September 27 - December 18, 2026 | Live & Online
Integrative Somatic Trauma
Therapy Certificate
95% of trained practitioners report greater confidence taking on complex trauma cases — and a stronger, more resilient practice as a result.
60
Live Hours
23
Modules
11
Weeks
12
CE Hours
Featured In
A Closer Look
The Program at a glance
The Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy Certificate is a 60-hour, 3-month program. Live and online, it's built to teach you the most potent skills of trauma therapy, a greater understanding of the complex layers of trauma healing, and how to identify what's happening in a moment, and choose, with real discernment, what to do next.
This program brings together world-renowned experts who have shaped the field of trauma therapy and the foundational tools of Somatic Experiencing, Polyvagal Theory, Hakomi, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems, and more, and teaches you when, where, and why to use each one, across the personal, relational, ancestral, and systemic layers where trauma actually lives.
4.9/5
Star Rating
98%
Would Recommend
8,000+
Practitioners Trained
"Thriving is our birthright. Healing
individual and collective trauma is the
deepest embodiment of this truth."
Dr Scott Lyons
Meet Your Faculty
Learn from world-leading voices
in trauma treatment
Our Meta-Framework
What makes
ISTT different
ISTT is the only integrative trauma therapy program taught by the people who have shaped the field itself. Each of our world-renowned faculty shares a passion and dedication to teaching you how to make the greatest impact in the world through trauma resolution.
Most somatic trainings offer you one tool and teach you to use it well — which is a little like learning to catch in baseball without ever learning to throw. You can be excellent at catching. You still can't play the game.
Most programs also stop at working with only one ring of trauma. ISTT teaches you to work the interacting layers instead. Trauma shows up in the individual body, but it also shows up between people, and in the groups, organizations, and communities they belong to. We teach all layers, and — more importantly — how to tell which ring you're actually standing in at a given moment, in order to facilitate an integrative healing process.
We built ISTT around that gap specifically, in order to support you in becoming the most impactful practitioner you can be. It draws on what Somatic Experiencing, Polyvagal Theory, Hakomi, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Somatic Stress Release, and Internal Family Systems share underneath their differences, and trains you to move between them — to know, in the room, whether this is a moment to orient, to work with a protector part, to titrate, to process, or to mobilize. The program is built to give you both breadth across these modalities and real depth in discerning how and when to use them within the broader processes and phases of trauma healing.
That's the difference between ISTT and a single-topic course, including others at The Embody Lab. Those go deep on one modality or one layer. This program trains the discernment to move across all of them, to work with the unique and complex way trauma manifests for each individual.
Look Beyond What's Visible
The ISTT Framework
We train you to see past symptoms to the root — and to know the difference between the two, moment to moment. The tree is a map for that: three layers, not one flat presentation.
Roots
The entry point underneath what you're seeing: nervous system dysregulation, developmental wounding, relational rupture, cultural or ancestral imprint, collective or systemic trauma. Often more than one at once.
Responses
The body's ongoing attempt to survive and adapt to what happened at the root. This is where protective patterns, holding, and dysregulation live.
Expressions
What actually shows up in the room: the anxiety, the shutdown, the dissociation, the behavior you can see and name.
Take a first-generation immigrant client presenting with anxiety. The anxiety itself — the racing thoughts, the tight chest, the difficulty sleeping — is the expression. Underneath it, the response is a nervous system that stays braced for threat, a body that learned to stay vigilant because vigilance once kept it safe. And underneath that, the root may be relational attachment history and ancestral or familial rupture — a lineage that never had the safety to fully settle. All three layers are shaping what's happening; work only at the level of expression, and you're treating what's visible without touching what's generating it.
Watch the Replays
ISTT Foundations
The Four Pillars
Knowing the tree's three layers is the framework. Being able to actually work from it, in real time, with
a real person in front of you, is the practice. That's what these four pillars describe — what it means to
be an integrated practitioner rather than someone who's simply collected techniques.
You have a foundational somatic toolkit drawn from multiple modalities.
You can discern which tool to use in a given moment.
You understand the entry point: relational, developmental, somatic, intergenerational, or otherwise.
You know how to assess whether it's working and how to course-correct.
The Basics
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.
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.
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
Trauma Can Occur When:
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.
Learn to Meet Trauma at its Roots
At its root, trauma is the great fragmenter. It splits apart our sense of self, our relationships, our sense of purpose, and even our relationship to time — leaving us reacting to the past instead of living in the present. 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.
These 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.
"Trauma is a fact of life. It does not
have to be a life sentence."
Dr. Peter Levine
Beyond the Story
Why
Somatics?
"Soma" is a Greek word for the living body as known from within. Trauma doesn't just live in a person's story — it lives in their tissue, their breath, their reflexes, their posture. That's the premise somatic work starts from: if you're not working with the body, you're not working with trauma at its core.
This matters practically, not just conceptually. Trauma is stored below the level of language, in the nervous system and the body's protective patterns, which is why talk alone often reaches someone's understanding of what happened without reaching what their body is still doing about it.
No single somatic approach does all of this the same way. Somatic Experiencing, Hakomi, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Polyvagal Theory, Focusing, Dance/Movement Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Somatic Attachment Theory, and EMDR each work through the body's language of movement, breath, and sensation, but from different angles.
That range is exactly why an integrative approach exists — not to replace any one of them, but to teach you all of what they share, and when each is called for.
Enroll NowThe ISTT Framework
Curriculum
This 60-hour certificate program includes 23 two-hour modules offered over 11 weeks,
plus a Student Orientation session and multiple Community Connection sessions.
Classes and optional Community Connections are held on weekdays.
Befriending the Body
The Foundational Layer
Understanding trauma in the individual body before working with anyone else's.
- Overview - Somatic Psychology and Trauma Recovery for the Individual Body
- Towards an Alchemical Reformation Foundations and Inspirations
- Bipolar Work and Navigating Shame
- Polyvagal Theory and Pathways to Connection — Part 1 & 2
- Foundations of Trauma and Healing in Children
- Neuroscience and Trauma
- Introduction to Embodiment
- Research & Application of Psychedelics for Practitioners
- Embodying Ancestral Wisdom
Trauma Reprocessing
The Building Blocks & Tools
From Hakomi to embodied movement to parts work.
- Hakomi Principals
- Trauma and the Internal Body-Mind Family (Part 1 & 2)
- Integration Session
- Trauma and Embodied Movement (Part 1 & 2)
- Closing Your Eyes to See Focusing, Active Imagination, and Inner Dialogue
- Foundations of Trauma and Healing Children
- Healing Collective Trauma
- Practitioner and Integration
- Balancing Individual and Collective Transformation
- Addiction, Trauma and Healing
Applications / Populations
Where Frameworks Meet Complexity
Developmental trauma, complex trauma, psychedelic-assisted contexts, structural and collective embodiment.
- Diversity of Embodiment
- Somatic Relational Skills
- Structural Embodiment Somatics for the Collective Body
- Stress, Trauma and Bio-paired Complex Trauma: Integrating Somatic Psychology and DASH Therapy
- Meeting the Body's Roots of Developmental Trauma
Integration (Post-Traumatic Growth)
Moving From Technique to Practice
The embodied skills that carry the work forward after the program ends.
- Embodied Practitioner Skills
- Post-Traumatic Growth Meet Body, Track to Foster Resilience and Awaken to your Potential
- Integration Session
What you will learn
By the end of this program, you'll be able to:
Recognize and embody the key principles of somatic trauma healing approaches
Understand the interconnections between individual trauma healing and collective liberatory practices
Explore the latest evidence-informed approaches to treating and healing individual and collective trauma
Engage practical mind-body therapy tools to resource and prepare clients for trauma processing
Gain a deep understanding of how Polyvagal Theory provides an essential foundation in trauma reprocessing
Discover and experience techniques to offer co-regulation — a key precursor to self-regulation
Practice and apply tools that strengthen emotional and sensation tolerance
Discover how "top-down" and "bottom-up" interventions can pace trauma treatment
Explain how trauma leads to holding patterns and survival responses in the individual and collective body
Understand the dynamics of post-traumatic hyper-arousal and hypo-arousal states in cultural contexts
Gain a road map to facilitate resilience and post-traumatic growth
Identify self- and collective-care practices to navigate boundaries, sustainability, and vicarious trauma
Micro-skills and meta-skills
We teach these as two different, equally necessary layers. Micro-skills are the specific techniques you apply moment to moment tracking an orienting response, facilitating pendulation, guiding a protector part, repatterning an incomplete fight-or-flight reflex. Meta-skills are how you show up while you do it: your attunement, your responsiveness, your presence. You'll notice, for instance, what happens in your own body just hearing the word "trauma" and learn to work with that awareness rather than around it.
Recognizing Progress
How you know Trauma Therapy is working
Progress in trauma work is often described in vague terms. We prefer specific ones. You'll learn to recognize real integration in a client or in yourself through the following signs:
Triggers that are less frequent and less intense; emotion that's felt without being overwhelming.
A shift from "I am my trauma" to "this happened to me, but it isn't all of me" — and the ability to place it in time.
More capacity to stay present in the body during activation, rather than dissociating from it.
Relational patterns that don't repeat themselves — more room for repair, less "stress contagion."
Restored reflective capacity, and a recalibration where small stressors stop registering as catastrophic.
More play, creativity, and healthy risk-taking; less compulsive avoidance or numbing.
Your Next Step
Who is this for?
Whatever brought you to this work — a modality or profession you've trained in for years, or a calling you're just starting to follow — this program gives you a shared somatic trauma therapy framework that you can carry into any personal or professional context.
This is a certification process that distills an educational methodology to integrate into a variety of modalities, including:
People seeking a deeper understanding of trauma for their own healing
Established professionals looking to sharpen & integrate
People newer to trauma therapy & somatics who want a real foundation from the start
Hear From Our Community
What practitioners say
about ISTT
ISTT 2026
Program Schedule
The 2026 60-hour certificate program runs live from September 27 to December 18, 2026, and includes 23 two-hour modules offered over 11 weeks. A Student Orientation session and multiple Community Connection sessions are also included. Classes and optional Community Connections are held on weekdays.
All live sessions are recorded, so students can watch them at their own pace.
There are no homework assignments during the program. See Certificate of Completion below for more information.
Student Orientation
Community Connections
Good To Know
- Breakout rooms are available immediately following live classes.
- All times listed are in Eastern Time (ET)
- A detailed schedule is provided upon registration.
Weekly Classes
Choose your enrollment path
Embody Lab Member Price
Members Save $250
For active members or anyone who starts a membership.
Non-Member Price
Enjoy preferred pricing as a member, or enroll without a membership. Choose the path that's right for you.
Become a Member with 7-DAY FREE TRIAL
(Renews at $26/month)
- Unlimited access to 200+ expert sessions
- On-Demand Education
- Weekly live classes and Q&As
- Exclusive member events and gatherings
- Member-only discounts
Questions, answered
Can't find your answer? Reach out directly.
info@theembodylab.com →What are the dates, schedule and time commitment for ISTT 2026?⌄
See the Program Schedule section above for full dates and times. In summary: the program runs live September 27–December 18, 2026, with 23 two-hour modules over 11 weeks, plus a Student Orientation and several optional Community Connection sessions. All sessions are recorded so you can watch them at your own pace.
Who is this program designed for?⌄
This program is a certification process that distills an educational methodology to integrate into a variety of modalities such as: Social Workers, Mental Health & Pastoral Counselors, Yoga Therapists / Yoga Teachers, Movement Therapists, Coaches, Physicians (MD, DO, ND, DC & others) & Physician Assistants, Nurses & Nurse Practitioners, Psychologists, Emergency Medical Personnel, Meditation Teachers, Educators, Massage Therapists, Acupuncturists & Body Workers, Hypnotherapists, Kinesiologists, Complementary & Alternative Medicine Professionals, Clergy & Religious Leaders, and other Wellness Professionals.
This is an education program and not a licenser program.
How can I interact with the instructors? Will I receive guidance?⌄
During each of the live sessions, the instructors will have a Q&A period where you may ask questions. Four community connections will also be offered with one of the co-directors of the program and special guests. A private online community forum will be provided for the certificate.
What are the homework requirements?⌄
There are no homework assignments during the program.
Do you offer refunds?⌄
We offer a Registration Guarantee, which means that if you register but decide the course isn't right for you, we'll refund your course fee, no questions asked, up to 48 hours before the course start date.
How can I access the online course and recordings?⌄
Online Learning Platform: Once you register, you will receive access to our online learning platform which will include all the information about the certificate, including: detailed schedules, how to access the live sessions via Zoom, recordings of all live sessions uploaded within 48 hours of the end of the live session, and supporting materials provided by your instructors.
Accessibility | Video / Audio: Within our online learning platform, you may watch the video within your online library or download the video or audio to your computer. You will have lifetime access to the content.
Accessibility | Live Captioning / Transcripts: Captioning will be available during the live sessions. Transcripts will be offered in English.
Accessibility | Reading Lists: The reading list will include items available at the public library or will be provided as a PDF where possible. PDFs of the instructor's presentation will also be provided.
Is this a summit?⌄
No, this is an integrated curriculum co-created by the faculty. The faculty are colleagues in this program, working together to make sure each individual module is cohesive with the entire curriculum. Every teacher is informed about what is coming before and after, and integrates their curriculum based on that information.
Is this a theoretical or practical (experiential) program?⌄
While some theory will be presented to support the learning, the primary focus of the practice is experiential, giving practical tools for the participants.
Will I receive a certificate?⌄
You'll receive a certificate of completion once you have completed attending the live sessions or watching the recordings, submitted the Self-Evaluations & Reflections for each phase, and full payment has been received.
What title can I use after completing this program?⌄
Licensed therapists or health professionals (e.g., social workers, psychologists, clinical therapists, registered nurses) may use the title "Somatic Trauma Therapies Practitioner."
Non-licensed individuals may say: "I integrate somatic trauma healing interventions into my practice."
Will Continuing Education hours (CEs) be offered?⌄
Continuing Education Hours for Health Professionals: 12 hours of CEs are available for Health Professionals upon completion of the live training. Please note: live attendance is required.
To register your interest for CE hours for this program and more detailed information, please visit this link: forms.gle/76mwhjgG5vnzVw9BA
Below is more information on the health professionals who may be eligible for CEs through the Spiritual Competency Academy (SCA), which is co-sponsoring this program.
- CE hours for psychologists are provided by the Spiritual Competency Academy (SCA), which is sponsoring this program. SCA is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. SCA maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
- The California Board of Behavioral Sciences accepts CE hours for LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFT license renewal for programs offered by sponsors approved by the American Psychological Association.
- LCSW, LPCC, LEP, LMFTs, and other professionals outside of California need to check with their state licensing board on acceptance of credits from APA-approved CE sponsors.
- SCA is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN Provider CEP16887) for licensed nurses in California. RNs must retain their certificate of attendance for 4 years after the course concludes. Nurses outside of California must confirm acceptance with their licensing boards.
- For questions about your certificate or the content, logistics, or other support issues, please contact The Embody Lab at info@theembodylab.com.
- For questions about whether APA CE is valid for you, contact your licensing board directly.
- For general questions about APA CE, contact SCA at ce@spiritualcompetencyacademy.com.
From a different state or country? Health professionals from a state or country outside of California need to check with their licensing boards on acceptance of programs offered by APA-approved CE sponsors.
Different credential? If your credential isn't listed, please check with your licensing board on acceptance of programs offered by APA-approved CE sponsors. SCA and The Embody Lab are not able to determine your eligibility.
Are there scholarship opportunities for ISTT 2026?⌄
The scholarship application is due by 11:59pm ET on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Scholarship results will be communicated by end of day Sunday, September 13, 2026.
For every 200 enrolled students, we are able to offer: 10 Full Scholarships (100%) and 10 Partial Scholarships (50%).
