Being Me Mastery 2-Year Practitioner Training
How You Could Train As A Trauma Therapist
in Gaia Pollini’s ‘Being Me Therapy’
in Just Two Years
(And Without Doing The Usual Psychology-Only Therapy)
being me mastery –
2-YEAR TRAINING WITH GAIA
IN ‘BEING ME THERAPY’
TO MASTER ‘BEING ME’
AND TO STEP INTO
USING THE SYSTEM
WITH CLIENTS
Gaia Pollini has been helping people heal and transform for 25 years, including in founding the Italian retreat centre ‘The Hill That Breathes’ (2004-2012), and co-authoring the F**k it books.
She has vast experience as a therapist, both in her extensive training (including in trauma and developmental trauma work, breathwork and energy mastery) and in practices she has created herself over the years.
Her aim over the last 15 years has been to develop a therapy that brings all the best of her particular approach, her experience, her insights and her practices together into one powerful and accessible form:
This is ‘Being Me Therapy’.
It’s a Therapy that combinies psychology (including ‘attachment theory’), somatic work (around the autonomic nervous system) and, unusually, a deep exploration of energy and intuition.
And alongside this, her aim has been to create a training that allows people to fully learn and experience the system so that they can grow hugely and to the point where they can then use ‘Being Me Therapy’ with others.
This is the ‘Being Me Mastery Practitioner Training‘.
It is a 2-year part-time training. It blends online training sessions, with in-person gatherings in Brighton, with supervised peer-to-peer work.
It requires commitment of 2-3 days a month.
N.B. The next new intake is for January 2028.
THE THERAPEUTIC INTERSECTION
OF SCIENCE & MAGIC
GAIA: “My work brings together cutting edge psychology, with the new science of the nervous system and the ‘magic’ of energy work and intuitive and spiritual work.”
“Your eyes start to sparkle…”
“People have commented on what happens to my face when I talk about the Being Me Mastery practitioner training:
‘Your eyes start to sparkle’... ‘Your face lights up’.” Trainee T.D.
THE 6-STEP PATH to MASTERY of BEING ME THERAPY
Reading through these steps, you’ll probably notice that there is an element to it that is plainly chronological: maybe you’ll only be thinking about ‘selling the work’ in your towards the end of your training, as you anticipate how you’ll take the work out into the world.
But there’s also a circularity to some of these steps too. It’s likely that you’ll go through the first 4 steps again and again: learning the modular parts of the training, and then processing that internally, then playing with the work, and then ‘being the work’, repeatedly throughout the 2 years.
Where I am:
I want to work therapeutically with people (for a living) or continue to work therapeutically with people,
but I feel I’ve still got some work to do being more me and I want a system to use that really resonates with me.
Where I’d like to be:
Hurrah!
I’ve done the work (of mastering Being Me Therapy) and I’m ready to share this great ‘Being Me Therapy’ system with others, in my own unique way.
“Training with Gaia enriched my work with clients…”
“Training with Gaia enriched my work with clients to an enormous extent. The way Gaia works in one–to–ones as well as in groups is both highly professional and deeply intuitive. Her system shows people the way back to their healthy self and to the divine too. ” Trainee F.W.
THE WORK – THE ‘BEING ME THERAPY’ BUTTERFLY MODEL
The Being Me Butterfly Model is both a tool to use for the therapy and also a thorough map of the whole SYSTEM.
This is the foundational process of the whole training, the whole of ‘Being Me Therapy’.
Looking at the butterfly model below, the movement is from left to right of the butterfly: a repeated diving down from any given ‘difficulty’ and ‘adaptation’ in someone’s life to the related trauma layer, may that be ‘original pain’ or ‘fear underneath’ or the ‘old belief’ and then out through the healing stages to eventually Being Fully Me.
And then moving through the growing of the ‘Being Me’ side on the right: from working with the ‘present need’, expressing ‘healthy aggression’ up through ‘self-backing and being’ and then ‘truth seeing and knowing’ to ‘Being Me’ again.
This is a map that includes and invites a melding of mind, body and energy, and is also used in group sessions in the form of large floor mats, that particpants step on and work with a therapist and others.
“Working with the Butterfly Model, I can take the pressure off, and work from a free and intuitive place, feeling secure and at ease.”
P.H., trainee 2021-24
THE ELEMENTS –
These are the core elements of the Being Me Mastery training –
LIVE ONLINE DAYS
Gaia has been working and training online for years. You’ll be surprised at how powerful it can be to explore the work online – even at a somatic and energetic level – from the comfort of your own home, and amongst your beautiful group of peers.
And you’ll also learn how to work therapeutically online with others because of this, so that you can have a broad range of clients when you’re qualified and practising.
IN-PERSON GATHERINGS
The in-person gatherings, predominantly in Brighton UK, are the spine of the training.
You may well have been on workshops or retreats with Gaia already, so you’ll have a feel for how these get-togethers will be. You’ll experience the perfect blend of exciting teaching, getting to know your fellow trainees deeply, and working person-to-person. The Brighton gatherings are over a long weekend (3 days) and happen 3 times per year. There is also the chance to attend a retreat in Italy. You’ll hear full details when you speak to John.
'BEING ME THERAPY membership' ACCESS
You’ll have full access to Gaia’s ‘Being Me Therapy Membership’ as part of your training. This offers deep teaching, and a monthly point of live contact with membership participants that allows you to witness and practise the work in a larger group setting. It is thus a core part of the training.
1-TO-1 PRACTICE + GROUP DEBRIEFS
A key part of your training is to work with the other trainees, exchanging 1-to-1 sessions.
This gives you a great chance to practise in a safe setting what you’re learning from Gaia:
developing your 1-to-1 skills, and then sharing the experience in regular online evening debriefs throughout the year.
PLUS –
NEW for this next cohort, and very exciting:
You can attend a retreat, if you fancy, with Gaia & John during your training, and pay only for the accommodation (ie. a huge discount on the price for the retreat as listed on the site).
Retreat destinations can change, but the retreat is likely to be at Gaia & John’s favourite venue:
Urbino Resort in Italy.
This is not a mandatory part of the course: it’s for you to enjoy a retreat for yourself (if you fancy), and also (of course) see Gaia using the Being Me Therapy work with a group on a retreat.
PLUS –
John runs a ‘Make a Living from Being Me Therapy’ training, that’s timed to support you at the moment you feel you’re ready to consider how you’ll be using this work out in the world.
You can also dip in and out of the training, or access the extensive library of training on every aspect of establishing yourself as a practitioner out in the world, and making a living from it.
John has been making a living from doing what he loves for his adult life. Alongside his passion in what he teaches (essentially relaxation), he is fascinated by every aspect of taking what we do and offer out into the world (via content and word of mouth and marketing) and thus finding the people who’ll benefit from what we do. He’s also written the book on ‘F**k It. Do What You Love’.
“Gaia shows us how to gently guide people…“
“Gaia shows us howtogently guide people to feel, to process and to embrace all the divine parts. She has also givenusthe tools,questionsand steps to help other people on their journey, just as she guides us on ours.” Trainee T.K.
GAIA :
THE THERAPISTS’ THERAPIST
Gaia Pollini founded ‘The Hill That Breathes’ in Italy (2004-2012) and is co-author of the bestselling F**k It books.
Gaia is a trauma therapist with more than 25 years of experience supporting people 1-to-1, on retreats and in groups, around the world. Her training spans Somatic Experiencing (nervous system regulation and trauma healing), NARM (related to developmental trauma), energy mastery, breathwork, Hypnotherapy and Part Therapy.
As well as the evidence-based therapeutic work that Gaia uses, she supports the magic that occurs when people reconnect to their true and full selves (‘Being Me Therapy’). And it is this dance of science-based therapy with energetic ‘magic’ work – all on the dancefloor of the revolutionary idea that problems can be solved by being more ourselves – that both sets Gaia’s therapeutic approach apart from others’ and makes it so fulfilling and effective.
“Gaia’s magical blend…”
“Gaia’s magical blend of understanding, compassion, knowledge, insight and intuition has helped to transform my relationship with myself and my work with my clients.” Trainee N.G.
“THE SAFEST AND MOST RESPECTFUL OF SPACES…”
“Gaia’s training isa space where ALL my feelings and thoughts are encouraged,expressedand explored. The safest and most respectful of spaces.” Trainee B.R.
HOW THE TWO YEARS (PLUS) ARE STRUCTURED
The period of the main training is 2 years: from January in your first year until the December the following year.
The syllabus is MODULAR for these two years: gathering approximately once a month as a full group.
After the 2 years of training, you’ll move into the case-study period: where you work over 12 sessions with a client, and are appraised via supervisions and a final submitted video of a client session which is assessed in a supervision with Gaia. If all the course requirements have been fulfilled, and the assessment is successful, you will graduate as a practitioner in Being Me Therapy and attend a graduation ceremony in Brighton.
THE MODULAR SYLLABUS
The core training is led by Gaia in the approximately monthly group gatherings.
The training is a mixture of more theoretical instruction, with experiential exercises and practice in groups and pairs (both online and in-person).
Alongside these teaching modules, there are regular ‘practice pods’, where trainees practise with each other. Then, quarterly, these pods come together for ‘coached practice’
So the training mix during the 2 years looks like this –
- Gathering roughly once a month for one day’s online training with Gaia, or
- Long-weekend in Brighton (2-3 times a year) with possible Italian retreat attendance
- Evening practice ‘pods’ every 2 weeks (trainee-only small pods for therapist-client practice sessions)
- Evening coached practice (practising in therapist-client pairs with active coaching) three times a year
The training is designed to be done alongside a full-time job: with approximately 2 to 3 days a month or attendance and work required (varying on the module type and the stage of the training).
MODULES
This is unique therapy training:
As well as the Psychology of Being Yourself,
and the Somatics of Being Yourself,
there is a significant Energy of Being Yourself element (rarely covered by other therapeutic trainings).
These three levels are taught alongside each other throughout the 2 years, so that you learn from the beginning to work with all the three elements.
The PSYCHOLOGY of BEING ME
When we discover that what we thought to be a true version of us, has actually been an ‘adapted’ version of us since childhood (as part of ‘Developmental Trauma’), a whole new world of possibilities opens up to us. Learning to work with these childhood adaptations that distort the self (‘Trauma You’), and to recognise and rear the feelings and traits of the ‘True You’ is a life changer.
The SOMATICS of BEING ME
The psychological adaptations are deeply intertwined with the somatic protection mechanisms of fight, flight and freeze. So to address trauma successfully it is necessary to work with psychology and somatics in unison (which is very different from traditional therapy).
You will learn to identify what nervous system state you and your clients are in and become able to address debilitating states of fight, flight and freeze, until it will feel safe and peaceful to live fully in the body, fully as oneself.
The ENERGETICS of BEING ME
The Somatic and Psychological levels are contained within Energy Fields (“We are energy fields embedded in larger energy fields.” Hildegard von Bingen 12th century mystic).
This more ethereal work of sensing and accessing information through attuning to the Energy Fields, which Gaia has been teaching for years and which you will learn deeply, is starting to be recognised as a powerful way to work with trauma. And you’ll become a master at this (one of the few).
“(…Gaia)… revealed a whole new world of how to work with my clients…”
“I am a medical doctor and applied kinesiologist working a lot with trauma. My years with Gaia, first as a client, then as a trainee revealed a whole new world of how to work with my clients.” Trainee F.W.
MODULE EXAMPLES
Here are some examples of modules
(taken from the current live training).
The PSYCHOLOGY of BEING ME (module)
EXPLORING THE REVOLUTIONARY MODEL OF THE ‘BEING ME THERAPY’ BUTTERFLY IN WORKING WITH DEVELOPMENTAL TRAUMA
A foundational principle of ‘Being Me Therapy’ is the revolutionary idea that simply being more ourselves can resolve many problems.
The Butterfly Model takes this further: that it’s by directly confronting the struggles arising from our adapted selves that we uncover not just ‘me’, but a true and sacred me that then connects us to the whole.
In these modules, you will learn the principles of developmental trauma, and how the Butterfly Model supports you in working with all layers of trauma.
The Butterfly Model is the revelation of a revolutionary idea – that we can access our true selves, and the divine, through our struggles.
And it is complete: in that it comprises the steps to such revelations and it points at the completeness of our own existence (that the struggle is both a doorway to the true self and a part of the divine).
The ENERGETICS of BEING ME (module)
EXPLORING THE NEW FRONTIER: PSYCHOLOGY AS ENERGY
A great skill that Gaia wants to share in this training is experiencing the psycho-physiological (psychology and nervous system ) work through energy.
The psychological structures and mechanisms of self-pressures, the internalised voices, the avoidance mechanisms (and all the other elements of the Butterfly Model) can be experienced at an energetic level.
The different protective parts, as well as the freer and truer parts, have an energetic presence.
When you open to this, and in sitting with a client in trust and connection, sensing the different energetic qualities provides deep information that can be used in the process and can guide therapist and client to profound truths.
The work with the different energies is also fundamental in the way Gaia works with groups with the large butterfly on the floor.
Getting in touch with the different energies, and developing the skill of feeling the energetic field, gives you access to a profound way to work.
The SOMATICS of BEING ME (module)
RECOGNISING THE PATTERNS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IN TRAUMA, AND WORKING WITH FIGHT, FLIGHT AND FREEZE
When we are able to recognise if a feeling, an action or a behaviour stems from fear and a sense of danger from the nervous system – rather than from curiousity and a sense of safety – we get access to huge healing of older patterns.
We will learn how to spot, in our clients, states of mobility and immobility that are fuelled by fear (fight, flight or freeze), and work with the nervous system to restore mobility and calmness fuelled by joy and life energy.
We will also learn how to rebalance the nervous system on our own (self-regulation) or through safe relationships with others (co-regulation).
Our true self can only be contacted when the body feels safe again.
The PSYCHOLOGY of BEING ME (module)
IDENTIFYING SOMEONE’S ADAPTIVE MECHANISMS, AND HOW THEY SHOW UP IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
‘Being Me Therapy’ allows us to see with clarity the ways in which we are not being true to ourselves. These untruths show up most overtly in our ‘adaptive behaviours’.
These are the behaviours that are not authentically ours, but have been learnt in childhood in order to adapt to our families’ requirements.
The different behavioural styles change depending on type of parenting and on the developmental age and at which we were not properly met.
You will learn the 5 adaptive mechanisms of developmental trauma work and their corresponding behaviours, and how they show up in the nervous system (through fight, flight and freeze).
You will learn how to recognise these adaptive mechanisms, and how spotting such mechanisms can help you and your client work with the nervous system, see what is inauthentic, and getting in touch with the authentic feelings and behaviour they are unconsciously avoiding.
The SOMATICS of BEING ME (module)
THE THREAD THAT JOINS PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SOMATIC
As we reconnect to the truer parts of us, our power comes back.
The power that was previously shut down returns to our bodies. And the compressed energy expands.
In developmental trauma, the physical body and energetic body are deeply connected with the psychological structure. So shifts in self–perception (psychological structure) greatly affect body and energy and vice-versa:
the realisations about our true and positive identity allow shifts in the nervous system and energetic system, and vice versa.
In order to support this process, it is necessary to understand how the nervous system works and how to work with it. Gaia will mix the principles of Somatic Experiencing, of Polyvagal Theory and of Developmental Trauma to illustrate how to facilitate the return to a regulated nervous system and to our full power, supporting the true sense of self.
The ENERGETICS of BEING ME (module)
INTUITION, TRUST AND MAGIC IN SERIOUS THERAPY
When we learn to trust ourselves by going beyond our own adaptive mechanisms (as we do in the butterfly journey); when go beyond our mechanisms of control, of seeking results or needing to rescue others, our work as practitioners takes a completely different quality.
We start working from a deeper presence and clarity.
We become able to truly listen to what is happening below the surface, and we start listening to a deeper language. We start intuiting and sensing. There will likely be a sense of ‘not trying’, and from that a session can be transformed by a few words we say that just come from a seeing or a sensing something, simply because we’re working from a connection with our core and our presence.
We are not lost in our own disconnections or projections.
The outcome of this is magical. From our core we invite and trust the core of our clients.
We are basically working with and inviting essence.
And work with essence has a magical and spiritual energetic field.
You will experience this in the work. The experiences of expansion, the intuitions, the depth of the experiences, will feel like magic and the ‘unplannable’ is an integral part of this process.
“I now trust myself to guide others…”
“Since I haven’t been training as a therapist before this course, I’m happy to say that I now trust myself to guide others in this divine journey. Thanks to Gaia and the Being Me Mastery training, I now feel confident and open. “ Trainee S.A.
NEXT STEPS IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN JOINING THE
‘BEING ME THERAPY’ PRACTITIONER TRAINING?
Your first step, if you’re getting excited about joining Gaia’s Mastery training, is to book a call with John
(and John has done the training himself, and is Gaia’s business partner and husband).
John is experienced in finding out whether this training is the ‘right-fit’ for you, and what you’re after in life, and also whether you’re the right-fit for the training and the group.
If you and he agree that this is feeling good, and a right-fit both ways, then he’ll arrange for you to have a chat with Gaia.
He finds that he offers this next stage to on average half those he talks to.
1/ TALK TO JOHN
If you’re excited about the possibility of this practitioner training, your path to joining will start with filling out a short questionnaire and then chatting to John (access to his diary and the questionnaire is below).
John is checking whether this training is the right-fit for you, and whether you’re the right-fit for the training.
John will ask you questions about your interests (in this area), any experience you have, and why this is ringing bells for you.
He’ll also explain about the training programme in more detail, and go through the rhythm of the training, and the pricing structure.
Or... if you'd prefer a 'taster' with gaia...
If you’d prefer to have a paid-for ‘Taster’ 1-to-1 session with Gaia first, to get a sense of the work (and it is a full 1 hour Being Me Therapy session), then you can book that here (and then talk to John or Gaia later about the training) –
2/ TALK TO GAIA
If, during your chat with John, it’s all feeling like a good fit – that the training would suit what you’re after, and that you’d be great for the training and the group – then John will book you in to chat with Gaia.
You’re likely to be very excited about joining the training by this time.
So your chat with Gaia will likely be inspiring… of course, you can ask her any questions about the training, but it’s likely that you’ll connect deeply with Gaia and start to feel why this training is so unique and powerful… for you and then onwards to the people you’ll be sharing the work with in the future.
If Gaia’s feeling it too, that this is right for you, and you’re right for this, she’ll offer you a place on the training.
3/ RESERVE YOUR PLACE
If Gaia offers you a place on the training, you’ll likely be bursting to get going – you’ll know deeply that the training is right for you and you’re right for the training –
you’ll then be guided (by Gaia’s team) in registering and reserving your place. Hurrah!
You’ll be let into the dedicated training hub immediately, and get access to foundational training videos, so you can get stuck in straight away.
“What I am learning in this training is really showing up in my coaching practice…”
“What I am learning in this training is really showing up in my coaching practice with my clients. The work has given me new ways to hold my clients as they explore deeply within themselves. ” Trainee N.G.
WHAT’S THE FULL TRAINING PACKAGE?
This is a Comprehensive Multi-faceted 2-Year Training in –
Being Me Mastery
You’ve seen what the elements of the training are.
And what the modular syllabus looks like.
Here’s a summary of what your Being Me Mastery Practitioner Training includes:
-
Regular online training days with Gaia and supported by her team
-
In-person training in Brighton (3-day-weekend) 3 times a year
You organize accommodation yourself, with the large choice on offer in Brighton -
Organized Practice ‘Pods’ for regular work between trainees (roughly every two weeks)
With group coaching and pod debrief sessions led by trainers three times a year -
Regular sessions with John for either ‘Body & Energy Training’ or ‘Making a Living From This’ Masterminds.
-
Access to 1-to-1s with Gaia for therapeutic sessions or supervisions at special trainee rate of £100 (her regular rate is £120-£150)
-
Inclusion in Gaia’s monthly ‘Being Me Therapy Membership’ throughout the training (worth £684 a year)
-
The opportunity to join Gaia & John on a retreat in Italy during your training (paying only for board and lodging)
N.B. This Mastery training does evolve over time, and whilst the overall shape will remain the same, some details of the offer may change.
How much is the training?
When you apply and then speak to John about the training,
he’ll take you through the pricing and payment options.
“I’m very happy to have become a Being Me trainee…“
“I discoveredGaia’s workeight years ago. I was depressed and unable to feel anything without feeling completely overwhelmed. That first retreat changed my life and now, years and retreats laterI’mvery happy to have become a Being Me trainee.” Trainee G.K.
Your 1-to-1 Journey with Gaia and her team (throughout your training)
Your personal therapeutic journey, and growth, during the training is essential to your development as a ‘Being Me Therapy’ Practioner.
Alongside your training, you will be having 1-to-1 sessions with Gaia, and at times, a member of her team (at the special trainee rate).
It is currently not possible to work 1-to-1 with Gaia in any other way than through this practitioner training.
How many you have will depend on your experience and previous training. Most trainees prefer to have a monthly session with Gaia. A minimum of 8 sessions a year is required and, for those who have less experience (and / or training), we ask that you do a minimum of 10 sessions in the first year.
“to discover what divine parts I’m avoiding…“
“Gaia teaches me in a gentle way to look at myself, to accept anything that comes and to discover what divine parts I’m avoiding. And she shows how I can create space for other people to go on the same journey.” Trainee M.V.
INCLUDED IN YOUR TRAINING FOR THE FULL 2 YEARS…
BEING ME THERAPY membership
(formerly ‘Being Me University’)
(MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMME)
Gaia has been running her Being Me University for 8 years now.
People from all over the world are thus experiencing being more themselves and seeing the power of that in their daily lives.
They love the combination of teaching, experience and community.
This is what it includes:
- Monthly live get-together with teaching, breakout groups and community
- Monthly ‘Being Me Therapy’ podcast recording
- Access to core Being Me Training, including the full Adaptive Mechanism series (worth £684 in itself)
“magnificent work…”
“Gaia, I truly believe in the magnificent work that you do. ” Trainee, E.M.
“Thank you Gaia…”
“I’vediscovered on this training that my truth is Divine,so I want access to it. I believe we all should have the choice to access it.And now I am going to support other people in doing so. Thankyou Gaia.“
Trainee S.D.