Yoga for Trauma Online Training Program
Join the Waitlist here to be the first to know!
Talking through our challenges is great, but it's not everything, especially in light of the many layers of trauma we are processing collectively today. As healing and mental health practitioners, we've come to learn trauma is rampant and we need body-based tools to respond to our clients' needs. Do you know how to support your clients & community in healing from trauma in an embodied way? Are your offerings grounded in the science of trauma & recovery?
Get Certified in Trauma-Informed Yoga
The Yoga for Trauma (Y4T™) Online Training Program, founded in 2015, is the first trauma-informed yoga online training program of its kind. Y4T teaches you the essentials of trauma theory, somatics, yoga, and trauma-informed practice. The program is here to create a lasting positive impact on you, and on those you serve. With a community of graduates from 30 countries and counting, this is the premier online training for yoga and mental health professionals offering trauma-informed yoga.
The Yoga for Trauma Training will help you:
- Serve students and clients who have experienced trauma
- Understand different types of trauma and how they impact the brain, body and psyche
- Apply new tools to support those impacted by trauma
- Feel confident while teaching sensitive populations
- Communicate the science behind our physiological response to trauma
- Help your students & clients learn how our bodies respond to stress
- Respond to the unique needs of trauma survivors
- Integrate recent advances in the fields of yoga and trauma recovery into your healing work – without losing yourself to a method.
- Connect to a growing international community of yoga and mental health professionals
If you're serving anyone who has endured trauma, this program is essential for you.
How the program works:
- This course requires an 8-week commitment. All students have 12 weeks to complete the material with their cohort.
- Each week you'll receive a lecture, yoga practice, reading assignment and assigned reflection questions.
- You will need 4-6 hours per week to complete course lectures, yoga practices, assignments and readings.
- You will receive access to your weekly content on Mondays, followed by reminders on Wednesdays and Fridays.
- All materials are recorded so you can watch in your own time zone, pause, and schedule your weeks as you wish.
- You will retain access to the course after graduation, and will have the opportunity to revisit the material with a future cohort – you will have access to the program as long as it exists!
- All reflection questions are required to earn your certificate of completion.
Here's what you learn in the program:
WEEK 1 - Foundations of Health
In your first week, you will learn how to set yourself up for success in this program, and to how build a healthy foundation for your clients & students. We'll cover some important theoretical orientations that too many people skip, and ensure that you and your work are rooted in what we seek to create – whole person health.
WEEK 2 - Understanding Trauma
In week two, you will learn the current definitions and conceptualizations of trauma within the field of mental health. We'll explore how the criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well as complex and developmental trauma, and specific manifestation of post-traumatic stress. This week will set you up to understand how trauma can show up during yogic practices.
WEEK 3 - Somatic Psychotherapy and The Nervous System
In week three, you will learn the key role the nervous system plays in trauma recovery, and how to involve the body in the healing process. You'll learn how our understanding of the nervous system and its functioning has evolved, and discuss concrete techniques to help students and clients stabilize in times of crisis, and process emotions when the time is right.
WEEK 4 - Fundamentals of Yoga Philosophy and Practice
In week four, you will learn the philosophical roots of yoga and how they relate to the themes we have covered thus far: post-traumatic stress, somatic psychotherapy and the nervous system. We will also cover the impact of postures and breath work on the nervous system, including some sample sequences for common manifestations of post-traumatic stress.
WEEK 5 - Principles of Trauma Informed Yoga (TIY)
In week five, you'll learn core principles in trauma informed yoga, which will guide you in setting up, or refining, your trauma-informed individual or group space.
WEEK 6 - Advanced Principles
In week six, we discuss advanced principles including dissociation, attachment, and power dynamics as they apply to the roles of facilitator and student in a TIY setting.
WEEK 7 - Research Review
In week seven, we'll take a deep dive into the current research. You'll also have a chance to explore the research that is most relevant to your population, and you'll turn in your (straightforward, doable) research project at the end of the week.
WEEK 8 - Practicum
In week eight you have a chance to integrate all you've learned, and stretch yourself through practice. This week, you'll put your skills to work and apply what you've learn in one of three structured practicum exercises. Once you finish all eight weeks, you'll submit your reflection questions to complete your experience in the training.
Bonus Trainings
Upon completion of the 8-week core curriculum you'll receive access to Y4T™ Bonus Workshops. In these exclusive workshops you'll learn from leaders in the fields of trauma, yoga, and embodied healing. Bonus trainings address:
Advanced Psychology and Yoga Energetics
Yoga, Trauma and the Koshas with Susan Pease Banitt, author of The Trauma Toolkit and Wisdom, Attachment and Love in Psychotherapy. In this session you will learn how the energy body responds to post-traumatic stress and how this relates to the the yogic maps of the energy body, or, koshas.
What Everyone Should Know About Dissociation with Christine Forner, Past President of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation and author of Dissociation, Mindfulness, and Creative Meditations: Trauma-Informed Practices to Facilitate Growth. In this session you will learn foundational elements of dissociation, and how we can orient ourselves to healing.
How to Support Survivors of Sexual Trauma
Transcending Sexual Trauma Through Yoga with Zabie Yamasaki author of Trauma-Informed Yoga for Survivors of Sexual Assault. In this session you will learn how to respond to the unique needs of survivors of sexual assault, and how to sensitively guide students through a yoga practice in order to maximize opportunities for healing.
Yoga for Survivors of Sexual Assault with Tara Tonini, former Director of Curriculum and Mentoring for Exhale to Inhale, an organization supporting survivors of interpersonal violence and sexual assault. In this training, Tara will explain how she created Bloom Healing Yoga, her 6-week yoga program tailored to the needs of survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence.
Systemic Challenges and Solutions
Systemic Betrayal and Gender Diversity with Dragan Wright, psychotherapist and trainer Specializing in Complex Trauma and Gender, Sexuality, and Relationship Diversity. In this training, Dragan will share how systemic trauma impacts groups, with an emphasis on gender identity and diversity.
Trauma, Oppression, and Embodied Healing with Molly Boeder Harris, Founder of The Breathe Network, a nonprofit offering yoga and therapy to survivors of sexual violence. In this session, Molly speaks to the importance of somatic work that is clear in its intent and boundaries, as well as the centrality of anti-racist work in the context of trauma recovery.
When you enroll, you'll receive:
- Certificate of Completion. This qualifies for 32 hours of CE credit for Yoga Alliance (US and Canada) and 8 CEC's for licensed mental health providers in the USA ($35 CE fee applies, due to CE Learning Systems, some restrictions apply). The ASWB is changing standards, so unfortunately, we cannot guarantee CEC's for social work professionals at this time. CE Learning Systems, LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CE Learning Systems maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
- Recorded training sessions – participate anytime during the week they are assigned
- Readings that complement the lecture content (along with bonus suggestions)
- Assignments to help you reflect, integrate and apply your knowledge to your work and life
- One year of access to monthly group support calls
- PDF access to Embodied Healing: Using Yoga to Recover from Trauma and Extreme Stress and How You Can Heal: A Strength-Based Guide to Trauma Recovery.
- A print copy of Yoga for Trauma Recovery: Theory, Philosophy, and Practice (shipped to most international destinations).
Trainings are recorded, so you can watch the videos in your home time zone, when it fits into your schedule. Practices and reflection questions are included each week and are required to earn your certificate of completion. All readings and assigned reflections are required to earn your certificate of completion and to qualify for CEUs.
We are making some exciting updates to the program for Summer 2022.. Join the Waitlist here to be the first to know!
The Center for Yoga and Trauma Recovery is a CYA Certified Yoga Training School.
This is an advanced training program designed for yoga and mental health professionals. Given the potential for both triggers and deep healing to occur while studying these subjects, it is important that you have access to supports for your personal well-being when enrolling in the program.
Course enrollment fees are nonrefundable, but can be transferred prior to your program starting date.
This summer we will be launching something we've never done before... get on the Y4T Waitlist to learn all the details as soon as they're available and to be able to join us for this new experience!
Training for Wellness Professionals
What Y4T Graduates Are Saying...
"I joined Y4T to offer yoga to abused women and children in the Philippines. Now that I've completed the program I believe everyone needs this training!"
– Noreen Belarmino-Nikolic, Founder of The Surya Project, Manila Philippines
"This program will provide you with tools you will use for a lifetime, not just for your clients, but for you"
– Belinda Thurston Founder of Just Be Yoga, Landsing, Michigan
"The course is a wonderful blend of theory and practical advice on how to better address trauma populations through yoga."
– Hilary McKown, Owner of The Yoga Place, Milan Italy
"Y4T is advanced, but accessible. Lisa's personality brings light to the difficult, yet important topic of trauma and healing."
– Tara Tonini, Founder of Bloom Healing Yoga, New York City
"Lisa holds a wealth of trauma knowledge with great intelligence and lightness."
– Colleen Millen, E-RYT, MFT, Walnut Creek, California
"I teach to a group of ex-prison inmates who are mandated to an outpatient program as part of their parole. Prior to Y4T I was having trouble gathering the students' attention. This training provided me with the tools I needed to facilitate the class. The group has responded to my new style with enthusiasm; they are thankful and now stick around after class to fill me in on their personal progress!
–Christina Slack, Yoga Teacher, Novato, California
Continuing Education Competencies
Participants will be able to:
- Apply essential elements of dignity to the population served.
- Analyze aspects of intergenerational trauma and resilience in populations served.
- Apply principles of Polyvagal Theory to goals of creating safety.
- Compare the eight limbs of yoga to trauma treatment goals.
- Choose language that supports students in identifying and meeting their needs, inclusive of PTSD symptoms.
- Describe the range of dissociative symptoms, from commonplace to clinical.
- Analyze randomized controlled trials that study the use of yoga for post-traumatic stress.
- Reflect on strengths and weaknesses, and practice cultivating skills while working with other students.
Y4T™ Program Trainer
Lisa Danylchuk, LMFT, E-RYT
Lisa Danylchuk, LMFT, E-RYT, is a licensed psychotherapist and founder of The Center for Yoga and Trauma Recovery. A graduate of UCLA and Harvard University, her work has pioneered the field of trauma-informed yoga and transformed our understanding of embodiment practices in therapeutic work. More than 385 providers from 28+ countries have completed Lisa’s Yoga for Trauma (Y4T) Online Training Program, the first virtual program to train providers offering trauma-informed yoga.
Lisa currently serves as President for the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, and has served in leadership roles for the organization for the past 5 years. Her research has been published by the American Counseling Association and she has contributed to many peer-reviewed articles in the fields of trauma, resilience, and human development. She’s written for the American Psychological Association, Good Therapy and was named one of the top 20 Inspirational Yoga Teachers To Follow in 2016. Honored as Luluemon’s first California ambassador, her website www.howwecanheal.com has also been recognized as a Top 25 Yoga Blog.
Lisa's books include Embodied Healing: Using Yoga to Recover from Trauma and Extreme Stress (2015), How You Can Heal: A Strength Based Guide to Trauma Recovery (2017), and most recentlyYoga for Trauma Recovery: Theory, Philosophy, and Practice (2019). She is a also contributing editor for the Best Practices for Yoga for Veterans, published by the Yoga Service Council.
Lisa lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. When she’s not writing or teaching, you’ll likely find her running trails in nearby parks or snuggling with her two dogs, Iris and Bumi.