Trauma-Informed Sound Healing Practitioner Diploma
Taught by Dr Elham Kashefi
13
+
years since we opened our doors ❤️
18-month Fully accredited
Trauma-informed Sound Healing Practitioner Diploma
with Dr Elham Kashefi
This course is for you if you’re a complementary therapist, a yoga or meditation teacher, musician or therapist - or if you've already trained as a sound practitioner and want to deepen or broaden your practice. It could also be for you if you have your own personal practice and have been engaged in self-development for some time. This diploma isn't about beginning your own healing journey—it's about building on the one you're already on. The course requires your full presence and commitment. I offer you the same.
Accredited by the Complementary Medical Association
Why this course?
Over eighteen months, you’ll learn how to work confidently with sound, but you’ll also be learning about yourself as a practitioner. We’ll practise together, reflect together, question assumptions, laugh, experiment and gradually develop the confidence and judgement that only come through experience. My hope is that, by the end of the course, you won’t simply have learned a set of techniques—you’ll have discovered your own way of working: one that feels authentic to you and responsive to the people you meet. Only you can do what you can do and my endeavour is to support you to become your own kind of practitioner.
This diploma training is less like a series of workshops and more like an apprenticeship.
Learning Objectives
This course is offered with a single conviction that as healing practitioners we need to learn about trauma and how to offer sound in ways that not only don’t harm people but also truly create conditions for cultivating safety. I also wanted to offer a course that honours, respects and supports your process through the course. We make space for your personal journey alongside your professional development.
- To explore the meaning of healing within a social justice context
- To study the energy body through experience and theory
- To cultivate the practice of non-judgement of self and others
- To cultivate the practice of loving kindness
- To develop an awareness of trauma informed practice
- To develop a personal meditation practice with voice, singing bowls or other instrument
- To gain competence in offering one-to-one sound healing sessions through voice, singing bowls and drum (and other instrument of choice if already practiced)
- To gain competence in offering a group relaxation session using voice, singing bowls and drum (and other instrument of choice if already practiced)
This course IS for you if:
You’re open to being playful and enjoy heartfelt connection with others.
You’re prepared to commit to your practice and case studies between each module.
Social justice and ethics matter to you, you understand or are open to exploring the social and political context of trauma and what that means for us as practitioners.
This course is NOT for you if:
You don't particularly enjoy connecting with others
You’re not interested in energy healing, spiritual growth, or developing your intuition.
You don’t have time or space in your life for practice and case studies.
Wow this has been an amazing healing journey for me. Not always comfortable (healing often isn't) but powerful, nurturing, painful, tearful, nourishing and always by being held and supported by the Tara Centre, Elham and my beautiful sound sisters.
We learnt how to offer sound to others, using our voice, drum, singing bowls, chimes and other instruments always with emphasis on safety and making a safe space.
I feel honoured to be part of this sound healing community and am so grateful for feeling so supported and held, in sound. Thank you."
Module Outline
Module 1 – Working with the Voice Part 1 – Introduction to group vocal practices, Key concepts for trauma-sensitive practice, introduction to ethical practice: exploring the social and political context of trauma, what we mean by creating safety, instruction in working one to one with voice, practice in pairs.
Module 2: Working with the Voice Part 2 – Group vocal practices, the human biofield (tapping into our energy bodies), intention, placebo and nocebo, Trauma Awareness Level 2, Safeguarding and ethical guidelines, further one to one instruction and practice with voice
Module 3 – Working with Singing Bowls Part 1 – More group vocal practices, history of Himalayan singing bowls (what they are and what the are not), demonstration and instruction on using singing bowls for personal practice, for use on the body and around the body, contraindications for each, Trauma Awareness Level 3 (transgenerational / family / ancestral trauma), introduction to crystal singing bowls (and why they’re not covered on this course)
Module 4: Working with Singing Bowls Part 2 plus Drum practice – further practices with singing bowls for one to one sessions, instruction on use of drum rhythms in addition to voice and singing bowls, group drum practice, practising in pairs, the anatomy of a trauma-informed sessions, how to lead a group in vocal practice.
Module 5: Recap, review and practice – Recap of all one to one techniques, Recap of all group vocal techniques, use of drum part 2, offering sound to the natural world, use of singing bowl meditation in pairs, sounding the pain technique part 2.
Module 6 – Practicum – Group Vocal Practice, student presentation of a sound journey with peer observation and feedback, recapping key themes, celebration.
Practicalities
- NEW INTAKE AUTUMN 2026
- Because this is a small cohort and an eighteen-month commitment, I meet with everyone before offering a place. The conversation gives us both the opportunity to ask questions and make sure the course feels like the right fit. If you’re interested please fill out the form below with any questions you may have or if you’d like for us to have a chat.
- 6 Weekend Modules over 18 months (once a season beginning 7pm on Friday evening and finishing 4pm on Sunday afternoon)
- 5 Online Group Supervision Calls in between each module
- 54 case studies (42 one to ones and 12 groups) plus direction for personal practice.
- Attendance does not guarantee a Practitioner Certificate. A Practitioner Certificate is only obtained after satisfactory completion of all elements of the course, including case studies, personal practice, observation and assessment.
- Course fees of £2160 full fee or £1800 concessionary fee. Fees are payable upfront or with an agreed payment plan. We require a £250 non-refundable deposit at the time of booking.
- Location the Tara Centre, Lancaster
- A NOTE ABOUT FEES & OUR COMMITMENT TO INCREASING ACCESS TO TRAINING AND EDUCATION: we have a concessionary rate and offer payment plans in order to make this training available to more people. We don’t have blanket criteria but ask you to reflect on your current circumstances. If paying £106 a month would cause you hardship (full fee minus the deposit in a monthly payment plan for 18 months) and you’d really love to do the course then please get in touch with us to discuss a concessionary fee, or a longer payment plan.
About Elham
Before founding the Tara Centre, I spent many years working in universities as a health researcher and tutor, latterly in Lancaster Medical School. My academic work was centred around creating participatory processes that allowed people’s voices to have an impact on policy and practice – I worked with women fleeing domestic violence, injecting heroin users, families living in poverty, people with long term health problems, flood victims, and issues around health inequalities and health justice.
Immediately after I completed my PhD in Health Research I went on a sound healing retreat in Iona led by Gabriella Songbird and Juan Gabriel Gutierrez which changed the entire trajectory of my life – whilst on Iona I was ‘called into service’ as a healing practitioner, literally feeling like I had been switched on. I came home and immediately enrolled in a two-year training with Liz Weir from the Federation of Spiritual Healers which offered me the opportunity to learn about the power of love as a healing modality and a rich understanding of ethical practice. I then went to train in other modalities (EFT and nutrition for cancer) and once I landed on sound healing as a discipline I knew I was home.
Paul and Jan Benham of the College of Sound Healing taught at their home in Wales, a working organic farm and forest garden, and instilled a deep appreciation of the gentleness of sound, importance of silence, listening, and connecting with nature. I had always sung in choirs and played different instruments and my three-year journey into the healing arts embedded my love of music with a deep foundation for my practice. Since then I’ve continued to learn from a number of teachers including Michael Deason-Barrow (Tonalis), Rocio Oceano, Mitch Nur, Mike Tamburo, Michael Bettine and Dimitri Gueskine of The NAAD School of Sound, as well as completing trainings in trauma-informed practice.
Over the past fourteen years I’ve developed more than 25 community wellbeing projects at the Tara Centre with people living with trauma, displacement, chronic illness, addiction and social isolation. If you look elsewhere on this site you’ll see that we talk a lot about love being the ultimate healer – this course comes out of the richness of all my experiences and offers you an opportunity to allow your voice and your instruments to become a loudspeaker for your heart. I truly believe love is the real medicine and sound is a perfect vehicle for the expression of that love.
Some answers to commonly asked questions
Absolutely not. Whilst it helps to have a musical background, it most definitely isn't a prerequisite. Many of us have reservations or blocks when it comes to using our voice and you will get plenty of instruction, support and time for personal practice. We won't be singing as such but learning to use our voice for healing.
I really encourage you not to buy any instruments for the first 6 months of the course. By Weekend 3 you will need two singing bowls but please don't buy these before we start as I will guide you as to what to buy and where from.
The diploma is designed to fit around work and family life. Most students complete one case study each week, which takes around 90 minutes. Alongside this, I encourage you to develop your own sound practice. That might be three minutes one day and thirty the next—it's about finding a rhythm that works for you. As with learning any new skill, the more you practise, the more you'll get from the course.
Many people experience significant personal benefits from the training. Spending 18 months learning to work with sound naturally deepens your own self-awareness and practice. However, this is first and foremost a professional training rather than a personal development programme. The curriculum, assessments and supervised practice are all designed to prepare you to work safely and confidently with others.
Absolutely. Many students integrate sound into counselling, yoga, massage, meditation, coaching or other wellbeing practices. The course encourages you to develop your own authentic way of working rather than follow a rigid method.
The course requires 100% of your attendance as there is continuous assessment and observation of your practice. Also you are committing to an 18-month container with others in your cohort who are also committing to the course. You will be working together in pairs offering and receiving sound - knowing the same people will be on your course throughout supports a deepening of the learning environment.
Places on the course are limited and each participant is offered an interview or introductory conversation before being accepted. This gives us the opportunity to get to know one another, explore whether the course is the right fit for you, and ensure you have all the information you need before making your decision. Your deposit is non-refundable and secures your place on the programme. By accepting a place, you are making a commitment to the full eighteen-month diploma and the associated course fees, whether you choose to pay in full or by monthly instalments. I recognise that over the course of eighteen months unexpected life events and significant changes in personal circumstances can arise. If this happens, please speak to me as soon as possible. My preference is always to have an open conversation and, wherever possible, find a fair and compassionate way forward. Any decisions regarding refunds or outstanding course fees will be considered on an individual basis and at my discretion, taking into account the circumstances of your withdrawal.