Dates: September 2021 - March 2022
Times: 9 AM - 12:15 PM EDT
Platform: Zoom
Location: TBD
Fee: Fee is $450 for the 6 sessions. Early registration discount is $425 if paid in full by Sept. 20, 2021.
CEs: We have applied for 18 CEs for Social Workers, fee of $30
Bioenergetic Therapy is a highly effective therapeutic approach that combines work with the body and mind in the context of a therapeutic relationship to help people change at a deep level. Bioenergetic theory and techniques will be taught through lecture, demonstration and experiential exercises.
“New brain research on the impact of trauma validates the importance of somatic processes to resolve deep wounds. Bioenergetic has tools that can be effective with even the most difficult traumas.”
Sept 18, Sat 9:00 – 12:15 EDT
Introductory Session: Radical Adaptability: Coping with Change while Increasing Vitality
$10 fee, Register Here
Oct 23, Sat 9:00 – 12:15 EDT
Session 1: Grounding Theory & Exercises: Bioenergetic “Home Base”
Led by Leslie Ann Costello, PhD, CBT (Certified Bioenergetic Therapist), trainer, & author of Somatic Tools for Perinatal Therapists & Carol Melnick, MSW, CBTt & EMDR specialist
Historically Bioenergetics was the first psychotherapy school with a foundational emphasis on physical grounding as a prerequisite for healing and trauma recovery. Traditional bioenergetic grounding has evolved along with new understandings of attachment theory and developmental and shock trauma. Learn the physical and relational Grounding skills that keep you safe and anchored and living a vital embodied life.
Nov 13, Sat 9:00 – 12:15 EDT
Session 2: “Free the Chi(Qi)!”
Led by David Jordan, LCPC, CCSM, Zen teacher & CBT & Carol Melnick, MSW, CBT & EMDR specialist
Bioenergetics works to free up the breathing and musculature for increased aliveness and health. Tight muscles decrease awareness and feeling. Freeing up those tensions increases self-awareness and the movement of energy/emotion in the body, allowing the person to breathe free. This can be life changing.
Dec 11, Sat 9:00 – 12:15 EDT
Session 3: Working with Boundaries Physically: Setting Limits & Reaching Out
Led by Adela Gorodzinsky, M.Ed, CBT and practitioner of Emotional Freedom Technique & Carol Melnick, MSW, CBT & EMDR specialist
We are born to be ourselves and, at the same time, be socialized with other humans, animals and our environment. However, many times we would like to say “No” to someone’s request, order, or implication, but fear being rejected or disliked. We long to belong to ‘X’,’ Y’ or ‘Z’, but do not ask for what we want. This workshop will aim at defining boundaries, offering an opportunity to exercise them, and glimpsing what honoring our own ‘True Self ‘feels like in our bodies.
Jan 15, Sat 9:00 – 12:15 EDT
Session 4: The Motion of Emotions
Led by Ann Coleman, MSW, CBT & Carol Melnick, CBT & EMDR specialist
For many of us emotions are unpleasant and feared so we suppress them. Emotions can get stuck and manifest into states such as anxiety, frustration and depression. In Bioenergetics we see emotion as the energetic sign post directing us to a deeper knowing of ourselves. We understand that resistance to feeling emotion increases suffering. In this workshop we will explore how to move the energy and experience the benevolence of fluid emotions, increase our emotional repertoire, and ground our knowing of what emotions truly are.
Feb 12, Sat 9:00 – 12:15 EDT
Session 5: A Body/Mind Journey From Depression & Anxiety to Vitality
Led by Laurie Ure, LICSW, CBT, trainer, author of What’s the Use?: A Body/Mind Journey from the Despair of Depression to Living with Vitality & Carol Melnick, CBT & EMDR specialist
Bioenergetic therapy offers an integrated body/mind/spirit/emotional/relational approach to mental health issues including anxiety and depression. The workshop will describe bioenergetic techniques and methods, along with providing an overview of the bioenergetic perspective on underlying factors contributing to chronic depression and anxiety. In the workshop will explore vitality as an aim of therapy.
March 19, Sat 9:00 – 12:15 EDT
Session 6: Character Structure – Reading Developmental Trauma in the Body
Led by Susan Kanor, MA, CBT, IIBA International Trainer, Stephanie Shelley, LICSW, CBT & attachment specialist, & Carol Melnick, CBT& EMDR specialist
Our bodies and behavior reflect our early experiences in a similar manner that a cross section of a tree reflects its age and a lot more. There are over all ways of looking and being that we have from the best and the worst of what we experienced as children. In bioenergetics we call this Character. We will learn about this in an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion.
Bioenergetic Basics is for:
Participants will learn effective body based techniques for treating symptoms of:
