Sunday, August 14, 2022, 11:00 AM to 2:15 PM
Grateful Heart Holistic Therapy Center presents
At the Center is the Heart: A Somatic and Spiritual Approach to Working with Embodiment of Love in Psychotherapy
with Craig Toonder, LMFT
Notes:
3 CEs available
Instructor: Craig Toonder, MFT
Instructor’s Phone Number: 510 499-7137
Instructor’s Email: ctoondermft@gmail.com
Date: August 14th, 2022
Time: 11am-2:15 pm
Location: Video
About Craig
Craig Toonder is a licensed MFT. He received his master’s degree at John F. Kennedy University and specializes in somatic psychology and couples therapy. Craig is trained in several body-mind psychotherapies including Formative Therapy, the Hakomi Method, Somatic Experiencing, the Tamura Method, Somatic Resilience & Regulation, and Psycho-Physical Therapy. He has studied a variety of couples therapy modalities including the Gottman Method, Collaborative Couples Therapy, PACT, AEDP, and EFT. His work is also influenced by Healing Shame, RCS, and his spiritual practices. Craig has a private practice in Oakland, CA.
Description
The heart is a primary organ of transformation of self, other, and the world. It is the organ of connection and relationship. Beyond anatomy, the heart is a quality of energy, a feeling, a symbol, and a way of being. This fact informs a therapist to perceive, soften, and open their own heart qualities as an essential part of the therapeutic work. Heart is a reality that impacts us on many levels and is always present in personal life and in deep therapeutic work, whether we consciously recognize this or not. With the current lens of psychotherapeutic thinking and theory so actively focused on neuroscience, the significance of the heart is often overshadowed or lost. This course will address the question, “How can an individual deepen into life and relationship through the potency of the heart?” and “How can a therapist utilize this central role of the heart in deepening the therapeutic process?”
This is a skill-building workshop for licensed psychotherapists, associates, and trainees wishing to develop their ability to work somatically with clients. In this course, we will explore physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual manifestations of the Heart. We will make use of embodiment practices and exercises to concretize how to foster qualities such as compassion, kindness, gratitude, acceptance, inspiration, and intuition. The practices taught are applicable to therapeutic presence and interventions with individuals and couples including emotion regulation and stress management.
Educational Goals
In this workshop, participants will learn:
- Scientific research on the various ways the heart acts as a communication system.
- Skills for tracking and working with psycho-physical patterns of the heart.
- Meditations and mindfulness skills for working somatically with the heart.
- Heart-based interventions for ANS regulation and mood management.
- Heart-based interventions for therapist presence and attunement.
- Application to individual, couples, and cultural issues.
Method of Instruction
This workshop will utilize lectures, group discussions, meditations, group and personal embodiment exercises and worksheets.
Learning Objectives
After this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Articulate the significance of working with the heart to clients.
- Utilize body reading skills to track physical and psychological patterns in the thorax.
- Describe and demonstrate how somatic resonance can be used as a subtle tracking skill
- Describe the five qualities and three somatic skills that contribute to a compassionate and attuned therapeutic presence
- Describe and practice two heart focused skills for stress management
- Describe and practice three heart focused skills for affect management
References
Barbara Ferdrickson, various article ; Bill Bowen, “Psycho-Physical Therapy” Candace Pert, “Molecules of Emotion”; Judith Blackstone, “Living Intimately” & “the Subtle Self” ; Reggie Ray, “Awakening the Heart” Paul Pearson, “The Heart’s Code”; Paul Ekman, trainings ; “Sara Paddison, The Hidden Power of the Heart”
Course Outline
Introductions: Love & the Heart: (10 min)
Hx: 1) Jon E.
2) Fred Finch
3) Bill Bowen & Judith Blackstone
4) AED (delight & share impact)
5) Reggie R.
Meditation: Blackstone & Ray: (30min)
- Body Scan to Dual Presence (20 min)
- Debrief (10 min)
IND (embodied and boundaries vs. merger/disconnection)
COUP (presence/embodiment/emotional resonance)
Lecture/Discussion: Why the Heart?: (40 min)
- Three brains
- Heart Transplant Stories
- Heart vs. Brain
- Coherence, HRV, ANS
- Cortical inhibition (trauma) vs. Barbara Fredrickson “Broaden & Build”
- Bill Bowen Continuum.
Break [1:30, 15 minutes]
Lecture: Clinical Application: (30 min)
- Heart Lock & Meditation
- Freeze Frame & Class Ex: Logs
- Couples: exploring embodied emotional resonance
- Listening: As a therapist or a partner in a relationship.
Allowing the connection vs. doing connection. (5 Be’s): (10 min)
- Be patient: be still and open, but focused – “intention” vs. outcome.
- Be gentle: don’t force anything. Force creates rigidity. Rigidity restricts flow. Gather info until inspiration arises.
- Be pleasant: soften your heart and “be” kindness and compassion.
- Be connected: allow yourself to become part of a system, guide and participate vs. control.
- Be Humble: “self” is an ego illusion of separateness.
The layers of listening to cross reference resonance: (15 min)
- Physical – Visual, Taking on the client’s form, Mirror Neurons
- Emotional – Shared and Implied, Facial Expressions (Paul Ekman), What’s missing?
- Psychological theory & “Owner’s Manuels”
Levels of Psychological Engagement (15min)
- Words/Content
- Meaning – importance, longings, bids, values
- Attachment style, character strategies, parts, etc.
- Culture & Identity
- Essence
Closing Discussion: (35 min)
You can sign up for this workshop here.