"The Focusing Teacher Training was eye-opening to me. To learn strategies how to make the Felt Sense available for people who are newly introduced to Focusing helped me in my practice with clients and in my own Focusing experience. It deepened my understanding of the 6 steps and the philosophy behind them, and I am truly grateful for the knowledge I received." -Elizabeth, former student
Course Overview
Participants in this course will learn how to teach polyvagal-informed focusing, based on Jan Winhall’s Felt Sense Polyvagal Model. Specific tools and strategies will be shared so that you will feel confident in teaching focusing and the basics of the FSPM. You will receive detailed and interactive material on teaching the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model in any group or individual settings.
By reflecting on learning principles, group process, and program development, participants will be prepared to integrate FSPM into any setting. Topics to be examined include how to teach the basics of Polyvagal Theory, interoception, neuroception, co-regulation, the 6-fs, felt-sense, focusing attitude, establishing focusing partnerships, the experiencing scale, and more. In this course, participants will learn specific strategies and resources to build safety while working with blocks, and inner critics.
This course is for anyone interested in teaching polyvagal-informed focusing in a variety of settings.
What participants can expect:
▪ To learn how to teach Felt Sense Polyvagal Model, including Polyvagal Informed Focusing (PIF), to others in a group or individual setting
▪ To receive resources, tips and strategies that can be adapted and used within their unique communities / specific populations
▪ To share and learn from others as active participants in monthly sessions
▪ To gain a greater awareness of themselves, especially as teachers, through self-exploration and focusing partnerships
What participants will commit to:
▪ To attend all six monthly 2 hour on-line sessions inclusive of lecture and participation small group breakouts (arrangements can be made for a maximum of 1 make-up session. Sessions will be recorded.)
▪ To maintain a focusing partnership meeting bi-weekly (12h total) throughout the course. Participants will submit their process recordings for verification.
▪ To complete three assignments, including video recordings of themselves teaching, which directly contributes to completion of this certificate and the development of their plan to integrate FSPM.
Upon completion of all course requirements participants will receive:
(1) Focusing Trainer Certification from The International Focusing Institute
(2) A certificate of completion from Polyvagal Institute
Completion of this training will equip Facilitators to lead addiction groups based on the FSPM. Where possible leading a breakout group for three sessions in the FSPM Certificate Coursewill enhance your learning.
Certified FSPM Facilitator™
You are eligible to become a Felt Sense Polyvagal Model Facilitator once you have completed all the following requirements:
1) Felt Sense Polyvagal Model Certificate course, including 100% live class attendance, completion of all process recordings, and completion of course materials
2) Embodied Assessment Treatment Tool & Practice Lab course, including 100% attendance, completion of process recordings, and completion of course materials
3) Polyvagal-Informed Focusing Teacher Training, including 100% attendance, completion of process recordings, completion of course materials, and receipt of the Focusing Trainer Certification.
PREREQUISITES
▪ Completion of Felt Sense Polyvagal Model: A Certificate for Treating Trauma and Addiction, including the Focusing Proficiency Award.
▪ Required Reading:
o Treating Trauma and Addiction with the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model, by Jan Winhall, Routledge, 2021
o Focusing, by Eugene T. Genglin, Bantam Dell, 1978
o Revolutionizing Addiction Treatment with The Felt Sense Polyvagal Model, Co- Authored with Dr. Stephen Porges in International Body Psychotherapy Journal, July 2022.
Students will have access to the course for 300 days from the registration date.
Outline
COMMITMENT
▪ Class time: monthly on-line sessions 2 hrs x 6 months = 12 hours
▪ Bi-Weekly Focusing partnerships 2x/mos x 6 months = 12 hours
Estimated level of effort total = 24 hours
DATES & TIMES
The intention is to condense the course so as to fit within the parameters of the Practice lab. Monthly two-hour sessions will be arranged. It is hoped to have the Focusing Trainer Certification sessions on the same day and time as the Practice lab on Thursdays.
Every second Thursday of the month from 12:00pm noon to 2:00pm EST (US & Canada)
Draft course outline (subject to change)
Class 1 - April 11, 2024
▪ Defining and teaching Polyvagal Informed Focusing: Interoception and neuroception
Class 2 - May 9, 2024
▪ Presence: knowing yourself, your participants (learning theory) and creating the safe space
No class in June due to Polyvagal Institute's 2024 International Gathering in Potsdam, Germany.
Class 3 - July 11, 2024
▪ Teaching two essential components: Felt Sense and Focusing Attitude
▪ Role of 5 Lessons of Polyvagal Theory in Teaching (safety, interoception, neuroception, social engagement, co-regulations)
Class 4 - August 8, 2024
▪ Teaching How to Focus: the six steps
▪ Process suggestions and tracking the felt sense (Experiencing Scale)
Class 5 - September 12, 2024
▪ Teaching listening - listening to the body, the relational felt sense, group process and intervening to maintain safety
▪ Notice state, type of listening, stay and presence/embodied listening
Class 6 - October 10, 2024
▪ Taking Polyvagal-Informed Focusing into your setting
▪ Critic spectrum, strategies to manage the critic, working with blocks and resistance
▪ Focusing forward, reflections, and closing.
FORMAT
▪ Each session will be 2 hours on-line through the Zoom platform
▪ Each session begins with an attunement / centering / clearing space. Participants will have an opportunity to practice delivering the opening.
▪ Each session will include a theoretical teaching. The teaching component will highlight the skill, theory and application. Participants will gather and create a toolbox of resources and teaching strategies.
▪ Each session will include an experiential component where participants can practice the skills through demonstrations and group exercises. Practices can continue with your focusing partner.
▪ Each session will have a closing exercise to round off the sessions, summarize the learning, and identify the home practice. The session will conclude with a grounding exercise as we move to the rest of our day.
Format
Recommended Audience
CE's and/or Certificate of Completion Available
INSTRUCTOR(S)
Jan Winhall, MSW, RSW, FOT
Jan Winhall, M.S.W. F.O.T. is an author, teacher and seasoned trauma and addiction psychotherapist. She is an Educational Partner and Course Developer with the Polyvagal Institute where she created a comprehensive training program based on her book Treating Trauma and Addiction with the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model, Routledge 2021. Upon completion of three courses participants qualify to become Felt Sense Polyvagal Model Facilitators. She is an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Toronto and a Certifying Co-Ordinator with the International Focusing Institute. Jan is a Focusing Oriented Therapist and Co-Director of the Borden Street Clinic where she supervises graduate students. She is currently working on a workbook based on her book that is due out next year with Norton.
Jan Winhall, MSW, RSW, FOT
Nancy Falls, Ed.D., RP, Certified FSPM Facilitator
Nancy Falls, Ed.D., RP, Certified FSPM Facilitator
Nancy Falls, Ed.D., RP is a Certifying Coordinator with The International Focusing Institute. She is a Focusing Oriented psychotherapist in private practice with over 30 years of experience working with children, youth and adults who have experienced trauma and resulting coping strategies such as addictions. Nancy and Jan trained with Gendlin many years ago and have often taught together. She has published in the area of developing presence. She is a FSPM Facilitator.
Samantha Chase, M.S.W, Certified FSPM Facilitator
Certified FSPM Facilitator, Samantha Chase, trained with the inaugural cohort of this course and will co-instruct. Samantha Chase, M.S.W. is a certified Focusing Trainer with The International Focusing Institute (TIFI), a Felt Sense Polyvagal Model Facilitator, and a passionate mental health advocate and clinician. Following several years of work in community mental health services, she now operates a private practice working with trauma and addiction. She has presented internationally on the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model in the areas of trauma and addiction. Sam is currently training with Jan to become a Focusing Oriented Therapist. She assists Jan in many international trainings.
Samantha Chase, M.S.W, Certified FSPM Facilitator
