Supporting your study

We have lots of ways to help & support you!

Becoming a CranioSacral Therapist, whether as a new career or blending it with other modalities, is a hugely enjoyable journey, that sometimes demands that we expand our learning and take advantage of opportunities to dive in deeper.

Like any endeavour worth its salt and our time, we gain a lot from learning in different ways: looking – feeling – experiencing from different viewpoints.

So as well as the ever expanding opportunities to join different classes, we are very proud of the many other ways available to support your training.

Check them out below.

And who knows, in time, your own learning may take you into one of these roles to help others!

What helps you learn?

‘Your study groups are a fantastic resource for developing confidence and ability, and I’ll continue to take full advantage of these wonderful opportunities for professional (and even personal) development! ‘

‘Those of us who are committed to developing as Upledger practitioners, are truly fortunate to be able to benefit from such dedicated and able practitioners & mentors.’

You will be welcome to attend regular study group sessions organised throughout the UK, lead by advanced and qualified practitioners. This means those who’ve 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 done. If this is the case, study group leaders will typically suggest training-appropriate activities

Find our study group leaders, a calendar of the upcoming groups and more info on our dedicated Study Groups page.

One of the bonuses of being signed up to either of these programmes is that you get regular extra support included. Monthly zoom classes and twice yearly ‘deep dives’ into different topics are part of the package – join live or watch the recordings.

Along with some extra anatomy and exam preparation support videos these inclusions help us help you, every step of the way. 

We also have a facebook group only for those who have done courses. It is for you to ask questions and share experiences of the work only! There are a number of our teachers and experienced practitioners who will respond to comments. There is a similar group for the alumni generally run by the US, called Upledger Alumni. Please come and find us. We also have the Upledger Institute UK page and there are ones for different countries too. If you ‘like’ the pages, it helps you keep in touch with what is going on.

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These workshops are extremely full of information, practical experience and treatment. It is not likely that anyone can hear and take on board fully all of the information available at any one time. Therefore, we warmly encourage you to repeat classes if you can.

You only pay half price to repeat any of the CST1-SER2 classes, unless you’re either signed up to the Core Pack Payment Plan or the exams, in which case the repeat fee is even less! If you’ve signed up for the Techniques exam or Core Pack, you can resit CST1 or 2 for less; if you’ve signed up for the Diplomate exam you can resit SER1 or 2 for less. We hope that helps!

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.​

We also have a specific Mentoring Programme. A number of our qualified colleagues have also done additional training with Eric Moya from the US. He assisted us in considering the different ways that people need supporting as they grow as a therapist. This is different from the work we do on ourselves from receiving sessions or going to study groups. Sessions are one to one and you can bring whatever considerations you have as a developing practitioner.  They can be in person or on zoom and cost £60 per hour. See our Mentoring page for more information.

Precepting is the term used in the US (which we would be more likely to refer to as ‘working alongside someone in their clinic’!). This is available for students who have successfully completed the SER1 workshop. 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 this possibility for a short period of time or the opportunity to observe them in practice. This would be dependent on client agreement. Further details are available through the office, and we will be expanding these opportunities as time goes on.

The other thing that we believe supports your study and the work out in the world is to take the exams. While they have never been compulsory, as people have, in the past, worked under a different licence and simply added CST to their practice, we feel that it is beneficial to show you understand the work and its application, as we will tell you on our Exams and Qualifications page.

If you have a natural bent for explaining things, helping others, enjoy going through the process of seeing people get those ‘aha’ moments, then becoming a Study Group Leader could be for you. We would expect that you would be committed to the work and would have done a fair amount of TA-ing – at least up to SER1. You would need to have completed your Techniques exam, Advanced 1 and therefore be a qualified member of the Cranio Sacral Society.

There are guidelines we support you with (you are not signing up to be at students’ beck and call morning, noon and night!) and you get discounts on some of the key special events we run. You can choose where and how often you run a group, and this will depend on your location and group size.

Some practitioners are keen to offer their clients a bit more and teach them to do some of the basics. In the US, they have workshops called ShareCare, and in the UK we have a training course to enable you to teach a one or two-day introduction to CST.

You have to have completed your Techniques Certification and Advanced 1; you will also be asked to have assisted recently on a CST1, to assist a qualified Introductory Course Leader on a class and to attend 3 day training in which you will practice presenting and learn about presentation skills. These are full of experiential learning, are lots of fun and include many top tips and techniques for teaching.

You will then be able to put on your own Intro courses.

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 TA-ing 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.

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