Polyvagal-Informed Movement Therapy for Healing

7-Hour In-Person Workshop

We are movement. In the words of somatics innovator Emilie Conrad, “Movement is not something we do. It’s who we are.” The body speaks through breath, posture, muscle tone, movement patterns, and moving narratives. Life experiences shape these movements. From stress, fear, and uncertainty to life change and trauma, we can be forced into shapes that are not our own.  

Join human rights psychotherapist and somatic and dance/movement therapist Amber Elizabeth Gray for an experiential workshop exploring her polyvagal-informed somatic & dance/movement therapy body of work. This work derives from Dr. Gray’s 25 years of experience working with survivors of extreme trauma and a deep dive into Dr. Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, a theory that illuminates the central role our autonomic nervous system plays in our relationships with ourselves, and others. 

In this unique in-person workshop, Dr. Gray presents a combination of basic theory and neuro-scientific evidence to support a straightforward introduction to the material, relevant for all who experience the variability of life’s weather. She offers a rich variety of body-based practices and processes to soothe, ground, regulate, and energize, preparing participants to immediately practice the principles of this work in their own daily life, relationships, and work.  

However we each relate to the intense dynamics and changes of our current times, our own ability to navigate how we feel and move in response to shifts in life can empower us to weather present and future challenges. 

Don’t miss this special opportunity to work in-depth and in-person with Dr. Gray at CIIS. 
 

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Dr. Amber Elizabeth L. Gray is a Dance/Movement Therapist, Somatic & Human Rights Psychotherapist, and long-time yoga and Continuum teacher. She works with survivors of war, torture, human rights abuses, and historical trauma and oppression, in the United States and in active and post-conflict zones, refugee camps, and disasters. Equally activist, artist, advocate, author, mystic and therapist, her clinical, healing, educational and organizational work endeavors to promote reciprocity and empowerment and incite meaningful change. She brings her Polyvagal, Heart & Spirit-informed Right to Embody somatic human rights framework and Body of Change eco-somatic regenerative retreats to communities of therapists, artists, global citizens and change makers world-wide. Amber originated Polyvagal-informed Somatic & Dance/Movement Therapy through 25 years of immersive mentoring and exploration of Polyvagal Theory. This work is a survivor-centered, multi-cultural & social justice framework that reflects many years of co-inquiry with her clients to understand how Polyvagal Theory promotes restoration and healing in the body-heart-mind-spirit for survivors of egregious human rights violations. She has been teaching this work globally since 2003 and is the inaugural member of The Polyvagal Institute’s Editorial Board. 

 

IMPORTANT EVENT INFORMATION
 

• This workshop is being hosted in-person only and will not be recorded to maintain the privacy of all attendees.
• More information about how to prepare will be sent to registrants in advance, but we encourage you to email publicprograms@ciis.edu if you have questions.

ACCESSIBILITY

If you need to request accessibility accommodations, please email publicprograms@ciis.edu at least one week prior to the event. For more information, explore our Accessibility web page.

REFUND POLICY 
 
Tickets are fully refundable up to 7 days prior to the event start. Within 7 days of the event, a 50% refund is available. No refunds are available within 24 hours of the event start. Read our full refund policy.