Expressive Therapy Training

This five-day intensive Expressive Therapy Training offers a focused and experiential immersion into embodied, imaginal, and arts-based approaches to therapeutic work. It is designed for practitioners who recognise the limits of insight-only, talk-based models, particularly where trauma, emotion, and meaning are held and communicated through the body.

The training is led by Dr Jessica Bockler, co-founder of Alef Trust, and Dr Swan Dao, founding director of the Institute of Devotional Arts.

Grounded in Alef Trust’s long-standing commitment to integrative and transpersonal education, the programme introduces participants to a range of expressive modalities, including psychodrama, expressive voice work, somatic practice, and Jungian-informed imaginal exploration. Through guided experiential processes and reflective dialogue, participants develop greater sensitivity to emotion, symbol, and relational dynamics, alongside an understanding of the ethical and psychological considerations involved in working expressively.

Participants work closely with Dr Jessica Bockler, whose work over more than two decades bridges academic inquiry, embodied practice, depth psychology, ritual arts, and theatre. Her facilitation emphasises embodied imagination, relational attunement, and reflective integration, supporting participants to deepen their own capacity for presence and discernment rather than to adopt prescriptive techniques.

Alongside her, Dr Swan Dao brings extensive experience as a psychotherapist and experience designer across therapeutic, educational, and institutional settings. He is the lead designer of Europe’s largest conference on trauma and mental health, hosted at the University of Oxford, and works in dialogue with internationally recognised figures such as Thomas Hübl, Esther Perel, and Gabor Maté.

The training takes place from 29 April to 3 May 2026 in a secluded nature sanctuary near Barcelona, offering a contained and distraction-free environment that supports depth, reflection, and integration. Each day follows a carefully held rhythm of experiential work, group reflection, and theoretical framing, enabling participants to leave with a clearer sense of how expressive approaches may be responsibly integrated into their ongoing clinical, educational, or community-based practice.

Places are limited and offered by application only to ensure an appropriate level of readiness, safety, and group coherence.

Find out more and apply to join an international cohort of practitioners committed to embodied, soul-centred approaches to healing and transformation:
https://www.devotionalarts.org/events/expressive-therapy-training-barcelona-april-may-2026