Michael Shiffman, Ph.D.

SFV-CAMFT Somatic Practices SIG

Great News! Our Somatic Practices SIG has launched. Our first group meeting was on April 29 with 25 attending. We had time to socialize, do personal introductions and begin to form our collective intention for the SIG.

Our next meeting date is July 8, 4:00 – 6:00 pm at the home of Michael Shiffman. Location and directions will be sent to those who register. The final meeting details will be announced shortly.

The discussion that emerged made apparent that there was a strong interest in peer case consultation, somatic trainings and opportunities for experiential workshops. The diverse interest and experience levels required some time to digest and discuss what form the SIG would take and how we might give it voice and structure.

We have decided to test a structure that would combine three elements: experiential training, case presentation and peer-group case consultation. Our monthly meetings will have an experiential training and a structured case presentation. The peer consult groups will meet at different times and in various places throughout the valley. We will identify people who want to host the peer-consult groups and then publicize their time and location.

The meeting structure will have two parts: the first will emphasize the experiential learning of a somatic skill, the second will be a structured case presentation. The initial format for our two-hour group meeting is:

• Introductions
• Somatic skill presentation with experiential exercises
• Discussion
• Break
• Case presentation
• Discussion
• Close

Save the following dates for our upcoming general meetings:

July 8            September 23
August 19      October 28

We will send announcements to our entire chapter as well as emails to those who have expressed interest in the SIG with details as they are decided.

If you are interested in leading a presentation with experiential exercises or presenting a case for discussion, please email Michael Shiffman at michael@michaelshiffman.com.

Join us on July 8.

Michael Shiffman, Ph.D., is a somatic therapist, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, a NARM Practitioner, and an MFT Intern with David Plotkin, Ph.D., and Associates in Encino. He specializes in the treatment of complex and developmental trauma and teaches mindfulness practices and somatic therapy to therapists and the general public. Visit https://insightcenter.org or http://michaelshiffman.com for details.