For Practitioners, Students, and Teachers of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy

Join us online to hear experienced BCTA/NA teachers speak on topics to enrich your Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST) practice and study.   


Biodynamic Embryology in Clinical Practice - Three-Part Series from Michael Shea, PhD, RCST®, LMT


  Part I - Tuesday, February 13, 2024
  Recording available to all registrants

  Part II - Tuesday, March 5, 2024
  9:00 am - 11:30 am Pacific /12:00 pm - 2:30 pm Eastern

  Part III - Tuesday, March 12, 2024
  9:00 am - 11:30 am Pacific /12:00 pm - 2:30 pm Eastern

  [ Attend Live or Watch Recordings ]

  Recordings available 2-3 business days after live event. 

 

 

 

  REGISTER NOW 

 

 

Join Dr. Shea for this three-part course where he will define biodynamic embryology through the four stages of morphology: compression, expansion, centering and flexion-extension. 

Part I will cover the first two stages of compression-expansion of the whole embryo. The clinical significance and palpatory relevance will be demonstrated especially of the kidneys and bladder as the main fulcrum of the fluid body. 

Part II will cover stage three, centering a heart in the middle of the embryo and definitive construction of the human heart. Stage three includes the formation of the notochordal midline. Developmental aspects of the midline and the four stages of the heart will be covered, along with clinical applications.

Part III will cover the fourth stage: flexion-extension of the whole. This includes development of the face and cranial base and differential rates of development between the brain, heart, gut and pelvis. The application of biodynamic embryology in clinical practice will be taught.

Brief live demonstrations are included in webinars one and two. Extensive handouts will be given prior to the series for advanced study. 

Michael Shea, PhD has taught human Embryology in the Pre and Perinatal Psychology and Somatic Psychology doctoral programs at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. He was mentored by Raymond Gasser for five years, the co-author with Eric Blechschmidt of Biokinetics and Biodynamics of Human Differentiations. He edited and published Jaap van der Wal’s early embryology essays, and also received supervision from Brian Freeman. During his mentorship with Jim Jealous D.O. in the late 90s, Dr. Jealous introduced him to Human Embryology and it became a lifelong study.

Tuition:
BCTA/NA Members: $225
Non-Members:   $260
REGISTER NOW

NCBTMB CEUs for this course are pending.

Access to recordings is included with registration. 


 Learn How to Build Your BCST Practice, with Vanessa Lillie, RCST®

Join this seven-session, bi-weekly study group starting March 26, 2024. 

Meets every other Tuesday 4:00 pm Pacific / 5:00 pm Mountain / 7:00 pm Eastern 

Each session will be recorded and available to registrants the following day. 

THIS GROUP IS OPEN TO MEMBERS ONLY

 REGISTER NOW
 

Have you ever wanted to know more about how to build a thriving craniosacral practice? 

Join this Study Group facilitated by Vanessa Lillie, RCST® and approved BCTA/NA teacher, where we'll be reading and discussing "Elements of a Successful Therapeutic Business" by Kate Mackinnon and Robyn Scherr. One chapter will be discussed per study session. 

"Elements of a Successful Therapeutic Business will inspire you to bring the clinical discernment, passion, and critical thinking you use in your practice to running your business. It provides a solid framework for you to reach the goals you set for yourself. You'll have the tools to map your own unique path to success as you define it. Elements of a Successful Therapeutic Business is a focused exploration for practitioners in private practice who are dedicated to their own and their clients' growth and self-knowledge."

 Purchase your copy of the book here. 

 

A Note From facilitator, Vanessa Lillie: 

In this support group style class, we will be reading and journaling with this wonderful book. Every other week we will meet online to deepen into our strengths and share our challenges, utilizing the opportunity of meeting together to support each other as a group.

 

 

 

 

Space is limited to 11 people. Registration fee is: $140. 

Book study group meets every two weeks for two hours. One chapter will de discussed per session.

 

Register Here

All dates listed below:

Start time: 4pm PST / 7pm EST 
End time: 6pm PST / 9pm EST

Tuesday March 26
April 9 and 23
May 7 and 21
June 4 and 18

You may attend sessions live, or watch the recordings.

Recordings will be available to registrants the day after each session. 

 

 


The Human Body: A Reflection of the Living Cosmos, with Ellen Groesser, MSc, Naturopath, RCST®

A two-session webinar ~ recorded live January 25 & February 1, 2024

If you have already registered for this program, you can access the recordings here

As an Embryo we move through various cosmologic dimensions. To become a human being, we enter the 3dimensional realm at conception ignition in a sphere (zygote) and become polar in the second week. The heart ignition in the 3rd week gives our body a 3rd dimension. Our human life moves us through time, the 4th dimension, evolving and creating, before we move back to where we came from. Although spending this life in the 3rd dimension on Earth, our body shows its cosmic origin, not only in embryology but in its structures and regulative forces. 

In the first part of this two-part webinar, Ellen speaks about the Micro- and Macrocosmos, parallels between the start of the Universe, human life and the dimensions. She looks at the fascia system as a wonderful living image of Universal Consciousness and draw the line to our body’s regulating skills. In a Biodynamic practical session, these forces are evaluated.

In the second part, Ellen looks at our energy centers, and the hormonal system as the 3dimensional representation of those. We also look at the connection of our gland to the Universal sacred geometry.

A demonstration/practical session is included in Part I. 

TUITION:
BCTA/NA Members: $90 USD
Non-members: $125 USD

REGISTER NOW

 About Ellen Groesser:

Ellen Groesser, MSc, Naturopath, RCST®, began her education in Human Biology. After her master’s degree, two years of psychology studies, and a successful first career, she began her second career as a Naturopath, including foundational training in Osteopathy, Craniosacral Therapy, and Homeopathy. She has participated in various postgraduate seminars for Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy for pregnant Women, Newborns and Children, Fascial and Children’s Osteopathy.

She is listed as a “Master Therapist” with the German Cranio Sacral Association and since 2010, she is a student and assistant of Dr.Michael Shea. 

From 2015-2023 she organized and moderated the annual European Craniosacral Association Network (ECSAN) meetings in Europe. Over the last 10 years, she has been teaching Osteopathy, Craniosacral Therapy and Meditations. She trains not only in Germany but also in various other European countries like Ukraine, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, and the US.



The Biodynamic Heart: 
Applied BCST to the Vascular System, A 10-Step Protocol, with Michael Shea, PhD, RCST®, LMT

 

A two-part online workshop (recorded live in November 2023)

If you have already registered for this program, you can access the recordings here

93% of Americans have a metabolically unhealthy heart. In this two-part course we will find the biodynamic Health and learn how to work with the origin forces of Primary Respiration and dynamic stillness as they exist in the heart and blood. First learning how to establish a heart-to-heart connection with PR (the Tide) for emotional safety, we will then contact the arteries to sense the endothelium, which is the co-regulator of homeostasis in the body and an endocrine organ.

Long covid and vaccine side effects create endothelial disorders. The embryology of the cardiovascular and immune systems will also be taught and we will palpate the pulses of critical arteries for metabolic health while synchronizing our attention with the field of Primary Respiration and dynamic stillness. This 10- step protocol is specifically designed for the contemporary client and the stresses of today's world.

These skills can be integrated and mixed in with your existing biodynamic practice. A ten-step protocol for immediate application in your practice will be taught. Demonstrations will be included.

TUITION
BCTA/NA Members: $150
Non-Members:   $185 

REGISTER HERE

Advanced Attunement - Reclaiming the Mystical Origins of Biodynamics, Divinity Serves Divinity
with Bill Harvey, BCST

Recorded live on October 18, 2023
If you already registered for this program, you can access the recording here.

The origin story of how Dr. Sutherland discovered Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy after fifty years of research into the cranial concept downplays one crucial detail. Dr. Sutherland and his circle of practitioners were Christian mystics. The word “mystic” means to experience the unseen, such as angels, or heaven, or God for oneself, rather than to have an intellectual understanding of these concepts.

The importance of this detail did not become clear to Bill untiI he had been studying the mysticism of Sufi healing intensively for about four years. Though it is possible to adhere to any religion and still be a Sufi, the particular type of Sufism that he has been studying follows the guidelines and cosmology of Islam.  In Islam there are many different realities, and entering each of those worlds has a distinct phenomenology or body-feel to it. In a similar way to it being easy for each of us to recognize  that we have entered a room where an argument has recently taken place, each of these realities has a different sense of spaciousness, lightness and different qualities of light.

One of the worlds in the Islamic cosmology is called the Jabarut. In this world it is possible to contact specific Divine qualities, such as Divine Mercy or Divine Compassion. Once Bill had the experience of entering this world, he immediately realized that he visits this world every working day.  This is the world where Biodynamic Craniosacral therapy takes place, and this is where his consciousness goes to do Cranial work.

By the way, the translation for the arabic word Jabarut is the world of Potency. Once Bill realized that the Jabarut is the world where Biodynamics happen, he quickly realized that adding access to the Divine qualities to our cranial work makes our work vastly more effective and powerful. Accordingly he realized that this is what Dr. Sutherland was doing all along, and that the way that his work was eventually taught omitted nearly all of the spirituality.  Thus he began the task of reverse engineering Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy back to its mystical origins.

In this meditative exploration we will take the attunement aspect of our preparation to give a session to a much deeper level by explicitly going to the Jabarut and accessing both Divine qualities and our own Divinity. This attunement, in turn, will enhance our ability to perceive the Divinity of our client. In this way we can move beyond “fixing” or “helping” our clients, to directly serving their Divinity with our own Divinity.

TUITION:
RCST, Teacher & International Professional BCTA/NA Members: $0  (included in membership benefits)
Student, Associate & Affiliate BCTA/NA Members: $10
Non-members: $20

REGISTER HERE

 



The Tide: Health Is Polyrhythmic, with Scott Zamurut, RCST®

Held Monday, April 3, 2023 ~ Register below to access the recording!

Once you have registered for this class, you can find recordings and handouts here.  (Please log in to gain access.)

The Tide is the central aspect in the practice of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST), since it is through a direct, perceptual engagement with the Tide by a practitioner that the healing process unfolds within a client. This webinar will explore the history of this term in our field and link the Tide to the Breath of Life, and Primary Respiration.

We’ll cover five specific Tidal rhythms, in particular with regard to how healing occurs in the context of each tidal rhythm. And we’ll also touch on transitions, particularly from one tidal expression to another, especially those that are more subtle, as these may present a challenge in maintaining perceptual and therapeutic continuity. In Scott's experience, a clear understanding of the Tide allows us as practitioners to relax into the experience of a session, to navigate the unfolding healing process, and to best support our clients in their journey to a greater expression of health. This webinar will last about 90 minutes, including time for Q&A.

Scott Zamurut, RCST® has been teaching Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy since 1994, and also offers specialized trainings in Pre- and Perinatal Education. Scott's gift is his ability to convey the deepest principles of Biodynamics in simple, clear language.  His rigorous, spirited, and hands-on classroom style is a result of over 30 years of observation, practice, study, and the experience gained in training practitioners.

TUITION:
RCST, Teacher & International Professional BCTA/NA Members: $0  (included in membership benefits)
Student, Associate & Affiliate BCTA/NA Members: $10
Non-members: $20

REGISTER HERE 


 

RECORDINGS OF PAST PROGRAMS

Please log in as a member to access recordings of any of the past events that are listed as only available to RCST®, Approved Teacher and International Professional members of BCTA/NA.

Keynote Presentations

  • 'Embracing Change'an uplifting presentation by Paula Potts, M.Ed., RCST®, BCPP,  delivered at the 2020 Breath of Life Conference (available to all)
  • 'Shift is Happening: Riding the Wave of Change'the inspiring keynote presentation by Karen Henderson, RCST®,  delivered at the 2021 Breath of Life Conference (available to all)

2022 Professional Enrichment

  • Somatic WritingExploring Creativity through Embodied Practice, with Johanna Franzel (Available to RCST, Teacher, and International Professional members)
  • Dealing With Tragedies, Community Talk & Meditation, with Michael Shea (available to all)
  • BCST Treatment of Long COVID Effects with Ellen Groesser, RCST® (RCST, Teacher, and International Professional members only)

2021 Professional Enrichment

2020 Professional Enrichment Webinars (available to all)

 


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