Join us in expanding our knowledge of healing modalities!
- Meet on the 3rd Friday of the month, September- June
- 9AM – 10:30AM: 90 minutes of learning, discussion, and networking across disciplines!
- FREE to Holistic Professionals Group members
- Open to nonmembers for a $25 drop-in fee
- Some disciplines are eligible to receive CEUs (certificate fee is separate if requested)
- Click on the upcoming workshop date below to sign up!
Each workshop will include:
- Didactic or experiential learning opportunities
- Interactive Q & A as well as comments on the topic
- Opportunities to share perspectives and network with peers
Selection of workshop topics and presenters occurs on a continual basis throughout the year. We are looking for presenters who will help us as a membership to expand our knowledge base in service of our clients. If you or someone you know is a skilled presenter and wants to influence healing across disciplines in the DC metro area, consider applying to get onto the Holistic Workshop Series calendar by filling out the presenter application form.
Upcoming Holistic Workshops
October 18, 2019
Healing Trauma You Cannot See: Rewiring the Brain’s Hidden Control Panel
Presenter: Dr. Julie Lopez
Our brain and bodies hold powerful resources for healing in our implicit memory (past experiences we can’t recall but which remain stored in our subconscious).
Come hear Viva’s founder and author of Live Empowered!, Dr. Julie Lopez, as she shares personal and professional stories highlighting the power of working with implicit memory.
A former university professor and licensed clinical social worker, Dr. Julie Lopez is the founder of Viva Partnership, a mental health collaborative specializing in non-verbal treatment approaches. Dr. Lopez specializes in working with trauma and compulsive/addictive behaviors. She has dedicated her life to empowering clients and clinicians alike to attain their full potential.
Register here.
November 15, 2019
Creating Meaningful Rituals
Presenter: Candida DeLuise, LICSW and Vincenza Kamwendo
This experiential workshop will explore the power of creating rituals in our professional and personal lives. Rituals marking significant events provide us with meaning and serve as touchstones for healing, deeper awareness, and celebration. Drawing on traditional practices and artistic processes, we will collaborate in designing rituals for use in clinical settings and/or in our families and personal relationships.
Join mother-daughter team Candida DeLuise and Vincenza Kamwendo, who have been creating rituals together for 30 years. They bring a shared sense of spirituality, love of family, and community and intentional creation of holiday and life traditions that offer an alternative to the consumerist appropriation of both religious and secular holidays.
About the Presenters:
Candida DeLuise is a licensed psychotherapist who has been in private practice for many years. She integrates mind-body awareness and psycho-spiritual approaches into the therapy process. Her training includes psychosynthesis, Buddhist psychology, trauma informed work, and mindfulness-based psychotherapy. Candida teaches meditation and is also a Reiki master and wedding officiant.
Vincenza Kamwendo has worked as both an entrepreneur and a non-profit leader in the US and South Africa. Her background is in arts education and non-violent conflict resolution. She worked in South Africa for several years, using the arts to bring together diverse youth and artists to learn cross-cultural communication skills. In her work as an entrepreneur, Vincenza collaborated with other “mom-preneurs” to explore the role of women running businesses while parenting and creating support networks for mothers and caregivers who also manage professional pursuits.
Register here.
December 2019
Working with Unacknowledged Grief
Presenter: Regina Tosca, LICSW
Past Holistic Workshops
Sept. 20, 2019
Making Peace with Food and Body
Most of us have struggled with food and their weight at some point in their lives. We often feel guilt or shame after eating; we resent our body shape and size when we look in the mirror. We’re caught up in a tiring cycle of dieting or eating “clean”, followed by periods of losing control around food.
Some tolerate having a complicated relationship with food and their weight. Others take action because they are tired of how food and body dissatisfaction consume their lives, affecting their relationships, career, physical and emotional health.
Join Lina Salazar, Founder of Live Well, for a session where she explains her eclectic approach to coaching through the process of making peace with food and their bodies, and finding freedom and joy in eating.
About the Presenter
As the founder of Live Well and the Food Sanity program Lina coaches women and companies to harness internal tools to experience a mindset shift in how they think about their bodies and well-being. Drawing on personal life events associated with bulimia and binge eating, Lina empowers individuals to live a life led by self-awareness and freedom of choice. Previous to becoming a certified Health Coach from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York, Lina worked in international development. Lina has a JD and holds two MPAs (Master of Public Administration), from Sciences Po in Paris and Columbia University in New York.
Register here.
As psychotherapists and healers, we’re trained to focus on the power and the pain of the mind. The problem is, when we try to think our way through everything, we can’t access the wisdom of the body, which is crucial to healing.
In this session you’ll have a chance to experience Qoya, a movement-based wellness modality. We’ll also talk about the importance of integrating movement into the healing we do for people from all walks of life, inclusive to all body types and all physical abilities. You will leave with playful and deeply healing tools to easily incorporate into your work with clients and in your own personal healing journey.
About the Presenter
Erin Nes, a DC area Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist, believes that every person has the inherent capacity to heal, grow, and thrive — and she’s spent her career developing the skills to meet people where they are. Trained in experiential modalities including Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples, Jungian Sandplay, expressive trauma modalities, play therapy, mindfulness based meditation, and currently Gestalt Relational Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy, Erin offers a holistic, right-brained, relational approach to transformation.
Because Erin is fiercely dedicated to the mind-body-soul connection as a means to heal trauma and engender lasting personal growth, she has expanded beyond her clinical training to become a certified Qoya teacher. This form of communal dance is designed to help people connect with their bodies while they discover healing and integration through movement.
To learn more about Erin, her therapy practice, and monthly Qoya classes in the DC area visit www.erinnestherapy.com. For more information about Qoya, go to www.qoya.love.
This workshop combines two powerful healing modalities–hypnosis and the didgeridoo.
Hypnosis is not only effective for stopping smoking and losing weight; it is also a powerful tool for allowing the mind to push past artificial limitations into higher levels of spiritual awareness and compassion.
Individuals with any and all levels of meditative experience are welcome to join. For those who don’t meditate often, this hypnosis can make it easier for you to achieve a deeper meditative state.
Throughout this session, you will be guided both verbally and through the didgeridoo. The deep, mellow vibrations of the didgeradoo resonate at a very deep level with the mind and body. The didgeridoo is an instrument with origins in the deep spirituality of the Australian aborigines and their connection to the land and the universe.
Combining spiritual hypnosis and the didgeridoo creates a nexus of verbal and nonverbal cues to allow the mind to let go of what it doesn’t need; it allows the chackras to open up and energy to align. Throughout the process, you will feel a very pleasant sense of deep relaxation as your mind and body open up and let go—like you are diving into a pool of happiness, letting go of your cares.
Register here.
Modern day stress has become an unintentional form of birth control and a powerful endocrine disruptor. Many women travel at a velocity that is out of rhythm with who they are—endless multitasking, long work hours, forgotten meals, and too little time for themselves.
These stressors can set the stage for PMS, PCOS, infertility, and hormone imbalances. During this workshop, Meg Richichi will deconstruct these concerns and how they affect us.
Meg Richichi is an Integrative Women’s Health Practitioner and Board Certified Acupuncturist. Having practiced in New York for two decades, she currently sees clients in Charleston, SC, and Washington, DC, while working with women around the country remotely. Meg’s unique “East meets West” approach has helped thousands of women overcome stress-related hormonal imbalances including infertility, weight issues, autoimmune disorders, digestive struggles and an array of pain syndromes.
Meg’s extensive studies and experience include training with preeminent experts in the fields of western functional medicine, acupuncture, and nutrition, including healing practices in the Brazilian rain forest and Vietnam – in one of Ho Chi Minh City’s leading hospitals.
A lecturer and radio host, Meg has spoken to a wide range of groups including “Food For Thought” – a women’s health & wellness series on VoiceAmerica Radio, NYU Nursing Program, New York Hospital for Special Surgery, NYU Medical Maternal Fetal Medicine Associates, Resolve, and Equinox. Her expertise in women’s healthcare has been the subject of several interviews in publications including Vogue, The Huffington Post, The Telegraph, Real Simple, NPR and Refinery29.
Meg is committed to assisting women of all ages in creating wellness through her work as a health practitioner, lecturer and workshop facilitator. She feels deeply honored to walk this path with all the sweet lovelies in today’s world.
Register here.
In this workshop, we will explore how our body communicates with us, and how we relate to others, using Core Energetics. Core Energetics is a powerful evolutionary form of personal growth developed in the early 1970s by Dr. John Pierrakos. It brings together body-oriented psychotherapy with spiritual development.
Core Energetics is rooted in the belief that energy gets held and trapped within places in our physical bodies as a result of negative experiences and beliefs formed in childhood. We use expressive and physical exercises to uncover stuck emotions and patterns so they can finally be felt, explored, and released in a safe environment. As a result, we begin feel more alive. Our life energy is freed up to flow once more. We begin to enjoy more freedom, joy, and fulfillment in all areas of our lives.
Zeshan Mustafa is a wellness practitioner. In 2009, Zeshan found the power of bodywork in helping relieve stress and has been a believer ever since. Zeshan is a yoga teacher (RYT 200) and a Reiki Practitioner. Her work in yoga and Reiki led her to further explore the power of the body in releasing stuck emotions and deeply ingrained patterns. She now works with clients to shed false beliefs and identities so that they can feel the freedom to be their true selves and lead more joyful and fulfilling lives.
Check out her website: CoreZenetics.com.
Jan. 18, 2019
Gina holds masters’ degrees in Spiritual Psychology and Fine Arts. Her coaching style is influenced by additional training in Circling, Strategic Intervention, NLP, Core Energetics, masculine & feminine dynamics and non-violent communication.
Dec. 14
Holding Space & Creating Energetic Boundaries Through Pilates
Presenter: Fran Darnell of Dynamic Core Wellness
Come enjoy an integrated Pilates and energy practice to awaken your innate strength, and invite you to create space for your self in your heart, mind, and body. As you physically align and engage with your body, you will discover a deeper understanding of your own needs and how you relate to yourself, others, and the environment.
This practice is for everybody. You will learn simple resources to support yourself and your clients, helping to release tension, feel grounded, and create a stronger physical, energetic, and emotional connection. Please come dressed to move; all props will be provided.
About the Presenter
Frances Darnell, founder of Dynamic Core, is a Pilates Teacher that integrates mindfulness, energy work, Reiki, and coaching into her work. She is devoted to helping women experience more strength, resilience, and confidence in the power and beauty of their whole selves, including their minds, bodies, and spirits.
Exploring Sexual Health with Your Clients
Presenter: Alina McClerklin, LICSW
Over 35 percent of people will experience a long-term sexual issue at some point in their lives. Most of them never talk about it. Learn about the principles of sexual health and how you can use it as a tool to start an important discussion with your clients and create a space for them to develop their sexuality across their lifetime.
About the Presenter
Alina is a psychotherapist that uses an Emotionally Focused Therapy approach to help couples improve their relationship romantically, sexually and emotionally. She works with individuals looking for ways to improve their relationships skills, including both couples who are dating and couples who plan to be lifelong partners. Alina helps couples enhance their attachment and communication skills to navigate challenging life issues like trauma, early-childhood wounds, sexual issues, infidelity, depression, addiction, in-law issues and raising children. She practices at the Viva Center in Dupont Circle in DC.
Register here.
Discover how common oils can provide natural solutions to aid you with sleeping, boosting your immune system, breathing clearly, digesting healthily, gaining a clear complexion, looking years younger, soothing your muscles and joints, managing your mood, and more! Plus, you’ll get to try the top 10 essential oils.
In 2003, Beth lost her mom to cancer. A few years later, she lost her job as the Deputy Director of the North American office of the global movement to end child labor. As a result of both of these life-changing events, Beth felt strongly compelled to do something meaningful with her life—something that made a difference in the world. She decided to combine her knowledge about the power of plants and her desire to help activists, aid-workers and goodwill ambassadors live longer so they can touch more lives, and wrote her book Live Longer, Serve More – The Altruist’s Guide To Personal Well-Being.
Now Beth is a natural solutions geek. She loves guiding wellness providers to create a secondary, complementary source of income, while amplifying their client’s results with pure essential oils.
Tanya Mena, LMT, will lead this workshop on strengthening our personal and professional relationships by becoming aware of our own racial biases. Achieving greater understanding in this area allows wellness practitioners to show up more intentionally in both their work and daily lives.
Mena’s previous workshops include “Jumping the Broom Ceremonies: Rebuilding Our Racial Community” and “Changemakers: Joining the Conversation on Race.” In addition to her work as a Family and Systems Constellations Facilitator, she is an End of Life Companion, Reiki Master, and Licensed Massage Therapist.
Friday June 15
Presenter: Richard Griffin, PhD
Helping Your Clients Heal with Horses
Horses have exquisite abilities to communicate non-verbally, and they live completely in the present moment. A human who wants to “play” with a horse using Natural Horsemanship techniques must learn how to communicate with the horse using only emotions, visualization, intention, and body language and they must do it while quieting their nagging inner voice—otherwise the horse will ignore them. For many, the moment they first succeed at this becomes a spiritual event full of wonder and grace. They can then learn how to use this same state of congruence—when intention, emotions, mind, and heart are all in alignment—to navigate life’s daily challenges with greater ease and fulfillment. You will learn how Equus Coaching teaches these skills to clients, and how this method can be used in conjunction with therapeutic approaches to help clients overcome blocks, obtain new perspectives, improve relationship skills, and learn mind-body integration techniques that improve mindfulness and presence.
About the Presenter:
Richard Griffin has a Ph.D. in Physics and spent over thirty years in the technology and defense industries as a scientist, engineer, entrepreneur, and manager. He gave up that mad, carefree life to follow his soul’s calling. He is a certified Martha Beck Life Coach, an Equus Coach® Master Facilitator, and has years of study with Francesca Mason Boring, Suzi Tucker, and other teachers as a Family Systems Constellation facilitator. He is a certified RLI Relational Coach trained by therapist and best-selling author Terrence Real.
Quick and Effective Sound Healing For Caregivers
Friday May 18
Presenter: Ann Hughes, Professional Sound Therapist
Do you ever feel “drained” from the healing work you do during the day with clients? Find out how to use SOUND as your personal, side-effect-free UPPER or DOWNER. A quick shot of sound is an easy way to rebalance yourself between sessions.In our time together, you will learn some of the principles of sound healing. Then we will try out some simple and effective sound techniques for self-care on each other – and, finally, on ourselves. I look forward watching you open up a new door for yourself on May 18th.
About the Presenter
Ann Hughes’ passion is helping women connect joyfully to their own creativity and inner wisdom. Her background includes training in human potential work, astrology, co-active coaching, shamanism, family constellations, SoulCollage®, and healing sound. Since 2012, she has offered, privately and in groups, healing sound that uses her voice, crystal bowls, drums, rattles, bells, and other sound tools. In 2017, she trained her first group of sound healers.
Ann first experienced the power of healing sound when she received it from Ed Rothwell (www.EdRothwell.com) over a three-year period. She also learned shamanic drumming in his group from 2001-2011. Ann then trained with several other sound healers, including Jonathan Goldman (www.healingsounds.com), Patricia Norton (www.soundimmersion.net) and Vickie Dodd (www.sacredsoundschool.com). Ann’s website is www.HollowBoneSound.com
Register here!
Reiki and Life-Energy Breathing Techniques for Self-Care
Friday April 20
Presenter: Marybeth Spain, LMT, Reiki Master
The word Reiki refers to Universal Life Energy infusing the chi (ki in Japanese) that naturally flows through our energy system. The main center for generation and storage of this energy is the “tanden” space in the lower abdomen, familiar to many through Qi Gong and Ta’i Chi practice. In this workshop we will explore the relationship between chi and the breath and learn practical breath meditations for restoring vital energy, calming and soothing the heart, healing a weak or infirm area of the body, and energizing our hands for self-healing. Marybeth will also touch on 2 basic aspects of Reiki energy healing—the precepts and the breath and answer any questions about Reiki.
About the Presenter
Marybeth has been practicing Reiki since 1987 and teaching since 1994. She also offers private meditation instruction and guided meditation groups. In addition, she practices Energy Restructure, a process for releasing tension or holding patterns in 9 layers of the emotional body. She practices at Anam Cara Wellness Center in Vienna, VA.
Flower Essences of Misiones
Friday March 16
Presenter: Elizabeth Piren, LPC, Reiki Master, Flower Essence Facilitator
During this workshop Elizabeth will share her knowledge of the Flower Essences of Misiones. Flower essences are an herbal remedy taken to restore balance to the mind, body and spirit. These gifts from mother nature offer assistance in areas such as sleep, anxiety, confidence building, and emotional difficulties. We will learn more about these particular remedies, created in Misiones, Argentina, how they can be beneficial to us or our clients, how they are used, and also be able to sample them
About the Presenter:
Elizabeth is trained as a facilitator of the Flower Essences of Misiones, and has worked with them for over 8 years, including translation of many of their materials. In addition to being a Flower Essence Consultant, she is also a Licensed Professional Counselor, Reiki Master and Systemic Constellation Facilitator. Elizabeth is passionate about bringing vibrational healing to the world.
Register here!
Friday February 16
Presenter: Joe Bernstein
In this dynamic event come learn about coaching techniques that help clients with food and body as well as ways to help them open up and embrace new ways to evolve. Helping clients with food, body and weight is no simple task. The medical, fitness, food, diet, and wellness industries can make supporting clients in creating sustainable change next to impossible. You will learn the basic principles of Mind-Body Eating Coaching and hear a couple of case studies that share client success. Men often have barriers to developing language that accesses their true thoughts and emotions. You will learn how to employ archetypes that men have deep familiarity with to help them embrace emotion and empower change.
About the presenter:
As a coach, Joe Bernstein works with highly motivated individuals and select teams to create anything from better relationships, to healthier lifestyles and mission focused increases in income. Through losing 150 lbs, thriving after an early divorce, ending a successful career and then building his own practice, Joe learned that we must develop who we are at the deepest levels and focus on our mindset as much, if not more than our skill set if we want long term change and a life we love.
Joe has spent the last 15 years coaching, training, developing, and empowering thousands of people. First as a sales/service manager for Bose Corp and then in his own private coaching practice. He is certified as a Mind-Body and Eating Coach, facilitates “rites of passage” trainings with the Mankind Project, and various other organizations, and has worked with prison population, rescue pit bulls and personal growth weekend warriors.
Oh the World: Nature Connection is Culture Repair
Friday January 19
Presenter: Clare Kelley
Flexaware Fitness-Healing-Excercise-Mindfulness
Friday December 15
Presenter: Steven Shafarman
Stress, fear, anxiety, and depression always involve some change in the way people breathe and move. FlexAware is a mindfulness practice based on the way young children naturally learn and move. Young children are remarkably strong, flexible, and resilient, and with FlexAware, people of all ages can regain those innate abilities. More information is at www.flexaware.com
About the Presenter:
Steven Shafarman studied with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, and created FlexAware to make Feldenkrais principles more dynamic and explicit. He is the author of seven books, including Awareness Heals: the Feldenkrais Method for Dynamic Health. His most recent book is Basic Income Imperative: for Peace, Justice, Liberty, and Personal Dignity.
Embodied Presence: Coming Home to Ourselves
Friday November 17
Presenter: Gabrielle Czaja, PT
Power, strength and grace is our birthright. Tapping into and experiencing the internal support mechanisms inherent in the design of the human organism helps restore and enhance resiliency. Trusted healer, physical therapist and Alexander Technique teacher Gabrielle Czaja will guide us to a deeper “felt sense” of our own internal resources with a simple movement and breathing practice. We’ll review functional anatomy and you will leave with an easy activity you can do on your own to continue restoring and strengthening your inner support.
Space is limited for this month’s meeting due to the experiential nature of the workshop. Please honor your rsvp, and let us know at least 72 hours in advance if you cannot attend so that someone else may benefit.
About the Presenter:
Gabrielle Czaja, PT is passionate about guiding people back from pain, stress and injury to the wholeness of their bodies, themselves. She has advanced training in breathing coordination as an Alexander Technique teacher. For more than 27 years, Gabrielle’s unique approach of getting to the source of “dis-ease” has also empowered her clients to feel confident with their own self-care.
Sand Tray
Friday, October 20
Presenter: Sara Staggs, LICSW, MPH
During this workshop Sara Staggs will educate the group on Sand Tray as a modality for healing and self exploration. Sara will share how Sand Tray is a wonderful tool to heal trauma for her clients, leading the group in an experiential exercise to explore sand tray itself.
About the Presenter:
Sara specializes in adults with attachment trauma, personality disorders, and complex PTSD. She uses a combination of cognitive and behavior-based therapies and mind-body awareness to help clients build insight, develop new skills, change habits, and process trauma.
Mindfulness, Psychotherapy, and the Spiritual Path
Friday September 15
Presenter: Candida DeLuise
Modern neuroscience and brain-based research has proven a direct correlation between mindfulness and enhanced physical and emotional well-being. This experiential workshop will provide an overview of various mindfulness based approaches to psychotherapy and stress reduction. We will also explore the power of mindfulness to create a sacred space for the client and therapist to access deeper awareness and their own inherent wisdom.
About the Presenter:
Candida DeLuise is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice for over 25 years. She integrates mind/body awareness and psycho-spiritual approaches into the therapy process. Her training includes psychosynthesis, Buddhist psychology, trauma informed work and mindfulness-based psychotherapy. Candida teaches meditation and is also a Reiki master and wedding officiant.
Vibrant Wellness: A Guide to Clean Living with Naturopathic Medicine
Friday, June 16th, 2017
Presenter: Dr. Anne Berkeley
Register here
Every day, we come into contact with toxins in our water, air, and food. Even in tiny amounts, these exposures can affect our hormones, immunity, nervous system, and reproductive health. Learn where the most common environmental toxins are found and how you and your family can avoid them. You will also learn simple detox techniques that you can perform at home. Find out who the best candidates are for a detoxification program and how naturopathic medicine can help you, your family, and your clients on the journey towards vibrant health.
About the Presenter:
Dr. Anne Berkeley is a licensed and board-certified naturopathic physician practicing in Washington DC. She provides an individualized approach to medicine, using safe and effective natural therapies. Dr. Berkeley is passionate about providing holistic care with an emphasis on wellness and prevention for the entire family. See her website at: www.medicinetothrive.com.
Using Yoga as an Effective Supplement to Healing Work with Clients
Friday, April 21, 2017
Presenter: Carolyn Wolfe, LMFT
Register here
Yoga’s unique ability to allow clients to reconnect with their bodies and calm their nervous system make it an excellent supplement to therapy. In this experiential workshop, participants will learn what makes yoga so therapeutic and how to share this information with their clients. They will also walk away having practiced and learned basic breathing and movement exercises that can be done in session to help clients regulate their mood, integrate mind and body, or energize and empower themselves depending on the client’s need. In addition to in session interventions, resources will also be provided to help better understand the various yoga class offerings available to clients at gyms and studios in the area. This will enable participants to more accurately “prescribe” yoga to clients if yoga is to be used successfully as an out of session support to therapeutic work.
About the Presenter:
Carolyn S Wolfe, LMFT is a therapist and yoga instructor in Falls Church, VA. She pulls from a variety of modalities when working with clients. In addition to her graduate training, she completed Level 1 of Internal Family Systems Therapy training, Level 1 of Theraplay training, and is a Certified Trauma Informed Therapist. She has a special interest in somatic and relational approaches to healing. She completed her yoga teacher training in 2015 and has enjoyed teaching yoga to both clients and other therapists in the Falls Church area.
It’s More Than Eye Movements: How EMDR Goes Beyond Talk Therapy at Every Stage of Treatment
Friday, May 19th, 2017
Presenter: Sara Staggs, LICSW, MSW, MPH
Register here
EMDR is known for its famous eye movements but there’s actually a lot more to EMDR. This presentation will cover the less well known aspects of EMDR, including:
- How to identify core memories that drive those “stuck” clients who do the same thing over and over
- The power of negative beliefs that develop in childhood
- Self-soothing techniques
- How to reinforce positive experiences to help clients change behavior patterns.
About the Presenter:
Sara Staggs is the Community Engagement Coordinator and associate at the Viva Center.
How Hypnosis Can Help Patients Accelerate Breakthroughs and Improve Outcomes
Friday, March 17th, 2017
Presenter: Monica Marusceac, BCH
Register here
Learn how adding therapeutic hypnosis to your practice can facilitate faster breakthroughs in your patients and improve their outcomes. Topics covered will include 1) how therapeutic hypnosis complements talk therapy and meditation/mindfulness practices, 2) how therapeutic hypnosis can be integrated into a typical therapy session for best results, and 3) what are some common pitfalls to watch out for when implementing therapeutic hypnosis with a patient.
Ayurveda: The Study of Life
Friday, February 17, 2017
Presenter:Sheetal Ajmani, Ayurveda Lifestyle Consultant, RYT500 Yoga Instructor
Register here
Ayurveda is an ancient holistic science of self-care and wellness. It emphasizes restoring and maintaining the natural state of balance within our body, mind, and spirit using techniques that originated in India over 5000 years ago. The basic premise of Ayurveda is that we each have a unique constitution of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual qualities that were determined at the time of conception; this is our innate state of optimal balance. Through life’s ever changing landscape, our innate balance of these various qualities often gets disturbed, which may lead to dis-order and dis-ease. Through Ayurveda, we gain greater understanding of our innate and current states of balance based on the five elements and three doshas (body-mind constitutions). Further, Ayurveda offers us a variety of techniques of daily living to restore and maintain our innate state of balance. In this workshop, you will learn the basic principles of Ayurveda, gain insight into your own state of balance, and discover the tools available for restoring balance.
About the Presenter:
Sheetal is passionate about empowering individuals with tools for self-care, wellness, and balance using the ancient techniques of yoga and Ayurveda. She is the founder of Shakti Vidya Yoga, offering Ayurveda Lifestyle Sessions, Yoga, and Meditation classes in DC, Virginia, and Maryland. She completed the Ayurveda Lifestyle Consultant Certificate Program at David Frawley’s American Institute of Vedic Studies in June 2015. In addition, she has completed training in Ayurveda Pulse Technique, Marma, and she is a RYT500 Yoga Instructor. When she is not offering her services through yoga and ayurveda, Sheetal has the pleasure to serve as a pediatrician in Northern Virginia.
For more information, please visit www.shaktividyayoga.com
The Power of Brainspotting and How to Apply Its Principles to Practice
Friday, January 27, 2017
Presenters: Julie Lopez, PhD, LICSW and Georgiana Mora, LICSW
Register here
Brainspotting (BSP) is a powerful, focused treatment method that works deeply within the neural pathways of the brain to bring rapid healing and accelerated relief of trauma-related symptoms. BSP stimulates and promotes deep processing, integrating, and healing activity within the brain.
Dr. Julie Lopez, LICSW and Georgiana Mora, LICSW offer an experiential workshop to introduce both the foundation of brainspotting and methods. Participants will gain insights into the use of the model based on the presenters’ own experiences using it in practice. They will also gain information about the theory and history of brainspotting and walk away with some specific interventions to apply in their practice.
About the Presenters:
Julie Lopez is the owner/founder and Georgiana Mora is Clinical Program Manager at the Viva Center. Both Julie and Georgiana also work as practitioners at the Center.
Sacred Space Constellations
Presenters: Lea Sloan, M Ed, LPC, BCC
December’s HPG is an Experiential Workshop Introduction to Family Systems Constellations — a three dimensional, body based, individual or group process that helps uncover “hidden loyalties” passed down through generations in the family system. Family Systems Constellations may help to discover generational issues people may not be aware of that are arising in their present life. This approach can help lift generational barriers created by previous struggles in the ancestral line that can keep people entangled and prevent them from moving forward.
In this workshop, you’ll have a chance to experience constellations first hand and leave with some tools you can use now with your clients that can help them with decision making. To register contact HPG Chair Carolyn Wolfe at Carolyn@carolynlmft.com or click on this link
Lea Sloan– Lea Sloan is a licensed professional counselor and board certified coach in private practice since 1995, providing psychotherapy and coaching to adults from 18 through retirement. She specializes in coaching with career concerns, including helping to create balance between work and other aspects of life. By creating a safe and respectful partnership in the session, understanding is gained about desires for career, relationships and life. When trust and self-confidence are developed it becomes easier to find your own voice and make optimal choices, whether you are seeking a new job, a new career, or hoping to improve relationships with a supervisor, colleagues or staff. The collaborative partnership of the coaching process facilitates an effective working relationship that leads to a more intentional, fulfilling life. Lea’s specialties include: career and personal transitions, finding work/life balance, developing and enhancing relationships, building self esteem, understanding and setting healthy boundaries, and developing skills to communicate effectively both personally and professionally.
Friday, November 18, 2016, 9:00am-10:30am
The Healing Power of Sound
Presenter: Stephanie Courtney
Stephanie will provide a brief introduction to sound as it relates to the health of the human energy field, followed by a 30 minute group sound session where you will personally experience the power of sound in your own body. The session will be followed by a 15 minute Q & A to address personal observations, comments and questions about ways to use sound to amplify the effects of your holistic practice.
About the presenter:
Stephanie Courtney is a holistic practitioner experienced with the use of sound as an art and a science. She has years of personal experience using vibrational therapies. Her practice includes group sound balancing sessions and private sound sessions.
Friday, October 21, 2016, 9:00am-10:30am
Transforming our Tormenters into Mentors Using the Internal Family Systems model.
Presenter: Tish Miller, LCSW
This workshop, partly experiential, will explore ways to use the principles of IFS to identify and heal parts triggered by our challenging clients or people in our lives.
No prior experience with IFS necessary.
About the presenter:
Tish Miller LCSW is a Certified IFS Therapist who has been in practice for over 30 years.
Her approach, tho predominantly IFS based, is also informed by trainings in EMDR, Imago and Gestalt therapies. She has completed all levels of IFS training and IFIO Couples Training . For the past 8 years she has assisted in the Level 1 and 2 trainings.
Friday, September 30th, 2016, 9:00am-10:30am
Introduction to Healing Touch
Presenter: Renata Maniaci, MPH, HTCP
Join us for an introduction to Healing Touch. Learn about energy medicine and Healing Touch. Enhance your life and the lives of your clients by understanding the energetic world in which we live and learn simple techniques that you can share to promote body-mind-spirit healing.
Healing Touch is a gentle, complementary energy-based approach to health and healing. The goal is to restore harmony and balance to the human energy system through a heart-centered caring relationship and the use of contact/non-contact touch. This can greatly assist the body and mind in their natural ability to heal. Healing Touch is an evidenced based practice.
About the presenter:
Renata draws from a number of healing traditions and currently practices Healing Touch, Spiritual Response Therapy, and Gua Sha. She currently practices at Freed Bodyworks in Washington DC.
Friday, June 17th, 2016, 9:00am-10:30am
Acupuncture for Mental and Emotional Health and Personal Growth
Presenter: Kate Quinn Stewart, M.Ac., Licensed Acupuncturist
Many people think of acupuncture as a remedy for physical pain, but did you know that acupuncture is also extremely helpful for people experiencing emotional pain and mental health challenges? Whether the issue is stress, grief, loss, depression, anxiety, addiction, or PTSD, acupuncture can help people maintain balance both as they navigate life’s normal ups and downs and as they heal from deeper mental and emotional problems. Acupuncture can also support and facilitate personal growth for people who want break through old emotional barriers and create positive change in their lives.
Come learn how acupuncture can work hand-in-hand with psychotherapy, coaching, and other healing modalities to support and accelerate our clients’ progress. We will discuss the basics of Chinese Medicine as it pertains to mental and emotional health, including how our thoughts and feelings relate to particular organs and areas of the body, pathways of energy flow, and seasons of the year. We will also look at specific cases, how treatments were tailored to the individuals’ needs, and the patients’ responses.
About the presenter:
Kate Quinn Stewart is a licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist in practice since 2005. She welcomes all those seeking to improve their health, and specializes in helping people with stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma, cancer patients, and women seeking to enhance their fertility and prenatal health. She practices near both the Dupont Circle and Ballston metro stations.
NurturingSpiritAcupuncture.
Friday, May 20, 2016, 9:00am – 10:30am
Genderqueer, Cisgender & Beyond: Exploring the Fluid World of Gender Identity
Presenter: Michael Giordano
In the past few years, the ways people self-identify their gender has increased exponentially. No longer are the concepts of male, female, and transgender enough for professionals to know about. In this workshop, you will learn about the fluidity of gender identity and expression and learn ways to be more competent and affirming with clients who are gender non-conforming. This workshop is particularly geared towards cisgender professionals.
About the Presenter:
Michael Giordano: Based in Washington, DC, Michael Giordano has been a Clinical Social Worker since 1999. He earned his MSW from the University of Maryland, Baltimore and has been in private practice in 2007. While serving a wide range of clients and their concerns, his main interests are gender identity, sexual identity, and sex therapy. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and the Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities (CARAS). Mike is a flustered dad, an avid yogi, and a budding improv performer. www.WhatIHearYouSaying.com Mike.Giordano.MSW@gmail.com
Friday, April 15, 2016, 9:00am-10:30am
Applying PsychoNeurobiology: Energy Medicine – The Wave of the Future
Presenter: Angela Segal, PhD
Come learn from Angela Segal, PhD, about the application of Applied PsychoNeurobiology (APN) principles to the healing of complex chronic conditions (physical and psychological) that have not responded well to more traditional approaches. APN can also be used, more generally, to pinpoint imbalances and obstructions that might be interfering with the achievement of optimal health and wellbeing.
Volunteers will be given the opportunity to have Dr. Segal work on them directly, so that she can demonstrate to the group the presence of energy blockages that might be interfering with the body’s ability to handle the impact of the multiple “stressors” to which it is being continuously exposed. She will then show the use of various APN techniques to unblock the system, thereby laying the groundwork for optimization of energy/information flow and restoration of harmony, integration, and balance.
About the Presenter:
Angela Segal, PhD, a graduate of the California School of Professional Psychology, is transitioning from being a traditional psychologist (in private practice) to being an Energy Healer who is developing her own System of Healing, which integrates principles and techniques that she has learned from her intensive study with the various mentors, shamans, and mystics whom she has encountered along the way.
Friday, March 18, 2016, 9:00am-10:30am
JourneyDance™ An Integration of Your Body, Mind, and Movement
Presenter: Lisa A. Maestri, LCSW
This seminar will be a combination of introducing participants to JourneyDance™, its philosophy and how it can be used as an adjunct to traditional talk therapy, as well as will provide an experiential piece. JoureyDance™ was created by Toni Bergins, MEd, who is a dancer and educator by background, and believes in the power of healing the human body from within. JourneyDance helps people get out of their head and back into their bodies through the use of structured and unstructured movement, breath work, and yoga. This is an opportunity for self exploration and self expression, which allows people to process their feelings in a safe way, through the use of dance and movement, rather than through talking. This seminar will provide an opportunity for participants to participate in a short class. Come in comfortable clothes, bring water, and an open mind!
About the Presenter:
Lisa A. Maestri, LCSW is a clinical social worker with a private practice in McLean Va. She maintains a private practice where she works with adolescents and adults, providing individual, group, and couples counseling. She is a trained Imago therapist as well as holds additional certifications in trauma treatment. Over the course of her career, through training and through her own personal healing, Lisa discovered the importance of incorporating movement into her life. As a former music major and singer. last year, Lisa fell in love with JourneyDance™ when she was attending a workshop at Kripalu. This experience created an opportunity for her to train in JourneyDance™ and she is now teaching classes in Washington DC and Arlington Va. She believes in the power of bringing movement and music into people’s healing process and sees JourneyDance as something anyone can benefit from. Whether you have experiencedtrauma, are facing an addition or have an eating disorder, you have depression or anxiety OR you love to dance, JourneyDance has something for everyone.
Friday, February 19, 2016, 9:00am – 10:30am
Power in Numbers: Community Mural Making and Socially Responsible Art Therapy
Presenter: Lina Assad Cates, LMFT, ATR-BC
Please join me for a fun and experiential art therapy workshop! I will explore social action in the therapeutic context and examine what it means to be a therapist who is sensitive to social and political oppression. In this workshop, you will gain an understanding of socially responsible art therapy through the theoretical lens of feminist and trauma theories. You will also see the therapeutic benefits of individuals from low-income communities working together to develop and create murals. Two mural case projects painted in different settings with different populations will be shared to exhibit the powerful impact of community mural making. Finally, you will have the opportunity to participate in a group art making exercise with other holistic professionals like yourself. No artistic skill or training required.
About the Presenter:
Lina Assad Cates, LMFT, ATR-BC: is both a counselor and an art therapist. Lina received a Master of Arts in Counseling and a Graduate Certificate in Art Therapy from The George Washington University. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Registered and Board Certified Art Therapist. Lina has gained experience providing mental health treatment to child, adolescent, and adult clients in a variety of contexts, including schools and community organizations in greater Washington, DC, the San Francisco Bay Area, and rural South Carolina. She is the former President of the Northern California Art Therapy Association and is currently a member of the American Art Therapy Association and the Potomac Art Therapy Association.
Friday, January 15, 2016, 9:00am – 10:30am
Working with the Subtle Body
Presenter: Manisha Tare, OTR/L, RYT, MPH
We often get stuck in our analytical minds trying to figure out or solve a problem. When our wheels are spinning and we are not getting anywhere, it’s usually a sign that we are disconnected from our body and our innate wisdom. Living in a very hectic, fast-paced society, it’s easy to experience the disconnect. There are many ways to shift our attention inward and tap into the wisdom of our bodies beyond our ego.
Come and learn how working with the subtle body through the breath, meditation, body awareness, as well as practices such as craniosacral therapy and yoga can help clients get more in touch with what is underlying their experience of physical and mental tension. This work creates a safe container for people to feel their emotions, help to release long held trauma, and allow energy to flow more freely in their system. You will be invited to practice some of these exercises in the group so we can experience their impact together.
About Presenter: Manisha is focused on holistic healing and wellness as both a licensed occupational therapist and yoga teacher (hatha, vinyasa, restorative, yin). After years of study and practice, she chose to specialize in CranioSacral Therapy and Therapeutic Yoga as her primary modalities to help people align their minds and bodies. www.fallingleafwellness.net
Friday, December 18, 2015, 9:00am – 10:30am
Neurofeedback
Presenter: Melanie Shapiro, LICSW
Are you curious about neurofeedback? Would you like to know how it can be helpful with anxiety, mood swings, stress relief, trauma reactions, and peak performance?
Have you felt “stuck” with your clients and are interested in learning about ways neurofeedback can shift the central nervous system?Are you interested in using neurofeedback as a conjoint treatment and want to learn more about the ways it can be beneficial to a variety of clients?Come hear Melanie Shapiro, LICSW talk about the effects neurofeedback; and share case studies of clients who have seen physical and emotional benefits when using this treatment.Melanie will focus on helping those in the room gain a general understanding of neurofeedback, how neurofeedback works, and what symptoms neurofeedback can address. She will provide an assessment to display how clients’ symptoms fit into the Neurofeedback paradigm and examples of the different treatment plans used. She will also conduct a live demonstration to provide an overview of the equipment and show what the treatment looks like in real time.An experienced psychotherapist and neurofeedback clinician, Melanie welcomes practitioners of all modalities to learn about this exciting tool that can be a great resource to a wide range of clients.
About the Presenter:
Melanie Shapiro, LICSW: has a specialty in trauma, depression, anxiety and affect regulation disorders. In her practice, Melanie draws on psychodynamic therapy and neurofeedback as part of the transformative process. Neurofeedback is a tool that retrains brainwaves (in real-time) to function in an optimal state.
Friday, November 20, 2015, 9:00am – 10:30am
An Introduction to Constellation Healing
Presenters: Dr. Marie Rodriguez, ND and Lea Sloan, M Ed, LPC, BCC
Join us for an experiential workshop where we will explore this powerful and fascinating modality. As a participant, you will fuel your own self-growth and gain powerful insights to share and empower others with in your circle.“Constellation” work is a system of healing created by German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger over 50 years ago. As a missionary in Africa, Hellinger experienced the Zulu tribe’s method of conflict resolution firsthand. He was so impressed and curious by the effectiveness of their methods, that he fashioned Constellation work out of some of the Zulu principles. He brought this method to the field of psychotherapy in Germany, and today there are constellation facilitators all over the world.Constellations can be an effective approach for those clients who struggle with issues that seem to be resistant to a variety of therapeutic interventions. No matter what they try, the pattern seems to repeat itself over and over. Sometimes these issues have a “systemic” component – a pattern in the genetic lineage that is imprinted upon the person. These hidden systemic patterns can entangle people in fates which are really are the legacy of others – their ancestors – rather than their own. Constellation work reveals and resolves these hidden systemic patterns that tend to repeat themselves over and over. Constellation work has a wide range of applications – individuals, families, organizations and even the environment.
About the Presenters:
Dr. Marie Rodriguez– Dr. Marie is a licensed naturopathic physician and energy medicine practitioner. She customizes her treatment to suit the individual, skillfully weaving western medical diagnosis with a holistic mind-body approach. Working with an eclectic medicine bag, Dr. Marie uses nutritional counseling, lifestyle coaching, herbal medicine cleansing programs, and homeopathy to compassionately facilitate individuals in reaching their fullest potential. Dr. Marie also comes to her practice with extensive additional training in a variety of energy medicine modalities: Reiki, Reconnective Healing, Chakra Balancing, and Shamanic Healing. She is passionate about incorporating these energetic modalities into her naturopathic practice and she has experienced their profound healing effects firsthand.
Lea Sloan– Lea Sloan is a licensed professional counselor and board certified coach in private practice since 1995, providing psychotherapy and coaching to adults from 18 through retirement. She specializes in coaching with career concerns, including helping to create balance between work and other aspects of life. By creating a safe and respectful partnership in the session, understanding is gained about desires for career, relationships and life. When trust and self-confidence are developed it becomes easier to find your own voice and make optimal choices, whether you are seeking a new job, a new career, or hoping to improve relationships with a supervisor, colleagues or staff. The collaborative partnership of the coaching process facilitates an effective working relationship that leads to a more intentional, fulfilling life. Lea’s specialties include: career and personal transitions, finding work/life balance, developing and enhancing relationships, building self esteem, understanding and setting healthy boundaries, and developing skills to communicate effectively both personally and professionally.
Friday, October 16, 2015, 9:00am – 10:30am
Conjoint Treatment Possibilities
Presenters: Lisa Klein, PT, IMT.C. and Julie Lopez, Ph.D., LICSW
Have you thought about pairing up directly with a complimentary healing practitioner to provide therapeutic treatments at the same time? Are there practitioners with whom you have shared a cross referring type of relationship that you have considered providing treatments either consecutively or simultaneously? Have you had some experience with your modality of practice in harmony with another therapeutic modality and want to share in a room of similarly interested or experienced practitioners?
Come hear Lisa Klein and Julie Lopez talk about their journey with their licensing boards and with a case study to embark on conjoint care. As a continuation from last year’s Holistic Professionals Group talk about conjoint treatment, Lisa and Julie will focus on how to support those in the room who want to embark on a similar path with their practice. In this workshop they will hand out “best practice” guidelines, share their pitfalls and successes and guide the group in an exercise to brainstorm possibilities and scenarios that involve other healing modalities in the room. Both experienced presenters and teachers, Julie and Lisa welcome all like-minded healers to share in this communal healing exploration!
About the Presenters:
Lisa Klein is an internationally acclaimed physical therapist who utilizes integrative manual therapy in her work for profound effects. She is the owner and Director of Total Health Physical Therapy with offices in DC and VA. Lisa frequently trains and lectures on her expertise as a whole body healer. She supervises a team of physical therapists and often works to heal the ways that emotional traumas are stored in the body.
Dr. Julie Lopez specializes in working with Trauma and Addictions and as an adopted person has a particular investment in work with adult adoptees. Her experience as a certified EMDR practitioner has lead her to know that many profound shifts can be experienced in the body without words and for long lasting happiness. She is the owner and founder of The Viva Center, has been contributed to many media outlets, speaks at national and international conferences and taught at The Catholic University of America in their graduate program for 10 years. She has been practicing for 20.
