De helende kracht van emoties
An Immersive Masterclass for Strengthening Therapeutic Relationships and Supporting Therapists Well-Being.
Therapeutic Presence (TP) and Self‑Compassion (SC) are essential foundations for effective therapeutic relationships and positive clinical outcomes. They are more than skills—they are ways of being that shape safety, depth, attunement, and the impact of our work.
This 2‑day Masterclass is a unique integration of advanced professional training and restorative immersion. Designed specifically for therapists, it combines empirically grounded learning with experiential practice in a reflective, retreat-like environment. Participants can deepen their clinical capacities while also nourishing their own well-being and vitality.
Therapeutic Presence (TP) and Self-Compassion (SC) are foundational to effective therapeutic relationships and positive outcomes. They are not simply skills, they are ways of being that shape the depth, safety, and impact of our clinical work.
This Masterclass is a unique integration of advanced professional training and restorative immersion. Designed specifically for therapists, it combines empirically grounded learning with experiential practice in a reflective, retreat-like environment. Participants can deepen their clinical capacities while also nourishing their own well-being and vitality.
Therapeutic presence is a way of being that optimises the doing and techniques of therapy. TP provides clients with a sense of safety, allowing them to be seen, heard, understood, and “feel felt,” while also strengthening the therapeutic alliance. This allows clients to access and express their core pain and emotions and engage in the deeper work of therapy. This type of relationship helps regulate clients' emotions and supports their movement towards emotional health and neurophysiological integration. TP also invites therapists to work on their own balance of presence and compassion with self and clients, ensuring they remain centered and effective even in the face of difficult emotions. Practicing TP also sustains clinicians' vitality, connection, and effectiveness.
Self-compassion is a key resource in maintaining therapists’ presence and working with the barriers to presence. SC involves meeting our emotions and difficult experience with mindfulness, common humanity, kindness, and warmth.
Together, therapeutic presence and self-compassion are powerful resources for counsellors to maintain emotional balance amid challenging clinical work, to enjoy their work and their clients more fully, and to prevent caregiver fatigue and burn-out.
You will learn:
An empirically validated model of Therapeutic Presence will be introduced and how to create safety using neurophysiological principles based on concepts such as co-regulation and neuroception of safety stemming from Polyvagal Theory (Geller & Porges, 2014). Evidenced based practices from Shari Geller and Leslie Greenbergs’ books, ‘A Practical Guide for Cultivating Therapeutic Presence’ (Geller, 2017) and ‘Therapeutic Presence: A Mindful Approach to Effective Therapeutic Relationships 2nd Edition (Geller & Greenberg, 2022) including mindfulness, self-compassion, and experiential practices will be incorporated.
Through teaching, video tapes and role plays, and experiential exercises, participants will:
Beyond skill acquisition, this experience offers a spacious environment for renewal and integration.
Set in a restorative natural setting, the retreat invites therapists to slow down, reconnect, and embody the practices they offer their clients. Participants will deepen their ability to be present and compassionate through experiential practices to cultivate greater attunement and connection with self, others and with nature.
Through guided mindfulness and self-compassion practices, reflective time in nature, and shared dialogue in community, participants will:
By tending to our own presence and compassion, we expand our capacity to accompany clients into deeper emotional work.
Participants return to their work feeling grounded, energized, and equipped with both refined clinical skills and renewed inner resources.
No prior experience with mindfulness or self-compassion is required. This training is appropriate for therapists at all stages of practice who wish to deepen professional learning, clinical skills and personal sustainability.
Accreditatie is/wordt aangevraagd:
Deze training wordt door de VPeP erkend als specialisatiecursus in de opleiding tot persoonsgericht experiëntieel psychotherapeut. Zie overzicht VPeP.
Dr. Shari Geller is an author, clinical psychologist, certified Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teacher and leader in the field of therapeutic presence.
Shari offers training modules in therapeutic presence internationally as part of a longer-term vision of having presence be a foundational training across psychotherapy approaches. With over thirty years’ experience weaving psychology and mindfulness, Shari co-authored the book, Therapeutic Presence: A Mindful Approach to Effective Therapy (2012) with Dr. Leslie S. Greenberg (the second edition will be released October, 2022). Shari’s book: A Practical Guide For Cultivating Therapeutic Presence (2017), offers hands on tools and guidance for cultivating and strengthening presence in therapy. Shari created the Therapeutic Rhythm and Mindfulness Program (TRM™), a group modality integrating mindfulness, rhythm practices and emotion-focused awareness to enhance wellbeing and presence. Shari serves on the teaching faculty in Health Psychology at York University and is Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto, in association with Music and Health Research Collaboratory (MaHRC). She is on the steering committee and part of the core faculty of the Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy (SCIP) certificate program.
Shari is the co-director of the Centre for MindBody Health, in Toronto, where she offers training, supervision and therapy in Emotion-Focused therapy (EFT) and Mindfulness and Self-Compassion modalities for individuals and couples.
For more information: www.sharigeller.ca and www.cmbh.space.
De studiebelasting bedraagt 12 uur aan lesuren en 4 uur aan voorbereiding.
Datum: 18-19 september 2026
Tijden: 09h30 - 17h00
Prijs: € 825,- incl. cursusmateriaal, biologische lunch, koffie/thee
VPeP-leden en aspirant VPeP leden krijgen 10% korting, zie www.vpep.nl/scholing/kortingsregeling.
Locatie: Kloosterhotel Zin, Vught (www.kloosterhotelzin.nl)