Training Program

Training Program Overview

• Fundamentals of Bioenergetic Therapy

  • Introduction to basic concepts of Bioenergetic Analysis, including energetic functions of the body, character, containment and expression, grounding and breathing
  • Overview of developmental process, trauma, deficits and conflicts from a body-oriented/Bioenergetic perspective
  • Summary of the historical basis of Bioenergetic Analysis, including the work of Freud, Reich and Lowen
  • Study of stress, emotion, blocks, pain, pleasure, depression and anxiety from a Bioenergetic point of view

• What to Expect

  • Body based techniques for understanding and treating trauma, including acute trauma, chronic relational trauma and developmental trauma, from a Bioenergetic perspective
  • Direct experience of an interactive, engaging modality of psychotherapy to help clients become more present in their bodies and more able to fully enjoy their lives
  • An opportunity to cultivate your own embodied vitality as part of an experiential personal growth training experience
  • Access to cutting edge body-oriented psychotherapy. For more information go to the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy website at: www.usabp.org
  • Local and International professional Bioenergetic communities which include regular conferences and trainings held in MA, the US and throughout the world. For a link to the International Institute of Bioenergetic Analysis, visit www.bioenergetic-therapy.com

• Topics Covered in the Training Program

  • An overview of bioenergetic theory and techniques including grounding, muscle tension, energy in the body, emotional expression and containment, charge and discharge.
  • Character structure and attachment wounds
  • Transference and countertransference
  • The bioenergetic approach to addressing all types of trauma (including shock, developmental, and chronic relational trauma)
  • Sexuality
  • Body based techniques for addressing anxiety and fear
  • Depression from a body perspective
  • Reading the body
  • Energetic principles including the significance of breathing patterns and energetic blocks
  • Fostering self-acceptance, self-expression and self-possession
  • Working with boundaries – for yourself and with your clients
  • Exploring anger and its expression in safe and appropriate ways
  • Timing in introducing body oriented techniques
  • The significance of the healing relationship
  • Marketing yourself as a Bioenergetic Therapist
  • Polyvagal Theory and its applications to bioenergetic work
  • Working with resistance
  • The ethical use of touch in bioenergetic psychotherapy
  • An overview of the energetics of shame and guilt, along with body based techniques to facilitate freedom from these constrictions

• Additional Topics Covered

  Other topics that may be included as time and trainer availability allows:

  • Treating addictions from a Bioenergetic perspective
  • Body based techniques for addressing other common complaints – such as sleep issues, eating and weight concerns, and physical issues such as headaches, dizziness, nausea
  • A body based approach to working with couples
  • Embodied dreamwork in the therapeutic setting
  • Inviting your client’s essence

• Testimonials

  “I joined the bioenergetic training group because I wanted a support group to process my own emotional and psychological stuff with. I imagined only doing one year as I already work as a Somatic Sex Educator and bodyworker and didn’t think I needed another certification. Now that I am more than half way through my second year of Bioenergetics training, I am realizing how much more I am receiving from the experience.

  The group has become like a family to me, in some ways, closer than my family. We have shared our body sensations and feelings, emotions and stories with each other in a profound way that transforms and releases the holding patterns that keep us stuck in habitual patterns. I leave every training weekend with a renewed sense of aliveness and gratitude, inspired to dive back into my work with clients.

  I wish everyone could have the experience of a supportive and wise group of people with which to uplevel our emotional and relational skills while also embodying the wisdom we learn. There really is no other place in my life that I can imagine having this kind of transformation. I would tell anyone interested in fully living their best version of themselves to consider this training as a unique path towards self awareness within a group.”

  – Ailsa, Trainee from Atlantic Canada

  “I attended the five year bioenergetic training program in Massachusetts several years ago. Thank God I did. Not only did it help me recover personally from a painful divorce, as a family practice physician, it has become one of my most important treatment tools.

  Over 80 percent of my patients experience emotional or physical issues connected to repressed, suppressed or depressed emotions. If someone has back pain, for example, I almost invariably discover an emotional connection attached to the area. In addition to standard medical and osteopathic treatments I can offer an emotional release technique for their back to release the pain.

  For myself, the bioenergetic training program helped me release emotions I held in my body from childhood. I still use bioenergetic techniques and exercises regularly. The bioenergetic stool helps open my breathing. Grounding helps me stay connected with myself. I twist a towel or use a tennis racquet when I feel angry. I am grateful for bioenergetics!”

  –Dr. Nicholas P, DO, Connecticut

  “I completed the 4-year Massachusetts/Atlantic Canada bioenergetics training program in June, 2022. I joined to restart a personal journey in bioenergetics that I had begun many years before, and I particularly wanted to do that work in a group environment. Group work had always been rather daunting for me, but had also proven to be very rewarding. Some in our group of trainees had similar goals to mine, while others were psychotherapists looking to expand their analytical skills and therapeutic techniques. The variety of backgrounds, stories, and experiences contributed greatly to the experience. 

  Ultimately, the training program became one of the richest experiences of my life. I grew as a person as I came to understand, and to accept, how my childhood shaped my development and the adult I’ve become. The program included an informative didactic component; however, its richness came from empirical, body-based learning with my peers. The sharing of feelings, stories, tears, and laughs built a sense of community that I had rarely experienced before. 

  In the latter part of the program, we had the opportunity to participate in therapist-client relationships with others in the program. Those experiences really touched me and further stimulated my interest in working as a therapist. To follow up on this, I’ve enrolled in a Master’s program in counselling and will be starting down that path in September 2022.”

  – Dan B., 2022 training program graduate, Atlantic Canada

  “When I trained as a bioenergetic therapist, my personal experiences took on new meaning.  In addition to focusing on my healing, I began to believe that I could help others to heal. There was a powerful alchemy in the training group. We were diverse: therapists, non-therapists, locals and people from far away, some with lots of bioenergetic experience and some with little.  The group created a space for working with interpersonal issues and family of origin material, and a powerful model for how conflict plus resolution deepens relating. Many years later, I am still in touch with many of the members of my training group.  When we connect, it is immediate and deep.

  Beyond providing lifetime connections, training gave me a comprehensive theory, rooted in body experience. This foundation for practice has served my work with a wide variety of client concerns, from shock and complex trauma, to workplace issues, to reproductive mental health. The somatic tools of bioenergetics provide immediate relief from symptoms while the longer-term work of reorganizing patterns goes on.”  

  -Leslie C, PhD, Certified Bioenergetic Therapist, ME

  – Sue S.

• Fees

  Fees include all didactic instruction, group work, and sessions within the training weekends. Fees also include accommodations in shared rooms for in person weekends. Meals (total of 12 meals from Wednesday dinner to Sunday lunch) and space in a double room are included at the Essex Center for the June weekend. For the Alnoba weekends, lunch on Thursday is included. Other meals are on your own and usually prepared communally by participants. 

  Fees for 2023 – 24 are as follows. We anticipate they will be similar for 2024 – 2025.
  Total for the year is: $5150 if paid in full by Oct. 1 (OR $4,650 due Oct 1 if $500 deposit is paid in Sept.)
  OR, pay in 2 installments. The first payment of $2,800 is due Oct 1 (or $2,300 if $500 deposit if paid in Sept.). The second payment of $2,600 is due Feb. 1, 2024.

  In addition, trainees pay membership dues to the International Institute of Bioenergetic Analysis of ~$75/year plus dues to their local bioenergetic society. 

  To reserve your space in the group, complete the training application form online below AND send a deposit of $500 by Sept 10, 2024 by check written to: MSBA and mailed to: MSBA, PO Box 79026, Belmont MA 02479, or by credit card send via Paypal to: [email protected]. (We prefer payment by check to avoid Paypal fees.)

  We are pleased to have funds available to encourage new people to be trained as bioenergetic therapists. Partial scholarships are available based on financial need. If you qualify for a scholarship (new to bioenergetic training and with financial need) please send an email stating your request and 1 – 2 sentences about your need to: [email protected].

  We prefer payment by check to reduce fees to Paypal. Please send a check written to MSBA and send to: MSBA, PO Box 79026, Belmont MA 02479.
  If you need to pay by credit card, you can pay via Paypal at this link.

  Canadian training participants please contact the ACSBA for info on paying fees in Canadian dollars to the Atlantic Canada society at: [email protected] or check out their website at https://atlanticbioenergetics.ca (The full payment in CAD is $6,940; with deposit of $670 due Sept 10, plus $6,270 due Oct. 1).

• About Alnoba

  Alnoba is about 1 hour north of Boston, near Exit 1 in New Hampshire on Rte 95. It is accessible by bus from Boston’s Logan Airport,  Alnoba, meaning “human transformation” in Abenaki, consists of ~600 acres and includes ponds, walking trails, and art. The guiding principle of Alnoba: “Daring Leaders to Change the World” aligns with the mission of the bioenergetic training where we focus on deepening the connection with one’s body and mind within supportive community, as the foundation to changing the world. Further, we share the focus of Alnoba: “We believe that it is through deep personal reflection and connection to our humanity and the natural world that we access passion and purpose—transforming how we lead, live, love, build communities, and honor our planet.” To learn more about Alnoba, go to: www.alnoba.org.