It is my pleasure to announce that Ms. Kate CHAN Yin Shan has become a Certified
AEDP Therapist in Hong Kong. As his supervisor, I am very happy to be a partner with
her in this certification process, recognizing her dream comes true to become a
certified member of our global AEDP community. Kate completed the Level I, II and
III training and supervision in Hong Kong from 2019 to 2023. After that, she not only
kept continuous learning and active participation in AEDP Salon, Book Club and
Advanced Seminars, but also contributed her expertise in being an experiential
helper in the AEDP training in HK. I am impressed by her strong commitment to
engage herself in the AEDP spirit and the community.

I am also impressed by her great efforts and practice wisdom she demonstrated in
the process of making the paradigm shift of intervention from Cognitive-Behavioral
Therapy as her usual practice to the AEDP model of intervention. I witness how
determined and thoughtful she has worked to somehow un-learn her usual “top-
down” practice and re-learn the “bottom-up” affective-relational model of practice.
For Kate, this shift and attempts is not only in terms of skills and knowledge, but also
related to her self-related process of trust, identity and spirituality.

During my supervision with her, I witnessed that Kate is able to demonstrate how
proficient and confident the use of knowledge, skills and the therapeutic self in
AEDP. In particular, I am impressed that Kate is skillful in privileging the new and
positive emergence the clients have from the get-go, in using body sensation,
imagery, portrayal and metaphor to help the clients access and express their
underlying feelings, unspoken voices, attachment striving, self-compassion in the
sessions. She is also confident to do the Intra-relational work with different self-
states of her clients, and competent in maintaining the experiential focus of
intervention upon emotional engagement, following through the expressive and
receptive aspects of interaction between the self, the part and the other. Besides,
Kate well illustrated her proficient in deepening and expanding the affective, somatic
and self-relational aspects of transformational experiences in the meta-therapeutic
processing and its relating work on the emergence of core state and true self in the
sessions, even though she mentioned in her reflection that she needed to learn more
how to work with the relational aspect of this part of processing. Actually, I felt
amazing and honor to witness the powerful transformational work Kate had done
with her clients and also her great efforts and attempts to make the paradigm shift
of modalities in her professional practice since learning AEDP.

Here, Kate also wants to share with us her reflection and learning in her journey of
AEDP as follows:
It has been a tremendous honor to be certified as an AEDP therapist. This journey of
learning AEDP has been nothing short of amazing and profoundly enriching. I feel
incredibly privileged to have witnessed the significant transformations of my clients,
and in turn, AEDP has transformed me both personally and professionally. I truly love
this approach; it has opened my eyes to the depths of my clients' pain and suffering
and has shown me how to be a compassionate and attuned therapist.

I am deeply grateful to my certification supervisor, Mr. Wu, for his unwavering
support, encouragement, and guidance throughout the certification process,
especially during challenging moments. I would also like to extend my heartfelt
thanks to my first teacher, Esther, who introduced me to AEDP through her
passionate teaching and inspiring demonstrations.

Additionally, I appreciate all the supervisors who have played a role in my growth in
AEDP, including Catherine, Cammy, Judy, and Bob. Last but not least, the AEDP Hong
Kong Community has been instrumental in helping us learn and grow together. I look
forward to continuing my journey, deepening my knowledge, and using the AEDP
spirit to help even more clients.

Finally, I sincerely hope that Kate as an AEDP Therapist will further consolidate what
she has experienced with us and continuously pursue her unique journey with AEDP
and with the AEDP local and global communities at large.
Thank you very much!

Regards,

Kwok-wing Wu
Registered Clinical Psychologist
Adjunct Faculty of AEDP Institute

Happy New Year to you! 

I am thrilled to celebrate with you all—Ms. Yumi Yamaguchi from Japan has officially achieved Certified AEDP Therapist status! We’re especially honored to share that Yumi is the first therapist practicing in Japan to reach this milestone.Congratulations, Yumi! 

Yumi’s certification reviewers were deeply moved by her work. They describe her clinical practice as a beautiful embodiment of the “AEDP spirit,” where she masterfully brings together affective-somatic experiencing, dyadic regulation, and metatherapeutic processing. What stands out most is how Yumi creates such profound safety in the therapeutic space—through her warmth, her explicit affirmation, and her exquisitely attuned presence.

As Yumi’s supervisors, I have had the privilege of witnessing her growth as an AEDP therapist. What moves me deeply is Yumi’s courage and perseverance in taking AEDP certification courses and supervision over the course of several years—she has navigated significant challenges including time zone differences, language barriers, and the profound work of learning AEDP across cultures. Her thoughtful exploration of how to honor both the relational depth of AEDP and the cultural values of harmony, implicit communication, and modesty in Japanese culture shows her deep integrity, academic sophistication, and commitment to this work.

Here is what her certification reviewers wrote (their words speak for themselves):

Reviewer 1:

Ms. Yumi Yamaguchi was emotionally engaging well with both her clients, demonstrating herself is comfortable with the significant therapeutic stances of AEDP, which include authenticity, affirmation, privileging positive experience and new emergence. I am impressed that Yumi was proficient in setting a regulated and attuned pacing, tone, rhythm, facial and paraverbal expression in the dyads, which contributes very much to her work on making the shift from client’s top-down mode of problem-solving into the experiential track of processing. Also, her state of relax alertness as a way of tracking and seizing different glimmers of transformance at various transformational states creates a good sense of safety and space for clients to explore not only their deep emotions but also the sense of agency of their selves. Furthermore, I see how beautiful Yumi’s work on managing the unfinished issue as approaching the end of the session, which enable the client to develop a new sense of competence in managing the unsettled fear and anxiety.

Reviewer 2:

Overall speaking, Yumi demonstrates mastery in the core, healing-oriented principles of AEDP. Her work is a beautiful embodiment of the AEDP spirit, seamlessly weaving affective-somatic experiencing, dyadic regulation, and metatherapeutic processing to facilitate profound transformation. Her exceptional work demonstrates masterful relational skills, creating profound safety through warmth, explicit affirmation, and attuned presence. Yumi exhibits remarkable clinical artistry in somatically focused interventions, skillfully guiding clients to deepen bodily awareness and process core affect within the window of tolerance. With a keen eye for “glimmers” of transformation, she facilitates powerful journeys from anxiety and fear toward resilience, integration, and a renewed, authentic sense of self. Her ability to foster dyadic regulation and mutual expansion through intersubjectivity is outstanding. Yumi’s practice beautifully exemplifies the therapeutic transition from implicit to explicit and from right brain to left brain, making her a truly skilled and compassionate AEDP clinician.

Yumi’s own words:

I was drawn to AEDP because it focuses on the healthy capacities that living beings naturally have, such as growth and homeostasis. This perspective resonated deeply with me. Since childhood, I have always loved seeing flowers growing out of cracks in concrete. When I learned that this image is used as a core concept in AEDP, I intuitively felt, “This is it.”

In the summer of 2019, I attended an immersion in New York, followed by ES1 in the winter of the same year. Throughout the training I have continued since then, I encountered many challenges. Alongside practical difficulties such as time zone differences, language barriers, and rising costs due to currency exchange, I repeatedly faced the challenge of practicing AEDP across cultural differences. Especially in relational interventions, approaches developed in Western contexts do not always translate smoothly into the Japanese cultural context. In Japan, harmony is highly valued; people are discouraged from asserting themselves, implicit communication is valued over explicit verbal expression, and modesty is considered a virtue. Even now, in moments of relational intervention, feelings of embarrassment or hesitation—such as wondering, “Would this sound strange if I said it?”—still pass through me. Finding the delicate balance of engaging the dyadic relationship while remaining within the window of tolerance is something I continue to explore.

What has allowed me to keep trusting and studying AEDP was my own experience as a client in AEDP therapy. Through this experience, I learned how powerful it is to be truly seen, and how healing it can be to feel that I am not alone. This experience changed how I relate to myself, how I engage with others, and ultimately how I live my life. That is why I hold deep gratitude for and trust in AEDP as a model. I continue this work with the wish to offer this experience to those who need it, knowing that there must be people for whom it will be deeply meaningful.

In sessions, there are moments when I recognize the seed of a client’s unique self, nurture it, and witness it bloom. These moments bring deep emotion and hope, and feel like precious gifts that arise through human connection. Being able to experience this is what brings me the greatest joy in my work. To me, AEDP feels raw and profoundly human. That is why I believe it is especially needed in today’s society. I hope to continue exploring how this work can take root and grow within Japanese culture.

—–

If you’d like to send your message directly to Yumi, here’s her email: yamaguchiyumicounseling@gmail.com

With warmth and celebration,

Yuko Hanakawa, Ph.D.

Senior Faculty, AEDP Institute

Dear AEDP Community-
I am writing with great enthusiasm to announce that Yuka Mukai is now a certified AEDP therapist!
I have had the pleasure of being Yuka’s certification supervisor and witnessing Yuka’s beautiful AEDP work. Yuka is clinically astute, intellectually curious, emotionally engaged and dedicated to providing the best care possible to her clients. Her AEDP clinical work is exemplary: she embodies the AEDP stance, utilizes moment-to-moment tracking, invites her clients to slow down and drop down, dyadically regulates, skillfully metaprocesses, and expands core state experiences.

Most of our work together focused on connecting her clinical work to a felt understanding of the AEDP model and interventions. It was thrilling to accompany Yuka as she grounded her right brain skills and experience with her left brain intellect and knowledge. As a result, her annotated transcripts were precise, insightful and thorough.At the Institute level, Yuka has also contributed as an experiential assitant in AEDP Immersions and Essential Skills courses. Most recently, Yuka was also a part of the Japan AEDP Immersion team and helped interpret the english language presentations. I look forward to seeing how her role and contribution to AEDP will continue to grow!
I am excited to share what others have said about Yuka and her work, starting with her AEDP Supervisor Kaori Straum:

“From the very beginning of our AEDP journey together, I have been deeply moved by Yuka’s honesty, passion, and the sincerity she brings to her work. This has been evident not only in her clinical work with clients, but also in her engagement in supervision and her generous support of fellow therapists as an experiential assistant. She approaches her practice with integrity and curiosity, thoughtfully integrating insights from supervision into each subsequent session. It has been truly remarkable to witness her growth.

Her ability to attune to a client’s deepest pain, to cultivate a safe relational space, and to gently facilitate embodied and relational experiences reflects her strong clinical skill. Beyond technique, her therapeutic presence has deepened over time, bringing a quiet strength and radiance to her work.

Through her dedicated role as an experiential assistant across both the U.S. and Japan, she has also made significant contributions to the broader AEDP community, especially in supporting our Japanese community. I am delighted that her tireless efforts and steadfast commitment have culminated in her recognition as a certified AEDP therapist.”

The AEDP Certfication reviewers shared the following:

Reviewer #1:“It was pleasure to review Yuka’s materials and see her gorgeous clinical work.  She demonstrates all the essentials of a skillful AEDP therapist.  Yuka embodies a kind, warm, confident transformance detective who carefully tracks the moment-to-moment process in each session and communicates what she’s tracking with grace, openness and curiosity.  Her depth of engagement combined with technical precision, gentle self-assuredness and phenomenological specificity delivers a powerful healing opportunity to each of her clients. 

Yuka seems to effortlessly embody a security engendering attachment figure—delighting in her clients, making space for their own self-discovery, speaking when helpful but readily remaining on the sidelines when not, and unafraid to to propel the process to a deeper level of healing potential with challenging and necessary requests for deepening emotion metaprocessing transformations.  Among many strengths, Yuka’s  somatic attunement and attention as well as her tenacity when metaprocessing is exceptional.  She takes the time to deepen and explore each emerging transformational experience—and there are many! ” 

Reviewer #2:“As I watched her clients and listened to Yuka’s masterful abilities to lead, then follow, then accompany and elongate her clients’ experiences in beautifully unfolding state-work, I witnessed healing in quantum yet moment-by-moment magnitude. I felt a freedom throughout my own being as the session took all three of us through cathartic state-two process, spiraling into very profound and deeper state-work and Core States. Yuka’s microanalysis allowed their Japanese language to flow from the dyad, and although I’ve never studied Japanese, I felt included in their dialogue because the work felt so crisp, with palpable healing taking hold in front of my eyes. The early client’s recognition, of her aloneness in a career that sounds stressful and difficult, was undone seamlessly. The mid-case recognitions and healing pinnacles demonstrate huge transformation. Yuka’s depth of knowledge led this person into a beautiful recognition, both through metaphorical intra-relational imaging and inter-relational truths: Emotion is not only safe, but also incredibly freeing and joyful after a life filled with fear and experience of being blocked inside. Meta-processing was offered to each of them in small ways with each of Yuka’s interventions, then in much bigger ways as gifts, and both clients’ states deepened throughout their very clean and discernible AEDP processes.”

Finally, Yuka had this to share about her own experience and process:
“My encounter with AEDP began at a one-day workshop in Tokyo at the end of 2018, led by Yuko Hanakawa.
Without her dedication to bringing AEDP to Japan, I might never have found this path. During that workshop,
I witnessed a live demonstration session in which a client, held in the therapistʼs compassionate presence,
allowed profound vulnerability to emerge before nearly a hundred people. I remember feeling something open
inside me. Quietly, I thought, “This is what I have been searching for.”

Soon after, I registered for Immersion and traveled to New York in the summer of 2019, returning again that fall
for ES1. Then the pandemic began, and the latter half of ES1 moved online. I remember wondering, Can
experiential learning truly happen through a screen? AEDP is so rooted in embodied presence and subtle
relational attunement that I was unsure whether something so experiential could survive physical distance.

What unfolded surprised me. Even across oceans and time zones, I felt deeply moved and connected. I lost count
of how many nights I stayed awake until dawn in Japan to attend online courses. It was physically demanding,
yet those long nights became meaningful. Through engaging with therapists from around the world in training
courses, I came to realize that the doubts and struggles I carried as a therapist were not uniquely mine̶they
were shared and universal. That realization became a lived experience of undoing aloneness.

Integrating AEDP into my clinical work required courage. Allowing my authentic emotional presence into the
room initially felt uncertain. Gradually, I experienced how genuine openness creates safety. Concepts I once
understood intellectually became embodied realities as I witnessed subtle shifts unfold. I learned to slow down,
notice glimmers of transformance, and trust the balance between doing and being.

Serving as an assistant in trainings deepened my sense of belonging. Over time, AEDP became not only a
therapeutic model but my clinical home. I am deeply grateful to my supervisors, Ben Medley and Kaori Stram,
who believed in my capacity from beginning to end. Their steady trust allowed me to feel truly seen. Being
believed in strengthened something within me that continues to guide my work. I am equally grateful to my
AEDP colleagues in Japan and around the world, whose shared learning and heartfelt friendship have sustained
and encouraged me, especially during moments when the journey felt long or uncertain.

Recently, the first Japanese-language Immersion was held in Japan̶a meaningful step in the growth of our
community. In a culture that deeply values harmony (“wa”), often at the expense of authentic expression, AEDP
offers a vision of harmony grounded in emotional truth and connection. As I move forward, I hope to contribute
to the continued cultivation of a compassionate, experiential AEDP community in Japan.”
Please join me in celebrating Yuka’s acheivement. You can contact her at ymukai@co-progress.jp

Congratulations, Yuka!!!
With excitement,Ben– 

Ben Medley LCSW-R

Dear Community,

I am extremely happy to be able to announce that Anna Guest is now a Certified AEDP therapist. Hooray, Anna! Anna is a clinician whose AEDP skills and mastery of theory have been ready for this next level for quite some time; this makes the fact of her passing this milestone especially satisfying. Anna’s a really good example of a seasoned, deeply capable therapist with very high standards who wanted to be certain she was absolutely ready, and that her work was much more than adequate to meet the challenge, before she submitted her file. She brings a sometimes painful wealth of her own life experiences to the work; even though she rarely explicitly self discloses “facts” about her life, Anna’s therapeutic presence is informed and deepened by lived experiences of both grief and joy. Anna has a quiet, genuine sweetness in her demeanour that conveys itself to her clients with the outcome that trust builds rapidly in the dyad, and deep trauma repair work can move effectively and smoothly. Anna’s recordings demonstrated this, both with the client for whom this was an early session, and with the longer term client. The reviewers recognise these qualities, as well as her AEDP theoretical acumen: “(Anna) understands AEDP theory and where she is in each moment in the session and there is a true AEDP stance of care and compassion. Clearly her client feels safe and able to touch into hard, shame filled places with her true other. Her stance as the secure base and a@achment figure/mom helps her client touch into and own her core self with pride and certainty. She understands AEDP theory and where she is in each moment in the session.

Anna Guest has extraordinary presence as an AEDP therapist. She clearly cares deeply about each of her clients. She tracks relentlessly and meticulously. She has a slowed down presence and a very warm, nurturing gaze. Her enGre demeanor and body language signals compassion]and care.”

Here are Anna’s own words about her relationship with AEDP:

“Simply put, AEDP has changed my life. Learning and integrating the model has impacted my experience of myself, and therefore my experience of others and my relationship to them.  This model makes me feel balanced internally- between right and left brain, between making space for the darkest places in myself and others, but also making space for the lightest, between privileging the positive but never at the expense of what is difficult. 

People often assume, when I tell them what I do for work, that clients’ stories must weigh me down, that it must be so taxing to me personally to hear so much pain and trauma. But AEDP is inherently hopeful. And it affirms what I already believed, that we are all more than the things that have happened to us. AEDP had given me a map that shows the path to the growth and flourishing that is in everyone. And the fact that I get to accompany people in finding their core self, their own truth and wisdom, is such an incredible experience that I find myself grateful and appreciative of what I get to do rather than weighed down.

AEDP has given me permission to fully and deeply be myself, has encouraged me to be brave, and has affirmed that at all times there is nothing more important in the moment than who I am being. It makes me feel more alive. 

I have learned so much from so many different people along the way, but I am particularly grateful to Kate Halliday and Richard Harrison for their guidance. Richard was my first supervisor- when I worked with Richard I felt his belief in me and his encouragement to keep going with AEDP.  Kate helped me to believe in myself. Thank you, Kate, for being unapologetically loving.”

I hope you’ll help Anna celebrate her achievement by contacting her directly at:

anna.d.guest@gmail.com

Sincerely, Kate Halliday

Dear AEDP community,

It is with deep delight that Idit Ronen-Setter (Neta’s long-term supervisor) and I (her certification supervisor) get to announce that Neta Korazim is now certified as an AEDP therapist. 

Idit writes: “Such a blessing that you, Neta, have met AEDP and entered our community with such an open heart and dedicated mind. 

“Here are some words for us members of the AEDP community: Neta has her unique combination of sensitivity, resilience, wisdom, care, and finesse, her zest and energy that is both calming and magnetic! Getting to know Neta, one can imagine her waking up in the middle of the night with a new idea or realization regarding a paper she read, or related to a patient – getting up and digging-in with determined eyes… What an impact her presence and thoroughness make on her patients.

“With her enthusiastic engagement in AEDP theory and practice, her deep care for her patients, Neta’s motivation in her work is striking. Added to this, is the lovely person that she is, thoughtful, wise, patient, and sincere.” 

Both her reviewers were struck by Neta’s AEDP presence, knowledge and skill and heart. The first writes:

“I was absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to review and soak in Neta Korazim’s nearly flawless AEDP work. Her style combines authenticity, seamless AEDP knowledge and skillset, and a clear understanding of the theory and practice of the model. Every step of the way, both with the new patient and the patient who has been so traumatized historically and by current events, breakthroughs to very clear transformations are evident in the work Neta chose to analyze and share.”

The second reviewer adds: 

“I am captivated by NETA’S description of her AEDP learning journey.  In it she shares how she moved from Slovakia to Israel, and describes her movement between cultures and language and how she came to AEDP.  I find her use of language so engaging and descriptive, revealing a deep understadning of AEDP and how she engaged and discovered more through the certification process. I’m a fan of her work before I begin to watch her videos.

“I appreciate Neta’s thorough, compassionate description of her clients, giving me a sense of their work together.  For the first clinical video of a mid treatment – I got the magnitude of trauma her client has been facing.  This description offers not only a view into who the client is and what she had been processing, but a description of who Neta is as an attachment figure who has been holding her client with the depth of her open eyes and heart.

“Neta’s delight in her patient’s is palpable. I feel her deep accompaniment and care and interest in helping her patient’s to move towards having new experiences of being present with their inner feelings and developing connection.  I feel slow as I watch the tapes, in exploratory mode with the patient and Neta. Neta’s kindness and care feels warm and encouraging, brings a feeling of safety and feeling seen and understood.” 

Neta shares the following around her AEDP journey: 

AEDP crossed my life at just the right moment when; I was ready to receive all the goodness it has to offer. As an immigrant, just finding my footing in a new language and culture, encountering AEDP felt like discovering a natural tongue. Its core theory and principles based on neuroscience fascinated me. When I watched videos of clients being gently guided to stay with their experience while wrapped in a warm blanket of real, relational connection by attuned therapists that privilege the new and the positive – I got hooked immediately. 

With great passion, I immersed myself in learning; each step along the spiral of AEDP training deepened my understanding of its transformational powers and this  was clearly reflected in my clinical work. I came to realize that neither talking skills nor accent mattered as much. Honest presence, attunement and support can happen with few words or none at all. 

Along with my learning, my sense of community grew; both within the Israeli AEDP circle and the wider international family. Joining the EA community deepened my skills and gave me a meaningful sense of contribution. This marked another quantum leap in my development.

I hold deep gratitude for my precious teacher and supervisor Idit Ronen-Setter, who guided me with love, gentleness and patience, and for my dear certification supervisor, Jennifer Edlin, whose generosity and wisdom touched me deeply. Walking the path toward certification has been a transformative and fascinating journey. It not only shaped the way of my practice, but it has also transformed how I related to others and to myself.

I am deeply honored to be joining the AEDP Certified Therapists community. My wish is to continue growing, helping clients transforming their suffering into flourishing and spreading out the word of humanity, healing and compassion in Israel, Slovakia & Czech Republic and beyond.

Neta Korazim

*********

Neta’s gentle persistence, clarity about how to meet her client in each moment, attuned presence and bright eyes, boundless curiosity and warm smile stand out to me as I think back on her work and our work together. She is already bringing the gift of AEDP and her heart, skill and learning to workshops to help others in in Israel, Slovakia & the Czech Republic and beyond.

Should you want to congratulate Neta, please email her at neta_korazim@yahoo.com.

In Idit’s words, as her supervisors, we have had the joy and honor to accompany Neta on this journey, to see her as a person and a professional, and to witness her strength unfold into what can now become an inspiration and a pleasure to all of us.

With care and warmth for you, congratulations Neta!

Itit Ronen- Setter and Jenn Edlin

Dear AEDP Community,

It is with great pleasure that I announce that Shiho Yamauchi has been formally recognized as a Certified AEDP Therapist.

I have had the privilege of serving as Shiho’s certification supervisor, and throughout this process I have been deeply impressed by her intellectual clarity, clinical integrity, and depth of understanding of the AEDP model. Shiho demonstrates a sophisticated ability to integrate AEDP theory with clinical practice, tracking affective change processes with precision while remaining firmly grounded in the relational ethos of the model. Her work reflects not only technical competence, but a mature, embodied understanding of how transformation unfolds over time.

A particularly distinctive strength of Shiho’s work lies in her capacity to apply AEDP with cultural sensitivity and nuance within the Japanese context. She brings refined awareness to implicit relational dynamics and nonverbal communication, and she is able to make these implicit emotional experiences explicit and experientially available within the therapeutic process. While maintaining clear fidelity to AEDP principles, Shiho helps clients gently recognize, name, and deepen what is often felt but not yet articulated. In this way, she translates AEDP in a manner that is both culturally resonant and theoretically rigorous.

Beyond her individual clinical work, Shiho has contributed meaningfully to the growth of AEDP in Japan through her participation in trainings, translation efforts, service as an Experiential Assistant, and presentations on the application of AEDP within Japanese child mental health settings. Her presence reflects not only dedication to her own professional growth, but a sustained commitment to cultivating a vibrant and relationally grounded AEDP community in Japan.

I am delighted to share the following words from her supervisor, Kaori Strum:

Shiho has been a dedicated and deeply inquisitive learner, bringing both curiosity and depth to her clinical work. She demonstrates a profound capacity to attune to her clients’ moment-to-moment emotional and psychological experiences. From the very beginning of our supervision, she has shown a sensitive and steady presence with her clients’ pain and suffering, truly embodying the undoing of aloneness that lies at the heart of AEDP.

Her devotion to her clients, combined with her ongoing commitment to learning and growth within the AEDP model, has beautifully blossomed. We are delighted to celebrate her formal recognition as an AEDP Certified Therapist and look forward to her continued presence and contributions to the AEDP community, particularly within the Japanese community.

The AEDP certification reviewers offered the following comments on Shiho’s work:

One reviewer wrote:

“What a gift to experience Shiho’s masterful, exquisite work! Yuko’s whole-hearted recommendation of Shiho for Certification expresses my feelings exactly: Shiho exceeds by far the level of skill and understanding of the AEDP model required for Certification as an AEDP therapist.

Highlights of Shiho’s AEDP way of working evident in her first tape include: skillful, deeply-informed navigation of choice points informed by Shiho’s capacity for rich therapeutic presence; economy with interventions leaving full space for her clients’ experience; creation and sustaining of a strong therapeutic vessel through non-verbal expression of vitality affects; use of pacing and timing and incorporation of silence in a way akin to a masterful orchestra conductor; masterful somatic work; and demonstration of the transformative power of attuned presence in the hands of a skillful AEDP therapist.

Highlights evident in her second tape include: use of non-verbals and expression of vitality affects to expand and deepen experience, especially in states three and four; comfort and ease in periods of silence supporting depth throughout her work; MASTERFUL experiential work with visual imagery; astute discernment of when to lead and when to follow; attuned use of mirroring to clarify, expand, and amplify experience in the moment; attuned presence in state three eliciting a magnificent display of healing affects, dancing like northern lights; and attuned presence in state four and metaprocessing eliciting deeply embodied, poetic, integrative true-self experiencing in her client.

Shiho’s microanalyses demonstrate mastery-level understanding of the AEDP model in theory and in practice.”

Another reviewer shared:

“Shiho’s attunement to the client is spectacular; it was beautiful to watch the relationship and the flow between the therapist and client throughout the session. I saw the client being deeply held, cared for, and understood—at a pace that was comfortable and regulating for the client. The work with defenses was tender and safe.

Relational disclosures were attuned, genuine, and impactful—very sweet to see their impact on the client and the emergence of core affect. The welcoming of tears was so nutritive for this client. Pacing is slow, gentle, and attuned. I can clearly see the AEDP interventions, and how Shiho embodies the model in her work.

I think this work is beautiful, and I appreciated Shiho’s reflections on her own initial struggles with psychological closeness between therapist and client. I saw such effective use of the therapist as an intervention and the power of the relationship in Shiho’s work. Well done!”

And finally, in Shiho’s own words:

“My encounter with AEDP has brought a deep trust in emotion and relationship into my personal life, and in my professional life it has given me the opportunity to integrate my innate qualities as a therapist with clinical techniques. Through AEDP, I learned that the therapist can be the intervention, and that we ourselves must cultivate our receptive affective capacity—particularly for positive emotions. I also came to understand that when appropriate, taking the risk of self-disclosure as a therapist can create corrective emotional and relational experiences. I now feel quite distant from the therapist I was before learning AEDP. My clinical style has transformed profoundly.

When I received the news of my certification, my first reaction was not joy but a sense of hesitation. I felt my body tighten and shrink (a familiar pattern for me). Then I remembered the words my supervisor, Yuko Kobayashi, wrote to me: “Read it slowly and let yourself take it in.” As I gradually straightened my back and allowed my body to open, the reviewers’ comments began to sink in warmly. Tears naturally came as I felt that my years of effort had been recognized.

As I reflect on this journey, many faces come to mind.

First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and respect to Yuko Hanakawa, who introduced AEDP to Japan; to my supervisors, Kaori Strum and Yuko Kobayashi, who nurtured me within that rich soil of AEDP; and to Professor Shigeru Iwakabe, who first introduced me to AEDP and to Yuko Hanakawa while I was studying EFT. It is no exaggeration to say that without their support and guidance, I would not be where I am today.

I am also deeply grateful to all the faculty members I encountered through Immersion, ES, ASMs, and other trainings. The richness of their lectures gave me the strength to cross the Pacific Ocean and overcome language barriers. Their warm consideration—such as making time to have lunch with Japanese participants and offering office hours scheduled to accommodate our time zone during online courses—was truly an experience of to be seen and undoing aloneness.

Furthermore, as someone whose first language is not English, I was able to deepen my understanding of AEDP thanks to Eri Kubota, who provided interpretation during Immersion, and Yoshimi Shimizu, who served as the assistant for the Japanese practice group in ASM. Through their steady support, I was able to absorb the theory in my native language and bring it back to Japan as living, embodied skills.

Finally, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Yuka Mukai, Yumi Yamaguchi, and Kaori Yoshijima, who have shared peer supervision with me for many years. Together, we shared our session videos and explored both the challenges and the richness of practicing AEDP in Japanese. As someone in private practice, having colleagues with whom I can continue learning has been an invaluable source of strength.

Recently, the Immersion course was held in Japan for the first time, and I had the honor of participating as an EA. I hope to contribute, even in a small way, to the continued growth of the AEDP community in Japan. I am deeply grateful to be able to continue learning as a member of this community.”

Please join me in celebrating Shiho’s well-deserved achievement. You can do so by writing to her at shiny.bluesky.639@gmail.com 

Warmly,

Yuko Kobayashi, LMHC, LPCC
Certified AEDP Supervisor

Dear Beloved Community,

It is with great joy that I announce that Alyssa Gavulic Howk is now a certified AEDP Therapist!

In the spirit of the therapist being the intervention, Alyssa is unabashedly relationally caring, present, delighting and intimate. Her clients feel totally held, accompanied, recognized – “loved up” by her. And, beyond these heart qualities, Alyssa combines a skillfulness that adeptly pulls the transformance strivings of her clients to fruition such that they get to experience more of their true selves. 

Alyssa’s caring presence is so evident in her capacity for moment-to-moment processing; her staying and being with the emergent experience and bringing back the experiential focus when it strays. This capacity is also so evident in the way she disarms defenses and regulates when emotional experience becomes dysregulated. Alyssa keeps a somatic focus and really facilitates the processing of emotions to completion and then helps her clients metaprocess what was good about what they just experienced.

Alyssa’s clients are so fortunate to be cared for in her heartfelt, skillful way and we are so fortunate to have her in our community now as a certified AEDP clinician.

Congratulations, Alyssa!

Here’s what one reviewer had to say about Alyssa’s work:

LIKED, ENJOYED AND RESPECTED BOTH VIDEOS—BEGINNING SESSION AND STATE 4 WORK.  THE THERAPIST WAS SO DIFFEREnt IN BOTH:  ONE LEADING AND ONE FOLLOWING; ONE EXPLAIniNG AND ONE TAKING IN; ONE FORCEFUL AND ONE PEACEFUL; ONE MEETING AND PRESENT AND THE OTHER DEEP AND REAL.  THE SIMILARITIES WERE THE THERAPIST KNOWING WHAT SHE WAS DOING AND BEING THERE AS NEED FOR EACH OF THEM IN VERY DIFFERENT WAYS.

THIS THERAPIST UNDERSTANDS AEDP THEORY AND THE FEEL OF AEDP AND ABLE TO TRANSLATE THAT INTO PRACTICE (LEFT BRAIN) AND CAN WRITE ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE WITH HER DEEP UNDERSTANDING (RIGHT BRAIN) (THINK I GOT THE BRAINS IN THE RIGHT PLACE?!). ONE CAN SEE THE CHANGES AND GROWTH IN BOTH VIDEOS THROUGH THEIR ATTACHMENT AND SECURITY WITH THE THERAPIST.  SHE SEES AND HOLDS Onto IMPORTANT GLIMMERS OF POSITIVE TRANSFORMATION AND HELPS THEM THRough.  SHE HAS THE ABILITY TO STAY WITH AND DEEPEN IMPORTANT MOMENTS

Here’s what the other reviewer had to say:

I was moved by the relational work in both of these tapes. The connection between patients and Alyssa was palpable. She stayed with them moment by moment, attuning, scaffolding, slowing them down, and making space for emergent relational experiences both between patients‘ internal parts and with Alyssa. I was impressed by many elements in these tapes. What stands out the most is the therapist’s relational bravery. She could get incredibly intimate with both of these men, working hard to make sure they felt her connection and felt seen. She very accurately listened and could rephrase what they shared and you could see how important this was to each of them, perhaps for the first time being seen and heard fully. I also loved how she kept slowing them down, to take what was being shared relationally and making it experiential in the patients own bodies. 

Alyssa demonstrated skill in most of the 9+1 transformational processes in these tapes: She noticed her patients transformance strivings & self-recognition of growth and change, seizing and harvesting these moments experientially and relationally.  She worked diligently to undo aloneness and these many moments were met by her patients. Additionally, she maintained an experiential focus, facilitating connection with the body whereby her patients demonstrated access to somatic experiences ultimately accessing a felt sense of authenticity and connection with younger parts and Alyssa simultaneously.

Here’s what Alyssa has to say about her AEDP journey:

The birthplace of my AEDP journey was during my doctorate studies at the Congress on Attachment and Trauma in New York City in October of 2017. I would have already considered myself an attachment-oriented, emotions-focused therapist with a strong draw towards existential theories. But when I heard Diana Fosha speak for the first time, and I was enamored with the brief introduction to a beautifully integrative modality that seemed to so cohesively bring together all that I was drawn to in my personal theoretical lens. I soon after attended an in-person immersion course in 2019 with Diana and realized quickly that I had indeed found my theoretical home. I distinctly remember feeling profoundly impacted by the breadth and depth of knowledge I was encountering as I was immersed in AEDP. Yet I also left with some trepidation about how I would ever be able to integrate these rich and diverse concepts so seamlessly into my own clinical sessions. The AEDPness of the videos that I saw seemed like it would take years for me to ever replicate. Since then, I have continued to pursue deepening my AEDP skills by attending a variety of workshops, seminars, and advanced skill modules that have continually challenged me to soak in AEDP knowledge, witness AEDP in action in videos, and then apply AEDP interventions in experientials. I have also loved learning from all the diverse individuals that are a part of the AEDP Institute over the years. I love how each faculty member holds the heart of AEDP but presents a different facet or flavor. This has made AEDP come alive to me as a universally relevant orientation but with such an individually specific application for each client I see in my actual practice. The process of preparing for certification by having me work closely with a supervisor and complete the micro-analysis of both of my sessions was also pivotal in entrenching my understanding of not only what interventions I am intuitively integrating into my therapy sessions but also why it is an effective 9+1 intervention. As I now reflect on my growth as an AEDP clinician, I feel like I went from a place of awe and wonder at my first encounter with hearing Diana to trying to absorb all of AEDP eagerly in immersion to carefully and consistently practicing AEDP in my past 7 years of practice to a deep place of knowing AEDP “in my bones” as I apply for this certification. I am so grateful for every single layer of this learning process and every single individual who has been a part of my AEDP journey. Thank you!

So, please join me in celebrating Alyssa’s wonderful accomplishment in becoming a certified AEDP Therapist. You can share your acknowledgements with Alyssa at: <alyssa@omniatraumahealing.com>

With much excitement and delight,

Steve

Professor Myunghee Jun 

AEDP Therapist Certification Announcement

On behalf of Yuko Hanakawa and myself, it is our shared delight and honour to announce that Professor Myunghee Jun from South Korea has officially achieved Certified AEDP Therapist status.

First, allow us to share a synopsis of her reviewer’s exceptional feedback:

Myunghee’s AEDP certification package is praised by reviewers as a masterful embodiment of the “spirit of AEDP,” combining rigorous theoretical knowledge with a deeply attuned, heartfelt presence. Both reviewers emphasize her ability to foster “transformational healing” by creating a secure base through the explicit undoing of aloneness.

Myunghee demonstrates exceptional clinical skill in navigating the four-state process of AEDP. Specific techniques highlighted include defence restructuring, privileging emergence and dyadic regulation.

The reviewers were particularly impressed by Myunghee’s self-supervision, noting her ability to identify moments where she could have used more silence to let the patient’s experience arrive naturally. Her organizational strategy is described as “exemplary,” featuring color-coded, annotated transcripts that illustrate the phenomenology of the transformational experience and the Triangle of Experience (defense-anxiety-core affect). Ultimately, her work is recommended as a teaching tool, proving that her clinical interventions and “warmth and kindness” transcend language barriers to facilitate profound “leaps” in healing.

Second, as Myunghee’s supervisors, Yuko and I bear witness to her growth and development as an AEDP therapist. A must mention is that Myunghee and her academic colleagues has set the historical record in the global AEDP community in translating Diana’s Transforming Power of Affect into Korean within one year. Myunghee is the exemplary embodiment of the Korean work ethic: unrelenting dedication to efficiency with precision and academic rigour. 

Third, we invite the the worldwide AEDP community to join us in championing Myunghee’s heartfelt personal and professional commitment to working with trauma survivors from North Korea. Myunghee’s sustained dedication towards healing her fellow Koreans who has suffered such historical and trans-generational wounds are deeply moving and praise worthy.

Going beyond, we are privileged Myunghee is the Regional Leader for the emerging AEDP community in South Korea. Academically outstanding and humble, Myunghee is deeply respected by her colleagues in spearheading the nurturance of the AEDP teaching and development in South Korea.

********

One final thing. Myunghee received such glorious and stellar feedback from the certification reviewers that is worthy of quoting in its entirety (italics mine):

Reviewer 1

Wow!  Myunghee Jun’s certification package is truly exceptional.

The organizational clarity, clinical expertise displayed, and capacity to explain application of AEDP principles is truly impressive. Myunghee Jun has gone beyond mere mastery of the AEDP interventions to truly absorb the ethos of AEDP as well. Both patients obviously feel seen, cared-for, and completely supported in their process. This enabled even the patient for whom this was only session #2 to relinquish defences and drop down into deep portrayal work, which resulted in transformational healing.

In viewing the session of the patient for whom it was session #8 , I wrote in my notes: “this is truly Transformance in action!”. With Myunghee Jun’s skillful, patient support, he was able to emerge from a long-held distorted sense of self that had been limiting him personally and professionally, into the “sunlight” of a felt sense of “I feel like I can do anything”. He arrived at a True Self State 4 plateau, and was supported to stay and absorb the goodness of the new experience.

 It was a delight to review this work.

Myunghee Jun includes many instances where she self-supervises her interventions with her patients; she notes that she sometimes doesn’t wait for long enough to allow her patients to arrive at experience on their own. This is a good observation, and may be one of the places she continues to challenge herself to grow as an AEDP therapist. However, as I was viewing WK’s session, I realized that he needed a lot of cognitive “platforming” to help him relinquish his old, defensive patterns of thinking about himself. (He describes a painfully critical self view, as if he sees himself only “through the third person”. ) 

Then, once Myunghee Jun recognized he was ready, she made a summarizing statement, and waited for several long quiet spaces of time…. This allowed her patient to stay, internally, with State 2 experiences of feeling his shame and fear, with her quiet support. Then, Myunghee Jun used silence again, as he continued through the 4 State process; and this enabled him to have a huge intra-personal healing. In fact, it seems this was actually a transpersonal experience. He speaks of God!

This is truly beautiful work for me to experience as a reviewer. Even though I do not speak Korean, the emotional experience of the session is remarkable. Myunghee Jun’s warmth and kindness need no translation; her patients benefit as much from her presence as from the “interventions” she uses.

I would like to add that for me as a reviewer, Myunghee Jun’s organizational strategy is exemplary. The use of color-coded commentary in the transcripts, clearly categorized and titled in a “key” at the beginning, made it absolutely clear where each comment belonged in the therapist’s understanding of the process of each session. I’d like to personally thank Myunghee Jun for her work in this; even if I were not to watch the (beautifully moving) session recordings, the experience of reading her transcripts was wonderful. Thank you!

Myunghee Jun’s work is a beautiful example of the “spirit of AEDP” in action. Both her clients respond to the combination of skilled interventions and heartfelt emotional 

presence by taking big healing leaps in the session. Even the client for whom it was only her second session dives into a brave portrayal, with beautiful results.

Reviewer 2

In Myunghee’s first video, she demonstrates adept affirmative work with the client’s defenses. Myunghee elegantly moves between following and leading as she creates space for and supports her client’s emergent experience and knowing of herself, as well as gently nudges her client to move more fully and deeply into her experience. In both videos, Myunghee demonstrates her skill in privileging the emergent experience and integrating that experience into a coherent and cohesive self-narrative.

In the second video, Myunghee’s attuned presence and explicit undoing of aloneness create safety for her client who is stuggling with negative thoughts about himself. Myunghee adeptly seizes on a transformance glimmer which launches the client into a process of increasing expansiveness. Myunghee exemplifies “going beyond mirroring” as she leads by example in inviting her client to express himself more fully. She uses self-supervision adeptly recognizing a moment in which she approached her client’s defenses cognitively as opposed to experientially. 

Myunghee’s theoretical understanding of the phenomenology of the transformational experience, including a detailed illustration of the client’s defense-anxiety-core affective experience triangle, her clear descriptions of interventions and her theoretical knowledge are demonstrated comprehensively in her annotated transcripts. I think her transcripts could serve as a valuable model and teaching tool.

With a bow of chooang (deep respect in Korean)

Yuko Hanakawa PhD

Senior Faculty, AEDP Institute

Danny Yeung MD

Senior Faculty and Chair of International Development, AEDP Institutep.s. Feel free to send a congratulatory note via back channel to Myunghee’s email mjun@handong.edu

Dear all,

I’m delighted to announce that Katharina Sandizell has been certified as an AEDP therapist.  

Katharina brings to her AEDP work a deep, feelingful presence in the service of leading the way into healing emotional experiences for her clients.  Her close, caring attention in the service of attuned tracking, her explicit support, her expressive accompaniment all deepen the relational experience of undoing aloneness with painful emotions.  Katharina’s patients seem to feel well-held and encouraged in whatever they are experiencing. Katharina’s emotional courage gives permission for clients to venture further into their own feelings, sparking transformational healing experiences.  Katharina is not shy about grabbing transformance glimmers, affirming with vigor self-at-best and championing the core self of her clients.   She is one of those therapists who seems to “get” AEDP in her bones from the get-go, resonating with a community and a model that spoke deeply to her.  I’m thrilled to celebrate this well-earned milestone with Katharina!

Katharina writes of her journey:

AEDP is a profound spiritual practice, and in a way, there are no words. This practice has radically changed me – the further I drop into myself, the more powerful the experience. I am allowed to shine. The inner stillness that I have been encouraged to build new muscles for; the freedom in being myself; the permission to truly share my heart and infect my clients with that love.

What a gift AEDP is! I am grateful to Diana and the talented supervisors I have had the honor to work with — Monica Bradley and Kari Gleiser. Thank you for your generosity and for walking this trail with me. You are both incredible models to aspire to. I am also so grateful for Anna Christina Sundgren’s wisdom, love, and guidance.

Her reviewers note:

“Katharina had a rich aedp presence with her people.  She was affirming, supportive, normalizing, encouraging with both her presence and in bringing her people into awareness of her presence of being with them on their journey.””

I felt the therapist’s attunement to her client, her warm presence and ability to hold space for her clients‘ experiences. The client in 

me felt held, cared for and valued. The therapist had a lovely ability to mirror her client and in that mirroring I witnessed her clients feel seen, heard, and deeply understood. This ability to mirror and empathically reflect her client’s experience additionally helped 

her clients to deepen into their affective experience.”

Please join me in welcoming Katharina to the ranks of certified AEDP therapist and backchannel and words of congratulations and celebration to:  ks@ksandizell.com

warmly, 

Kari– 

My gender pronouns are She,Her,Hers. Please tell me yours.

Kari A. Gleiser, Ph.D. 

Dear Friends and Colleagues, 

Shari Eliot and I are very happy to share with you that is now a certified AEDP therapist! Please join us in welcoming and congratulating her (back channel please!)

I (Eileen) entered later into Colette’s certification process after a long time in AEDP circles and supervision with the lovely Shari Eliott. Colette came prepared and focused, really wanting to deepen her understanding of and precision with AEDP. She embodies a unique combination of someone who communicates that she takes her work (and her clients) very seriously, while being very warm, with a disarmingly welcoming laugh. For her certification packet she chose two relatively challenging cases; the first with more intellectualized defenses, the other with a very limited range of affect. Colette was (and is) so patient, and met them where they were while drawing them out and simultaneously deeper into themselves. She allowed them the space they needed and also kept returning to an experiential, affectively- oriented focus, which led to very deep processing for both clients.  

I will elaborate through the words of others…

(Shari Eliot) Colette came to AEDP as an experienced therapist with training in both Psychoanalytically Oriented Psychotherapy and Somatic Experiencing. From our very first supervisory meeting, her enthusiasm for learning AEDP was unmistakable. Each week, she arrived with thoughtful, meaningful questions that deepened her understanding of AEDP theory and its application in practice. In observing her work, I have consistently appreciated Colette’s authentic, collaborative presence with her clients and the genuine acceptance she conveys toward who they are. It has been a true pleasure to witness her growth—culminating in her achievement of AEDP Certification—alongside the growth of the clients she has so skillfully supported. 

Reviewer 1: “I think Colette has done a wonderful job showing us what an excellent AEDP therapist she is. She also helped me see through different eyes about the nuances of working with neuro-divergent clients….(later) Colette was beautifully patient and encouraging and would pressure this client with empathy in very productive ways. It is in this tape I see the underpinnings or an excellent AEDP therapist.”

Reviewer 2: Colette’s tone and pace both serve to settle my nervous system as I sit with her recordings. Her presence is warm, steady, affectionate, and responsive, and it’s palpable how effective those qualities are in supporting her clients’ explorations of difficult experiences….I really enjoyed Collette’s sense of humor with her clients, and I could see the effect of this lightness of tone. It’s an elegant strategy for gentle defense work; combined with her steady unobtrusive persistence, both clients in their own ways seemed to glide through or past much of what might have solidified into rigid defenses.

Colette, we are all very happy for you on this achievement and so appreciate the hard, dedicated, thoughtful and open-hearted work you put into it!

Warmly, 

Eileen Russell