Somatic CBT Certificate: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Healing
The information in this article was taken from our recent Information Sessions featuring the faculty of the Somatic CBT Certificate. You can register to receive the recordings of these sessions and our final Meet The Faculty Session here.
Program Overview
At the heart of this program is a holistic approach to change and transformation that recognizes the value of a multi-disciplinary framework. We’ll combine powerful tools like mindfulness, embodiment, compassionate relational skills, and deep processing with enhanced awareness of habits and patterns. This combination will help to foster a sense of safety for ourselves and those we support, opening doors to meaningful change.
Our intention with the Somatic CBT Certificate program is to tap into our shared purpose to help heal ourselves and others while sharing the skills and tools to make that a reality. We’ll begin by recognizing our behaviors, tuning into our bodies, and exploring the relational dynamics and beliefs that shape those behaviors. Together, we’ll learn to embody these holistic experiences and apply them effectively in our lives.
Program Faculty - You’re In Safe Hands
Alongside this incredible program, we have an exceptional faculty ready to guide you on this journey. These are the individuals who will hold the space for you as you embark on this embodied exploration of holistic change and transformation.
KAI CHENG THOM, MSW, MSC
Kai Cheng Thom, MSW, MSc, is a certified Somatic Sex Educator, Qualified Mediator, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Certified Professional Coach based in tkaronto/Toronto. She is also the author of five award-winning books in various genres. Kai Cheng's work focuses on the intersection of social justice, pleasure activism, and transformative approaches to healing conflict. A noted speaker and practitioner of somatic wellness, healing, and group process facilitation, Kai Cheng supports individuals and groups who are seeking to repair relationships and make transformative change. She also teaches as Adjunct Faculty at the Institute for the Study of Somatic Sex Education.
DR. BRYAN O. ROJAS-ARAÚZ
Dr. Rojas-Araúz is a bilingual bicultural AfroLatino immigrant of Costa Rican and Panamanian descent. He grew up in the Bay Area, where he was a community organizer and DREAM activist. He earned a PhD in Counseling psychology with a Spanish Language Psychological Services and Research Specialization from the University of Oregon. He is a licensed psychologist, author, speaker, and founder of In Lak’ech Counseling, Education, & Consulting (InLakechCEC.com). He provides trauma and culturally responsive psychological services, immigration evaluations, training, consultation, and speaking engagements. He is faculty in the International Disaster Psychology: Trauma and Global Mental Health program at DU.
DR. RAE JOHNSON
Rae Johnson, PhD, RSW, RSMT, BCC (they/them) is a social worker, somatic movement therapist, and board-certified coach working at the intersections of embodiment and social justice. The author of several books, including Embodied Social Justice and Embodied Activism, Rae currently teaches in the Somatic Psychology doctoral program at the California Institute of Integral Studies.
DR. RYAN KENNEDY
J. Ryan Kennedy, PsyD, LP, CIGT, BC-DMT, CLMA, RSME/T, E-RYT-500, is the founder and executive director of Noeticus Counseling Center and Training Institute in Denver, Colorado, USA. He has practiced as a psychotherapist in a broad range of psychiatric and addiction recovery treatment settings since 1993 and as a clinical supervisor and counselor educator since 1996. His clinical training is in the areas of chronic and persistent mental illness, psychiatric nursing and psychopharmacology, trauma and dissociative disorders, addictions and recovery, domestic and family violence, and living with life-threatening illnesses. His professional background includes extensive work with graduate and post-graduate education, particularly in the areas of experiential learning, contemplative education, spiritual emergence, diversity and multiculturism, social and restorative justice, creative process work, expressive arts therapies, and body-centered psychotherapy.
DR. SCOTT LYONS
Dr. Scott Lyons is a licensed holistic psychologist, educator and author of the book Addicted to Drama: Healing Dependency on Crisis and Chaos in Yourself and Others, with Hachette publishing. As a renowned body-based trauma expert, Doctor of Osteopathy (Spain) and Mind-Body Medicine specialist, Scott helps people to break free from cycles of pain, limited beliefs, and trauma. Scott is an innovator in transformative wellness and trauma therapy, teaching over half a million people internationally over the past twenty years how to relieve stress and restore vitality. Scott has worked with many of the country’s top leaders and CEOs as an executive coach and wellness consultant.
What You’ll Learn
The somatic elements that make up this model will allow the practitioner to deepen into attunement with the client while feeling more fully into their perspective. Together, we’ll practice expanding that skill to evaluate problem patterns, break them into smaller parts that can be addressed on a moment-to-moment basis, and consider what step by step behaviors can be done to shift an experience of the world, allowing the client to take the next step forward.
We’ll share how to do all of this in a way that really lands with and honors the client’s experience, sharing that we’ve noticed a behavior or pattern that we don’t think is working for them, all through a gentle and authentic approach. We have to be able to challenge, reflect, and deliver assessment in a way that connects with their goal.
Maintaining Meaningful Shifts:
When we’ve been able to guide the client into a somatic shift or cognitive change, the next most important question then becomes how we can support maintaining that shift on purpose and under pressure. In the Somatic CBT Certificate program, we’ll work on how to take a client’s deepening understanding of their core beliefs into practice.
An Integrated Approach:
We’ll also focus on how to approach a problem from multiple angles: the body, the mind, and their unification as one. This program utilizes the bottom up approach of somatics with the bottom down approach of CBT. You’ll also experience a self-reflective aspect, considering how we can really develop the conscious observer in ourselves and our clients, expanding the capacity to notice not only what's happening in the moment, but also recognition of patterns over time. Who does the client wish to become? Why do they want to transfer their thoughts and way of being? Why does that matter to them? These are all questions we will explore alongside the guidance of our community and exceptional program faculty.
Curriculum Overview:
We want to make this program accessible and inviting for a very wide range of practitioners. We won’t assume that you already know something about CBT or somatic approaches, and have designed the curriculum to start with everyone on the same page so no one feels like they need to catch up on anything.
We'll kick things off with somatic foundations, as we believe that somatic experience is at the heart of many cognitive, behavioral, and environmental patterns. From there, we'll dive into cognitive assessment and interventions, with a class focused on understanding emotions as sensations rather than just cognitive events. We’ll also cover behavioral assessment and interventions, followed by some special applications, and wrap up with environmental assessment and interventions.
Throughout the program, we'll explore the connections between personal, relational, cultural, social, and political aspects, equipping you with skills to navigate experiences from the macro to the micro and vice versa. We'll spend time on integration throughout the program, giving you chances to practice and pause for questions to really build your understanding. The final module will focus on tying everything together.
