The Somatic Psychology curriculum provides students with a firm understanding of those theories, strategies, and transformational attitudes that are basic to psychotherapy. Coursework covers a range of psychodynamic approaches, such as object relations, self psychology, Jungian theory, and intersubjective theory. Students will focus on somatic approaches and explore the social and cultural influences on the body, including those of race, gender, learning, and work in relationship to embodied experience. In addition to traditional forms of assessment, the program teaches assessment of individual and family dynamics through the observation of body movement and nonverbal communication. Students learn both verbal and body-based methods of intervention, and the coursework combines didactic and experiential modes of learning.

The curriculum will prepare a student for the academic requirements of the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) license. Sixty semester units are required for graduation; nine must be in a field placement that meets the guidelines of the State Board of Behavioral Sciences. The Institute determines specific course exemptions on an individual basis. Students are also required to complete 50 hours of personal somatic psychotherapy.

The Somatic Psychology concentration includes common core courses that are shared with the other Master's in Counseling Psychology programs. If possible, these courses are taught with a somatics emphasis. Please call the Admissions Office at 415.575.6152 for more information about the Somatic Psychology curriculum.

Required Master’s in Counseling Psychology Courses (54 units)
• Professional Ethics and Family Law
• Psychopathology
• Alcohol and Chemical Dependency Counseling
• Psychological Assessment
• Research Methods
• Child Therapy
• Supervised Clinical Practicum
• Human Development and the Family
• Psychodynamics
• The Clinical Relationship
• Group Dynamics
• Family Dynamics and Therapy
• Therapeutic Communication/Lab
• Cross-cultural Counseling and the Family
• Marriage and Couples Counseling
• The Body: Experienced, Conceptualized, and Verbalized
• Movement Approaches in Somatic Psychotherapy
• Somatics, Society, and Culture
• Theories and Techniques of Somatic Psychotherapy (II and III)
• Integrative Seminar

Electives (6 units):
• Sensory Awareness
• Somatic and Experiential Psychotherapy with Couples
• The Psychology of Play
• Body-Mind Practices of Various Cultures
 
Selected Topics:
• Somatic Approaches to Emotional Expression
• Body-Oriented Approaches to Trauma
• Somatic Awareness

In order to qualify for MFT licensure in the State of California, applicants are required to fulfill the following three requirements, which are not included in the program’s required curriculum for graduation. These requirements are not required by the BBS to be fulfilled prior to graduation, but must be fulfilled prior to application for licensure:
 
Human Sexuality (10 hours)
Psychopharmacology (30 hours)
Child Abuse Assessment and Reporting (7 hours)
 
Classes and workshops are offered through CIIS Public Programs and other educational institutions to meet these requirements.

Please read about the Center for Somatic Psychotherapy, a professional training facility for CIIS students who are pursuing a somatic orientation in their therapeutic work.