professional Training in Psycho-Physical Therapy is an experiential in-depth course of study in the practice of somatic psychotherapy from a truly body centered perspective. Body Psychotherapies are now at the leading edge of psychotherapy methods. Clients are recognizing the importance of the body in the healing process and are seeking out therapists that actively include the body as an integral part of psychotherapy. Understanding how to work with the body, in a psychotherapy practice, enhances the depth and effectiveness of the therapeutic work and can be an important ingredient in building or increasing the quality of a therapist's practice.

The Psycho-Physical Therapy Training will enhance your skill and confidence in actively including the physical body in your therapy practice. The training covers many of the models and skills needed for creating and using somatic interventions in accessing, deepening, and processing the core issues that form the foundation of your client's unrest and suffering. You will gain skills in working fluidly between psychological and physical issues. You will learn to build new psycho-physical resources that support your clients in becoming more flexible, creative, & healthy individuals. You will learn to build the therapeutic relationship based on collaboration and open heartedness. You will come away from the training with a practical understanding of how utilizing the body, as the central vehicle for the therapeutic process, facilitates and deepens your client's growth & transformation.

The Professional Psycho-Physical Therapy Training is an in-depth study of how to practice Somatic Psychotherapy, with a specific focus on utilizing the body as a primary vehicle for therapeutic transformation. It also is an inquiry into a way of working that seeks a balance between process and assessment approaches to the therapy work. PPT is grounded in the importance of awareness, compassion, and loving-kindness, which is balanced by clear theory, analysis, and skills. In the PPT Training students will learn the foundational theories, models, approaches, and techniques of PPT. The formation of sensitive and effective therapeutic relationship will be explored. You will learn the use of physical interventions for accessing and deepening psychological material. Techniques for incorporating the body at every stage of the therapeutic process will be taught. Techniques for working at the Mind/Body Interface will be learned. Methods of reading the body, assessing and building somatic resources, and processing psycho/physical material will be learned. Issues of psycho/physical developmental will be explored. Personality Hydraulics (an expansive psycho-physical model for understanding the formation of characterological and personality issues) will be taught. Work with a client's creative process will be explored as a therapeutic model. These are just some of the many topics covered in the training. The training is designed to be directly applicable to the student's therapy practice. It is experiential in nature including a balance of lecture, discussion, practice, and demonstration.

The following are the general topics that will be covered in the training:

Foundational Psycho-Physical Therapy Models and Theories

The Psycho-Physical & Psycho-Spiritual foundations of Psycho-Physical Therapy
· Consciousness model of Psychotherapy
· Personal Calling and Inner Momentum
· Principles of Psycho-Physical Therapy
· Presence and Mindful Attention
· Resourcing vs. Psychopathology
· Stages of the Psycho-Physical Therapy Process
· Requirements for the Therapeutic Relationship
· Psycho-Physical Wounding, Organization and Core Material
· The Body as the Primary Vehicle for The Therapeutic Process
· The Creative Process as a Psychotherapy Model
· Introduction to Basic Body Therapy Models Useful in Psychotherapy
· Psychotherapy and Body Therapy as a Simultaneous or Overlapping Process
· Psycho-Physical Resourcing, Integration, Re-Organization and Transformation
· Somatic Resourcing with Developmental and Traumatic Wounding
· Personality Hydraulics


The Psycho-Physical Therapy Process, Applications and Skills

· Mastering the art of Somatic Psychotherapy
· Building and Sustaining Somatic Awareness
· Psycho-Physical Work at Each Stage of the Therapeutic Process
· Balance Between Process and Assessment
· Skills for Creating a Safe and Effective Therapeutic Container
· Tracking Skills, Body Reading & Assessment of Psycho-Physical Issues
· Creating Therapeutic Agreements & Strategies
· Physical Interventions that Access & Deepen Psychological Material
· Psychological Interventions which Explore Physical Issues
· Processing Psychological Issues Through the Body
· Working at the Mind/Body Interface
· Physicalizing
· Movement & Touch as Psychological Intervention
· Languaging Psycho-Physical Interventions
· The Application of Specific Body Therapy Models
· The Use of Somatic Awareness, Movement, & Touch in Psycho-Physical Transformation
· Application of Personality Hydraulics in Psycho-Physical Therapy
· Working With Developmental and Trans-generational influences
· Working With Imprints and Identification Issues
· Working With Creative Energy and the Process of Expression
· Somatic Resourcing
· Psycho-Physical Transformation
· The Assessment & Building of Psycho-Physical Resources
· Facilitating Psycho-Physical Integration
· Transformation through Resourcing vs. Historical Processing
· Post Session Psycho-Physical Support


APPLICATION AND ENROLLMENT INFORMATION: Click Here


For more information about this training, our payment plan options, or to apply, please contact the organizer at berkeleyorganizer@yahoo.com or by phone at 510-499-7137

Completed training applications along with your tuition check made out to
Bill Bowen Trainings should be sent to
Bill Bowen, 2408 NE 8th Ave. Portland OR 97212



CE'S: Continuing education credits are available. Bill Bowen Trainings is approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences as a Continuing Education Provider in the state of Calif. PCE #2731. The “Professional Training in Somatic Psychotherapy” course meets the qualifications for 111 hours of continuing education credit for MFTs, LPCCs, LEPs and or LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

The facilities are handicapped accessible. If you have a disability and may require accommodation in order to fully participate in this activity, please inform us of your accommodation needs by the registration deadline. We will make a good faith effort to meet your accommodation requests after this deadline.