Continuing Education for highly sensitive therapists in California
Hi, We’re Ivy, Ileana, and Leigh!
We lead soul-centered CE trainings for highly sensitive therapists in California who want to deepen clinical skills and emerge feeling understood, refreshed, and invigorated.
On the day of your long-anticipated training, you arrive a little early,
carefully select your coffee-and-pastry breakfast, pick a spot to sit with a good view of the podium that’s not too close to a speaker and not right under a vent, pull out your pen and pad, and settle in.
Of course, the room is too hot, the flickering fluorescent lights start to give you a headache, you can’t stop hearing the ticking of the clock, and the background static from the speaker is making you twitch. Even still, you determinedly try to focus on the 57 slides the speaker is presenting.
By mid morning, you feel like your head is spinning. There’s just so much to process and no breaks to catch your breath.
The lunch break is much too short, and it doesn’t take long for the afternoon mental fog to kick in, and there’s still MORE info being presented. By midafternoon, you’re mentally checked out. You know there are some good ideas here, and you convince yourself that you’ll make some time in your schedule later to review the material - but you won’t.
When you wrap up the training feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and with a headache to boot, you wonder,
“Was it worth it?”
“Will this actually help me be a better therapist?”
On your drive home, you berate yourself for getting distracted, feeling so overwhelmed, not being a better learner. You’re ashamed that a simple daylong training feels so hard, and you feel guilty and more-than-a-little sick to your stomach about the money you spent.
Guess what? You’re not the problem. The training is the problem. It wasn’t meant for your highly sensitive brain.
Those rooms aren’t meant to be supportive to anyone, much less the highly sensitive person. There’s a barrage of information, and no comfort and calm built into the day. It’s all about go-go-go, and that’s simply not the best setting for HSP learning. You need time to slow down, pause, reflect, and process because THIS is how you learn best.
YOU CAN LEARN AND GROW WHILE BEING SUPPORTED, HAVING TIME TO PROCESS AND INTEGRATE, AND FEELING REFRESHED!
experience the soul-centered difference
As highly sensitive therapists and trainers, we’ve been through our share of excruciating trainings.
We get the needs of highly sensitive people, and we get how this trait is unappreciated in our broader culture, as well as in the therapy world. And, it’s been unaccounted for in any clinical trainings we’ve ever attended.
When you attend a soul-centered training for highly sensitive therapists, you can -
Participate in a training centered around the needs of highly sensitive therapists
Embrace ongoing learning and growth, which are a beautiful part of this profession
Take care of yourself while deepening your clinical skills (Hellooo experiential practice and modeling!)
Have ample time to integrate, process, practice, reflect, and consult BUILT IN to the training
Enjoy pockets of time for deep connection with peers without having to compromise your learning
Let’s grow differently.
about Ivy
I’ve been in private practice for 11 years and have worked as a therapist since 2008. I spent a lot of those years beating myself up for being too impacted by my clients, for not having the same amount of energy as my colleagues, for feeling like a zombie if I saw back-to-back clients all day.
Deep down, I feared that I had chosen the wrong profession. I was terrified because I had accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, and I knew that going back to school was not an option.
During a time of feeling burned out and questioning what-the-hell I was doing with my life, I started looking for themes in the clients I worked with. I realized a lot of them seemed to be sensitive people, and I remembered hearing about that book, The Highly Sensitive Person. This piqued my curiosity and launched a slow and gradual journey of learning, exploration, and self-discovery for both me and my clients.
As I was able to share my learning and insights with my clients and felt invigorated by their relief, their sense of “it’s not just me!” and their delicately emerging self-acceptance, I also began to accept more of who I am.
Now, I’m a highly trained HSP-knowledgeable therapist, and I continue to specialize with hsp clients. I have a background as a trainer for students, staff, and faculty at UC Davis, and I’m a CAMFT Certified Clinical Supervisor, a Certified Brainspotting practitioner, and the Owner and Director of Thrive Therapy & Counseling. I provide clinical supervision, training, and mentorship to my team of therapists at Thrive with a focus on honoring our sensitivities and supporting our clients with theirs.
I’m passionate about helping us sensitive souls find acceptance, compassion, joy, strength, and community in who we are.