Training for therapists
Working with Boundaries and Anger
MONDAY 15 – THURSDAY 18 MARCH, 2027
DROMANTINE CONFERENCE CENTRE, IRELAND
A somatic approach to anger as a defensive response, with a focus on tracking mobilisation and inhibition in client work.
Do you recognise this in your practice?
- Avoiding conflict at all costs, even when it affects their wellbeing
- Pushing anger down and staying quiet, then carrying resentment they can’t easily express
- Stepping back, agreeing or apologising when they want to object
- Feeling guilt or shame when they assert themselves
- Physical tightness or collapse in moments of frustration
- Anger that comes fast and feels out of control, leaving shame and regret afterwards
- Anger affecting their relationships
AND IN YOURSELF?
- Finding it hard to stay present when a client’s anger is directed at you
- Feeling your body tighten or pull back in a session and not knowing what to do with it
What happens in the body when anger shows up
Anger can either drain the energy out of a person or flood them with it. Some go quiet and disappear a bit. Others speak or act before they have taken in what’s happening. Both are protective moves on the same spectrum of mobilisation.
Physiologically, anger belongs to the body’s defensive system. It might be kept under wraps, or it might come in fast, without enough time to get oriented. These patterns usually form when the body has had to deal with threat or uncertainty without enough support around it.
This applies to you as well as your clients. How your own body learned to handle anger affects what you notice when a client gets angry, and how you respond.
What the training covers
You work on two levels throughout. You study how anger and boundaries organise in your own body, and you practise tracking and working with the same processes in clients.
By the end of the training you will be able to:
- Recognise mobilisation and inhibition in posture, tone and breath, including early signs that show before a client speaks
- Work with defensive responses and incomplete impulses, such as pushing, stepping back and saying stop, at a pace the client can manage
- Use distance, proximity and direction to help clients sense and set boundaries in session
- Use clay and other tactile materials to slow activation and give form to experience a client can’t yet put into words
- Track your own activation when anger is in the room, including anger directed at you
- Recognise when anger work is contraindicated, and how to slow down or stop
How the training works
Across three and a half days you combine experiential practice with teaching and reflection:
- Somatic awareness of posture, tone, breath and the impulse to act
- Movement explorations of defensive responses, including reaching, pushing, orienting, stepping back and saying stop, with work on distance, proximity, pace and direction
- Clay and other steady tactile materials to slow the system and anchor attention
- Practice in triads, taking turns as practitioner, client and observer, with feedback from the teaching team
- Teaching segments on activation, inhibition and integration, and how they show up in clinical work
- Discussion linking your experience to nervous system function, behavioural patterning and relational context
Each exercise is clearly framed and optional. The team uses titration and pacing throughout, so physiological change can happen without overwhelm. You won’t be asked to perform anger or to hold it down.
Clinical framework
The training is grounded in a somatic understanding of how the nervous system organises around threat, safety and protection. Anger is approached as a bodily response that carries energy and impulse, rather than something to be expressed or controlled.
The work stays close to sensation. You learn to notice, in yourself and in clients, how anger begins in the body, where it gathers, and what happens when that movement is interrupted or redirected. Attention is given to impulse and to the places where action has learned to stop.
Rather than catharsis or analysis, the emphasis is on capacity. This means building the ability to stay present with activation, to track it without being overtaken, and to allow it to move or settle in a way that makes sense to the system. This often includes gentle work with defensive responses and incomplete movements.
Over time, this supports a clearer relationship with anger. Less fear of escalation or collapse, and more clarity about how anger supports protection and integrity.
Who it's for
Qualified therapists, counsellors, psychotherapists and other practitioners from any modalities. You don’t need previous somatic training.
The training is advanced in the depth of the work. Over three and a half days you work with your own anger and boundaries in front of colleagues, and practise with them. You need enough stability to take part in that.
FAQ
Do I need somatic training to join?
No. The training is open to qualified practitioners from any modalities.
Is this personal work or professional training?
Both. You start with your own responses to anger and boundaries, then practise working with them in triads. It isn’t therapy, and it doesn’t replace your own therapy or supervision.
Will this help with clients who can’t access their anger?
Yes. A lot of the training focuses on inhibition: clients who go quiet, collapse, apologise or lose their words. You learn to work with how the body organises that, without needing the client to feel or express anger.
What if I rarely feel anger myself?
That’s a common starting point. We will look at how your body organises mobilisation and inhibition. You don’t need to feel angry to take part.
What if I’m afraid of anger, my own or someone else’s?
The training doesn’t involve unstructured expression or cathartic release. Work is paced and contained. You aren’t expected to feel angry or to witness intensity from others.
What happens if I feel overwhelmed during the training?
The team tracks activation throughout and can help slow the process, offer grounding or adjust the exercise. You can ask for one-to-one support at any point.
Will I get CPD hours?
Yes. You receive a certificate of attendance for your CPD records.
How much does it cost?
£1,150, including training, meals and accommodation. If you share a room, the fee is £1,120.
Are dietary needs catered for?
Most dietary requirements can be catered for. You’ll be asked for details in advance so the kitchen can prepare.
Details
| Dates | Monday 15 to Thursday 18 March 2027 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Dromantine Retreat and Conference Centre, Newry, County Down. Modern ensuite rooms and a rural setting with a lake and woodlands. |
| Getting there | Less than an hour from Dublin Airport, 45 minutes from either Belfast airport |
| Places | 20 |
| CPD | 24 hours. Certificate of attendance for your CPD records |
Fee
£1,150 all inclusive
Includes training, meals and accommodation
£1,120 if you share a room
