TRAINING
Friday-Monday
July 17-19, 2026
9-4:00pm
During this module, participants will learn the foundational principles and practices of Somatic Depth Psychotherapy, a dynamic synthesis that places the body at the heart of accessing and transforming the unconscious.
Moving beyond purely verbal or cognitive modalities, this approach views the body not merely as a site of symptoms but as the primary vessel of psyche—a living, breathing archive of personal history, archetypal potential, and innate healing intelligence.
Under the somatic umbrella, we will integrate the symbolic and analytic lens of Depth Psychology with the expressive and relational methodologies of Dance/Movement Therapy. Participants will learn to access the unconscious by utilizing embodied practices derived from Authentic Movement and Gestalt DMT to facilitate direct somatic expression, bypassing ego defenses and allowing suppressed material—memories, emotions, shadow aspects—to surface through spontaneous movement and sensation.
Participants will also learn how to apply a Jungian framework to understand bodily manifestations as symbolic communications from the unconscious. This includes working with movement metaphors, dream images that emerge in action, and the embodiment of archetypes and shadow material.
Finally, participants will learn how to guide the process of somatic experience into conscious awareness and psychological integration. Through techniques of dialogue (as in Gestalt), witness consciousness (as in Authentic Movement), and symbolic amplification, participants will learn to help clients weave fragmented somatic narratives into coherent meaning, fostering profound healing and wholeness.
“This is a powerful workshop. I especially appreciate the relational skills and competency of the facilitation. Wendy is highly knowledgable and a great teacher, who made the experiential learning come alive.”
— Jackie B, LMFT, Gestalt Therapist
Somatic Skills
Somatic Attunement & Kinesthetic Witnessing
Somatic Amplification
Cultivating the Inner Witness in Motion
Embodying the Archetype/Shadow
Symbolic Sequencing & Narrative Reconstruction
Learning Objectives
1. Articulate the core theoretical synthesis of Somatic Depth Psychotherapy, explaining how principles from Depth Psychology (Jungian archetypes, shadow, symbolic process), Authentic Movement (the mover/witness relationship), and Gestalt DMT (present-centered awareness, dialogue) converge to form a coherent, body-centric model for accessing the unconscious.
2. Facilitate embodied pathways to the unconscious by guiding clients through structured somatic practices. This includes establishing a “movement imagination” container, using Authentic Movement principles to invite spontaneous expression, and employing Gestalt-derived techniques to dialogue with emergent movements and sensations as autonomous expressions of psyche.
3. Analyze and interpret somatic phenomena through a depth lens, identifying symbolic content, potential archetypal patterns, and shadow material as they manifest in posture, gesture, movement dynamics, and bodily sensation. Participants will practice translating non-verbal, somatic expressions into meaningful psychological insight without reducing the experience to mere intellectualization.
4. Design and sequence a therapeutic process that moves from somatic expression and amplification through symbolic analysis and dialogue, toward conscious integration. This includes skills for safely closing the embodied exploration and helping clients anchor insights into their lived experience for lasting transformation.
