Mindful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT): Level 1 Training Program with Cynthia Price, PhD, MA, LMT

The Therapeutic Training Center is hosting the "Mindful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT): Level 1 Training Program" taught by Cynthia Price, PhD, MA, LMT.

What is Interoceptive awareness?

This program provides instruction and practice in the fundamental skills of teaching "interoceptive" awareness skills to your clients. Interoceptive awareness is conscious awareness of sensory experience from inside the body, including the following types of examples:

• the movement of the diaphragm when we breath
• the experience of an ache when a tight muscle is massaged
• the experience of sadness that accompanies the release of muscle tension in the back

Why is interoceptive awareness important?

Interoceptive awareness is understood to be critical for nervous system and emotion regulation. Research has shown that people with high levels of experiential avoidance and stress, chronic pain, and mental health disorders have more difficulty processing sensory information compared to people who do not have such struggles. The MABT approach helps to develop and increase capacity for interoceptive awareness to improve self-awareness, care and emotion regulation.

What is Mindful Awareness Body-oriented Therapy (MABT)?

The primary goals of MABT and for your learning in the course are:

• how to teach clients to access bodily awareness through mindful meditative attention
• how to guide and facilitate client capacity for sustained attention within specific areas of the body
• to learn an inquiry process related to sensory awareness that promotes self-awareness and insight
• to learn to collaboratively identify interoceptive awareness practices with your client that can be integrated into daily life to promote self-care and emotion regulation

The processes of this evidenced-based approach are sequenced to facilitate client learning, and can be particularly useful for clients who are disconnected from their bodies due to high stress or patterns of experiential avoidance, chronic pain or trauma. To address possible challenges to learning to access interoceptive awareness, MABT is delivered individually to allow for flexibility in pacing and to match the client’s learning style.

This training will incorporate the use of touch and verbal interaction. Students will work over clothes on massage tables.  Also, there will be opportunities to practice MABT delivery seated with clients using self-touch to facilitate integration of skills into practice for those who aren't licensed to touch, such as for mental health providers or for teaching self-care exercises. The instructor will demonstrate key MABT components, and experiential practice may involve simulated provider-client interactions. Throughout the training, the application of mindfulness skills in clinical practice, i.e. the capacity for presence and mindful attention to self and in relationship to client, will be emphasized.

Students practice activities to develop their communication skills, intuition, clinical reasoning and ability to perceive the client’s overall learning process. Clinical vignettes and research results using this evidenced-based approach will also be presented. Advanced training toward certification through the Center for Mindful Body Awareness is possible after completion of this initial Level 1 Training Program..

To listen to an Interview of Cynthia Price as she is asked what MABT is, please click HERE.

How will MABT benefit you and your clients?

How you will benefit: You’ll learn how to teach your clients the skills needed to access their inner body/interoceptive experience, and guide them in the process of developing their capacity to attend and sustain interoceptive attention. MABT uses a sequenced approach that is designed for those who are disconnected from their bodies but is a useful approach for everyone to develop and/or deepen their capacity for interoceptive awareness.

You will learn to facilitate a reflective process to help your clients integrate their experience which will help them gain greater self-awareness, nervous system regulation, and practice these (often new) skills for daily self-care. In this course we focus on presence, and matching the teaching process to the client’s learning pace and style; you may increase your capacity to be present, and to be in co-presence with your client, important for your own regulation and for delivering this approach.  In addition, you'll increase your own interoceptive awareness through the MABT learning process. The components of this approach can be easily integrated into your practice and self-care.

What your clients/patients will experience: Your clients will learn to access and attend to their inner sensory experience; this process involves developing body literacy which is the ability to identify and describe sensations, developing the ability to bring one’s attention to areas of the inner body, and increase the capacity to sustain mindful attention to inner body experience. This approach increases self-awareness and can positively shift ones experience and relationship with the body leading to decreased symptoms of distress, pain, and increased regulation – as demonstrated in multiple research studies.

This program introduces MABT methodology and techniques to facilitate development and increased capacity for interoceptive awareness. Following a protocol designed for implementation of MABT in research, this program teaches practitioners to introduce the fundamental skills of interoception using touch; mindfulness skills of presence, curiosity and self-compassion; and education.

This training approach is sequenced to facilitate learning and involves the following three stages that build on one another:

• The first stage focuses on the development of body literacy (the ability to identify and describe sensory awareness)
• The second stage focuses on facilitating client access to inner body sensations through exercises involving breath and inner attention.
• The third stage focuses on mindful attention to specific regions of the body with the goal of developing the capacity for sustained mindful attention and using a guided process to enhance awareness of inner sensations.

MABT is a trauma-informed approach that involves careful attention to presence and pacing to match the client’s individual learning and experiential process. In addition to the specific aspects of MABT for teaching interoceptive awareness, students practice techniques to develop sensitive hands, an open heart, and the inner stillness needed to apply this work. This class is a pre-requisite to advanced training components needed for MABT certification.

• Students applying for this program must be one of the following:
  • Licensed to do massage
  • Licensed in: physical therapy, occupational therapy, naturopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, midwifery, nursing, osteopathy or medicine. If your profession is not listed, but you have the ability in your scope of practice or practice acts to do massage, please contact us.
  • Mental health field licensure which includes the following professions: social work, MA level clinician, PhD clinical psychologist. (Please note that while this is a hands-on course, we will address the translation of MABT to a seated approach using client self-touch that is appropriate and easily integrated into psychotherapy).
  • With permission from the teacher, people who are still students at the time of their application in any of the above professions, may also apply if they will have graduated and their license in effect by the time the MABT program starts.
• Enrolling students need to be physically able to complete classes and homework as assigned.
• Enrolling students need to have practical resources in place (time, financial, emotional, work, family, etc) to fully participate in these programs and to support the personal development work that often accompanies this training.
• Enrolling students need to maintain malpractice insurance during their program.
• Prior personal experience or professional training in mindfulness, yoga, or mental health is helpful but not required.

With registration, you will be asked to complete an application form to describe your background and reasons for wanting to attend this MABT training program. This form is required for admittance and we will do our best to get back to you within a week regarding acceptance to this training. If not accepted, you will receive a full refund of your registration fee.

This program occurs in two 3-day sessions about a month apart for a total of six days of class. All six days of class must be completed.

• Session 1: April 10-12, 2025 (Thursday – Saturday) from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm (22.5 clock hours)
• Between Sessions – 1 hour of homework (assigned readings).
• Session 2: May 15-17, 2025 (Thursday – Saturday) from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm (22.5 clock hours)

Students who finish this training will receive a certificate of completion.

The tuition for the MABT Level 1 Training Program is $1,800. A $250 deposit is required with registration of which $100 is non-refundable.

Cynthia Price, PhD, MA, LMT completed her massage therapy training in 1981 and was in private practice as a bodyworker until 2001. During this time she developed Mindful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT) to facilitate body awareness, particularly for those who were experiencing disconnection from their bodies or experiential avoidance. In 1999, Cynthia sought doctoral training to research the MABT approach and graduated in 2004 with a PhD in Nursing Science. Her research over the past 20 years as a professor at the University of Washington has focused on MABT for improving physical and mental health and overall well-being.

Dr. Price’s clinical and research expertise is with people who are struggling with chronic pain and/or mental health concerns such as interpersonal trauma and addiction. Findings from research of this evidenced-based approach consistently show MABT to improve interoceptive awareness, emotion regulation, and symptoms of mental and physical distress. Dr. Price has over 20 years of experience teaching beginning and advanced students in this approach. She brings a balance of careful attention to therapeutic process, curiosity and humor to the classroom.

Location: Seattle Location 10 -- St. John United Lutheran Church (please click on the link for location details--address, driving directions and nearest food and lodging)

For questions about housing and transportation, please email Robbin Blake at info@theratraining.com or call at (206) 853-6875.

Application Form

• 2025 MABT Level 1 Training Program Application Form
• 2025 MABT Student Handbook: Contains complete program details.