ISP Professional Training developed by Raja Selvam, PHD
What is integrative somatic psychology?
Integral Somatic Psychology™ (ISP™) is an effective somatic psychology approach that helps clients achieve optimal mental health by fully embodying their emotions. Read more in Dr.'s book. Selvam, The Practice of Embodying Emotions.
ISP is designed to shorten therapy times and improve various outcomes (physical, energetic, cognitive, emotional, behavioral, relational and spiritual) across all therapy modalities, including body psychotherapy systems such as Somatic Experiencing® (SE™) and sensorimotor psychotherapy.
It can also be taught to clients as a self-help tool for healing and improving their lives.
ISP professional training and workshops are offered on all continents; in the US, Brazil, UK, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Israel, Turkey, Russia, India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Japan and Australia.
More than 2,000 mental health professionals have been trained in the ISP method.
The teaching language is English.
What is the science behind it?
The emerging science of embodied cognition, emotion, and behavior in affective neuroscience and cognitive psychology increasingly establishes that our thoughts, feelings, and actions depend not only on our brains, but also on our bodies and our environment; and that our body's lack of involvement in any of these three interconnected functions can compromise all three and reduce our well-being.
The field of body psychotherapy has identified that our inability to tolerate emotional experiences in our bodies is the main reason for the formation of physiological defense mechanisms such as muscle constriction. These defense mechanisms reduce our body's involvement in cognitive, emotional and behavioral functions and cause psychophysiological symptoms.
Using these research results, Integral Somatic Psychology seeks to improve our thoughts, feelings and actions by making our body more available to them, improving the body's ability to tolerate emotional experiences so that it does not shut down when confronted with difficult emotions. therapy or life.
How is it done?
The practice of embodying emotions in Integrative Somatic Psychology includes the following steps:
The Situation: Knowing how to work with details of a situation to evoke emotional experiences as quickly as possible.
The emotion: Knowing how to find and support a wide range of emotional experiences, including the ever-present and often overlooked sensorimotor emotions, such as feeling bad or good, to be able to work with emotions from the very first session.
The expansion/regulation: Knowing how to work with physiological and energetic defense mechanisms in the body and brain physiology against emotions in order to expand and regulate emotional experiences in as large a part of the body as possible.
The Integration: Knowing how to find and support physical, energetic and other resources that arise spontaneously in response to the increasing capacity for emotional experiences from the first three steps, to further stabilize the process of embodying emotions and to create deeper to facilitate healing in the body and the psyche.
Dates
| Modules | Dates | Teacher |
| Module 1 | 12 – 15 June 2025 | Raja Selvam |
| Module 2 | 13 – 16 November 2025 | Raja Selvam |
| Module 3 | 7 – 10 May 2026 | Raja Selvam |
Content ISP Training
The ISP Professional Training is a premium training consisting of three 4-day training modules. Each day starts with a lecture followed by a demonstration session. After lunch you can practice the new material during clinical practice sessions under live guidance from a mentor.
Module 1:
In this first module of the training, we will learn the science of embodied cognition, emotion and behavior and the four steps of emotional embodiment practice to help improve the diverse outcomes of all therapies.
We will also learn how to facilitate greater embodiment of emotional experiences through the physiology of the muscles of the arms, legs, face, throat and neck. In addition, we will learn how to work with the elemental archetype of air to facilitate the embodiment of emotions.
Course content:
1. The science of embodied cognition, emotion and behavior
2. The four steps of the practice of embodying emotions
3. Different types of emotional experiences
4. The role of the muscular system in generating and defending against emotional experiences
5. Clinical strategies for working with the arm and leg muscles to facilitate emotional embodiment
6. Clinical Strategies for Working with the Facial, Throat, and Neck Muscles to Facilitate Emotional Embodiment
7. Clinical strategies for working with the elemental archetypes, especially air, to facilitate emotional embodiment
Module 2:
In this second module of the training we will learn how to facilitate greater embodiment of emotional experiences through the physiology of the trunk musculature and diaphragms of the trunk, and of the organs, glands and blood vessels controlled by the autonomic nervous system.
We will also study how we can facilitate greater embodiment of our emotional experiences in our brains and bodies by connecting the individual to additional elemental archetypal sources at various levels of the collective.
Course content:
1. The role of the trunk musculature and diaphragms of the trunk in generating and defending against emotional experiences
2. Clinical strategies for working with the physiology of the trunk musculature and the trunk diaphragms to facilitate the process of emotional embodiment
3. The role of the autonomic nervous system and the areas it controls (organs, glands and blood vessels) in generating and defending against emotional experiences
4. Clinical strategies for working with the autonomic nervous system and the areas controlled by it to facilitate the process of emotional embodiment
5. The role of the elemental archetype ether in emotional experiences
6. Clinical strategies for working with the elemental archetype of ether to facilitate the process of emotional embodiment
7. The role of the elemental archetype of air in emotional experiences
8. Clinical strategies for working with the elemental archetype of air to facilitate the process of emotional embodiment
9. The role of the elemental archetype of water in emotional experiences
10. Clinical Strategies for Working with the Elemental Water Archetype to Facilitate the Process of Emotional Embodiment
Module 3:
In this third and final module of the training, we will learn how we can facilitate greater embodiment of emotional experiences through the physiology of the brain, the spinal cord, and the structures that surround and protect them (cerebrospinal fluid, membrane, bone, fascia , tendon, ligament, muscle).
We will also study how we can facilitate greater embodiment of our emotional experiences in our brain and body by connecting the individual to additional archetypal resources at different levels of the collective than in earlier modules.
Course Content:
- The role of the central nervous system area of the brain and spinal cord and surrounding structures in generating as well as defending against extra-ordinary psychological and physiological and experiences of stress and trauma
- Clinical strategies for working with the physiology of the brain and spinal cord and surrounding structures when working with extra-ordinary psychological and physiological experiences of stress and trauma in psychological work settings
- The role of the central nervous system areas of the brain and spinal cord and surrounding structures in generating as well as defending against ordinary but difficult physiological and psychological experiences in the course of development (as opposed to extra-ordinary experiences stress and trauma)
- Clinical strategies for working with the central nervous system area of brain and spinal cord and surrounding structures during psychological work with ordinary but difficult experiences in the course of development (as opposed to the extraordinary experiences of stress and trauma)
- Clinical strategies for connecting the individual more to the resources of the basic elemental archetype of fire with intensity and clarity as its primary attributes, for accessing, expanding, and regulating our emotional experiences in psychological work settings
- Clinical strategies for connecting the individual more to the resources of the basic elemental archetype of earth with structure and stability as its primary attributes, for accessing, expanding, and regulating our emotional experiences in psychological work settings
- Clinical strategies for facilitating the interactions between the individual and the collective at the higher end of the archetypal continuum, at the level of the Self and beyond, to mobilize the highest possible resources of the collective for accessing, expanding, and regulating our emotional experiences in psychological work settings.
You can find more information about ISP and Raja Selvam on the following web page: Integral Somatic Psychology
The integrated somatic psychology® training consists of three modules
Practical information
Costs and Payment
You register for all 3 modules of the ISP training. Payment for the training must be made in full before the start of the first module. You also undertake to follow the three complete modules of the training, unless unforeseen circumstances mean that this is not possible.
Price for all 3 modules:
Price per 3 modules: €2340
Early bird price per 3 modules: €2280 if paid before April 11, 2025.
When paying in instalments for the 3 modules, the full price is €2390.
Price per module: €820
Early bird price per module: €780 if paid 2 months before the start of the module.
The training costs include the cost of the study manual, coffee/tea/water and break snacks. Copyright and ownership of the training material rests with Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP).
Cancellation
If you cancel before 2 months before the start of the training, an administrative fee of €90 will apply. If you cancel from 2 months to 3 weeks before the start of the course, you will pay a 30% cancellation fee. If you cancel from 3 weeks to 7 working days before the start, you pay 70% of the course fee. In case of later cancellation or if you do not cancel / do not show up, you will pay 100% of the course fee. Failure to pay the participation fee never counts as cancellation. Cancellation must be made in writing (e-mail, letter).
Location
De Hoorn (in Leuven) was chosen as the location. It is centrally located and easily accessible by car, public transport or on foot. There is the lock park and the canal to enjoy a bit of nature during the lunch break. Coffee breaks are provided by the location. For lunch there are several options nearby.
Address
De Hoorn
Sluisstraat 79
3000 Leuven
Website: De Hoorn
Class times
The typical lesson times during the training modules are from 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM, but we may end a little earlier on day 4. Lunch break is from approximately 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. This may differ slightly every day if something were to be delayed or if something was stopped earlier.
You are welcome from 8:45 am on the first day. We ask everyone to arrive on time so that we can start the first session together at 9:30 am.
The teaching language is English.
Admission criteria
The ISP Professional Training is a premium training for experienced clinicians engaged in psychological work with individuals or groups in therapeutic practice or teaching.
If you are a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, marriage and family therapist, counselor, art, movement or respiratory therapist, coach, body worker, energy worker, psychology trainer or educator, clergy, meditation or spiritual teacher, then you will find the training valuable at provided that your work also includes psychological processing.
It helps if you already involve the physical body to some extent in your work. Your familiarity with the body may come through body awareness or movement practices, body-based mindfulness or meditation practices, yoga or bodywork, or energy work.
Students and graduates of training in somatic psychology or body psychotherapy approaches such as Reichian therapy, bioenergetics, Bodynamic Analysis, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy® (SP) and Somatic Experiencing® (SE™) will have an excellent foundation.
When registering, use the registration form to describe your professional background.
If you are unsure whether your current work includes enough psychological processing or body awareness to get the most benefit from ISP, please contact your local coordinator to discuss your application.
Registration
You can register for the Integral Somatic PsychologyTM course that starts in June 2025 via onderstand aanmeldingsformulier.
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