As the year comes to a close, we took the morning to reflect on 2025 in the BBP world. As we considered our year, we sat with such deep gratitude for the work we are so fortunate to do- to train amazing therapists from across Canada in an orientation that savours individual expression, creativity and relationality – more about thathere😊
In ten years of training therapists across Canada, we have had the pleasure of working with and mentoring therapists who work with diverse populations and with a broad clinical scope. Common to them all, is the capacity for generosity of the heart and commitment to advancing their craft as psychotherapists.
So, here are some of the highlights from 2025
Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy 2-year online training – 2025, graduated two cohorts. It’s always bittersweet to complete a training. The depth of learning, vulnerability, stretching, connection and integration is profound, and it is moving to witness and be a part of. We hear over and over again, “I knew this training would change my practice, I didn’t know it would change my life”. No exaggeration here – but really, how do you advertise this? Well, that’s what blogs are for – here are links to what some alumni have said 😊 first blog,second blog, and third blog.
Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy 2-year online training – 2025, began two cohorts – March and May. What can I say, it’s amazing to watch clinicians, both new to the field, and seasoned alike, fall in love with the body and bring the body into practice. To witness therapists fall into the right hemispheric work is a ride – bumpy, mucking about at first, but then, WOW, it all comes together in the second year (for our current cohorts, that comes in 2026). Beautiful to see people take the work and find their way, to take Attachment Theory and apply it to clinical practice; to understand and bring the body front and centre into clinical process, moving from mindful awareness to somatic processing (here’s a blog all about that), and to work skillfully through a Psychodynamic lens that attends to the therapeutic relationship, relational dynamics, defenses, etc, to move therapy forward. For more information, click here.
Embodying the Heart Retreat: An Online Intensive for Therapist Evolution. In November we re-launched our retreat work, this time online. And, how fun. We invited creative process into the mix of this three day online intensive for SAP students and alumni, and never mind fun, it was POWERFUL, POTENT, and PURPOSEFUL. We honed in on therapist practice and evolution, inviting therapists to process and reflect on their clinical practice, asking in essence, what is your practice asking of you and what do you need from it? We ran the retreat as a fundraiser and donated over half of the fees collected to the BC SPCA (so $5000 for the animals). We can hardly wait to run it again – slated for November 2026 – more info here.
In April, Stacy ran his Chronic Shame in Clinical Practice: An Embodied Relational Perspective online workshop for therapists. Every time Stacy offers the workshop, we reach more therapists from across Canada who want to better understand how chronic shame is part of insecure attachment and hides in plain sight. It is, what I would call, a sticky part of clinical practice where it operates, as Stacy writes, like an invisible hand that guides one’s life. This workshop didn’t disappoint – over five weeks we gathered and talked about chronic shame in clinical practice, its etiology, how it presents (and hides), how to work with it from an embodied relational perspective, read, right hemispheric vs cognitive approach (which is refractory), and perhaps most significantly, Stacy starts out the workshop with the agenda to humanize folks with chronic shame. I feel teary writing this – it’s such a powerful opening and invitation – of course, I’m taking the liberty to extend it here to you, the reader. Here’s a link to the workshop info, and I’m happy to say, Stacy is offering it again in April 2026 – more info here.
Wildfire Trauma Fundraiser – in April we offered our third lecture and fundraiser on working with Wildfire Trauma. In 2025 we expanded this presentation and invited the wider therapist community, which included therapists from across Canada (the previous two lectures/fundraisers were limited to BBP therapists). As always, the fundraiser (as part of the BC SPCA Champions for Animals program) was well attended and we raised $3350 for the BC SPCA. We have plans to offer this again spring of 2026.
As a training program, our community service fundraising is focused on animal welfare, and 2025 was an excellent year in terms of funds raised and donated. This year we donated to two organisations – the BC SPCA and to Cat’s Cradle Animal Rescue. All totaled, we raised $8350 for the BC SPCAand donated an additional $2000 to the Cat’s Cradle Animal Rescue feral cat program.
In June 2025 Lisa closed her clinical practice after twenty years. It was hard to say goodbye, not only to the people in my practice, some of them who I had walked beside for a very long time, but to close that chapter of my clinical world and work. It was a difficult decision, but one that has opened new possibilities for teaching and curriculum development and expansion.
In October, I offered the Attachment, the Body and Relational Repair: Three Pillars of Clinical Practice Workshop. Over 5 evenings online we gathered with a group of therapists from across Canada to explore how attachment trauma deeply impacts the integrity of the self, and is at the heart of insecure attachment, disrupting healthy development, and forging a neurophysiological template that endures throughout the lifespan. We brought understanding to how to apply attachment theory to clinical practice through an embodied relational lens. As always, the discussion was rich and 5 weeks felt like we were saying goodbye just as we were getting started (yes, this is a plug for the 2-year Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy Training).
Most important of all, we were able to work with therapists across Canada in meaningful and transformative ways, not only for their clinical evolution, but also for their own personal evolution. Recognizing the gift of leading 13 cohorts of therapists on this journey is difficult to quantify and articulate in terms of our feelings of privilege and gratitude.
The best somatic training for therapists is gold in SEO ranking. Last week I had a meeting with our web guru, David @ Geeks on the Beach Web design and we talked about Chat GPT. Full disclosure here, I NEVER want to talk about social media, SEO, ranking, etc.…but I know it’s a valuable way to get our message out there, and David makes it easy and entertaining, so that helps 😊. So, following his advice, I sat down to write a blog merely for the SEO value – though it’s true, it’s WAY more brash and unapologetically BOLD than our regular attraction instead of promotion marketing strategy. Bear with me as I follow his sage advice.
Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy is an excellent choice as a comprehensive and depthful training program that supports therapists to incorporate the body and somatic therapy with attachment theory and relational psychodynamic practice into a clinical orientation.
Why is the Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy Training the best somatic training and why is it sought after? The Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy is an online training for Canadian therapists by Canadian educators. It meets the gold standard for training clinicians by weaving rigorous academic material into digestible and applicable clinical practice, along with live demonstrations and experiential application of clinical skills.
What is Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy and why is it the best somatic training for therapists? Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy is a clinical orientation that weaves somatic therapy, attachment theory and application to practice with psychodynamic relational practice to attend to and repair relational trauma—insecure attachment.
What does the Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy Training involve? The Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy Training offers a sophisticated and nuanced integrated understanding of diverse clinical and academic content curated into applicable understanding for practice application. Live clinical demonstrations and video sessions are used to explicate or highlight the therapeutic work. We also have daily coached practice sessions with kind, skilled facilitators who are graduates of the program. Between the clinics there are group consultations included.
Is Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy connected to other somatic training programs? No, Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy is a standalone entirely Canadian based training program for Canadian therapists with a graduate degree in a mental health discipline. The Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy training is headquartered in Victoria, BC however, we have students from across Canada, including: Vancouver, Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Comox/Courtenay, several Gulf Islands, Tofino, Prince George, Chilliwack, Fort Langley, Maple Ridge, Cloverdale, Whiterock, Surrey, North Vancouver, Kelowna, Kamloops, Revelstoke, Fort St. John, New Hazelton, Terrace, Dawson Creek, Halifax, Whitehouse, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary, Canmore, St. Albert, Leduc, Saskatoon, Haida Gwaii, Winnipeg, Moncton, London Ontario, New Market, Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Kingsclear NB – to name a few. Check out ourreferral page by clicking here.
uniquely and boldly combines somatic therapy with attachment theory and application to practice, and relational psychodynamic practice.
is an unequalled training for the reparation of early attachment injuries, including insecure attachment.
is limited to therapists with a graduate degree in a mental health discipline therefore it allows us to depthfully and ethically teach clinical psychotherapeutic practice.
is a Canadian training and teaches therapists living in Canada.
runs on a cohort model creating small, intimate and safe learning opportunities.
offers skilled and kind feedback and coaching of your practice sessions. We work from a pedagogy of kindness.
offers 8 group consultations per calendar year included in your training fee.
is an ever-emergent curriculum that integrates current theoretical and conceptual information into a clinical practice oriented towards working relationally and with and in the body.
Who is the Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy Training for? Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy Training is for therapists anywhere in their career who are looking for a comprehensive understanding of working with trauma through the lens of the body, attachment theory and psychodynamic relational practice.
Can I talk to someone about the Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy Training before signing up? Yes, if you are interested in taking the 2-year Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy Training, and you live in Canada, and have a graduate degree in a mental health discipline and a therapy practice, reach out, we are happy to meet with you to talk about the training, the curriculum, answer questions, and make sure it’s a good fit.
Is online somatic training effective? Good question – yes. We’ve been offering our trainings fully online since spring of 2020 and have found the online format to be a highly effective way for people to learn Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy. Online somatic training allows people to be in the comfort of their environment without the time and cost of travel and accommodations.
Understanding attachment and the ways in which it forges the self, and continues to be alive in one’s internal and relational world in the present day, is an imperative for therapists. As a therapist educator, I spend a lot of time talking with therapists and teaching about attachment, and how to apply attachment theory to clinical practice. I have found that most therapists have a clear understanding that early relational dynamics with primary caregivers wire the self, the body and psyche, neurophysiologically (affect and physiological regulation capacity) and psychically (internal working models) in ways that typically remain active across the lifespan. However, understanding this and seeing it in action, or mentalizing how attachment dynamics, particularly insecure attachment patterning, actually happens in people’s early years and continues to be active across the lifespan (through clients out of awareness or unconscious relational dynamics), stretches many clinicians.
I often hear in consultation, “they had a good childhood“, or “there was a secure base”, yet the ensuing case presentation tells a different story ~ one rife with a typical history of neglect, non-recognition, invalidation, accommodation, etc., ~ all of which are basically the bread and butter of insecure attachment, where the child needed to meet the caregiver’s needs, or meet the caregiver on their terms, rather than on the developing infant and child’s terms. This essential need for one to be met on their own terms, to be recognized, validated, cherished, seen, heard, and valued, are hallmark challenges for caregivers with their own histories of insecure attachment, which are transmitted unconsciously through the attachment dynamics of relationship. This relational trauma, is often difficult for therapists to grasp and see it unfold in their clinical work, both in the stories of today and yesterday that clients tell, and the relational dynamics that are showcased both in and out of the therapeutic dyad.
This is where the Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy Training comes in – over two years we translate attachment theory into clinical practice through lecture, dialogue, demonstration and debrief, and practice sessions. The SAP training is particularly sophisticated in its nuanced understanding and application of attachment, relational dynamics, and how they intersect with the body and psyche. Through the SAP training, we…
dig into the heart of how attachment is formed,
explore how attachment is transmitted through the out of awareness early relational dynamics of everyday contact and connection,
learn about the unconscious dynamics of attachment transmission in relation to caregiving, including the window of tolerance and the polyvagal,
understand and recognize the internal working model(s) of self and how they showcase in people’s lives for better or worse
learn to recognize and work with patterns associated with attachment classifications gleaned from the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
learn how to recognize attachment patterns in clinical practice in terms of relational dynamics that are present in the content of the material that clients bring to therapy,
deepen how to listen and discern dynamics from early caregiving relationships that forged the self,
learn how to listen for and track the relational dynamics that continue to be recapitulated over the lifespan, so in the relationships of today,
understand how chronic shame goes hand in hand with insecure attachment and is foundational in the development of self,
explore how to work with chronic shame dynamics that are deeply interruptive of healthy functioning,
explore therapists attachment and how that intersects with clinical practice,
and of course, we learn how to recognize and work with relational dynamics in the therapeutic relationship.
In addition to attending to the relational dynamics, the Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy Training supports the regulation of the autonomic nervous system which is compromised with insecure attachment, and other traumas. Through this dynamic and comprehensive training, therapist capacity to understand, recognize and work with insecure attachment is advanced and solidified.
If your interest in Attachment Training is piqued, here’s a linkto more information and the next cohort dates. Hope to hear from you!
The somatic training world, and the broader psychotherapy training world is fractured. There is so much talk about identity politics in the political world—this is nothing new in the world of psychotherapy. The distinguished silos of understanding and practice, the dismissal of psychotherapeutic traditions, the identification and alignment with ‘one way’ is beyond a doubt, problematic. We can see this rigidity and problematic ideology in our political worlds, why is it so difficult to see that in our clinical worlds? In our clinical trainings?
The idea of somatics and working in and with the body is not new, and is making inroads through multiple previously isolated silos of clinical practice. The idea of working in and with the body has become romanticized in many clinical minds and worlds, and in those worlds has often assumed a superlative position to talk therapy. In other words, it remains misunderstood and misaligned. These polarizing positions speak to this problem of silo mentality, setting people up to defend their positions, and missing the necessity of working with both the story and the body, with the relational dynamics that are wired neurophysiologically and operate behaviorally, or relationally, often firing out of awareness.
Coming from a somatic or body-centred origin as a therapist, and having moved my orientation to bridge it with attachment theory in practice, and psychodynamic psychotherapy has made all of the difference in how I see and understand clinical work with people, people with trauma, particularly relational trauma.
In twenty years of clinical practice and teaching hundreds of therapists, I haven’t found there to be easy answers to what it takes to sit with, and heal human suffering. Clinically, I have needed a bigger and bigger canvas, read, an ever-expanding tapestry of theory and practice, not only to hold the unbearable, but to understand and traverse the depth and vastness of the abyss, to meet and companion people back from the outskirts of the void that trauma creates.
From my perspective, one that I teach in the Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy two-year online training, not only is the body necessary for processing trauma, but so is the story, the narrative, the content. People need to be witnessed. With relational injuries (insecure attachment), typically passed down through generations, we are working with elements of mystification and distortion of one’s understanding of self, other and how relationships work, we are working with an autonomic nervous system that has difficulty with regulation, we are working with a system that defends against integration, we are working with folks that have trouble mentalizing, and some folks with insecure attachment may have a lack of emotional literacy and capacity. That’s a good amount of injury to work with on both sides of the clinical chair.
There is no one way to practice, and there is no one way to heal. That is clear. Nor, can only one silo of psychotherapy respond to histories rife with anguish, unbearable, distorted and mystified experience. To bear witness and hold someone with a history of relational trauma requires the therapist to enter into the clinical space ready and able to work with the whole of the self—the body and psyche, the relational dynamics that are present and replicated from early relational experience, and work beyond silos with an ever-expanding clinical canvas that allows for diversity, nuance, and integrated thought and practice. My invitation here is to reach across the aisle (I know this sounds political, but isn’t everything political), to invite curiosity and integration, to expand your canvas—your particular understanding and brand of psychotherapy.
