Professional Practitioner Training Overview

Stillness Trainings is an accredited training school with the Pacific Association of Craniosacral Therapists (PACT) www.biodynamic-craniosacral.com

The professional practitioner training (PPT) is normally open only to professionally qualified health practitioners from a wide range of backgrounds. However, due to the nature of the work and the training curriculum, we can offer a few places to suitable applicants with limited or no medical or therapeutic background, but with an aptitude and commitment to study Biodynamic Resonance Craniosacral Therapy and who fulfil all other admission criteria.

 
Admission Criteria
  • A sound understanding of anatomy and physiology with a minimum of 80 hours of course study and its successful completion. Stillness Trainings offers a basic A&P course, which, in ideal circumstances, is undertaken before the commencement of the PPT. We also recommend this course to all students whose knowledge and memory of A&P may be a little rusty.
  • Currently in practice or have been in professional practice in orthodox or complementary medicine or therapy for at least one year.
  • Successful completion of the Introductory workshop or its equivalent. Assessment for suitability to be accepted on to the PPT, for all applicants, takes place during the two-day introductory workshop.
  • Recommendations from one colleague and one personal friend or acquaintance (not a family member) in letters of reference and a satisfactory assessment by tutors of the completed application form.
  • A follow-up interview, and/or a letter of recommendation from a tutor of an accredited BCST training school may be necessary particularly when Stillness Trainings tutors have no experience of the applicant.
  • An understanding of the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

Places are limited to 4 - 16 and are assigned on a first-come basis. With 4 - 8 students, there will be one senior tutor teaching the course (either Terry Collinson or Brendan Pittwood and as finances occasionally allow both Terry and Brendan) plus one or two Assistant Tutors/Assistants who are members of PACT. Supervision and teaching outside of seminar hours with a senior tutor may be made available in person or via Skype or similar media, and this will usually attract an additional fee.
Teaching and Study Format

Teaching methods include lectures, demonstrations, the use of visual aids and models, guided meditation and visualisation, small group study, exploration and feedback, craft work, practical exercises, projects, attendance at a minimum of 9 Student Clinics, supervision and feedback sessions.

One or more Womb Surround Birth Process Workshops may be offered during the training on days set outside of the usual seminar days.

Throughout the training, the skills learnt within the Introductory workshop continue to be built upon, interwoven and deepened with the new work presented. We introduce and support the development of new skills as student progress allows.

We provide detailed course notes and some course materials with each seminar.

Students are required to own or have access to a core number of textbooks detailed in the available Book List of required and recommended reading.

Course study continues at home between seminars, which includes self-assessment, projects and a minimum number of client practice sessions (approximately 252 over the two years).

Homestudy is a vital aspect of the training. It is rarely an intellectual process as it supports you to grow and develop with the work in a step-by-step way so that it becomes an embodied learning. Homestudy helps a gradual unfolding of understanding, week by week, month by month and client by client - like the beautiful opening of the petals of a rose. Even if you choose to join the training purely from the perspective of personal development, the home study is still a key aspect of your development and embodiment of biodynamic principles.

Another aspect of the home study is that to graduate all home study must be completed to the tutors 'satisfaction'. You will more likely be ready and supported to graduate by completing each aspect of the work in a progression throughout the training.  Let go of any idea that it is possible to complete unfinished work in a big rush at the end.

Alongside home study, there are interviews with the tutors, practical assessments and feedback sessions scheduled throughout the training, which support the refinement of palpatory skills as well as your 'progress'.

Students must undertake to have regular Biodynamic Craniosacral therapy sessions (a minimum of one session per month) from a qualified practitioner between seminars. These sessions support student's process, health and progress in the application of the work.

Students are strongly recommended to have regular supervision sessions throughout the training. One such session between each seminar is ordinarily acceptable.

The following lists are in Alphabetical Order:
 

Core skills include:

  • Awareness of sensation of the different tissues and fluids of the body and the ability to differentiate between them.
  • Awareness of the senses and understanding of body language as diagnostic tools.
  • Clear definition of boundaries.
  • Self-responsibility and regulation.
  • Palpatory awareness of how the body responds as it self-heals, self-regulates, self-balances and reorganises.
  • Practical appreciation of the organisation of the body and the ability to track the unfoldment of tissue and fluid motions within the body.
  • Presence, pacing, light contact and listening that allow a dialogue to occur between the body and the practitioner's hands, and for this to have a clinical perspective.
  • Understanding transference, counter-transference, and their ramifications.
  • Working and Being in Resonance from a place of Stillness, Being and Presence with the Breath of Life and the Tides.

Core teaching content, which runs throughout the training includes :

  • Body-Mind connection
  • Dialogue and Communication, including Nonviolent Communication
  • Embryology
  • Nutrition
  • Pathology
  • Practical Professional Practice skills
  • Practitioner Development
  • Review and Integration
  • Sensory Development
  • Shock and Trauma management
  • Skills Tracking process
  • Stillness and Stillpoints
  • Student Clinic
  • Various forms of Self-Assessment

Specific presentations include:

  • Being in Practice
  • Body-Mind and Metaphysics
  • Central Nervous System
  • Chakra System
  • Connective Tissue including Muscle, Bone, Joints, and the Fascia
  • Cranial Bones - their Movement and Relationships
  • Cranial Nerves
  • Creative Opposition
  • Discovering Birth
  • Embryology
  • Exercise Forms that support learning
  • Exploration of your Development
  • Face, Neck and Mouth
  • Facilitated Segments
  • Five-Pointed Star, Craniopelvic Balancing and Dr Randolph Stone
  • Human Bioenergy System
  • Immune System
  • Mindfulness Meditations
  • Nervous System
  • Nutrition
  • Organs of Movement
  • Pathology Presentations
  • Reciprocal Tension Membrane System
  • Shock and Trauma Titration, Resolution and Integration
  • Spine and Pelvis
  • Sphenobasilar Junction
  • Temporomandibular Joint
  • The Mindful Brain
  • Transference, Counter-Transference
  • Transverse Diaphragms
  • Venous Sinus and Vertebral Venous Sinus Systems
  • Ventricles of the Brain
  • Viscera
  • Working with Animals is offered when there is time, student desire, and availability of suitable animals, e.g. horses, dogs, goats, cats)
  • Working with Mothers, Fathers, Babies, Children and the Family

Core study format includes:

  • Case histories.
  • Creative home study projects.
  • Practice clients and writing up practice sessions.
  • Presentations.
  • Reading and drawing.
  • Self-assessment.
  • Tracking knowledge, understanding and experience via the Skills review.

Home study is essential as it is not only a requirement for graduation but also offers us the opportunity to assess your needs.

Home study promotes:

  • Areas of understanding of the work.
  • Personal development.
  • Practical application of the work.

The final assessment for Graduation is based upon the following:

  • All financial obligations have been met.
  • Final personal and tutor appraisal and interview.
  • Satisfactory completion of all home study.
  • Self-assessment and tutor assessment process.

Exams

There is no final exam. There are two Self-Assessment Papers to complete towards the end of the training both of which replace the usual home study except for continuing practice client sessions.

The first Self-Assessment paper offers us the opportunity to have a deeper understanding of where you are with the work and what support/teaching you may want or require to complete.

The second Self-Assessment paper offers the tutor team part of a final overview of your suitability to graduate.

For those students who do not graduate but who wish to do so, Stillness Trainings will recommend a six-month course of further study with the student's input, which may include supervision and tutorials, which usually attract a fee. Our aim is that the student's safety and skills will be sufficiently developed and that all required home study is completed within this time frame.

Concurrent Study

We strongly recommend that students do not undertake this training alongside any other major courses, other than Anatomy and Physiology, where there may be a demand for significant study time or where seminar dates will conflict.

Fees & Payment for the Professional Practitioner Training

For the whole training - Seminar 1 through to 13 including 9 Student Clinics,
Australia Fee: AU$10,890.
New Zealand Fee: NZ$8,050

Payment

The training offers several ways of paying.

Payment Plan

Deposit of AU $1,089 or NZ$ 805 (non-refundable) is required upon the offer of a place on the training to secure your place.  The balance is to be paid according to one of the following three payment options:

Payment Option 1

For payment of the full course fee up front there’s a $300 discount:

Australia Fee: AU$9,501 after the initial non-refundable deposit of AU $1,089 (total fee AU$10,590).
 
New Zealand Fee: NZ$ 6,945 after the initial non-refundable deposit of NZ$ 805 (total fee NZ$ 7,750)

Payment Option 2

3 x Instalments after the 10% deposit of AU$ 1,089 and NZ$ 805:

First Instalment AU$3,267 and NZ$ 2,415 is due immediately after seminar 1

Second Instalment AU$3,267 and NZ$ 2,415 is due immediately after seminar 4

Third Instalment AU$3,267 and NZ$ 2,415 is due immediately after seminar 8

The full amount comes to AU$10,890 or NZ$ 8,050 including the deposit.

Payment Option 3

20 x Monthly Instalments after the 10% deposit of AU$ 1,089 and NZ$ 805:

AU$514.55 and NZ$ 380.36(includes 5% administration fee).

The first instalment is due immediately after the first seminar.

The full amount comes to AU$ 11,380 and NZ$8,412.25 which includes the initial deposit.
Overdue payments attract an interest rate of 2% per month.

*Please note that the Australian training includes a light vegetarian and gluten-free lunch, a comprehensive booklet for each seminar and some course materials.  Depending on the venue in Australia the fees will be less where lunch catering is not included.
In extraordinary circumstances, the student may petition in writing for a modification in the payment schedule to accommodate their situation.  Agreement of any modifications are at the sole discretion of the Training Providers and will apply only in the event that the Training Provider confirms such modifications in writing.




 

 Graduation: It is a requirement, at the discretion of the Training Providers and before Graduation, that a student will have fully discharged their agreed financial obligation.

Special Circumstances: Under exceptional circumstances, we may grant permission to a student to be absent for a maximum of two whole seminars (or six training days). The student agrees to all required catch-up as set out by the Training Providers, for any missed seminar, or part of a seminar, at the student’s own expense.

The student understands that his or her commitment is for the full training and agrees to pay the full amount due, whether or not he or she withdraws or is absent for any cause.

In accepting a student for enrolment, the Training Providers forego the opportunity to enrol another student. 

For this reason, the student agrees that the Training Providers will not refund fees paid, or cancel unpaid obligations when a student is absent or withdraws for any reason, including illness, at any time during the training.

*Please note that once you have been accepted for the Practitioner training if you withdraw before the start of the course, your deposit is non-refundable if your place cannot be filled. If your deposit is refunded, a $150 administration fee will be deducted.  By paying your deposit, you are committing to the whole training programme and its tuition fees. All instalment payments and extra tuition payments made during the training period are non-refundable.

It is therefore advisable for students to make provision for all contingencies either by insurance or other means to ensure the viability of the training for all students.