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 – $4,800
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.
(20 hours) Learn the fundamentals of the model, experience facilitator-led experientials throughout, and discuss how the model applies to common presenting sex and relationship issues as well as special topics and ethical considerations.
Day 1: What is Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy?
Day 2: S-CST in relationship
Day 3: Practice somatic creative process
Day 4: Special topics and assessing biases and ethical practice
(15 hours) Learn how to apply the S-CST model to your work with couples and people in relationship. This course presents
Day 1: Introduction to primary ingredients for body-centered couples therapy
Day 2: Somatic Sculpturing practice and demonstration
Day 3: Erotic Mapping with a couple
(15 hours): This course offers an opportunity to review main components of S-CST model and offers ample space to practice with each other, ask questions, generate discussions, and apply to client case examples.
Day 1: Review model
Day 2: Practice
Day 3: Practice & Discussion
Guidance for applying model to clients who are experiencing this transformational hormonal/neurobiological shift.
Guidance for applying model when working with clients who have experienced medical events such as cancer, genito-pelvic pain dx, auto-immune dx, surgery, etc.
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.
Counseling Students
Therapy and counseling students who want to augment their master’s level education with an integrated somatic model of relational dynamics, intimacy, and sexuality.
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.”
AASECT CE Disclosure
This program meets the requirements of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) and is approved for CE credits. These CE credits may be applied toward AASECT certification and renewal of certification. Lena Queen, LCSW, M.Ed. is an AASECT CE continuing education provider of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, & Therapists (AASECT). CE Provider #25-0611-LQ.
Note: Completion of this program does not ensure or guarantee AASECT certification. For further information, please contact info@aasect.org
