Dear friends,
Since conception, our mission at Academy of Therapy Wisdom has been to amplify the world’s wisdom traditions.
My work in this space started in the 1990s, bringing wisdom teachers to a small meditation center in Minneapolis.
Later, I helped run a 600-acre retreat center in northern Colorado where we hosted 100 programs per year, welcoming everyone from the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh to Rabbi Irwin Kula, John Welwood, Dr. Malidoma Some, and Noor al-Hussein, Queen of Jordan.
That mission of amplifying wisdom traditions has guided countless collaborations with extraordinary teachers who carry deep practices, ancient insights, and embodied compassion into the modern world.
It’s been beautiful work. Meaningful work.
But if I’m honest? It was also driven by something else.
The Truth I’m Still Learning
Last month, I was attending a business workshop in Las Vegas of all places, when something clicked.
I realized that my mission to amplify wisdom traditions wasn’t wrong. But it was partly born from my own childhood wounds: a deep yearning for acceptance, for love, for spiritual belonging.
I’m grateful for that yearning. It led me to meet extraordinary teachers and practices that changed my life.
But in that moment in Vegas, I saw more clearly that this mission, while beautiful, was too small for what’s possible now, and too small for what the world needs.
The Math That Changed Everything
Being a former engineer, I did the math.
If we educate 100,000 therapists…
And each therapist sees 25 clients a month…
And each of those clients affects at least 20 people in their lives, from family to colleagues, friends, neighbors…
That’s at least 50 million lives touched by healing, presence, and wisdom.
Fifty Million.
That’s not a dream. That’s a strategy for global healing.
From Amplifying Wisdom to Multiplying Impact
So here’s the pivot:
We’re no longer just amplifying the world’s wisdom traditions.
We’re dedicated to educating 100,000 therapists to embody and transmit that wisdom. One client, one community, one nervous system at a time.
Because wisdom doesn’t live in books or on a stage.
It lives in the body. In the therapy room. In the real moments of regulation, connection, and repair.
Therapists are the modern-day carriers of wisdom and healing. And our work ahead is to translate ancient and modern insights into embodied skill, at scale for global impact.
What This Means for You
As part of our community, this shift will show up in three key ways for you:
1. More practical, embodied programs
You’ll see our offerings better-designed to equip you with real tools, not just concepts, but somatic practices you can use immediately.
This fall we have some exciting courses coming your way…
Frank Anderson is re-launching his course, New Dimensions in Trauma Healing, with 4 new LIVE calls and an impressive line-up of bonuses, including a copy of his book To Be Loved, for everyone that enrolls in the course.
We’re welcoming back Bayo Akomolafe for a new course called Mbari: Art, Bodies, and Care at the End of the World, an exploration into into how body, art and care collide at the edges of our human story.
Linda Thai will be doing a new course with us called Somatic Hacks for Better Sleep. It´s a 2-hour workshop happening on November 21st. Sleep can have so many impacts on your physical and mental health, so it’s no exaggeration to say that the hacks Linda will be sharing could change your life!
And, Luis Diaz will be doing a 3 hour workshop; Turn Your Clinical Expertise Into a Client-Generating Podcast, to help you plan and build your own podcast, so you can reach your intended audience, increase your impact, and book clients while you sleep…
2. Community and mentorship at the core
We’re continuing to build spaces where therapists don’t just learn alone, they grow together, supported and witnessed by each other. Right now, this happens in our Therapy Wisdom Network, a free community resource with thousands of active therapist members. This online community setting is a place to connect with other therapists and healers, to network, and to be part of conversations about what’s happening in your field.
Plus, we’re proud to continue to offer incredible speakers every month in our Trauma Wisdom Circle – this month we’re thrilled to have Pat Ogden joining us, with her c0-teachers Lisa Stokkeland and Marko Punkanen, who will be teaching The Body as Storyteller: A Somatic Approach to Healing Complex Trauma
3. Clearer, action-oriented language
The next decade is about movement, not metaphor. About results, not just resonance. And it is about staying empowered and resilient. This is why we offer healing the healer sessions – like De West’s Trauma Informed Yoga sessions, which run twice a month, that will keep you feeling energized, grounded, and supported.
And underneath it all, the soul of our work remains unchanged:
We believe therapy is one of the most profound vehicles for collective healing on the planet.
The Larger Invitation
I want you to imagine this with me.
Imagine what happens when 100,000 therapists who are trauma-informed, somatically aware, and grounded in compassion are fully equipped and supported. Their impact reaches every corner of the globe.
Earlier this year, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) community reached out to enroll the Ukrainian community in an Academy of Therapy Wisdom course with Ruth Cohn on neglect and trauma. I can’t tell you how happy that made Ruth and our whole team.
Imagine those therapists walking into sessions, classrooms, hospitals, and homes.
Imagine what happens to a world when 50 million people start healing from the inside out.
That’s the movement we’re building with you.
With you… because if you’re reading this, you’re already part of it.
Thank you for being here with us through each evolution, for believing that inner transformation can ripple outward into something far larger than any one of us.
Here’s to the next chapter:
100,000 therapists.
50 million lives.
One shared purpose.
With gratitude and excitement,
Brian Spielmann, Founder
What you´ll learn:
- Vestibular Engagement for Emotional Regulation
- Using the Eyes to Hack the Stress Response System
- Subtle Sounds to Release the Peri-Trauma Response
- Effective Self-Holding and Self-Swaddling Techniques
- How and When to Apply Bilateral Stimulation
- Integration and Completing the Stress Response Cycle
