The Body Keeps the Score:
The Somatic Science of Trauma Recovery
with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Licia Sky and Dr. Scott Lyons
Saturday, March 7th & Sunday, March 8th, 2026
REGISTER FOR THIS WORKSHOP
2-DAY WORKSHOP: March 7th & March 8th, 2026
IN-PERSON IN SANTA MONICA, CA
A variety of payment plan options are available at checkout.
Upon registration you will receive a welcome email with details on how to access your Online Content Library with all the details about the program.
$599 Standard Price PAY ONLY $399
ABOUT THE EVENT
Trauma leaves its imprint not just in memory, but in the neural networks that shape our sense of self, body, and connection to others. It alters the Default Mode Network, disrupting self-awareness and identity; hijacks the Salience Network, keeping the body locked in hypervigilance; and destabilizes the Central Executive Network, impairing focus, regulation, and decision-making. The result is fragmentation — a loss of safety in the body, coherence of self, and trust in relationships.
Healing requires more than insight. It calls for engaging the body directly, restoring the rhythms of regulation, and reestablishing neural pathways of safety and connection.
In this powerful weekend immersion, three internationally renowned leaders — Dr. Bessel van der Kolk (author of The Body Keeps the Score), Licia Sky (somatic educator and co-founder of the Trauma Research Foundation), and Dr. Scott Lyons (clinical psychologist and founder of The Embody Lab) — will guide you into the cutting-edge somatic science of trauma recovery. Together, they will weave neuroscience, embodied practice, and experiential learning to demonstrate how trauma can be transformed when the body becomes central to healing.
REGISTER FOR THIS WORKSHOP
2-DAY WORKSHOP: March 7th & March 8th, 2026
IN-PERSON IN SANTA MONICA, CA
A variety of payment plan options are available at checkout.
Upon registration you will receive a welcome email with details on how to access your Online Content Library with all the details about the program.
$599 Standard Price PAY ONLY $399
WHAT YOU’LL EXPERIENCE
Across two days you will:
Explore how trauma disrupts the Default Mode, Salience, and Executive networks — and what this means for self, body, and relationship
Learn body-based practices that rewire these pathways, restoring safety, agency, and resilience
Engage in guided movement, breath, and experiential exercises with Licia Sky and Dr. Scott Lyons
Gain insight from Dr. Bessel van der Kolk on how the science of neuroplasticity meets embodied healing
Discover how to integrate somatic approaches into your personal healing or professional practice
WHY THIS WORKSHOP MATTERS
Trauma fragments both the mind and the body, disrupting the very networks that underlie identity, regulation, and connection. Talk alone cannot rewire these systems — but when we engage the body, we open pathways for integration and recovery. This weekend offers not just theory, but a lived, science-backed experience of how embodiment can restore what trauma interrupts.
Whether you are a practitioner, a survivor, or someone curious about the intersection of neuroscience and somatics, you’ll leave with tools, insight, and renewed hope for what healing makes possible.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
-
This immersion distills an educational methodology to integrate into a variety of modalities such as: Social Workers, Mental Health & Pastoral Counselors, Yoga Therapists / Yoga Teachers, Movement Therapists, Coaches, Physicians (MD, DO, ND, DC & others) & Physician Assistants, Nurses & Nurse Practitioners, Psychologists, Emergency Medical Personnel, Meditation Teachers, Educators, Massage Therapists, Acupuncturists & Body Workers, Hypnotherapists, Kinesiologists, Complementary & Alternative Medicine Professionals, Clergy & Religious Leaders, other Wellness Professionals.
This is an education program and not a licenser program.
-
This 2-day event will run live from Saturday March 7th to Sunday March 8th, 2026, and will take place at a historic landmark building in Santa Monica California. View the workshop schedule here. The day will begin at 9:30 am until 4:30pm, with a 1-hour break mid-day.
-
Meals are not included with this event. There are several fantastic local restaurants near the venue.
-
Information about the event may be found on your online learning platform here: learn.theembodylab.com. When you registered for the immersion, you created a login and received immediate access to the online learning platform plus a welcome email from info@theembodylab.com.
-
Students will be able to participate in the Q&A, if provided for the session.
-
All Embody Lab Members received a special $50 discount on the immersion registration through December 8th. On December 9th the standard immersion price returned to $399.
Please note that we are unable to offer discounts on any third-party purchases including but not limited to bookstore purchases.
-
Registration is open until the day before the workshop begins on Friday, March 6th, 2026.
-
No, we do not offer refunds for The Body Keeps the Score Immersion. All payments are non-refundable. Please be mindful prior to and during travel to avoid illness as there is no refund issued for illness. However, if The Body Keeps the Score Immersion is cancelled, you will be refunded for the immersion registration.
Please note, The Embody Lab is not responsible for any outside purchases such as, but not limited to, lodging accommodations and transportation.
-
While some theory will be presented to support the learning, the primary focus of the practice is experiential, giving practical tools for the participants.
-
Yes, participants may receive a certificate of attendance.
-
CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
Continuing Education will be available for Health Professionals upon completion of the live training. Please note - Live attendance is required.
To register your interest for CE credits for this program and more detailed information, please visit this link: https://forms.gle/76mwhjgG5vnzVw9BABelow is more information on the health professionals which may be eligible for CEs through the Spiritual Competency Academy (SCA) which is co-sponsoring this program.
CE credits for psychologists are provided by the Spiritual Competency Academy (SCA) which is sponsoring this program. The Spiritual Competency Academy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Spiritual Competency Academy maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
The California Board of Behavioral Sciences accepts CE credits for LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFT license renewal for programs offered by sponsors of CE who are approved by the American Psychological Association.
LCSW, LPCC, LEP and LMFTs, and other professionals from outside of California need to check with their state licensing board as to whether or not they accept credits from programs offered by approved sponsors of CE by the American Psychological Association.
SCA is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN Provider CEP16887) for licensed nurses in California. RNs must retain their certificate of attendance for 4 years after the course concludes. Nurses outside of California must confirm acceptance with their licensing boards.
For questions about your certificate or the content, logistics, or other support issues regarding this course, please contact The Embody Lab at info@theembodylab.com.
For questions about whether APA CE is valid for you, contact your licensing board directly.
For general questions about APA CE, contact SCA at ce@spiritualcompetencyacademy.com.
FROM A DIFFERENT STATE OR COUNTRY?
Health professionals from a state or country outside of California need to check with their licensing boards as to whether or not they accept programs offered by approved sponsors of Continuing Education by the American Psychological Association (APA).
DIFFERENT CREDENTIAL?
If your credential is not listed, please check with your licensing board as to whether or not they accept programs offered by approved sponsors of Continuing Education by the American Psychological Association (APA).
The SCA and The Embody Lab are not able to determine your eligibility.
To register your interest for CE credits for this program and more detailed information, please visit this link: https://forms.gle/76mwhjgG5vnzVw9BA
ABOUT YOUR TEACHERS
DR. BESSEL VAN DER KOLK
Bessel van der Kolk MD has spent his career studying how children and adults adapt to traumatic experiences, and has tried to translate emerging findings from pharmacology, neuroscience and attachment research to develop and study potentially effective treatments for traumatic stress in children and adults.
In 1984, he set up one of the first clinical/research centers in the US dedicated to study and treatment of traumatic stress in civilian populations, which has trained numerous researchers and clinicians specializing in the study and treatment of traumatic stress, and which has been continually funded to research the impact of traumatic stress and effective treatment interventions. He did the first studies on the effects of SSRIs on PTSD; was a member of the first neuroimaging team to investigate how trauma changes brain processes, and did the first research linking BPD and deliberate self-injury to trauma and neglect in early childhood.
Much of his research has focused on how trauma has a different impact at different stages of development, and that disruptions in care-giving systems have additional deleterious effects that need to be addressed for effective intervention. In order to promote a deeper understanding of the impact of childhood trauma and to foster the development and execution of effective treatment interventions, he initiated the process that led to the establishment of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), a Congressionally mandated initiative that now funds approximately 150 centers specializing in developing effective treatment interventions, and implementing them in a wide array of settings, from juvenile detention centers to tribal agencies, nationwide.
He has focused on studying treatments that stabilize physiology, increase executive functioning and help traumatized individuals to feel fully alert to the present. This has included an NIMH funded study on EMDR and NCCAM funded study of yoga, and, in recent years, the study of neurofeedback to investigate whether attentional and perceptual systems (and the neural tracks responsible for them) can be altered by changing EEG patterns.
His efforts resulted in the establishment of Trauma Center (now the Trauma Research Foundation) that consisted of a well-trained clinical team specializing in the treatment of children and adults with histories of child maltreatment, that applied treatment models that are widely taught and implemented nationwide, a research lab that studied the effects of neurofeedback and MDMA on behavior, mood, and executive functioning, and numerous trainings nationwide to a variety of mental health professional, educators, parent groups, policy makers, and law enforcement personnel.
LICIA SKY
Licia Sky is Co-founder and CEO of the Trauma Research Foundation. Licia is a somatic educator, artist, singer-songwriter, and bodyworker who works with traumatized individuals and trains mental health professionals to use mindful meditation in movement, theater exercises, writing, and voice as tools for attunement, healing, and connection. She is a regular instructor in trauma healing workshops at Cape Cod Institute, Kripalu, and Esalen. For the past decade, she has been teaching expanded awareness in workshops to clinicians and laypeople around the world.
Her methods are informed by over 25 years as an artist, musician, bodywork therapist, yoga practitioner, and dancer; and integrate poly-vagal theory, parts work, and the latest research on trauma and the body.
“Attunement is the envelope that makes exploration with safety, trust, curiosity, openness, spontaneity, compassion, play, humor, imagination, and connection possible.” —LICIA SKY
DR. SCOTT LYONS
Dr. Scott Lyons is a licensed holistic psychologist, educator and author of the book Addicted to Drama: Healing Dependency on Crisis and Chaos in Yourself and Others, with Hachette publishing. Scott is also the host of The Gently Used Human Podcast, a delightfully depthful and often hilarious exploration of what it is to be human, to have lived life, and come out gently used.
As a renowned body-based trauma expert, Doctor of Osteopathy (Spain) and Mind-Body Medicine specialist, Scott helps people to break free from cycles of pain, limited beliefs, and trauma. Scott is an innovator in transformative wellness and trauma therapy, teaching over half a million people internationally over the past twenty years how to relieve stress and restore vitality. Scott has worked with many of the country’s top leaders and CEOs as an executive coach and wellness consultant.
Scott is the creator of The Embody Lab—the largest online learning platform for body-based trauma therapies—and developer of Somatic Stress Release™, a holistic process of restoring biological resilience, taught in over 20 countries.
Scott is a Certified Body-Mind Centering™ Teacher and Practitioner, Cranio-Sacral Therapist, Visceral Manipulation Therapist, Neuro-Developmental Therapist, Infant Developmental Movement Educator, Registered Movement Therapist and Educator, Trauma Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Thai Massage Practitioner, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Mindfulness-based Executive Coach, Experiential Anatomy/ Developmental Movement and Yoga Practitioner, and a 500-hour registered yoga teacher. Additionally Scott holds a BFA in Theater/Psychology, MFA in Dance/Choreography, MS in Clinical Psychology, and a PhD in Clinical Psychology and Mind-Body Medicine.
Scott has been featured in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, ForbesWomen, Fast Company, The Telegraph, The Guardian, INC., CNBC Make It, Fortune, Bustle, Reader’s Digest and Goop. He has also appeared on The Mel Robbins Podcast, The Jordan Harbinger Show, The We Can Do Hard Things Podcast, The Mental Illness Happy Hour, The Human Upgrade, The Genius Life, and The Chopra Well.
REGISTER FOR THIS WORKSHOP
2-DAY WORKSHOP: March 7th & March 8th, 2026
IN-PERSON IN SANTA MONICA, CA
A variety of payment plan options are available at checkout.
Upon registration you will receive a welcome email with details on how to access your Online Content Library with all the details about the program.
$599 Standard Price PAY ONLY $399