A Somatic Perspective on Working with Modes in Schema Therapy: An Advanced Experiential Self-practice Workshop (Part 3)

A Somatic Perspective on Working with Modes in Schema Therapy: An Advanced Experiential Self-practice Workshop (Part 3) 

By: Janis Briedis
In person - The British Psychological Society, 30 Tabernacle St, London EC2A 4UE

9:30am - 5:00pm (UK Time) on 4th-5th December 2025

Registration - Website:

Workshop Description:

Modes are as much somatic as they are emotional and cognitive constructs. We all have modes or parts of self which consist of patterns that have formed over many years since childhood, and have become automatic movements, gestures and expressions that form our sense of who we are. When there has been trauma or negative attachment experiences in the past, these will often be expressed as somatic patterns that are replayed unconsciously as defensive actions.

Each mode is likely to have specific indicators in the body, and a non-verbal, as well as verbal, story to tell. This advanced experiential workshop will build on previous body-focused workshops, going deeper with ways of bringing body focus to schema therapy. The workshop is based on ideas and techniques drawn from sensorimotor psychotherapy, somatic experiencing, polyvagal theory and somatic internal family systems, put in the context of mode work in schema therapy, and will help participants deepen their awareness of ways in which their own schemas and modes present in their bodies.

This is primarily an experiential workshop, with limited theory, and plenty of opportunities to explore own personal themes and ways in which they manifest in their bodies. Video and live demonstrations will be used at the workshop.

Topics covered at the workshop:

• Building detailed mode awareness – exploring patterns of emotion, sensation, movement and impulses associated with specific modes
• Attunement, resonance and listening to the stories of the body – learning to read the non-verbal language of modes
• Creative use of breathwork as a foundation to somatic work
• Working with coping and critic modes somatically – building a somatic sense of safety when it does not feel safe enough to go in the body
• Tuning into dissociative parts of self – when there is too much or too little feeling in the body
• Limited parenting of the youngest parts – adding somatic tools to enhance work with Child Modes
• Working with impulses in the body to complete stuck actions
• Moving flexibly between working with trauma and non-trauma based somatic patterns
• Creative ways of adding movement to enhance somatic work
• Therapeutic use of touch – how to use it safely and with client’s consent

Pre-requisite: attendance of 'Body-focused Interventions in Schema Therapy - Part 1' or an equivalent. 

Fee: £325.00 for a two-day workshop.