2024 Retreat Style Trainings

June 13-19 and August 25-31

BOOK YOUR SPACE TODAY

The Missing Link

Integrating somatic therapy approaches for clinical practice and preventing burnout

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

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 APS approved course could be what you’re looking for!

**20 CPD hours APS endorsed retreat-style trainings in Bali.**
***Limited spaces - Early Bird booking now.***

This is a wonderful way to learn and embody somatic approaches, with space and time to integrate and reflect on learning, connect with other participants, and the beautiful people of Bali, and take time to reconnect with yourself, be nourished with wonderful food, and rest and recuperate in gorgeous surroundings. Bali holds us in a beautiful container for ‘going deep’ into these practices!
**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.
As Therapists and ‘space holders’, we have had to ‘soldier on’ 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’.
On this course, you will receive 20 hours of APS endorsed CDP, learning new, cutting edge skills to support your clients and address and prevent burnout while having the opportunity to relax on a tax deductible holiday in a 4.5 * resort in beautiful Bali.
Level 1 can be completed as a stand alone course, or add on Level 2 for a deeper dive into somatic work.
Kirstie Missenden, co-founder of South Sydney Psychology and Trauma-Recovery Service, invites you to replenish and restore at our 5 day (6 night) retreat where you will develop your skills in drawing on innovative somatic based psychological therapies and methods to integrate with your current clinical practice and to use in your own self-care as a practitioner.
Arriving for dinner on Sunday, the learning component will be from 8am to 1 pm (with a break), Monday to Friday. The rest of the afternoon and evening will be yours to do with as you wish. Leave on Saturday feeling refreshed, inspired and having formed new connections and support networks.
Our beautiful retreat resorts offer beach-side accommodation, with delicious food and the opportunity to relax and enjoy beautiful areas of Bali. ***Please read the description of the resort during the booking process for more information on specific resorts.***

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Meet The Facilitator

Dr Kirstie Missenden

Dr Missenden is a Clinical Psychologist, Somatic Therapist, Trainer, and Mentor, with over 25 years of experience in working with adult clients in a wide range of settings and with a variety of issues.
She supports her clients in making deep, lasting changes, and creating new, compassionate relationships with themselves and others and is passionate about sharing her body-inclusive, integrative approach with other therapists, through her trainings, and supervision, mentoring and therapeutic experiences for therapists.
Kirstie considers honest self-reflection to be an important corner stone of professional growth, and shares examples of her client work, both what has worked well, as well as what has not, and also shares some of her own experience of somatic therapies, believing experiencing approaches as a ‘client’ to be a rich source of learning, as a provider (as well as providing the opportunity to continue our own healing. and growth).
She aims to de-shame our own experiences as therapists and humans, and with her participants, strives to co-create a safe, supportive space where making mistakes is welcomed and honest reflection on our human experience is supported and encouraged and learnings can be truly embodied.

*This Course Includes:*

20 hours of APS endorsed CPD
6 nights accommodation in 4.5* resort with a range of amenities
3 delicious meals per day
***And it’s all tax deductible!***
*Please note, the training costs do not include flights to or from Bali or transfers, which can be arranged with the hotels. Purchase of flights are to be done by the attendee.*

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Course component learning objectives

**Recognise the impact of trauma** on our 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 our 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.
**Utilise somatic exercises** to develop a more compassionate relationship with our own bodies.

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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.