Announcement: Special Hybrid Course Offering – Ethical Safety and Support Touch for Guides, Traditional Healers, Psychotherapists, and With-nesses Including a Day at the Shulgin Farm
We are excited to announce a special hybrid version of the Ethical Safety and Support Touch workshop, designed for guides, traditional healers, psychotherapists, and with-nesses eager to deepen their practice and cultivate safer, supportive touch techniques.
This course includes four weekly online sessions and a full in-person day at the historic Shulgin Farm in Lafayette, CA on Jan 25 (9am - 4pm), where you’ll experience live demonstrations and hands-on practice with co-learners. It offers the perfect blend of flexibility and immersive learning to refine your touch skills and confidently integrate them into your professional work.
Thank you for your interest in joining this transformative experience. Please carefully read and understand the registration terms and application process before committing to the course.
Title: Ethical Safety and Support Touch for Guides, Traditional Healers, Psychotherapists, and With-nesses
Dates: Four Weekly Online Sessions in January and February + Full In-Person Day at Shulgin Farm in Lafayette, CA on Jan 25
Cost: Non-refundable, means-based sliding scale from $350 to $1000, with a suggested payment of $650.
Why Take This Workshop?
Touch is a profound tool in many healing modalities, but it requires a deep understanding of its complexities, including consent, boundaries, and the cultural dynamics that influence its reception. Suz, a board-certified massage therapist and visionary in Ketamine-Assisted Therapeutic Massage will lead you on an ethical exploration of touch practices, helping you refine your approach in a safe and informed way.
Who Should Take This Course?
This course is ideal for guides, healers, psychotherapists, and witnesses who:
Seek to integrate ethical, safe, and supportive touch into their professional work.
Want to navigate the complexities of consent, boundaries, and cultural attitudes with confidence.
Aim to create empowering, trust-filled environments for their clients through the use of touch.
Course Schedule:
Four Online Sessions: Build foundational knowledge of ethical touch practices, consent models, and trauma-informed approaches together as a group. Three 90 minute Zoom meetings will be before the in-person day, and one 90 minute Zoom meeting will be after. As a group, we will decide on the best day/time for us (possibly Tues. evenings Pacific in January).
Jan 25th 9am - 4pm- In-Person Immersion Day:
Join us at the historic Shulgin Farm in Lafayette, CA for a day of growth, connection, and transformation.
Refine your touch techniques and attunement through live demonstrations, collaborative trades, and guided practices.
Engage in meaningful trades with fellow participants, honing your skills in a nurturing, heart-opening environment.
The group will be curated to be interdisciplinary to promote peer learning and holistic skills development.
Cacao will be available during trades as a sacred offering and entheogenic sacrament.
By the End of This Hybrid Workshop, You Will Be Able To:
Establish clear agreements and boundaries that ensure safety and mutual respect in every session.
Evaluate the risks and benefits of supportive touch to make informed decisions aligned with your practice.
Confidently negotiate consent with clients, fostering empowerment and trust in the process.
Demonstrate recognizing and responding to verbal and nonverbal feedback to adjust your technique as needed.
Navigate cultural attitudes around touch, integrating sensitivity and respect into your practice.
Incorporate a holistic approach, using energy, sounds, props, and assisted stretches tailored to your clients' comfort levels and boundaries.
Important Considerations:
This course welcomes practitioners from all backgrounds, including those who work with psychedelic-assisted therapies and plant medicines whether legal or decriminalized. However, if you have strong negative feelings towards these substances, please take a moment to reflect on whether this course aligns with your values.
We emphasize that this is not a how-to course on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and we do not encourage practicing outside the scope of your license or legal boundaries. This course does not qualify anyone as a certified touch practitioner of any kind.
In the next couple of weeks, we will map this course onto the Colorado DORA requirements for ten hours of relational and touch training for those who will be applying for accelerated training licenses to offer psilocybin services in that state. We cannot, however, promise DORA and approved training facilitates will accept this course and documentation for accelerated pathways.
The in-person day for the course is offered in a converted barn in January. While the Bay Area climate is very mild in Winter and we will attempt to heat the barn as best we can, those who are very sensitive to cold may want to wait for this hybrid course to be offered again in the Spring or Summer.
How to Apply:
This is a curated, interdisciplinary, and intimate group. Spots are very limited! To secure your place, please email info@unwindoakland.com with your qualifications and reason for wanting to join the course to schedule a short interview to see if you will be a good fit for this cohort.
Non-Refundable Registration Fee
All payments for this course are non-refundable. To secure your spot, you must make the full payment at the time of registration. This policy ensures we can effectively plan and accommodate participants.
Means-Based Sliding Scale
We believe in making this course accessible to a wide range of participants while recognizing the varied financial circumstances of those interested. Our sliding scale is designed to accommodate different income levels, with the course fee ranging from $350 to $1000.
We trust each participant to make an honest assessment of their financial situation. When determining where you fall on the sliding scale, please consider the guidelines above and reflect on what amount feels fair for you, given your resources. Our goal is to create an equitable and accessible course for all participants, so your thoughtful contribution is appreciated.
Please use the following guidelines to determine the appropriate amount for your registration. These are just examples—choose the amount that reflects your current financial situation and ability to contribute.
Lower Payment Bracket: $350
If you are experiencing financial constraints, please feel welcome to pay at the lower end of the sliding scale. This option is intended for individuals who:
Qualify for government assistance (such as SNAP, WIC, MediCal, or housing support).
Live paycheck-to-paycheck with little to no discretionary income.
Have no significant savings (e.d. 3 months emergency fund).
Are facing high levels of student loan debt or medical bills over 30% of your take home pay.
Support dependents (e.g., children, elderly family members, disabled family members) with limited total household income.
Suggested Payment: $650
The suggested payment of $650 reflects the average cost for this course. You are encouraged to pay this amount if your financial situation allows it and this is a fair reflection of the value you expect to gain from the experience.
Higher Payment Bracket: $650-$1000
If you are financially secure and able to contribute more, we encourage you to pay on the higher end of the sliding scale. This option is for individuals who:
Have discretionary funds each month after meeting basic living needs, paying student loans, and retirement savings, etc.
Own your home or property, and/or have substantial savings.
Living in luxury rental housing (over $2500 per month).
Are employed in a high-earning profession.
Do not have significant financial burdens and can invest in your personal and professional development.
Want to support others with lower incomes to access the course by contributing more.
Scholarship
There is one needs-based full scholarship available for a teaching assistant who can support set up, putting out lunch, and breakdown on Jan 25th. Must be able to lift a massage table (under 50 lbs) safely.
Payment Terms
Payment in Full: The full amount you select based on the sliding scale must be paid in full upon registration to confirm your spot.
Non-Refundable: Once paid, your registration fee is non-refundable, even if you are unable to attend the course for any reason. You may apply your fee to other courses at UnwindLearning.com if you must cancel.
Contact Information
If you have any questions or need assistance in determining the appropriate payment tier, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@unwindoakland.com
Thank you for your commitment to ethical, safe, and supportive touch practices. We look forward to learning and growing with you!
Why This Course is a Good Fit for Experienced Touch Practitioners:
This course could be highly beneficial for experienced touch practitioners, but it depends on their specific goals and areas of interest. Let's break down why it might or might not be a good fit.
Deepening Ethical Awareness: Even for practitioners with years of hands-on experience, the ethical considerations of touch—especially in complex settings like psychedelic integration or trauma work—can be nuanced and evolving. This course focuses on ethical safety, consent negotiation, and the distinction between different types of touch (supportive vs. safety touch), all critical for maintaining best practices in professional settings.
Expanding Touch Techniques: Touch professionals who have already mastered certain modalities can still benefit from expanding their toolkit. This course introduces subtle trauma-informed techniques, use of energy, props, sounds, and assisted stretches, which may not be standard in many touch modalities.
Integration of Cultural Sensitivity: The course explores cultural attitudes toward touch, which can help even seasoned practitioners become more attuned to how touch is perceived differently across various communities.
Enhancing Client Relationships and Empowerment: For practitioners who are interested in not just the technical aspects of touch but also the relational dynamics with their clients, this course emphasizes empowering clients through consent, clear boundary-setting, and responding to verbal and nonverbal cues.
Cross-Disciplinary Learning: By bringing together guides, healers, psychotherapists, and other with-nesses, the course offers a cross-disciplinary space where touch practitioners can learn from and collaborate with professionals outside of their immediate field.
Why It May Not Be Ideal for Some Experienced Practitioners:
Less Focus on Advanced Bodywork Techniques: While the course is not centered on technical mastery of specific bodywork modalities like structural integration, deep tissue, or advanced manual therapy.
Focus on Ethics and Integration: For practitioners who are already deeply engaged in trauma-informed care or touch ethics, the material may be somewhat familiar, particularly if they’ve undergone extensive training in these areas.
Psychedelic Context May Not Appeal to Everyone: Some experienced practitioners might not be interested or aligned with the focus on psychedelic-assisted therapies and touch integration. While the course is open-minded and non-judgmental about the role of sacred plant medicines, it may not be the right fit for practitioners who prefer to avoid or do not work within the context of altered states or non-ordinary consciousness.
