Training for Trager® Students
“There is a way of being
Which is lighter
Which is freer
A way in which work
As well as play
Becomes a dance
And living a song
We can learn this way.”
About Trager®
Dr. Milton Trager developed his delightful and profound approach to Movement Education and Body/Mind Integration over a lifetime of practice. Those of us who have made this work our professional home have also been rewarded by discovering how practicing it daily with our clients changes our own lives.
“Really a wonderful training ... beautifully organized ... clear, playful.” - Patience, Mother
“A truthful, organic exploration of the work and its principles is ever-present throughout the training.” - Patricia, Past Life Therapist
“Superb Training. Teaching was inspirational. A coherent framework was maintained for the course, yet it felt that there was all the time in the world to explore. I have learned the genuine delight of inquiry.” - Maru, Physician
“I am so grateful to have studied Trager with you. One, because of your joyful presence and light, but also because you are a great teacher. I can’t tell you how often my Trager/Mentastics training helps me with day to day activities, and with my meditation practice.” - April, Meditator and Bodyworker
“Roger is the best teacher I’ve ever had ... for anything.” - Paula, Acting Teacher
The Trager® Training Program
Offered by PMTI in participation with the USTA
Blueberry Gardens Healing Center, Ashton, MD
Begins August 10, 2023
This one-of-a-kind training program, developed by Roger Tolle, packs the entire Trager® training process, which usually takes 2-3 years, into three 6-month modules with lots of support and mentorship. Over the course of the modules, participants in the program will meet monthly, both in person and on Zoom to learn, practice, and ultimately apply for certification as Trager® Practitioners. The program provides a total of 280 hours of Continuing Education (CEUs) for massage therapists.
Aug 10-13, 2023 Level 1A – 24 hours...foundational principles, session practice protocol and supine tablework
Sept 10, 2023 Sunday Supervised Practice – 6 hours
Oct 12-15, 2023 Level 1B– 24 hours...additional principles and prone tablework
Nov 12, 2023 Sunday Supervised Practice – 6 hours
Dec 7-10, 2023 Level 1C – 24 hours...seated and side-lying practice guidelines
Jan 14, 2024 Sunday Supervised Practice – 6 hours
Feb 8-11, 2024 Level 2A – 24 hours...adaptations and variations
Mar 10, 2024 Sunday Supervised Practice – 6 hours
April 11-14, 2024 Level 2B – 24 hours...adaptations and variations
May 5, 2024 Sunday Supervised Practice – 6 hours
June 13-16, 2024 Level 2C: – 24 hours...Dancing Within: Deepening Personal Mentastics and Transforming Client Connections
July 14, 2024 Sunday Supervised Practice – 6 hours
Aug 8-11, 2024 Level 3A – 24 hours...building client-centered sessions
Sept 8, 2024 Sunday Supervised Clinical Practice – 6 hours
Oct 10-13, 2024 Level 3B – 24 hours...educating the public and leading groups
Nov 10, 2024 Sunday Supervised Clinical Practice – 6 hours
Dec 7-8, 2024 Supervised Clinical Practice and Program Wrap Up – 12 hours
Mentastics®: A Path to Peace and Pleasure - 24 Credit Hours
Meaningful movement practices for self-care, self-development, and for our work with clients - this is Mentastics. Dr. Trager coined the word "Mentastics" as a contraction of "mental" and "gymnastics". The term refers to a whole field of practices that grow out of the fertile soil of sensory presence. Aspects of Mentastics interface with many other disciplines.
Mentastics (singular) is the process of movement exploration and mind/body development characterized by an open, curious state of mind. Mentastics(plural) are the individual movements, images, and games used to explore and integrate lighter, freer, more peaceful ways of being.
In this workshop, you deepen your experience of both process and movement repertoire. You explore using the time you spend with your client in Mentastics as a time to enhance your own personal growth. By pausing repeatedly to return to simple presence with nothing added, a state Dr. Trager referred to as Hook-up, you continually cleanse your mind of worry, attachment and striving, and rid your body of tension and fatigue.
Each morning focuses on principles of natural human movement, movement that enhances the sense of freedom, softness, ease, groundedness, and connection. Afternoons challenge you to deepen your personal practice while connecting more meaningfully with others, both on and off the table.
Day 1, Gravity and Levity
Explore and Apply Sensory Presence, Feel Suspension, Feel Weight, Find and Facilitate Freedom
Day 2, Fascia and Fluids - Listening To The Liquid Body
Sustain Curiosity, Take out the Slack, Feel for Fluidity, Wash Out the Fascial Sweater
Day 3, Intake to Integration in Context of Mind/Body Medicine
Listen to the Unconscious, Work with Imagery, Reframe Client Expectations, Manage Symptoms with Movement Education
This class is open to professionals and students in movement education, mindfulness, yoga and wellness training.
Level I - 48 Credit Hours
The focus of Level I is a deep grounding in the principles of the work. You’ll be shown how to do a full tablework session protocol of Trager Movement Therapy. You’ll also learn a variety of Mentastics that you can use personally and share with others. Discussion of ethics, preparation for fieldwork, and other issues pertinent to this level are included. The format of the class weaves discussion, demonstration and supervised practice. In some locations, class and fieldwork are offered together in a package of support and guidance.
Level II - 48 Credit Hours
The Level II Training will cover a broader application of Trager tablework and Mentastics with a focus on adaptations for specific client situations and variations to address each area of the body more fully. The class expands the breadth and depth of movement, intention and process-- for your own care, and with partners in supine, prone, and sidelying positions. You’ll develop more insight and skill in sharing Mentastics with others. Discussion of ethics, preparation for the next round of fieldwork, and other issues pertinent to this level are included. The format is similar to the Level I training.
Level III- 40 Credit Hours
The Level III Training will review and refine the Level I and Level II protocols, and encourage the student to begin to work in a more client-centered way, focusing on what is really needed from a clinical perspective. The class will also provide guidance toward a broader application of Trager Movement Education and Mind/Body Integration. In addition, other aspects of being ready to start a professional practice are discussed and practiced... professional ethics, private practice issues, giving a demonstration, writing promotional materials, etc.
Sidelying Elective -24 Credit Hours
In this Elective class for practitioners and students, we focus on reviewing and expanding on the tablework vocabulary with the client in the sidelying position. This material may be briefly presented in the rest of the Core Curriculum. The class highlights the importance of emotional support for your clients, as well as keeping clear boundaries and deepening Hook-up. You’ll be encouraged to develop or expand your own vocabulary of freer and easier movements through a deeper listening to the tissue and a playful balance of basic Trager principles.
Body Systems Elective- 24 Credit Hours
In this elective workshop for students and practitioners of the Trager Approach, we explore the various "minds” of the body (inspired by my early study with somatic movement pioneer, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen), and work with clients from these states. In each system mind, we ask questions like: "How do I move? How is my touch? How do I feel the weight? How do I pause? What is the quality of my connection to my client?" Easy access to a richer pallet of feeling "colors" give us more range and depth in reaching a broader variety of clients.
I have found in my decades of Trager practice that when I focus my personal Mentastics on the skeleton with its bones and joints, it leads me to loose freedom of movement, mental playfulness, and an articulateness of touch. When I allow the organ system to come into the foreground of my Mentastics experience, it leads me into roundness and buoyancy of movement, and a more full and encompassing touch. A focus on the nervous system brings detail and precision to both touch and movement communication. The web of connective tissue as guiding image brings length and volume to my own movement, and powerful supportiveness to my touch as well as an ability to handle my clients’ weight more easily. The muscle system gives density and meatiness to my dialog with the tissue. My fluid systems inform the many rhythms of ripples and waves, and invite boundary-less floating for my clients.
