Taking your Training Forward

NETWORKING

Once you have completed a workshop, you will receive a class list which will help you to keep in touch with other students and, hopefully, create information and practice exchange groups to continue developing your skills.

On completion of a workshop, each student’s details are entered or updated in the Upledger Institute's worldwide database at Palm Beach, Florida. The International Association of Healthcare Practitioners maintains an annually updated worldwide directory of Upledger students and their attained level and speciality. To access this information use the link to Upledger CST Worldwide.

A list of UIUK students who have completed CST2, which we refer to as the Practitioner Networking Directory, is also updated regularly and can be sent out on request.

STUDY GROUPS

You will be welcome to attend regular study group sessions organised throughout the UK, by some of our advanced and qualified practitioners. This means those who have trained to Advanced 1 (or higher) and completed their Techniques Certification (if not their Diplomate as well! - see below for what this means). During these sessions workshop material is reviewed and practised or treatments are exchanged. Please be aware that it is strictly Upledger CST techniques, as taught in the classes, that are explored. Occasionally there is material covered, either as prearranged topics or from the questions that arise in a mixed level group setting, that is from further down the curriculum than every participant may have gone. If this is the case study group leaders will typically suggest training-appropriate activites!

There are also a few experienced practitioners who have not yet gained their Techniques but who have the depth of experience to run a Networking Group. The contact details for study / networking group leaders are available below and any dates currently scheduled are listed in the study group section of our Training Calendars page.

Current Study Group Leaders List

ASSISTANCE

The Institute’s staff practitioners are available by telephone or email should help be needed. Evaluation, treatment and advice about individual clients may also be sought either by referral to a more experienced practitioner in your area, or by arranging visits to a practitioner. Our students also have the backing of all the people, experience and expertise available through our various offices around the world.

EXAMS

Assessment and qualification is available in two stages, each costing £250. The TECHNIQUES CERTIFICATION is given after examination on the information presented in CST1 and CST2. This exam consists of 12 written essays, which are completed in your own time. Once marked and successfully passed you are invited to arrange a practical assessment with one of the Institute's examiners. In this session you complete a 10 step protocol during which you are expected to demonstrate:

• that you are able to connect, meld and listen with your hands and have an understanding of the tissue response;
• that you know and understand the correct hand positions for each technique and what the core intent and purpose of each is;
• that you are able to accurately and fluently describe both the core intent and what you are feeling as you treat.

There is also a multiple choice test during the practical exam. Having successfully completed the techniques certification, up to the Advanced CST 1 level course and if you are a memeber of the CranioSacral Society, you are then able to call yourself an Upledger trained CranioSacral Therapist and advertise as such. You are also then able to be listed on the GRCCT's (General Regulatory Council for Complementary Therapies) national register.

The second exam is the DIPLOMATE CERTIFICATION which tests your understanding and practical application of the SER approach. The prerequisite is Advanced 1. It requires written essays as well as a practical exam, just like the Techniques, but assessing fluency and competence in the imagery and dialogue techniques of the SER approach. In addition you are requested to complete a preceptorship programme (of approx 20 hours or in the UK this may be completed by TAing at an Advanced level course), provide 5 case histories and either deliver a 6 hour CST presentation to an organsied group or have an article on CST published by a third party organisation.

The work and practice required to pass these exams is very thorough and we fully support and encourage anyone willing to go the distance! These steps are not obligatory for most as the Upledger courses are post graduate, therefore most people practice under the guidelines and insurance of their core therapies. However, we are finding more and more that people wish to gain the depth of knowledge and experience necessary as well as the confidence that comes from going through the exam process. Please contact the office for more details.

TABLE ASSISTING or TA-ing

Typically shortened to TA-ing this refers to the opportunity to come along and assist at a workshop. You can apply to assist on CST1 after having done SER1, and on CST2 after having successfully assisted on two CST1s, and so on. These are great opportunities to review the material from previous courses as well as support students now training. We cannot always guarantee that requests to TA particular workshops will be fulfilled. Priority is generally given to those students who are going though the exam process.

MENTORING / PRECEPTING

This is available for students who have successfully completed the SER1 workshop. Precepting is the term used in the US (which we would be more likely to refer to as mentoring). At the Upledger Institute Clinic in Florida, precepting involves spending time in clinic with one of the Institute’s practitioners and, where appropriate, assisting with evaluation and treatment. In the UK there are some advanced practitioners open to offering mentoring for a short period of time or the opportunity to observe them in practice. This would be dependant on client agreement. Further details are available through the office.

INSTRUCTING

For interested and committed individuals the teaching track may be of interest. The Upledger Institute has developed a clear path by which this can be achieved that ensures competent transmission of the ethos and the work. This includes passing both exams, a fair amount of TAing and the ability to commit to weekends in different locations. Again, please speak to us if you feel this is something that you may be interested in.