DST SOMATICS STEP 4: Embodied Touch: Expanding Self Awareness and Somatic Skill 2025

Embodied Touch: Expanding Self Awareness and Somatic Skill is the fourth step in the Dynamic Somatic Touch® training path — a powerful immersion into the fundamentals of therapeutic contact.

In this experiential, in-person retreat, students who have completed Step 3 will deepen their ability to listen with their hands, regulate with their presence, and support healing through attuned, intuitive touch. This course bridges the internal sensitivity cultivated in prior modules with external application on the table, allowing you to expand your somatic capacity in service of others — and of yourself.

You’ll learn how to track subtle patterns in the nervous system through contact, develop intuitive accuracy in working with tone, tension, and flow, and offer touch that supports a sense of safety, coherence, and connection. This is not about technique alone — it’s about becoming more fluent in the language of the body and more attuned to the unique rhythm of each healing process.

Held in the serene coastal setting of Malibu, California, Step 4 offers an opportunity to embody your learning more deeply, refine your skills in a supportive community, and walk away with renewed insight into how touch can transform both trauma and self-perception.

Course Objectives:
– Deepen somatic presence and learn how to embody “listening hands”
– Offer supportive contact that facilitates nervous system regulation and co-regulation
– Build sensitivity to layers of tissue tone, tension, and flow beneath the surface
– Understand and respond to states of dissociation, overwhelm, and subtle shifts in awareness
– Practice foundational two-handed table work (including introductory cranial support)
– Develop confidence in knowing where, how, and when to make contact — and when to pause
– Distinguish between comforting touch and bypassing, and foster clarity around boundaries
– Explore the use of touch to help move clients from symptom fixation to forward momentum
– Integrate bodywork within the DST framework while honoring individual client pacing and process

This training is ideal for therapists, healing practitioners, and dedicated students of somatic work seeking to develop greater presence, clarity, and effectiveness in the field of embodied healing.