Ceremony And Rites Of Passage Trainings
Learn to Move Through Change with Intention, Honor and Healing
Are you a therapist, coach, healer, or leader in your community who wants to learn the art of creating personally meaningful culturally relevant ceremonies and rites of passage for you and your people?
We welcome a diverse and international audience of therapists, helping professionals, spiritual leaders, students, and elders looking to deepen their skills in ceremony creation. Whether a change occurs in one’s life stage, role, or aspect of identity, understanding how to honor the losses and celebrations in life transitions is essential when working with people across the lifespan. With decades of experience practicing ceremony and ritual, we can support you to confidently create and facilitate ceremonies and rites of passage for your clients and community in impactful and meaningful ways.
To learn about our Ceremony & Rites of Passage offerings, see below.
Who Are Our Ceremony and Rites of Passage Trainings for?
Our online and in-person Ceremony and Rites of Passage trainings are available to those who want to help themselves and the people they work with to intentionally honor life transitions and heal through ceremony and ritual. Some examples of the people who take our trainings are:
Fellow therapists
Life coaches
Holistic healing arts practitioners
Community leaders
Healers, shamanic practitioners, clergy, psychedelic therapists, and other spiritual guides
We also work with organizations—universities, non-profits, hospitals, etc.—who might benefit from team-wide training in Ceremony and Rites of Passage. No specific professional license is required to participate, and students will receive certificates of completion in Ceremony and Rites of Passage creation at the end of our trainings.
Unique Ceremony and Rites of Passage Training Opportunities Through the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute
While our trainings differ in length and format, the overarching goal is to help you develop personally meaningful, culturally relevant ceremony and ritual practices for yourself, your clients, and your community. To find out more about how we approach ceremony creation at our practice, click here.
Currently, the Ceremony & Rites of Passage trainings we offer are:
Courting Your Medicine
5-day or 2-month in-person rite of passage
Ceremony and Rites of Passage Global Training
9-month on-line certificate program
Honoring Change
5-day in-person camping training
Through the instruction and facilitation provided by our practice founder, Katie Asmus, and fellow trainers, as well as a deep-dive experiential immersion into these practices, you will:
Identify your own associations, practices and relationship with moving through life transitions
Understand the stages of change within the context of the Rite of Passage model
Learn to identify what symbols and metaphors have meaning to you and others based on life history, spiritual beliefs, and life experiences
Examine the difference between what is considered cultural appropriation and culturally appropriate in the context of ceremony creation
Learn the technology of ceremony creation
Incorporate the wisdom and metaphors within the cycles of nature, the seasons, and human development into marking change
Develop capacity and trust within yourself to build, hold, and facilitate sacred, intentional space for the ceremonial process in an authentic way
Ceremony and Rites of Passage have the power to aid us in processing grief and starting anew. Using these practices, you and your community can feel more alive, awake, embodied, and empowered in your experiences.
More About Your Trainer, Katie Asmus
Somatic Nature Therapy Institute Founder Katie Asmus is a well-respected expert throughout the somatic healing and wilderness therapy communities in the US and abroad. Before becoming a therapist, Katie spent years leading spiritual retreats, outdoor education programs, and wilderness quests. Ceremony and Rites of Passage studies were significant components of Katie’s graduate studies at Naropa University, where she was heavily influenced by the works of Malidoma Somé, Jean Houston, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and later Frances Weller, and animist philosophy. She has apprenticed with rites of passage guides trained at the School of Lost Borders and Animas Valley Institute.
For decades, Katie has actively co-created unique ceremonies alongside family, fellow therapists, and community members within a wide variety of cultural contexts and spiritual traditions. Drawing from the vast and diverse perspectives she’s experienced through these opportunities, she is committed to honoring life transitions in ways that are personally meaningful and culturally relevant. With a profound understanding of the importance of consciously moving through life change, Katie trains students to include support for the psychological, emotional, and spiritual impacts of change.
Expand Your Therapeutic Skills with a Ceremony and Ritual Training
Ceremony and Rites of Passage trainings through the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute can help you learn to move intentionally and meaningfully through experiences of life change. Contact us to find out how our trainings can facilitate a deeper connection with yourself, your community, and the world around you.