Training in yoga based
trauma-Psychotherapy
The training consists of four parts including six modules and can be attended as an annual training or during two or three years. Subsequently immersion days take place each year, which can be attended as often as desired. The training begins with an introductory day that lays the theoretical foundations of the YoPT and serves to gain a first impression to decide if the training is for you.
PART ONE (Winter) teaches the most important yoga tools (breathing techniques, hand positions, body postures, the mirror neural way of working, the trifocal processing of problems. We build resources with yoga body work for working with depression, anxiety, and problem solving. PART ONE is taught in two modules and lays the foundation – integrating the body and energy work into psychotherapy. The content is about building resources, teaching self-awareness, self-awareness and self-compassion and affirming one’s basic needs and how they are perceived in the body.
PART TWO (Spring) is dedicated to healing deep childhood wounds and transforming defence patterns stored in the body and mind. We use YoPT to dissolve dysfunctional beliefs, transform ego-states, as well as for deep healing work for the “inner child” (limbic system). This module is dedicated to “cleaning up” and preparation for trauma-work.
PART THREE (Summer) incorporates the spirituality of yoga into psychotherapy. We expand the yoga tools to work with “hypno-yoga” and meditation, mindfulness and include “virtues” and heart qualities into our work. We open up to the unconscious “potential”, that lies dormant in every human being. We include intuition and creativity into our work and built up “spiritual” resources for the deep trauma work of PART FOUR.
PART FOUR (Autumn) uses all the earlier parts of YoPT to facilitate deep trauma work. We learn to help patients who suffer not only from dysfunctional ego-states but from actual unconscious dissociations due to early childhood experiences of violence and/or neglect, of trauma induced K-PTSD and DID.
Self-experience in YoPT is the opportunity to build up our own “sadhana” (self-practice) that we can integrate into everyday life as a personal resource for our profession. Here we experience YoPT as a path for our own personal growth. The week can be attended at the end or also between the training blocks and can also be booked several times.or Y
Introductory Day to Yoga-Psychotherapy
Introduction and preview of Yoga-Psychotherapy YoPT®
Yoga Psychotherapy (YoPT®) begins with an introductory day so that you can decide if the training is something for you. The workshop teaches the first “yoga tools” for your own practice and introduces the mirror-neural way of working.
In the morning we learn to build up a first yoga resource and to integrate it into our psychotherapeutic work. The afternoon is dedicated to practising in dyads and gives an overview of the whole training. (Those who would have to travel from abroad can also join via zoom for the theory in the morning).
I look forward to meeting you!
The parts of YoPT®
PART ONE - Bodywork of the YoPT®
«Growing up»
PART ONE lays the foundations of yoga psychotherapy and teaches a set of breathing techniques, body positions and hand postures from yoga. The focus is on integrating the “yogic tools” into one’s own psychotherapeutic work, mirror neural processing and building up the “sattvic body resource” to solve problems. PART ONE contains two Modules: body work and energetic work (working with “charge” / energy (ANS) including the yogic concept of the “Chakras”, which we combine with development stages and needs of a person..
PART ONE is dedicated to the “Growing up” of our patients: “Growing up” means to be able to regulate oneself emotionally and to take responsibility for oneself from a resource state. We build up self-confidence and self-esteem as s foundation to do the following deeper inner healing work of PART TWO.
PART TWO - Healing Work of the YoPT®
«Cleaning up»
In PART TWO we start the work with “inner parts” (Ego-states) to transform patterns of self sabotage, self criticism, self loss and eventually to connect with the “inner child” (the needs of the client as child). PART TWO is based on the resources of PART ONE to open the “BIG HEART”, a state of self-acceptance and self-compassion which includes all the earlier Ego-States. The “Big Heart” is also the preparation for the following trauma work of PART FOUR, but same time the starting point for PART THREE – the journey to “higher qualities” and meditative consciousness (Mindfulness, Meditation, yogic virtues, Self acceptance) of PART THREE.
PART TWO is dedicated to “Cleaning up“, the shadow work, the dissolving of disfunctional, old patterns that hinder development and create problems again and again. This requires a deep healing of the “inner child” with the Self acceptance of the “BIG HEART”.
PART THREE - Spirituality of the YoPT®
«Waking up»
PART THREE uses the spiritual qualities of yoga by incorporating meditative techniques into the bodywork , called “hypno-yoga” together with intuitive work and creativity to open one’s own potential. Goal is to built up a “spiritual” ressource for our clients for the following deep trauma healing in PART FOUR. We need a more compehensive resource than only the “Self” – we have to connect to a mind which is not problemoriented but in some way “transpersonal” and “problemtranszending”.
This happens by deepening the consciousness of “BIG HEART” by loving awareness, mindfulness, including the “heart qualities” of the Western and Eastern virtue traditions like courage, passion, love, compassion, kindness into our work. With deep Hypno-Yoga we create a field of trust and spiritual, very personal support for the following goals of therapy.
PART THREE is dedicated to “Waking up“, the next dimension after “Growing up” and “Cleaning up”.
PART FOUR - Trauma-YoPT®
«Integration»
PART FOUR is dedicated to deep trauma-work, both for childhood traumas and shock traumas. It builds on the previous three parts of YoPT® by combining the “sattvic body resource”, the energetic “chakra resource”, the “Big Heart” of self-compassion and the “spiritual resource” of the hypno-yoga approach. These build the the foundation for deep trauma work. Trauma can be developmental trauma, early childhood trauma, but also shock trauma and recent trauma in adulthood.
Healing childhood trauma means to deal with emotional and mental dissociations caused by neglect, abuse, violence and attachment disorders that lead to serious psychological sequelae. Careful confrontation is possible, if safety, stability, the therapeutical relation and the foundation in one’s own body is given. Then previously unbearable feelings can be mindfully allowed and carefully dissolved.
Shock trauma in adult life is treated with BMDR® – Body Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. This methode includes the whole body resource together with an hemispheric activation during confrontation of the shock trauma. First we create stabilization by using the tools of the “Window of tolerance”, emotional stabilization, mental stabilization and relational stabilization. During the confrontation of the shock trauma we simultaneously activate the Fight/Flight response by moving together, eyes movements, voice, inner images (using “hypno-yoga”) to overcome heavy states of arousal. The comprehensive body resource enables to process the shock trauma in a safe way, by integrating dissociated emotions of fear and horror and leaving them behind. After several rounds of confrontation we include inner helpful images (“spiritual resources”) and rewrite the trauma story to find resilience and wholeness of a higher order.
PART FOUR is the trauma work of YoPT®.
Advanced courses
YoPT Self-Experience Retreat
Experience YoPT® - the development of one's own "sadhana" (Self-practice)
Every year, the YoPT offers a retreat in group self-experience that can be attended repeatedly. Each time, a different focus of YoPT is in the centre: the yoga practice, meditation, mindfulness, own transformation, potential unfolding, working with the “Great Heart”, with one’s own creativity, opening of the “transpersonal consciousness” etc.
The retreat takes place in beautiful places in nature and combines rest, relaxation and self-experience in YoPT. We build up our own “sadhana” (practice) which accompanies us into everyday life. The path of yoga is without end – it is the maturing process of the human being, which becomes more and more differentiated, rich and comprehensive as we grow older.
In addition to self-practice, the retreat is also dedicated to socialising and networking with colleagues and can be attended instead of the self-experience classes required for certification.
Immersion Days in YoPT®
Updates, supervision, intervision and networking with colleagues - stay on the cutting edge of YoPT®!
The YoPT offers three immersion days each year, which provide the opportunity to deepen or update one’s knowledge, meet with colleagues to clarify questions, share knowledge and follow the further development of the YoPT method.
The immersion days have a thematic focus, each oriented towards one of the FOUR PARTS of YoPT. If certification is sought, 6 immersion days should be attended.
Twice a year, following the immersion day, the general meeting of the YoPT Association takes place. One immersion day per year is free of charge for YoPT association members.