Trainings
Since 2002, I have been training therapists in agencies and organizations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The following are some trainings I have recently offered:
• Experiential Family Therapy--Developing Skills in Critical Moment Attunement and Critical Moment Regulation
• The Adolescent Shadow: Helping Teens on their Journey through the Dark Side
• Understanding Adolescent Development
I am also a Certified Hakomi Teacher with the Hakomi Institute of California. Through the institute I will be leading the following trainings:
• Introduction to the Hakomi Method of Experiential Psychotherapy
November 7th, 2009, San Francisco, CA 9:30am-5:00pm
February 13th, 2010, Berkeley, CA 9:30am-5:00pm
September 25th, 2010, Berkeley, CA 9:30am-5:00pm
The Hakomi Method of Experiential Psychotherapy is
an elegant, comprehensive and highly effective approach
to human change. Hakomi combines mindfulness,
the body, and present experience to access and transform
deeply held, life-limiting core beliefs. For over
30 years Hakomi has pioneered the integrated
use of mindfulness in the therapeutic process.
It is backed by thousands of hours of clinical application
and research into the neurological underpinnings
of mindfulness.
Hakomi can be successfully applied throughout a wide
range of therapeutic applications (such as individual,
couples and family therapy, group work) as well
as in educational settings to facilitate self-exploration
and personal growth. Clinicians
will leave with immediately applicable tools.
• Nature and the Embodied Self: The Hakomi Method and Ecopsychology
This day-long training will take place in a beautiful outdoor setting in Nevada City, CA. We will open to the experience of Nature with mindfulness, movement, and shared intention. We will explore ways of engaging Nature in service of resourcing more deeply in the body, evoking core material, working with missing experiences, and connecting more fully to the Embodied Self. Date: October 2nd, 2010.
• Embodied Dreamwork
In this workshop we will relate to the dream world from the unique perspective of somatic psychotherapy. We will learn to relate to the sacred, full-dimensional impact of dreams, using the “Somatic Resonance” of dream images to take us into their deeper meaning. Some key principles we will work with include the following: (1) All aspects of a Dream are aspects of ourselves. (2) The Dream shows up most fully when related to in a Sacred way, and when witnessed by others in a Sacred way. (3) Dreams take us into our organizing patterns, and can help us step outside our organizing patterns. (4) Dreams can take us into places we are frozen, either from accumulated impactful experiences, or from more sudden traumas. Dreams can also show us movement(s), of body and energy, that can take us through the freeze state, and thus out of the trauma vortex. (5) Dreams can open us to previously unknown resources. Date TBA.
What Previous Participants Have Said:
About Nature and the Embodied Self:
"This is dynamic and pioneering work. Beyond deepening my body/nature
connection, I learn a tremendous amount from witnessing Shai work...I
often find myself in awe. As a
somatically based practitioner and wilderness guide Shai inspires me
and helps me see new possibilities for my work both indoors and out."
-- Casey McCarroll, March 2010
"Thank
you for a beautiful time in nature, in an atmosphere of
reflection and healing." -- Tiarre Welsh, March, 2010
"I
really enjoyed the
emphasis, from the beginning, placed on each member's contribution to
the group being important - that something might emerge not only for
oneself but for another in the group - group mind kind of mentality,
functioning as one organism.
I also enjoyed the awareness of the
natural world and our inherent interconnection with it - making space
in the group to include the larger, natural world - giving and
receiving from the environment - nested systems..."
"I enjoyed how present everyone was and
your enthusiasm in hearing about our experiences - really
caring - and then creating explorations from what we shared to deepen
and expand upon our experiences. I appreciated the valuing and use of
intuition in the process, as well as the nonjudgmental and embracing
environment that was created - and the creative play!" -- Arin Mirelle, March 2010
About Shai's Trainings on Working with Adolescents:
"Shai's presentation is excellent. He brings a profoundly important perspective to the intensity and energy of adolescence--expressed and primarily feared or misunderstood in our culture. He enlightens us as to how to value, affirm, and channel teens' shadow energies while creating spaces internally and relationally for connection." --Beth Hossfeld, MFT
"A very powerful experience...It was a chance to directly experience the intensity of the inner life of adolescents... Powerfully valuable for sitting with presence for the intensity of 'shadow' for clients of any age. One of the two best trainings I've ever done... spell-binding, brilliant, wonderful."
-- anonymous
"I couldn't stop thinking and talking about this workshop. If you want to understand what is going on in the psyche of today's adolescents and what they are trying to tell us, this workshop is a must." --Patricia Ravitz, MFT
"A must-do seminar for not only professionals working with adolescents in this day and age, but indeed for anyone who is a parent of a teenager in today's world. Powerful, stimulating, and important to expose oneself... in order to be fully present for the teens in your life and/or practice."
--Deborah Brennner-Liss, Ph.D.
"Thank you for the training... I gained more
out of those 2 days than I have in some entire semester long classes!
I have used what you shared in my school and clinical work, as well as
in my personal life.
For a case presentation in my practicum class recently I
facilitated an Attunement exercise for my colleagues in which everyone
was highly impressed with what a deeper understanding they gained of my
client as a result. I also use strategies of Internal Resourcing and Regulating regularly with clients that I see at Tam. I would love to
receive more training from you in the future." --Natalie Harvey
About Shai's Trainings on Experiential Family Therapy:
"Fantastic, very informative. Did a great job of covering complex material with practical, simple tools." --participant at April 2010 lecture sponsored by California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, Marin Chapter
"Excellent presentation!" --participant at April 2010 lecture sponsored by California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, Marin Chapter
"Amazing, extremely relevant and useful." --participant at April 2010 lecture sponsored by California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, Marin Chapter
"Great-- new, interesting, informative, thought-provoking." --participant at April 2010 lecture sponsored by California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, Marin Chapter
"I
liked the explicit in-the-room experiencing of the material. Very
relevant for our clinical population. Practical, results-oriented.
Not only improves family functioning but also therapist functioning.
Oriented to affect/process rather than content." --Joan Roane, MFT
"I very much appreciated this approach working with
attachment issues in relationships, especially the focus on regulating
emotions and attunement and how the limbic system influences our
interactions." --Beverly Leftwich
"I'm
inspired to learn more about this process in working with families. I
greatly appreciated how Shai explained the neurobiological component of group process." --Lisa Lukianoff
"The training was made to feel relevant. The in-the-moment examples were brought alive in the training. I heard and felt what was discussed. The pacing was just right. I feel I am walking away with something relevant to my cases." --participant
"You had clear examples and allowed us to experience some of what you were explaining in the room. Your calm and control is inspiring!" --Catharina Forsythe
"I liked most the clear explanation of how
mindfulness can promote neurophysiological change. The examples from
cases--including specific language--was especially useful in this
regard." --Bradley Rowe
