Core Training

The Upledger Training Approach

Flexible – Experiential – Practical – High Quality

Arranged in five principal stages, the Upledger CranioSacral Training programme is built around a series of 4-5 day intensive workshops. You may move through these stages at your own pace, provided you allow time between workshops (usually at least three months) to absorb and apply the practical work, further develop your fine palpatory skills, review the course notes and cover required reading.

They are primarily post graduate courses and the majority of the students who attend the workshops are already qualified in another discipline and draw their core competence, ethics and registration from this primary discipline. Some people take the classes either for their own personal development or to use on family and friends in a non-clinical setting. If you are coming to the work without any other background and are not a practicing therapist we ask that you contact us first.

It is also possible to become qualified in Upledger CST by first getting some bodywork training to begin to develop your palpatory skills, then going through the core training, working through the exam process and having sufficient background in the study of anatomy, physiology and pathology and clinical practice.

Our Approach within the Workshops

The workshops are primarily experiential. The demonstrations and ‘hands-on’ exercises are supported by clear, illustrated lectures connecting the practical to the type of symptoms clients may experience. All aspects of each workshop’s syllabus are brought together in a form that can immediately be integrated into your own practice. Those who require greater degrees of technical depth and detail will find the textbooks and research work satisfying, but we emphasise that the aim of the workshops is to encourage and support an objective and compassionate therapeutic approach.

Your workshop will be conducted by an Upledger Institute Certified Instructor, an experienced practising health care professional who has completed an extensive programme of preparation and usually trained directly with Dr Upledger at some point during their certification.

At each workshop you are provided with a comprehensive study guide of the course material with ample space for your own notes. All course material has been written and organised by Dr John Upledger, whose textbooks also provide a detailed anatomical, physiological and research background for the workshops and describe every technique. Current teaching formats draw on over 20 years of instruction to groups with widely differing therapeutic approaches and experience.

The final essential element of the programme is practice. We do all we can to support and encourage your development at every stage, through networking, study groups, opportunities to work with qualified practitioners and, with the CranioSacral Society (CSS), the current development of an online questions forum and mentoring opportunities. But there is nothing like getting your hands on!

Workshop Details

We always do our best to select comfortable, convenient and well managed facilities and also to ensure that there is a range of accommodation and lunch options nearby. Teas, coffees and refreshments are provided in the breaks.

Each 4 day class runs from 8:30 or 9:00am to approximately 5:00 or 6.00pm, with registration 30 minutes beforehand on the first day. The last day normally runs from 8:00am to approximately 3:30pm. Actual times for your workshop will be confirmed in advance. The Advanced workshops are residential and the hours can be a little longer than that; the last day will typically finish earlier.

Core Curriculum

The core training consists of the following 5 workshops. As we have indicated, part of the Upledger approach is to allow people to progress through these as and when they are ready and have completed sufficient practice in between. How quickly anyone moves through is dependant on many factors. There are also numerous other opportunities to develop your palpatory skills and a greater understanding of the work as you go as you will see from the More Training and Taking Your Training Forward pages.

Please follow the links to find out more about each workshop.

CST1

This first workshop introduces the ten step protocol, the techniques from which later courses develop. Designed by Dr John Upledger to allow a safe and general introduction to the work, the 10 steps cover the initial techniques that can be used to treat safely and develop the palpatory skills needed. Core theory and the basic anatomical framework are also introduced.

CST2

This workshop builds from the 10 steps, adds techniques for the hard palate (‘mouthwork’), ways to evaluate the whole body and introduces the concepts from which the SER^® work develops. You will also learn about the basic guidelines for working with children.

This workshop again builds on the previous, adding more techniques that work inside the mouth and then introducing the core skills of dialogue that are central to the SomatoEmotional Release® work.

SER2 

By SER2, students are ready to widen their understanding of a variety of different approaches to dialoguing, and practice with other students to experience the work directly themselves. While these skills take time and practice to grow, the hands-on approach of the classes gives an intensive and experiential grounding from which to develop.

 
ADV1

This class is all about experience and practice. In groups of 5, each student is treated by and works on each other, every day for 5 days. Review sessions every
morning help to clarify the experience enabling you to gain as much as possible from the process.