Subtle Touch™ Training in Somatic Child Psychotherapy
Training Details
Facilitator/s: Anita R Blanchard & Ana Rios/Irene Crespo
Date: To be announced in 2027
Time: To be announced
Place: To be announced
Fee: TBA – Light Lunch and Refreshments Included
Early bird Registration Fee:
Limited number of participants
This 2½-day training offers rich, hands-on experience in learning, applying, and receiving somatic techniques designed for individual work with children in psychotherapy. The theoretical component covers the developmental foundations of this approach, its clinical applications, and the ethical and relational ethos of working with children’s bodies and nervous systems in a respectful, attuned way.
The techniques are simple to apply, clinically grounded, and often playful—making them highly engaging and enjoyable for both therapists and children. They have been used successfully with children and adolescents in psychotherapy, as well as in educational and institutional settings. There will be an integration of expressive arts and somatic work.
Some of the methods can be taught to parents and caregivers to enhance non-verbal communication and foster clearer, more appropriate expression of needs between children and adults, and among siblings. A key objective is to bring awareness to the somatic “interweaving” that naturally occurs within families—not only in early attachment, but throughout childhood and even adulthood.
These somatic techniques are also effective as preparation for, or follow-up to, other trauma-focused interventions (such as EMDR), due to their nurturing, regulating, and soothing qualities.
Participants will also learn how to relate Calatonia to the Six Core Components of complex trauma intervention for children (Cook et al., 2005), specifically supporting:
- Safety
- Self-regulation
- Age-appropriate self-reflective information processing
- Integration of traumatic experiences
- Relational engagement
- Positive affect enhancement
Approximately 70% of the training is dedicated to supervised hands-on practice, with the remaining 30% focused on theory, integration, and discussion.
This training is intended for professionals who are already working therapeutically with children; it is not a basic training in Child Psychotherapy.
Prerequisites: Completion of Calatonia Basic Training and Subtle Touch Training II (Intermediate) is required to attend this module.
By the end of the Training in Somatic Child Psychotherapy, participants can expect to:
- Confidently apply somatic techniques with children
Learn and practice a set of child-appropriate somatic interventions that are safe, playful, and adaptable to different ages and clinical presentations. - Integrate somatic work into ongoing child psychotherapy
Combine these techniques with your existing therapeutic approach to support regulation, attachment, and emotional processing in individual sessions. - Engage children through playfulness and embodiment
Use body-based, enjoyable activities to help children express feelings non-verbally, build trust, and increase their comfort in the therapeutic relationship. - Involve parents and caregivers in somatic practices
Teach selected techniques to parents to enhance non-verbal communication, co-regulation, and healthy expression of needs within the family. - Recognize and work with familial somatic patterns
Develop a greater sensitivity to the “somatic interweaving” among family members and use this understanding to inform case formulation and intervention. - Support trauma-focused work with nurturing somatic tools
Use these techniques to prepare children for, or provide closure after, trauma interventions such as EMDR, enhancing safety and soothing. - Map Calatonia onto complex trauma frameworks
Relate your somatic interventions to the Six Core Components of complex trauma treatment for children (Cook et al., 2005): safety, self-regulation, self-reflection, trauma integration, relational engagement, and positive affect enhancement. - Increase confidence in body-based work with children
Leave with greater clarity, ethical grounding, and clinical confidence in incorporating somatic interventions into child and adolescent psychotherapy.
Important: This training does not authorize participants to teach Calatonia and Subtle Touch Techniques. For pathways to teaching, please request by email: Requirements for Becoming a Calatonia Facilitator and Trainer.
Note to Participants
Training in Calatonia & Subtle Touch supports both professional development and personal process, which can be particularly valuable for clinicians working with stress, trauma, and regulation.
Participants frequently report:
- Increased confidence in using gentle, non-invasive touch within a therapeutic frame
- A deepened sense of mutual trust, attunement, and safety in clinical relationships
- Greater appreciation for slow, subtle interventions as a complement to verbally oriented methods
- Enhanced awareness of their own embodied presence as a therapeutic tool
Group learning tends to have highly positive outcomes. Group dynamics can:
- Strengthen each participant’s capacity for self-regulation and co-regulation
- Deepen somatic and psychological processing
- Offer a supportive environment for exploring clinical questions and ethical boundaries around touch
Because the training may activate personal material and deepen self-awareness, it is strongly recommended that participants be engaged in their own psychotherapy, either before and/or during the training.
All participants receive a Training Brochure with:
- Protocol summaries and key guidelines
- Theoretical highlights and references
- Recommendations for further study, supervision, and integration into practice
* We encourage participants to attend the workshop with a local colleague to exchange regular applications of the technique for further professional development and in-depth personal experience.
Suggested literature
Blanchard, A. R. (2021). Calatonia e toques sutis: enfoque neurocientífico. Appris Editora.
Delmanto, S. (2008). Subtle Touches: Calatonia. Summus Editorial.
Farah, R. M. (2017). Calatonia – Subtle Touch in Psychotherapy. Companhia Ilimitada.
Registration
Please, email [email protected] if you would like to register for this course.
Cancellation Policy for Professional Training
If you have already registered for one of our professional trainings, and you are no longer able to attend it, our cancellation policy is as follows:
- We offer a refund of original fee minus a $75-dollar admin fee up to 30 days prior to your scheduled training date
• A 50% refund after that up to two weeks prior to the scheduled date
• No refund within two weeks of the training date
To cancel your registration according to the cancellation policy, email [email protected] with the subject line “Cancellation”, your name and date of training and registration.
