About the Instructor:Naomi Zelwer is a body-centered psychotherapist based in Jerusalem, with 15+years in clinical practice and specialized training in Focusing, Polyvagal Theory,trauma-informed care, and mindfulness-based approaches. She teaches bothin-person and via Zoom, working with individuals and groups.More at: www.naomizelwertherapy.com
Only 3990 nis for full course and
Flexible Payment Options!
10 Week training Program Starting in December 2025!
Transform your therapeutic practice with body-based interventions.
Who is this program for?
Therapists, counselors, and psychology students seeking to integrate
evidence-based, somatic awareness and techniques into their therapeutic practice
whether in-person or via Zoom.
This training series blends theoretical foundations with guided somatic practices,
offering experiential tools to enhance client self-regulation and therapeutic efficacy.
Learning Objectives:
● Understand and apply the body-mind connection in clinical settings
● Develop practical skills to co-regulate your clients
● Translate complex theories (e.g., Polyvagal Theory, Vaso-motoric Cycle) into
usable interventions
● Gain supervised practise in somatic practises to support your clients’
emotional processing
Integrating somatic tools in your work will help your clients to:
● Feel safer and calmer
● Return to a trusting and attuned relationship with their bodies
● Feel more vitality and resilience
● Stay present with discomfort, without shutting down or dissassociating
● Set boundaries that are firm, but flexible
● Reduce symptoms of anxiety and trauma
● Maximise their healing potential
Course Outline
Session 1: The Body-Mind Connection (Dec. 1)
- Understanding the interplay between mind and body
- How body-based (bottom-up) approaches compares to traditional talk
(top-down) therapy
- The therapist’s embodied presence
- Body-scanning and attuning to your client
Session 2: Core principles of somatic therapy (Dec. 8)
- Vaso-motoric cycle (Gerda Boyesen)
- Expansion and contraction
- Unexpressed emotions, body armoring
- Melting resistance
- Somatic Experiencing (Peter Levine) - pendulation, titration, discharge
Session 3: Mindfulness and Breath-Work (Dec.29)
- Present-moment awareness without judgement
- Cultivating body-awareness as a way to access intuition and innate wisdom
- Breathing exercises to: 1) enhance awareness and relaxation
2) calm anxiety
Session 4: The “felt sense” (Jan. 5)
- Exploration of Eugene Gendlin’s “felt sense” and “Focusing” method
- Tracking sensation
- Relieving overwhelm and physical pain
Session 5: The Body Speaks: Movement and Posture (Jan. 12)
- Understanding non-verbal communication through movement
- Body awareness and posture
- Reflecting on the client’s physiological state with sensitivity, to deepen
therapeutic connection and efficacy
Session 6: Touch and Grounding ( Jan. 19)
- Consent and pacing
- How to work with clients who are disconnected from their bodies
- Regulating the nervous system in-session
- Introduction to bio-dynamic massage techniques for relaxation
Session 7 and 8: Somatic approaches to healing trauma (Jan. 26 & Feb. 2)
- Window of Tolerance (Dan Siegel)
- Types of trauma
- Exploration of how trauma is stored in the body
- Why somatic approaches are essential to healing trauma
- Normalizing trauma responses
- Discussions of work by Bessel Van Der Kolk, Peter Levine and Gabor Maté
Session 9: Polyvagal theory (Stephen Porges), (Feb. 9)
- Understanding the 3 nervous system states (Deb Dana’s ladder metaphor)
- Neuroception
- Anchors and “glimmers” - micro-moments of regulation
Session 10: Co-regulation and Self-regulation (Feb. 16)
- Attachment theory (John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth)
- Your client’s internal and external resources
- Co-regulation in childhood and adulthood
- Somatic techniques of self-regulation
● Every session will include a guided meditation, movement, a theoretical
component and somatic tools.