Hanna Somatic Education®

Hanna Somatics GoldTM
The Gold Standard of Somatic EducationTM

WORKSHOPS / TRAININGS

Practitioner Training Program
conducted by Lawrence Gold

Credentials | Publications

How I Train People | Intention and Format

My trainings are for people who have experienced and recognized the limitations of bodywork and standard therapeutic methods and the advantages and extraordinary promise of clinical somatic education as a way of improving people's (and our own) lives. They're for people who feel drawn to practice entirely from within the somatic point of view (rather than strictly from within biomechanical or energetic models), essentially upgrading their understanding from that of previous bodies of knowledge rather than just adding something to their toolkit.

On this page, you'll read and see how I deliver training the way I do, why I deliver it the way I do and the general agenda of training days. You'll see our pre-requisites for entering training, the resources you need to fulfill those pre-requisites, and the tuition. You have access to the Candidate Application form and to general information about workshops I conduct from time to time.

If you want to know how I have benefitted from somatic education (i.e., my history of injuries and recovery), click My Background. For now, let's just say that I've tested the efficacy of somatic education prettily heavily, in myself.

The Basic Training

The basic training consists of three modules separated by six-month practice periods, with group coaching calls to answer questions.

Most modules last from four to six days.

During training, participants practice in pods of three in which members rotate between being "practitioner", "client" and "coach". Classes are populated by participants in multiples of three.

Training days consist of

  1. clearing up questions
  2. somatic kinesiology (practice of somatic exercises)
  3. lecture/conversation on a topic relevant to the day's technical content (i.e., somatology)
  4. demonstration of clinical techniques/protocols
  5. learning and practice of clinical techniques/protocols
  6. final Q&A
generally six working-hours, daily

The content of the basic training mirrors the content of Thomas Hanna's book, Somatics | ReAwakening the Mind's Control of Movement, Flexibility and Health and the matters he covered in his Clinical Somatic Education article, which address the three reflexes of stress: Landau Reaction, Trauma Reflex, and Startle Reflex. The training I deliver (as the training Thomas Hanna delivered) includes somatology segments that put clinical somatic education into a larger context that has to do with how we live life and how the way we live affects our somatic development/conditioning/aging. Somatology makes somatic education more than "sophisticated bodywork" into -- in effect -- the study of the self, directly observable.

Thomas Hanna made a point of saying that it is essential that his successors be able to see somatic existence as he saw it, from a somatic perspective of which clinical somatic education is a subset. I see training people that way.

Intermediate trainings cover conditions named on this page, divided into modules.

Advanced trainings extend somatic education to cover more of the subjective, internal workings of human beings, as described in the blog, Full-Spectrum Somatics.

Progression through the stages of training necessarily depends upon adequate mastery of what has gone, before, and I will evaluate each student, accordingly, and give coaching, as needed, to a successful degree of preparedness. I do not accept unprepared students because unpreparedness is a mindset that involves trapped attention (Attentional-Intentional Amnesia vs. Sensory-Motor Amnesia) that impedes the intake of new information and thickens the psychic atmosphere.

To get the flavor of how I conduct training, view the video segment, below.

Next training: spring, 2013 | Thursday through Tuesday, 6 days
TUITION: See below.

"Please add me to the announcement list."
Learn the basic protocols and understanding of Hanna Somatic Education® to rapidly and decisively end back pain, to free breathing, improve posture and movement, and overcome the multifarious, lingering effects of injuries, persistent non-malignant musculo-skeletal pain, pain and stiffness associated with ageing.

  • Santa Fe, NM

inquire: email link | phone: 505 819-0858 | Skype: lawrencegold

This program is based upon the three-year curriculum designed by Thomas Hanna, Ph.D. You may see Training Pre-requisites here. Training modules: two to six days in length. First module: six days

You develop basic competence in the methods of Hanna Somatic Education and the capacity to understand and use its underlying principles.

I do not confer authorization to use the trademarks, Hanna Somatic Educator® and Hanna Somatic Education® in this training; The Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training reserves use of the registered trademarks for trainings specifically sanctioned The Institute. Mine is an independent training program in which I aim at a higher standard of proficiency and understanding than the Institute-sanctioned trainings.

I served for two years as an instructor for The Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training (Personal Page (click for bio, credentials, and papers published)).

  • Training in your area

  • To apply for training, I require both the application form and either

    • Application Fee ($100.00) -- or --

    • Tuition including Application Fee (see at right)
    Enrollment subject to approval by the instructor.

    Click the button, below, for the printable/mailable application form.

    OR --------

    Click the button, below, for the on-line, instant application form.

    Please notify me if you complete the application form on-line.

    Please continue below or at right.


    Click the button, below, to pay the application fee.

    or mail payment to Lawrence Gold
    15 Esquina Road
    Santa Fe, NM 87508

    Early-Bird Tuition

    $540.00 payable by March 24, 2012 for 6-day training scheduled to start the following date:

    spring 2013 (exact date TBA)

    includes $100.00 conditionally-refundable* Application Fee

  • Application Fee and Tuition refunded to candidates not accepted due to limited class size.
  • * In Case of Candidate Withdrawal Tuition refundable minus $100.00 Application Fee, until 8/20/12. Re-applicable thereafter to subsequent Module 1 trainings, one-on-one sessions, or somatic exercise programs.
  • All payments refunded upon request in the event of course postponement.
  • All payments refunded in the event of course cancellation.


    Two-Payment Tuition Option

    First tuition payment due before 3/26/13.

    Two payments of $475.00 billed every four weeks; $950.00, total*, for 6-day training scheduled to start the following date:
    spring, 2013

    includes $100.00 conditionally-refundable* Application Fee

  • Application Fee and Tuition refunded to candidates not accepted due to limited class size.
  • * In Case of Candidate Withdrawal Tuition refundable minus $100.00 Application Fee, until 4/26/13. Re-applicable thereafter to subsequent Module 1 trainings, one-on-one sessions, or somatic exercise programs.
  • All payments refunded upon request in the event of course postponement.
  • All payments refunded in the event of course cancellation.


    One-Payment Tuition Option

    Tuition payment due by 5/13/13.

    $873.00, total*, for 6-day training scheduled to start the following date:
    spring, 2013 (date to be announced)

    includes $100.00 conditionally-refundable* Application Fee

  • Application Fee and Tuition refunded to candidates not accepted due to limited class size.
  • * In Case of Candidate Withdrawal Tuition refundable minus $100.00 Application Fee, until 3/26/13. Re-applicable thereafter to subsequent Module 1 trainings, one-on-one sessions, or somatic exercise programs.
  • All payments refunded upon request in the event of course postponement.
  • All payments refunded in the event of course cancellation.

  • Whole-body Weekend Workshops for the public
    Hanna Somatic Education® with Lawrence Gold

    Somatic exercises improve whole-body coordination and create a feeling of "being better put together." Learn how to do somatic exercise sequences to produce specific effects in yourself. You will feel looser, quicker, and better balanced. Long-term pains may disappear during the weekend.

    Once you've done an enlivenment weekend, you'll know how to do somatic exercises by yourself for good results.

    • next date to be scheduled - inquire: email link
      Friday evening 7:15 to 9:30 PM; Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
    • Santa Fe, NM; New York, NY; Orlando, FL; Portland, OR; Farmington, CT
    • CLICK for Information
    • Tuition: $225.00 - 325.00, two days, depending on the workshop

  • Experiential Mini-Training Workshops for practitioners and helping professionals
    $135-165/day

    Experiential Workshops

    Training in Your Area

      conducted by Lawrence Gold
      Write to: Lawrence Gold
      The Institute for Somatic Study and Development
      15 Esquina Road
      Santa Fe, NM 87508

      or phone
      505 699-8284
      SKYPE: lawrencegold

      or email
      email link

    Preparation / Pre-requisites


  • The Institute for Somatic Study and Development

    Lawrence Gold, certified Hanna somatic educator | credentials
    15 Esquina Road
    Santa Fe, NM 87508
    Telephone 505 699-8284 | Skype lawrencegold | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US:

    COPYRIGHT INFORMATION