SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF EMOTION FOCUSED THERAPY
www.EFTSoCal.com

Masterclass Overview

Therapeutic presence (TP) and Self-Compassion (SC) are foundational to effective therapeutic relationships and positive outcomes. They are not simply skills, they are ways of being that shape the depth, safety, and the impact of our clinical work. In this half-day masterclass, we introduce their foundational role in creating transformative therapeutic alliances and emotional change.

Therapeutic presence is a way of being that optimizes the doing and techniques of therapy. TP provides clients with a sense of safety, allowing them to be seen, heard, understood, and “feel felt,” while also strengthening the therapeutic alliance. This allows clients to access and express core emotions and engage in the deeper work of
therapy. This type of relationship helps regulate clients' emotions and supports their movement towards emotional health and neurophysiological integration. TP also invites therapists to work on their own balance of presence and compassion with self and clients, ensuring they remain centered and effective even in the face of difficult emotions. Practicing TP also sustains clinicians' vitality, connection, and effectiveness.
Self-compassion is a key resource in maintaining therapists’ presence and working with the barriers to presence. SC involves meeting our emotions and difficult experience with mindfulness, common humanity, kindness, and warmth. Together, therapeutic presence and self-compassion are powerful resources for counsellors to maintain emotional balance in the midst of challenging clinical work, to enjoy their work and their clients more fully, and to prevent caregiver fatigue and burn-out.

In this introductory masterclass, an empirically validated model of TP will be introduced as a map to build and strengthen the essential skills of presence with clients. In addition, the neurophysiological principles to creating safety with therapeutic presence, based on concepts such as co-regulation and neuroception of safety stemming from the polyvagal theory (Geller & Porges, 2014) will be touched on. Evidenced-based, experiential practices from Dr. Geller’s books, ‘A Practical Guide for Cultivating Therapeutic Presence’ (2017) and ‘Therapeutic Presence: A Mindful Approach to Effective Therapeutic Relationships 2nd Edition (2022) co-authored with Leslie Greenberg, will be introduced.

In this half-day masterclass, you will be introduced to:

      * An empirically validated model of therapeutic presence along with key skills for cultivating presence

      * The neurophysiological mechanisms and benefits of therapeutic presence

      * Practices and skills for attuning in the moment with clients
      * Presence and self-compassion techniques to sustain emotional connection with clients
      * Presence and self-compassion skills for self-care and to prevent and alleviate caregiving fatigue and burnout


About The Presenter
Dr. Shari Geller is an author, clinical psychologist, certified Mindful Self-Compassion
(MSC) teacher and leader in the field of therapeutic presence.
Shari offers training modules in therapeutic presence internationally as part of a longer-
term vision of having presence be a foundational training across psychotherapy
approaches. With over thirty years’ experience weaving psychology and mindfulness,
Shari co-authored the book, Therapeutic Presence: A Mindful Approach to Effective
Therapeutic Relationships – 2 nd  Edition (2022) with Dr. Leslie S. Greenberg. Shari’s
book: A Practical Guide For Cultivating Therapeutic Presence (2017), offers hands on
tools and guidance for cultivating and strengthening presence in therapy.  Shari recently
co-edited Grounding Psychotherapy in Self-Compassion (2025). Shari serves on the
teaching faculty in Health Psychology at York University and is Adjunct Professor in the
Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto, in association with Music and Health
Research Collaboratory (MaHRC).  
Shari is actively involved in various professional committees including the
Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy (SCIP) certificate program and is the Chair for the
Membership and Networking Committee for the International Society for Emotion
Focused Therapy (isEFT).

Shari is co-director of the Centre for MindBody Health, in Toronto, where she offers
training, supervision and therapy in Emotion-Focused therapy (EFT) and Mindfulness
and Self-Compassion modalities for individuals and couples. Shari enjoys playing the
HandPan and djembe and founded the Therapeutic Rhythm and Mindfulness Program
(TRM™). Her love of nature and her dog, along with her 35-year personal meditation
practice helps to keep her present in the moment.
www.sharigeller.ca     www.cmbh.space