Professional Diploma in SOMA Transcendence Therapy (STT)

A mentored, clinically grounded training for people already working with others who keep meeting the edge of what talking can reach. SOMA stands for Somatic Orientation, Meaning and Alignment: body first, then meaning, then a life that matches. Begin with seven months of Space Holder training and continue, if it is right for you, into the full 15-month Professional Diploma.

- Duration: 7 months (Space Holder, Level 5 aligned) or 15 months (full Diploma, Level 6 aligned)
- Format: Online, live and mentored, with optional in-person Elemental Retreats
- Structure: One module per month, so the learning has time to land
- Cohort: September 2026 start
Teaching: Two live coaching calls each month, mentored triads, monthly student practice, self-directed study
- Assessment: Practical assignments, supervised practice hours, case studies and reflections

There is a moment most practitioners recognise. The client has understood their pattern completely. They can name it, date it, explain it. And it is still running.

SOMA Transcendence Therapy was built for that moment. SOMA stands for Somatic Orientation, Meaning and Alignment, and that is also the order of the work: orient the body and the nervous system first, then meet meaning, then bring it into alignment with how someone actually lives. Body, mind and soul are treated as one system rather than three separate departments. The body is regulated and resourced, the mind is worked with directly through language and attention, and the deeper, older layer people call soul is given a real container rather than being left to a weekend of intensity.

Three disciplines carry that work, and students train in all three:

- Naturopathy. Hydration, nutrition, gut health, rest, breath and the physiology that makes any therapy hold. A dysregulated body does not integrate insight.
- NLP. Language, focus and physiology. How to move a state, reframe a belief, anchor a change and set an outcome that a client can actually reach.
- Shamanic practice. Ceremony, drum journey, the Celtic wheel, ancestors and allies. Depth work with clear ethics, clear consent and no appropriation.

A note on altered states. The training works extensively with altered states of consciousness: shamanic journeying, drum and rhythm, breathwork, sound and voice, meditation, hypnotic language, fasting, cold exposure and somatic release. No psychedelic substance is used, offered or facilitated at any point in the 15 months. Psychedelic-assisted work is a separate post-diploma specialisation and is not part of this programme.

The training is led by Fed Podeschi through the Shamanic Activations Academy, alongside the Merlin Clinic where the method is used with real clients.

The curriculum, month by month

Months 1 to 7: Shamanic Space Holder, Level 5 aligned You learn to hold a room and a nervous system safely, and you can qualify and exit here.

- Foundation Principles and Practices: the three roots of the method and how they meet in the body
- Understanding Trauma and Healing: trauma physiology, window of tolerance, safe and sacred space
- Space Holding Skills: client dynamics, group holding, ceremony design from opening to closing
- Professional Development: ethics, scope, insurance, referral and practitioner self-care
- Traditions and Allies: the Celtic wheel, trees, moon cycles, elements and ancestors
- Additional Practices: altered states, journeying, somatic inquiry and the STT Alignment Tool
- Integration and Review: integration after altered states, breakthrough facilitation, assessment

By the end you can design and hold a safe altered-state process one to one or in a group, with consent, containment and aftercare in place.

Months 8 to 15: Professional Diploma in STT, Level 6 aligned - You become a practitioner who can take a client through a course of therapy.

- Client Charter, Coaching and Professional Practice: intake, assessment, planning, notes and safety protocols
- Deep Dive and Practices: advanced STT methodology, energy work in session, working a real case end to end
- Shamanic Therapy and Group Transformation: retreat design, the eight-phase drum journey, breathwork facilitation
- Sound Tools, Music and Singing: voice, instruments and entrainment, with nutrition and gut health as the base
- Human Connection, Intimacy, Family Systems and Loss: attachment, sexuality and ethics, family systems, grief
- Shadow Integration and Crisis Healing: depth work with containment, and recognising when to hold or refer
- Specialist Masterclasses and Building Your Practice: your specialisation, named method and real infrastructure
- Certification and Practice: supervised client hours, case studies, final assessment and qualification

What you will be able to do

- Hold ceremony, session and group safely, with clear consent and clear scope
- Assess and screen a client, plan a course of work, and know confidently when to refer on
- Move a state with breath, sound, drum, language and touch-free somatic method
- Work with the body rather than around it, so change is felt and not only understood
- Support integration so insight becomes a changed life rather than a good story
- Run a professional practice with proper notes, supervision, ethics and a viable income

After the Diploma
Graduates may continue into the advanced post-diploma specialisation in psychedelic-assisted therapy, delivered with legal partners abroad. That pathway sits entirely outside this training and is open only to those who have completed the Diploma.

Who it is for
Therapists, counsellors, coaches, bodyworkers, nurses, teachers, breathwork and sound practitioners, and space holders already working with people. Beginners with genuine calling and emotional maturity are considered individually.

It tends not to suit anyone wanting a fast credential without doing their own work first.

Full curriculum and prospectus: https://www.merlinwellbeing.ai/stt-training-v2