Is intimacy your passion?
If so, you are needed.
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You have a vision that includes helping others. You are comfortable with your body, your sexuality, and your emotions. You see the good in people and connect deeply. Your past partners have grown just by being with you. In effect, you’ve already been doing this sort of work in your personal life. Now, you’re ready to combine your natural ability with clinically validated approaches and start practicing “right livelihood.” Can you imagine earning income helping people by doing what you are naturally good at? Do you know you can develop your passion for intimacy as a profession?
Announcing:
Surrogate Partner
Professional Training
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Leading edge, comprehensive professional surrogate partner training is now available.
The unique characteristics of this training are:
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We feature and celebrate diverse voices and experiences.
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We orient our training towards anti-oppression and social justice.
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We evaluate and certify trainees using a team-based process in collaboration with the trainee.
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We clearly define and communicate the path to certification.
Our objective is to develop the modality of Surrogate Partner Therapy as a way to seek collective liberation. Therefore, as we consider applicants for our training program, we are not just looking for people who have the potential to be surrogate partners. We are also looking for applicants who are committed to the values of social justice and who have an understanding of the multiple ways that systemic oppression, power, and privilege show up in our everyday life and relationships.
You might still have the potential become a surrogate partner even if you are not aligned with these values. In this case, you might consider contacting other organizations that train people to become surrogate partners, like the International Professional Surrogates Association or Integrative Mind-Body Therapies.
The Path to Certification
The path to becoming an SPC-Certified Surrogate Partner consists of completing the following steps:
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Step 1: Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy, a 5-day, In-person Workshop. To enroll, submit the application fee and complete the application. We will then contact you to schedule an interview.
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The Surrogate Partner Certification Program consists of Step 2: SPT-Specialized Professional Training and Step 3: Supervised Apprenticeship which may be completed in parallel. Once you have completed the required prerequisite Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy, you may enroll, by submitting the application fee and completing the application. We will then contact you to schedule an interview.
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Step 2: SPT-Specialized Professional Training, 12 weeks of live training by videoconference
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Step 3: Supervised Apprenticeship
Step 1. Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy
Join us for an immersive experience into the skills that enable deeper, more fulfilling relationships with self and others. This 5-day in-person experiential workshop is conducted by:
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Professional surrogate partners with extensive experience in forming and maintaining intimate relationships, both personal and professional
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Other experts in the areas of consent, embodiment, sexuality, intimacy, and trauma.
This workshop is intended for:
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Anyone who feels called to become a surrogate partner
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Sexuality and/or intimacy professionals looking for additional skillsets/education
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Individuals who wish to have better, more authentic, more congruent relationships
This workshop is primarily experiential. Information and theory is only a small part of the program. Instead, we intend to create a context where you can learn from your own direct experience.
In this 5-day in-person workshop, you will have the opportunity to strengthen your capacity to:
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Develop a deeper relationship with your own body in order to fully accept and embody your own experience, desires, and pleasure
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Clearly communicate your inner experience and needs so you can be understood and fulfilled
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Harness the inherent wisdom of your body in order to experience more fulfilling relationships
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Own that you deserve pleasure
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Love and trust yourself more deeply (than you can imagine)
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Love, trust, and have compassion for others
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Expand the connection and pleasure in your life
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Accept your body as it is
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Moderate the impacts of cultural conditioning on our interactions
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Recognize whether or not interactions are coming from a clear request and agreement
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Completing FEI does not mean you are qualified to practice as a surrogate partner, and you are not permitted to claim you are certified. You would, however, be able to apply to receive further training in the Surrogate Partner Certification Program.
The FEI workshop will including the following:
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A host of embodiment techniques and opportunities designed to facilitate congruence between mind and body
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The neurobiology of safety and trauma and how we can use it to deepen our connections
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Distinguishing whether impulses come from the mind or the body
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Sensate Focus
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Wheel of Consent
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Arousal Models, and how we can harness them to experience more pleasure
All of these will be taught/facilitated through your own direct embodied experience.​​​
The 5-day, in-person workshop "Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy" is both a prerequisite for the certification program, but also an invaluable part of the overall training, as the in-person experiences are essential to understanding and embodying the work. We also use FEI in order to identify people who are not well suited, either to the work as surrogate partners or to the values of the SPC, so attending FEI is not a guarantee that someone will be invited to continue on to the professional training and apprenticeship. The SPT-Specialized Professional Training is a big commitment on behalf of the training and mentoring staff, so we don't want to take on that commitment unless we are confident we can take that journey with the trainee to a successful outcome. A small number of applicants don't continue, either by their choice or by ours. Because we are getting better at screening people through the application and interview process, a large majority do continue.
Facilitators for FEI
The facilitators for Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy include professional surrogate partners and other subject matter experts (click on a picture for more information).
Eileen Chao
Carlene Ostedgaard
Kai Wu
Andrew Heartman
Carmen De Jesus
Surrogate Partner Certification Program
"The way you support yourself can be an expression of your deepest self."
Thich Nhat Hanh
After you successfully complete the required prerequisite, Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy, you are welcome to apply to continue with professional training to become certified as a surrogate partner. The Surrogate Partner Certification Program consists of Step 2: SPT-Specialized Professional Training and Step 3: Supervised Apprenticeship.​
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Step 2. SPT-Specialized Professional Training
This SPT-specialized professional training is virtual, and will take place one day/week for 12 weeks, beginning within two months after Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy. The program features 18 different speakers addressing 23 different topics, including:
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Why SPT is especially important and relevant in modern times
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How to develop a sustainable practice
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Dual attunement
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How to work with diverse clients
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How to recognize trauma responses and gently guide clients back to regulation
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How to help clients generalize to other relationships and experiences
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Principles of ethical practice
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Collaborating effectively with therapists/clinicians
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Responding to therapists’ concerns
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Best practices in self-care
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Working with client attachment
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Case studies​​
Step 3. Supervised Apprenticeship
In the apprenticeship program, the apprentice sees clients under the supervision of qualified, experienced mentors. Your mentors can be located anywhere, as consultations with them typically take place by phone or videochat. You will have the opportunity to work two cases to completion and to benefit from the experience of two different mentors. Consequently, we expect the apprenticeship to take eight months or more, depending on the availability of suitable clients. We will do our best to assist you in finding suitable clients to work with during your apprenticeship.
Ongoing Support
Working as a surrogate partner is unusual and unconventional. There are less than 100 of us practicing in all of North America. Furthermore, most others don’t understand the profession and may question your good intentions. This can leave you feeling isolated. We have experienced that isolation and survived it, and this has engendered in us a commitment that you won’t have that same experience. That’s why we guarantee you a warm, supportive community of other surrogate partners and other supportive professionals.
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In addition to this leading edge training, you will also receive ongoing professional support, including:
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Becoming part of a network of active surrogate partners
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Professional consultation resources
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Help with educating therapists in your area
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Announcements to therapists organizations
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Community forums and collaboration
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Access to an extensive resource library, which includes SPT-related video, audio, and document templates​
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Pricing
Step 1: Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy. Cost $2500. Application Fee: $50. This non-refundable application fee is for the time the training staff spends reviewing applications and conducting interviews.
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Step 2: SPT-Specialized Professional Training. Cost $1500. Application Fee: $50. This non-refundable application fee is for the time the training staff spends reviewing applications and conducting interviews.
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Step 3: Supervised Apprenticeship. In the apprenticeship program, the apprentice sees clients under the supervision of qualified, experienced mentors. The apprentice pays their mentor an honorarium of 15% of the compensation they receive from their client.
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BIPOC Scholarship
We recognize the disempowering impacts of systemic racism and other forms of oppression, and are committed to doing anything we can to contribute to social and economic justice and equity. To this end, all self-identified BIPOC/racialized trainees who request a scholarship will receive 50% off the cost for Step 1: Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy and, if desired, (provided Step 1 is completed successfully), 50% off the cost for Step 2: SPT-Specialized Professional Training. The 50% discount can be applied to the application fees as well. Please contact us for a discount code.
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Identity is complicated and nuanced. We are not here to judge who is BIPOC enough to qualify. The intention of this scholarship is to support those who have experienced marginalization so that they can then, in turn, support clients who have had similar experiences.
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Applications
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where will the next Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy take place?
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The next Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy is scheduled for March 27-31, 2025, and we are accepting applications for it now. It will take place at a private residence in San Francisco, near the intersection of Mission Street and Silver Avenue (in zip code 94112). This location is about a 15 minute walk from the Glen Park BART station.
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What are your policies regarding COVID?
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Our intention in the Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy workshop is to create an environment where a diverse group of people can come together from around the world and feel safe to explore intimacy in a way that is embodied and may include touch and other forms of physical closeness. Therefore we will ask each participant to take a home antigen rapid test 4 days before the start of the workshop and another the day before. If either of those tests is positive, or if you have any flu symptoms, any payments you have made will be transferred to a future workshop. In spite of these protective measures, coming together in this way will still involve some risk, and all trainees will be required to sign a waiver indicate they acknowledge, understand, and assume this risk.
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What are your payment and cancellation policies?
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When the date and location for the Fundamentals of Embodied Intimacy workshop has been finalized, applicants will pay a deposit of 50% of the cost of the workshop to register. The remaining 50% payment will be made before the start of the workshop. In the event of COVID symptoms or a positive test result, any payments will be transferred to a future workshop.
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How long has this training been around?
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This training has been recently created to modernize the profession. Surrogate Partner Therapy has changed since it was conceived in the 1960’s, and this training not only reflects those changes but is committed to raising standards. In designing it, we've incorporated modern understandings of the ever changing landscape of human relationships, including consent, power and oppression, neurobiology, and trauma. Furthermore, we commit to hear and consider your feedback as we continue to evolve both the training and the profession.
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Still have questions?
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If you have questions that aren't answered anywhere on this page, feel free to book a free no-obligation Zoom Q&A session with a real live human being! (specifically, Andrew). This program isn't for everybody. We only want you to sign up if you feel confident it's right for you, and we will happily talk it over with you to help you decide.