Practitioner Training

‘The Missing Link’

Integrating somatic therapy approaches for clinical practice and preventing burnout

There are two ‘The Missing Link’ trainings:


A 20 hour APS approved Level 1 training
and
a 12 hour, Level 2 deep-dive workshop style training

Both levels are facilitated in Australia, as well as in Bali as a longer, retreat-style training.

Do you feel that there is something missing from your practice?

As Therapists and ‘space holders’, we have often had to ‘soldier on, especially through the pandemic and it’s aftermath, to provide a service for our clients when we ourselves were depleted and exhausted and sometimes towards the edge of (or beyond!) our own ‘Window of Tolerance’.

  • Do you sometimes find that your clients get ‘stuck’ at a certain point in therapy?

  • Do you find yourself working really hard to try get your clients to make changes?

  • Are you feeling exhausted and in need of some nourishment yourself?


This course could be what you’re looking for!

About This Training:

Within psychology, the body and even emotion, has tended to be sidelined with a focus on the thinking mind, in line with current cultural values. However, this can result in the shoring up of old, previously necessary, but ultimately limiting, avoidance mechanisms, so that authentic change does not occur, when used exclusively.

It can also lead to ‘stuckness’ in therapy and burn out in professionals who experience the limits of the traditional paradigm, when faced with clients who may have addressed a symptom, and come to ‘understand’ why they feel and behave the ways they do, but still can’t seem to change how they feel. 

Developments within the field of trauma therapy and research have begun to place, front and centre, the body, including our nervous system and our emotions, both as a container of trauma, and as a means to heal and re-connect with our ‘true selves’, our truth, our values and our uniqueness. 

Through the application of somatic approaches to psychological therapy, and learning to listen to the language of the body, deeper and more profound healing and growth can occur within our clients and ourselves.

Face to face trainings with small participant numbers offer a beautiful, safe, nurturing context to really embody these approaches.

Learning objectives:

Upon completion of this training, participants should be able to:

  • recognise the impact of trauma on their minds, psyche and bodies,

  • interpret current psychological approaches (e.g. ACT, IFS and Attachment Theory) through a somatic lens,

  • implement techniques from Sensory Motor, Somatic Experiencing, Internal IFS, iRest and others, to address their client’s body-mind, 

  • distinguish, through experiential methods, the difference between ‘being with, with compassion’ and ‘fixing’,

  • identify work-related beliefs and attitudes that protect against burn-out, and

  • utilise somatic exercises to develop a more compassionate relationship with their own bodies.

Following this course:

You will:

  • Be ready to weave somatic tools and principles into your usual clinical practice.

  • Have methods to access the unconscious processes that keep our clients stuck, and to facilitate quickly moving through barriers.

  • Know the science of somatic work; the functioning of our nervous systems, the impact of trauma, and how somatic approaches can address this directly.

  • Be able to use the traditional approaches of top-down processing (mind to body) as well as bottom-up processing (body to mind), so that your practice is holistic and complete.

  • Be freed up to support your clients in a way that gives them agency and self-responsibility.

  • Learn ways of working with dissociation and overwhelm in the therapy room.

  • Have tools to support yourself in your own life and to manage the impact of your work on your own body and mind.

  • Feel part of a growing community of like minded practitioners as this relatively new field expands in Australia, as it has in the USA and Europe.

Level 1 and Level 2

Level 1:

Level 1 is the foundational course.

In the 3 day (20 hours of training), in-person course, you will learn how to begin to integrate somatic awareness practices into your usual evidence-based clinical practice, tapping into what is held in the body; trauma, emotion, deep wisdom and the ability to heal and re-discover wholeness.

This course is open to Psychologists, Social Workers, Therapists, Counsellors and anyone working with people in a healing or caring capacity. 

If choosing to learn on retreat, the training is split over 5 days of learning, with free time in the afternoons and evenings.

Level 1 is APS CPD Approved for 20 hours.

Level 2:

In this workshop-style training, you will receive 12 hours of CDP, deepening your knowledge of somatic work, to support your clients and address and prevent burnout.

It affords the opportunity to dive deeper into somatic work, to have more time and space for personal and case discussions and to explore challenges, such as dissociation, the impact of powerful transference and counter transference dynamics, work with ‘introjects’ and practice ways of understanding and healing intergenerational trauma.

This has been requested by past participants on Level 1 who, having developed or enhanced their understanding of integrating somatic work into clinical practice, were inspired to ‘lean in’ to this work and embody the approaches more fully.

Level 2 is for participants who have completed Level 1 and can be completed immediately (where available) or at a later date.

Where is the training delivered?

‘The Missing Link’ Level 1 and Level 2 are delivered as a face to face training, both in Australia, and in Bali (as a retreat style course)

To view available dates and locations, please head to the Bookings page.

Testimonials From Previous Participants

  • Becca, Psychologist

    I could not recommend Kirstie's training enough. I came into the training tired and burnt out. As soon as I settled into the training I felt at ease and felt my body relax into the mindfulness experiences that Kirstie offered, I felt engaged, interested and encouraged in the learning and reflective parts of the training.

    Kirstie offers a safe space for reflection and learning she uses her knowledge experiences (and humour) to guide you through the training.

    This is the first training I did not feel drained half way through the day and I think this was due to the whole package this course offers of a nurturing facilitator, nourishing food and a renewed sense that I could use the resources and learnings back in my rooms for myself and my clients.

    Even if some of the components are frameworks that you use I would encourage you to attend and if this is completely new to you and your practice or out your comfort zone I encourage you to attend. If there is one course you get to do this year, this one is the one.

  • Victoria, Clinical Psychologist

    I attended Kirstie’s 2 day workshop The Missing Link in October and would highly recommend it to all therapists and psychologists, whether you work with trauma or not.

    It was great to come home after a 2 day professional development workshop feeling inspired and energised about clinical work.The Missing Link balances theory/research with experiential learning.

    Kirstie creates a safe and supportive learning environment to explore different therapeutic processes, ask questions and connect with like-minded peers.

    I have been applying many of the processes directly into my work with clients and found that clients have been very responsive to them.

    The course handbook provided is an invaluable resource, that you can come back to for support beyond the workshop.

  • Larisa, Psychologist

    I attended The Missing Link workshop facilitated by Kirstie, to deepen and further develop the way I use somatic approaches in my work. I found it be an inspiring training and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to gain an understanding of working with the body in the context of their clinical practice.

    The training was a great balance of theory and practice. It provided a good overview of theory of several psychosomatic approaches and plenty of guided experiential practices and opportunities to practice using psychosomatic exercises with other participants. The experiential component provided a space to tap into our own connection with ourselves and felt nurturing and invigorating. I felt that learning in this way made the knowledge deeply embedded within my own experience and understood in a more profound way.

    I also find that the course booklet was a wonderful resource that helped take the learnings with me and consolidate them in my own work with my clients.

    Kirstie created a safe and nurturing space for learning, exploration and reflection, with her relatable, authentic, and down-to-earth presence.

    I would thoroughly recommend this workshop to those curious about the use of psychosomatic approaches in therapy, and those interested in working in a deep and transformational way with their clients.

  • Pip, Psychologist

    This testimonial was sent to the APS:

    I recently attended this training (The Missing Link - workshop) held in Bali, and have returned completely revitalised, revigorated and excited to engage in clinical work again.

    I wanted to provide feedback directly to the APS who I know approved the training.

    The workshop was comprehensive, thoroughly researched and practically very very useful. I have expanded my repertoire of clinical skills and found it both therapeutically beneficial for me as a human (and ultimately as a psychologist) as well as challenging, informative and enhancing to my clinical practice.

    I wish this had been a whole course in my masters program, but alas. So thrilled to be learning it now - thank you for the opportunity!

  • Michelle, Clinical Social Worker & Family Therapist

    I have experimented with somatic therapy ideas over time, however this training really helped to bring it together for me, and in fact provide ‘the missing link’.

  • Nicole, Clinical Psychologist

    The best training ever!!!

  • Jen, Social Worker

    Kirstie created a safe, warm space for learning that invited participants to engage and learn. This course is a must for working with clients who are stuck and provides the link from brain to body in healing.

  • Sonja, Social Worker

    Attending ‘The Missing Link’ was just what I needed, both professionally and personally.

    It has added some new somatic tools to my toolbox that I can implement into my own clinical practice in a way that is current, evidence-based, and trauma-informed.

    I would recommend this training to anyone wanting to practice different ways of diving deeper into the somatic experience.

  • Eliza, Psychologist

    Wow Kirstie’s Missing Link training truly exceeded my expectations (which were pretty high) and I finished it feeling like I had just been to a wholistic wellness retreat, rather than a didactic training!

    All the material presented is engaging, evidence based, clinically useful and experiential. In working with the body through a somatic approach my learning went beyond the realm of cognitive experience to a deeper, more embodied and reflexive understanding of the mind body connection.

    There is a lot of content covered however it didn't feel onerous at any stage and I didn’t want it to end! The richness of the learning meant that I continued to process it beyond the course completion and continue to do so as I apply it in my clinical practice.

    The only thing that could have improved upon my experience was if I had attended Kirstie’s course when it was held in Bali as that would be a thorough somatic immersion!

Spots sell out quickly when released.

Book your place today

and begin supporting your clients to heal via ‘The Missing Link’.