More than words
Clinically relevant somatic practices and embodiment approaches for talking therapists.
Open to NHS staff, private therapists and trainees.
Live Online (using Zoom and all interactive features)
Mon 10 Feb - Tues 11 Feb 2025
£220 to £245
Super Early Bird discount before end of September £220
(must be paid in full, only available to self-funders)
Self-Funded places on sale now
NHS Funded places on sale now
(No payment required when booking), book here
A 50% deposit or confirmation of NHS or other organization funding secures your place.
Bookings are non-refundable.
Sign up to our mailing list (form at the bottom of this page) to be kept up to date when booking opens for the next course.
BREATHING - MOVING - BEING
Combining her background in leading workshops and training programmes with her experience in yoga for mental health and trauma, Susi is a strong advocate for integrating body work into NHS and private mental health services and aims to help bridge the gap between talking therapy and body-based therapy.
who is the training for?
All talking therapists and support workers working within mental health including trauma recovery and addiction.
Trainee therapists are also welcome to apply.
Techniques can be adapted for adults, children and adolescents.
No experience of yoga is necessary for therapists or their client groups.
There is no minimum level of fitness required.
who is the training for?
"Thank you again for this past weekend. I can't remember the last time that I felt so excited after a training course. All of the previous courses that I had attended explained to me all I needed to know about trauma, the side effects what to look out for, when working with it what not to do, but I still felt that I was lacking in actual practical exercises you know. I really feel that your course has consolidated my knowledge and helped me to really understand how to work practically with my clients. "
Rhea, Services Coordinator, Trafford Rape Crisis
review via email with permission to share
"As a clinical psychologist, and with approx 25 years working in mental health, I found the two days really useful both in terms of providing me with new techniques and also equipping me with a clearer rationale as to when and how to use techniques I was already familiar with.
I found Susi knowledgeable, engaging and (hurray) funny- as a consequence the group gelled really well and created a supportive and nurturing at atmosphere. I would most definitely recommend."
Leigh Jones, Clinical Psychologist
review via Facebook
More than words : training for clinicians
Overview
A unique 2-day intensive course to bridge the gap between talking therapy and body-based therapy.
Put the scientific theory into practise and learn the science behind techniques you might have already picked up.
You will leave these two days inspired, refreshed and confident to integrate the body into your clinical work.
Day 1: body-based strategies for Mental Health
Day 2: body-based strategies for Trauma
Who can attend?
Psychologists, talking therapists, healthcare professionals and support workers working within mental health including trauma recovery and addiction.
Trainee therapists are also welcome to apply.
Techniques can be adapted for adults, children and adolescents.
No experience of body work is necessary for therapists or their client groups.
There is no minimum level of fitness required. Most techniques can be done in a chair if necessary.
Body-based tools in talking therapy
Quick and effective movement, breathing, meditation and relaxation techniques that can be utilised when working with individual patients / clients and groups in a clinical setting.
- develop interoception, the ability to be able to feel ones own inner experience of essential body signals including hunger, pain and emotion without becoming overwhelmed. Interoception has also been shown to be important in social cognition.
- learn different types of grounding strategies, giving patients/clients the tools to remain in the present moment even when discussing difficult material reducing the risk of flashbacks or re-traumatizing
- use self-regulation techniques to effect the nervous system and change patterns of hyper or hypo-arousal
- find the right kind of relaxation techniques that might be appropriate for different client groups and how to adapt these to individual circumstances
- explore the potential for releasing trauma from the body
- put the polyvagal theory into practise
- explore the science of posture, breathing and relaxation in relation to trauma and mental health
THE COURSE
DAY ONE
Subject to change, depending on needs of the group
Day 1; Body-based approach to Mental Health
Fundamentals:
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Physiology: Autonomic Nervous System
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Polyvagal theory
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Breathing and Mental Health
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Window of Tolerance physiology
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Neuroception
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Strategies to regulate physiology
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Shaking – our natural re-set
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Contraindications / collecting information
Key strategies for:
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Recognizing survival resources
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Centring / proprioception
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Grounding
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Interoception and direction, social cognition, empathy, self-care
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Distinguishing emotion / sensation / meaning and belief
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Self-regulation via discharging, calming and energizing
DAY TWO
Day 2; Body based approach to Trauma
Fundamentals:
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The body and Trauma
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Neurology of Trauma
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Physiology of Trauma
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Natural healing and the vagus nerve
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Adaptations after Trauma (neurological, physiological, psychological)
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'Bottom up' approach to recovery
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Scope of practice
Key strategies for:
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Becoming embodied
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Containment and self-soothing
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Restoring boundaries: skin, space, back of the body
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Unfreezing via the sympathetic nervous system
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Activating the Social Engagement System
about the trainer
Susi Wrenshaw C-IAYT is a strong advocate for integrating body work into NHS and private mental health services.
Susi Wrenshaw is a body-based Therapist previously working in the Non-Epileptic Attack Disorder service within Clinical Neuropsychology at Salford Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. She ran clinics at the hospital 3 days a week and had a private practice 2 days a week. She now works part time for independent NHS provider, and charity, the Clinic for Dissociative Studies and part time in privtate practice. She works with Compassionate Inquiry, Yoga Therapy, EMDR, EFT, Safe and Sound Protocol. She is currently an intern supporting Compassionate Inquiry, Gabor Maté's training programme. She is also soon to train as a SCID-D national assessor and is a certified assessor for Personality Disorders.
As well as being a contributor to industry magazines, Susi is often asked to speak at events. She previously presented Yoga Therapy for Trauma after mild TBI for The Breathing Brain Neuro Rehab clinicians retreat. She has also appeared on a documentary about depression, Mental Me and on BBC Sport talking about yoga therapy for anxiety and depression.
Susi has designed and run somatic (body-based) therapy groups for people with mental health challenges and those in recovery from trauma, including for survivors of rape and sexual assault as well as co-creating, co-running a group within the NEAD service at Salford Royal Hospital. She currently delivers small group Trauma Informed Yoga for a women's in-patient medium secure unit. She has delivered therapeutic yoga for Manchester Rape Crisis, Maggie's Centre (for cancer patients and their families), CAMHS (staff), Multiple Sclerosis Society for people with MS and their families, Alzheimer's UK, Trafford Carers for people with cerebral palsy, Mind and other mental health charities including sessions funded by Age UK.
She is certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists, accredited by the British Council for Yoga Therapy and registered with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC).
In her clinical work and training, Susi draws on courses she has attended with Bessel van der Kolk, Peter Levine, Dr Gabor Maté and Dr Timothy McCall.
Other specialist training has been with the Yoga Academy, under Ralf Marzen, Maja Skolimowska and Gary Carter, with EMDR Centre London with Barbara Leach and Joshua Smith and Life Beyond Limits with Master EFT trainer Tania Prince (accredited by EFT International). Other mental health/trauma/body work training is from the Minded Institute, PODS, Chrysalis Kids, Mind and Yoga Campus including Yoga as Medicine, Yoga for Eating Disorders, Emotional Trauma and Suicide Intervention.
Susi has been the subject of two research publications exploring the links between yoga and mental health based on her personal and professional experiences.
She has been published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in the book entitled Addiction and Performance (2014), in Exhale Mental Health magazine and Yoga Therapy Ireland magazine.
Susi was a facilitator and trainer in communication and consultation skills for over 10 years within medical schools, GP practices, the North West Deanery and private healthcare organisations.
sign up to our mailing list to find out when the next course opens for booking
where
Live Online
apply
You are welcome to book if you are a talking therapist or trainee, no need to contact me first.
If you are a support worker, social worker, alternative therapist, healthcare professional or similar, you are also welcome.
when
2-day course
Mon 10 Feb 2025
Tues 11 Feb 2025