TigerNews | FHE News

Development of a Resilient Self

    A Concentrated, Experiential Program Focusing on Body Awareness, Self Regulation, and Connection to Self and Other
The FHE will be offering a new program beginning in the Spring ’09 in Berkeley, CA that will be open to people interested in developing their own capacities for self-regulation, body awareness and the development of resiliency.

This course will provide an opportunity for non-professionals, (and professionals currently more interested in their own self-development), to learn the basics of the SE model outside of the context of the current SE professional training.

In this 2-part course, participants will learn how former traumas impact and disrupt their physiology. The goal is to explore and recognize their unique reaction patterns, and discover ways of settling and self-regulating, both within themselves and with others. Each participant will develop a myriad of skills and tools for returning to internal stabilization and “balance”, and thus reducing traumatic symptoms.

The format includes:
  • education about the physiology of the stress response, and its effect on the body, emotions and cognition through lectures, videos and demonstrations

  • large and small group experiential exercises and practice sessions, done in a gentle, supportive and respectful environment

  • learning very basic ways of tracking activation in yourself (and others), and knowing how to support and promote settling

  • discovering ways of applying the learning in the real life situations for continued stabilization and symptom reduction

    • Assistants will be available during the training for support of the learning process, and outside of the training hours for personal sessions, and/or to coach students.

  • This class is not designed for deep therapeutic process, so is not a good fit for those interested in deeper personal therapy


  • This class is not designed to renegotiate severe and complex traumas, but rather to enhance and further develop capacities for resilience. Those who have difficulties being in groups, or are at the beginning of their recovery process will not do well in class. Nor will people who need a lot of personal attention.


    • This program will meet for 2, three-day weekends. Each module will build on the next and will need to be taken sequentially.

    The cost will be $395.00 and the dates are Feb 20-22 and April 24-26 2009 at the Rudramandir Center in Berkeley.

    If you have clients, colleagues, friends or family members who may benefit from such a program, feel free to give them my or my coordinator’s email or phone number, and we will send out the admittance application.

    I will be relying on your referrals and good judgment as to who is appropriate for this first program. Thanks!

    Ariel Giarretto, LMFT, CMT
    ariel57@mindspring.com
    Phone: (510) 595 4647

    Lor Fjerkenstad, CMT, LMFT
    lfjerkenstad@comcast.net
    Phone: 510.594.4034