Current Offerings

Audience
This workshop is ideal for therapists, social workers, and mental health practitioners seeking to enhance their systemic family-centered skills through attending to and incorporating experiential elements relating to the body, mind and life energy as a practitioner. Students are also welcome.

Description
Virginia Satir’s approach is focused on the whole person, affirming that there is no separation of body, mind and spirit or life energy, as they work in unity. Her approach is founded on the belief that change is always possible and that people have their own resources to draw upon. It was her life’s work as a therapist to help people get in touch with their resources as a grounded, centered partner in the healing relationship. She believed that as helping professionals connect with their own life energy, clients are more enabled to connect with theirs and can become a more active participant in the change process toward growth and transformation. Satir’s attention and inclusion of the body, energy and spirituality of all persons was very much ahead of her peers, during her lifetime as a trainer and practitioner. This aspect of her approach is in line with current bodymind approaches in therapy.

This program will demonstrate the importance of attending to the body and energy in achieving change and transformation through highlighting attention to being fully present and congruent in words, gestures and interactions within oneself and for others. Tools to focus on the internal and external aspects of the self, and a variety of coping styles, will be highlighted to enhance skills in assessment and intervention with both individuals and families from a body-oriented and family-centered perspective.

These skills will be applicable to practice with a diverse range of client populations and clinical practice settings, as they speak to fundamental, albeit often neglected aspects of the human experience and universally accessible ways of holistic healing.

Learning Objectives:

• To demonstrate foundational skills for working with individuals and families in the application of Satir Therapy in a variety of clinical practice contexts.
• Articulate the necessity of practicing self-care and being fully present in clinical practice.
• Develop skills for attuning to and monitoring experiential aspects of therapy including the client’s and practitioner’s responses (words, actions and energy).

Learning Activities:

• Introducing skills relating to Satir’s systemic approach.
• Demonstrations and processing using dyads and group feedback.
• Exercises to support greater consciousness and incorporation of an energy/body/mind focus.

NOTE: It is recommended, however not required, that participants attend “An Introduction to Satir’s Systemic, Family-Centered Therapy” on May 9th, 2025.

Audience
Therapists, counsellors, educators, community health workers, social workers, and those who are interested in culturally informed, holistic approaches to healing and personal development. Students in social work and other therapy-oriented programs are also welcome.

Description
This course explores the intersection of Indigenous knowledge systems and the Virginia Satir Model for personal growth and family therapy. Participants will delve into how Indigenous practices—rooted in relationality, balance, and connection to the land—align with and enhance the core principles of the Satir Model.

Three experienced clinician educators will share diverse methods of how they use the Satir model in their clinical counselling practice, their work with Indigenous peoples and agencies, and in their personal lives. The course emphasizes experiential learning, highlighting tools like storytelling, ceremony, and intergenerational wisdom as complements to Satir’s concepts of congruence, self-esteem, and transformational change.

Through case studies, hands-on exercises, and dialogue, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how to respectfully integrate these approaches to foster healing, harmony, and resilience in Indigenous individuals, families, and communities.

Virginia Satir’s Legacy and Model
Virginia Satir’s approach is focused on the whole person, affirming that there is no separation of body, mind and spirit or life energy, as they work in unity, it has no color realm, and it cuts across all cultural norms. The Satir model focuses on internal and external aspects of the self and teaching coping styles from a body-oriented and family-centered perspective. Her quote “Peace within, Peace between, Peace among”, can be found within each of the processes she used to demonstrate how we as human beings learn to be human, living with self, other and context. Her work is presented to us today as a model that encompass the journey that an individual can embark on finding their own inner core, with an in-depth understanding of the need to be in collaboration with all of Humankind, all of Nature and the Universe.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the foundational principles of Indigenous ways of knowing and their compatibility with the Satir Model.
• Apply skills for incorporating Indigenous practices, such as storytelling and ceremony, into Satir-based therapeutic processes.
• Develop cultural humility and ethical awareness when working with Indigenous communities.
• Foster relational healing, which is listening from the heart, discovering what caused hurt, being vulnerable and rebuilding trust.

Learning Activities:

• Explore Indigenous paradigms and the parallels within the Satir Model
• Walk through the Virginia Satir Change Process
• Experientially learn the survival coping skills as a way of deep connection
• Explore Satir’s “use of self” with an Indigenous lens