Skip to content Embodied Relationships Training Center is committed to advancing the field of somatic and relationship therapy through innovative, trauma-informed training. Our Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy Certification Program offers licensed professionals a comprehensive and embodied pathway to specialization in somatic sex and relationship therapy.
This 12-month, 70-hour certification program integrates sex therapy, somatic psychotherapy, dance/movement therapy, attachment theory, and contemplative practice into the Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy (S-CST) model. Designed for clinicians seeking advanced training, this certification strengthens clinical confidence, ethical practice, and embodied therapeutic skill, including working with clients navigating complex intimacy experiences related to menopause, cancer, and other health-event recovery.
With Melissa Walker, LPC, CST, R-DMT
70-Hour Certification Program – $4,500
12-Month Program Beginning September
Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy (S-CST) is an integrative, trauma-informed approach that places the body at the center of sexual healing and relational growth.
The Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy Certification Program trains clinicians to work with the concentric layers of human experience, physical, emotional, cognitive, relational, and sociocultural, as they relate to sexuality and intimacy. Rather than focusing on dysfunction, this model supports embodied awareness, attachment repair, empowerment, and inclusive sexual expression across a wide range of lived experiences, including those shaped by aging, illness, and recovery.
Grounded in relational neurobiology, developmental movement, and social justice frameworks, this certification emphasizes:
Participants will learn how to move at the pace of the client’s somatic self to help them identify body armor and the total-body-connectivity practices that allow the armor to soften and transform without force.
This model presents body-based assessments and interventions to help clients understand their nervous system style in the realms of relationship, intimacy, and desire so they can better advocate for themselves and learn what they need to shift into a place of receptivity to pleasure and connection. The goal is deeper self-knowing, healing of relational wounds, and the ability to create meaningful connection with themselves and in intimate partnership.
The Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy Certification Program in Lafayette, CO, is a rigorous and immersive professional training designed for licensed clinicians seeking specialization in somatic sex therapy.
This certification includes:
The program may count toward continuing education requirements for LPCs, LCSWs, and other mental health professionals and offers AASECT continuing education credits.
Participants complete coursework, consultation sessions, and a final case presentation demonstrating integration of at least three core components of the model in a trauma-informed, inclusive, and safe-enough clinical framework, including applications to complex intimacy concerns such as medical recovery and life-stage transitions.
Develop the capacity to tune into body sensations, movement patterns, and somatic markers as clinical tools in sexual and relational therapy.
Understand how trauma impacts embodiment, attachment, and sexual expression while supporting clients in a safe-enough, regulated process of healing and integration, including those recovering from medical or relational trauma.
Apply S-CST principles to individuals and couples, emphasizing embodied consent, shared values, secure attachment rhythms, and collaborative language.
Use structured assessment and intervention tools to help clients identify resources, challenges, and pathways toward regulated pleasure and connection within a safe-enough therapeutic space.
Learn movement observation and body-based assessment methods to support relational repair and embodied expression.
Apply the S-CST model to nuanced intimacy-related experiences, including menopause, cancer, and recovery from medical events. Clinicians learn how to support clients navigating changes in body image, desire, identity, and relational connection with sensitivity and embodied awareness.
Reflect on biases, transference, countertransference, disclosure statements, and legal considerations in somatic sex therapy practice.
The Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy Certification Program is ideal for:
Licensed Professionals
Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, and other mental health professionals seeking advanced specialization in somatic sex therapy.
AASECT Professionals
Sex therapists, educators, and counselors are pursuing continuing education and deeper embodied integration.
Experienced Clinicians Seeking Expansion
Therapists who want to incorporate body-centered, attachment-based, and trauma-informed approaches into their work with sexuality and relationships, including clients navigating health-related changes in intimacy.
This certification does not replace state licensure for practicing psychotherapy in Colorado, but enhances professional competency and continuing education credentials.
Located in the serene and welcoming city of Lafayette, CO, Embodied Relationships Training Center provides a structured, supportive space for professional growth.
The Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy Certification Program equips clinicians with practical tools, ethical clarity, and embodied understanding that can be immediately applied in clinical settings, including work with clients experiencing life transitions such as menopause, cancer recovery, and other health-related shifts in intimacy. Participants also become part of a professional community committed to advancing inclusive and trauma-informed sexual healing.
Whether you are deepening an established sex therapy practice or expanding into somatic relationship work, this certification offers a clear and grounded path forward.
Join us and be part of a movement redefining somatic sex therapy through embodied awareness and relational integrity.
Melissa is a Licensed Professional Counselor, AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, and Dance/Movement Therapist. She holds a Masters Degree in Somatic Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Dance/Movement Therapy (2009) from Naropa University. She has trained in Pragmatic/Experiential Therapy for Couples (PET-C), Sex Therapy, Psychodrama, and Authentic Movement. She is also certified in Somatic Archaeology and is a SomaSource LifeCycle Practitioner. She specializes in embodied intimacy and relationship therapy and is a highly sought-after supervisor and educator for other therapists, counselors, and coaches.
Her journey to integrate Couples Therapy, Sex Therapy, and Dance/Movement Therapy yielded the Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy (S-CST) model, which she has shared with other therapists, since her first presentation at the 2012 American Dance Therapy conference in Albuquerque, NM, titled “A Dance/Movement Sex Therapy Model: Cultivating the Erotic Journey Toward Full Sensual Self-Expression.”
