Category: Professional Development for Therapists

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🌴 Why Therapists Learn Best in Paradise: The Neuroscience Behind Deep, Restorative Learning

Background: Lush Ubud jungle or misty sunrise over rice terraces (soft pink-gold ARTI overlay at 35 % opacity). Foreground text: White rounded box or transparent gradient with copy text centred: 🌴 Why Therapists Learn Best in Paradise The Neuroscience Behind Deep, Restorative Learning Bali 2026 · Evidence-Informed CPD · 60 Hours resourcetherapy.com.au

By Philipa Thornton, BA Psych (Hons), President – Resource Therapy International

Therapists learn best when their nervous systems feel safe. This evidence-informed approach to training blends neuroscience, psychology, and paradise. Discover why Resource Therapy’s 2026 Bali Hybrid Program offers the ideal balance of learning, restoration, and community.

When therapists learn in a calm, sensory-rich environment, something extraordinary happens.

Our brains — and our hearts — open.

As trauma-informed practitioners, we know regulation is the foundation for transformation. Yet many CPD programs are delivered in cold rooms under fluorescent lights, with little time to breathe. The result? Cognitive overload instead of embodied learning.

🌿 The Science Behind Learning in Safety

Neuroscience shows that a regulated nervous system enhances neuroplasticity.
When we feel safe, the prefrontal cortex re-engages, memory consolidates, and creativity rises. Perfect for parts work!

In other words, we don’t just hear new information – we wire it in.

That’s why the 2026 Bali Clinical Resource Therapy Hybrid Training was designed as an immersive retreat rather than a standard classroom course.
It blends online foundations for cognitive understanding with in-person experiential mastery in the lush, grounding landscape of Ubud.

Therapist takeaway: The calmer your own nervous system, the deeper your client’s work becomes.

🧠 Clinical Precision Meets Human Connection

This program restores therapists while they learn. It’s both evidence-informed and neuropsychological, grounded in trauma, memory, and state theory research — yet deeply human and relational. Discover the power of parts work for yourself.

  • Evidence-informed & strength-based: rooted in decades of psychological science.
  • Hybrid design: two online blocks (Feb & Mar 2026) plus a 10-day Bali intensive (June 2026).
  • 60 CPD hours: accredited professional development that feels like self-care.

You’ll learn to diagnose and treat Conflicted, Retro, and Vaded States, apply memory reconsolidation principles, and see how RT fits into many other models despite being a stand alone therapy. Perfectly suited for EMDR, Clinical Hypnotherapists, professionally certified Coaches, DBR, IFS, and somatic mental health clinicians — all while reconnecting with your own calm centre.

🌴 Reserve My Spot for Bali 2026 :

Register here (PDF)

🌴 Why Bali Works

Environment matters.

Ubud’s rhythm naturally supports reflection and restoration. Therapists consistently tell us they return home clearer, calmer, and more clinically confident. With the bonus of the Yoga Barn and beautiful restaurants and cafes only minutes away. Bali Bliss!
The tropical environment isn’t a luxury — it’s an essential part of the learning process.

“It was the most nourishing CPD I’ve ever done.” — Social Worker, Perth

At the Evitel Resort, Ubud, your nervous system gets to exhale while your professional skills expand. This immersion for professional development and tax break offers a genuine reset.

Therapist takeaway: When you feel restored, your clients feel safer with you.

🧭 Your 2026 Training Calendar at a Glance

  • Online Foundations: 22–23 February 2026
  • Bali Intensive: 10–12 June & 15–17 June 2026
  • Advanced Clinical Training (Australia): TBA November 2026
  • Sydney Clinical Program: 22-24 February,22, 23, & 24 March,26 & 27 April, 10 & 11 May 2026

All programs are delivered through the Australian Resource Therapy Institute (ARTI) and count toward full Clinical Certification as the internationally recognised qualification from Resource Therapy International.

Presented by:
Philipa Thornton BA Psych (Hons) – President, Resource Therapy International
Chris Paulin, MA Psychology UNSW – Co-Director, Australia Resource Therapy Institute, with Professor Gordon Emmerson, PhD – Founder of Resource Therapy (special guest appearance, if available).

💛 Final Thought

Therapists give so much of themselves.
This year, gift yourself an experience that gives back.

Reignite your passion, deepen your mastery, and remember what drew you to this work in the first place.

🔗 Related Links

📄 Discover the Bali Clinical Resource Therapy Hybrid Training →

📄 Clinical Resource Therapy Online Training →

📄 Foundation Resource Therapy Online Training →

📄 Master Class Programs Online and In-person Training →

❓ Therapist FAQs

Q: Can I attend the Clinical training online?
A: Yes. Resource Therapy’s 2026 Clinical Program offers both a fully online and a Bali hybrid retreat option. Both pathways are accredited and lead to Clinical Certification.

Q: How many CPD hours will I earn?
A: Up to 60 accredited CPD hours, recognised by PACFA, ACA, APS, AASW, and AAPI.

Q: Who is this training for?
A: Therapists, counsellors, and psychologists seeking a structured, trauma-informed, and evidence-based parts therapy model that transforms both therapist and client.

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Transform Your Therapy: Trauma-Informed Training in Sydney – November

trauma-informed couples therapy, professional training for therapists, CPD Sydney 2025, Maureen McEvoy workshop, Imago and trauma integration, EFT and couples trauma, Gottman therapy training, somatic therapy for couples, art therapy integration, Resource Therapy Australia, ARTI professional training, Healing Trauma Restoring Connection, dissociation and couples therapy, attachment injuries therapy, continuing professional development Australia

Picture this:

It’s October. You’re scrolling LinkedIn. Colleagues are posting about the weekend they just spent with Maureen McEvoy in Sydney. They’re sharing tools they’re already using with couples, excited about feeling more confident, less alone.

And you feel that sinking moment: I should have been there.

We’ve all had that regret. The conference we missed. The supervision we didn’t book. The training that could have lifted our practice.

This time, you don’t have to miss it.

The rare chance to learn in-depth from Maureen McEvoy

On 8–9 November 2025, Maureen McEvoy, MA, RCC (visiting from Canada) — an international Imago workshop presenter, therapist, and trauma specialist — will lead a two-day intensive workshop in Sydney:

Healing Trauma, Restoring Connection – Trauma-Informed Couples Therapy Training

👉 This is Maureen’s only in-depth training in Australia for 2025.

She will also offer a one-day Imago supervision workshop on 10 November (drop a comment below for details on how to register) but the full two-day trauma-informed couples training happens only once this year.

If you want to strengthen how you work with couples carrying trauma, this is the weekend.

Why this matters for your counselling practice

Couples come to us with more than conflict. They bring trauma histories, attachment injuries, nervous system reactions that hijack communication. Standard talk therapy alone can stall or retraumatise.

This training will help you:

  • Calm escalation and bring safety back into the room
  • Integrate Imago, PACT, EFT, Gottman, Somatic, and Creative Arts therapies with confidence
  • Use body-based tools to support regulation in the moment
  • Strengthen your therapist presence and reduce burnout
  • Earn 12 CPD hours recognised by PACFA, ACA, APS, AASW, AAPI, ASCH

And just as importantly, you’ll walk away with community. You’ll meet peers who know the weight of this work and who can remind you that you don’t have to carry it alone.

The Therapist Crew reflection

To make it fun, we’ve introduced the Therapist Crew — parts of us that show up in practice:

  • Foggy Fran freezes, unsure which model to use
  • Not-Enough Nellie doubts herself after difficult sessions
  • Lonely Leo feels the ache of isolation in private practice
  • Burnout Baxter has lost his spark
  • Conflicted Chris juggles too many frameworks
  • Ironic Irene hides behind humour while hurting inside
  • Starting-Out Sara fears missing something critical
  • Heavy Harry carries clients’ trauma home
  • Mentor Maya is supporting others, still growing
  • Wise Walter White wants to keep learning while passing on wisdom

Which crew member feels most like you right now?

Scholarship opportunity

To celebrate, we’re running the #WhichCrewRU scholarship challenge.

We’re awarding:

  • 5 full-fee scholarships (value $1,250 AUD each)
  • 5 half-fee scholarships 50%

How to enter:

  1. Choose the crew member you identify with most.
  2. Write 100 words on why and how this training will help.
  3. Email philipa@resourcetherapy.com.au by 15 October 2025.

Event details

Healing Trauma, Restoring Connection – Trauma-Informed Couples Therapy Training

📍 Crows Nest Community Centre, Sydney

📅 8–9 November 2025

🎓 12 CPD Hours recognised (PACFA, ACA, APS, AASW, AAPI)

🟡 Sponsored by Australian Resource Therapy Institute (ARTI)

Fees:

  • September Saver – $995 (until 30 September)
  • Then – $1,100 (from 1 October) 
  • Standard 1 November $1250

👉 Register now – secure your September Saver seat:

resourcetherapy.com.au/professional–training/master–classes/

Don’t miss your chance

Therapists who act now will enter November with new skills, renewed confidence, and a community behind them.

Those who wait may find themselves wishing they had.

Don’t let this be another missed opportunity. Save over $100 by registering today.

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Has Your Therapist Really Heard Your Story?

A sunset sky fades from orange to deep purple over a calm ocean. Bold cream text reads: “Did your therapist really hear you?” with a thinking face emoji placed beside the words. The design feels warm, reflective, and inviting, evoking curiosity and self-reflection.

When you think back on therapy you’ve had, or maybe therapy you’re in right now, what stands out?

Many people tell me they loved their therapist’s kindness, or they felt safe, seen, and heard for the first time in years. Others share a very different experience: sessions felt surface-level, not connected, or the real issues – trauma, heartbreak, betrayal, or childhood wounds – never seemed to get airtime.

💭 So here’s our challenge to you:
What did you most want from therapy, and did you get it? Be brave, and say it.

  • Did you wish your therapist had asked about your past?
  • Did you feel your trauma was addressed – or avoided?
  • Did you want more practical tools?
  • Or simply someone to sit with you and really listen?
  • Something else?

For Couples

If you’ve been in couples therapy, the answers can be even more layered:

  • Did you want the therapist to take your side – or to truly stay neutral?
  • Did you feel they understood the depth of your pain when conflict flared?
  • Did the sessions get stuck in communication skills, or did they help you reach the real wounds beneath the fights?
  • Is there more?
  • Did you and your partner walk out closer… or further apart?

So many couples tell me:
“We just wanted hope.”
“We wanted to feel safe again.”
“We wanted to know if love could be rebuilt.”

Why Your Answers Matter

I train and supervise therapists across Australia and internationally. Time and again, therapists ask: “What do clients actually want from us?”

It’s one thing to study models and techniques. It’s another to hear directly from the people therapy is meant to help – you.

Your words, even a single sentence – could change how therapists are taught, how they listen, and how they show up for the next person who sits across from them.

Share Your Thoughts (Anonymously if You Wish)

👉 Pop your response in the comments below. If you’d prefer, you can write “Anonymous” instead of your name.

I’ll gather these insights (without identifying details) and share them with therapists in training, so your voice can help shape the future of therapy.

✨ Whether you’ve had years of therapy, just a few sessions, or you’re considering it for the first time, your perspective is invaluable.

So I’ll ask again. And this time, I dare and care you to answer:
What did you most want from therapy – as an individual or as a couple? And did it feel like you got it?

📌 Please note: Comments are for reflection and learning, not a substitute for professional support. If you need urgent help, reach out to your GP, a counsellor, or Lifeline (13 11 14 in Australia).

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