Institute for the Study of Peak States
"Methods for Fundamental Change in the Human Psyche"
Institute Update: January 1, 2007


Newsletter Spotlight
From the Editor
International Training Centers
Teaching Standards and Safety
Teleclasses and Ongoing Education
Code of Ethics
From the Research Department - our Addictions Techniques
Upcoming Professional Trainings




From the Editor

Dear Colleague,
     This is an update for those of you who don’t know much about our work.  We are a research, teaching and clinical treatment institute, based in Canada, that has discovered how consciousness interacts with biology. We are applying our work to both improving quality of life (peak states of consciousness), and in creating treatments for formerly ‘incurable’ conditions and diseases (schizophrenia, addictions) as well as testing prototype treatments for other conditions such as autism and multiple sclerosis.
     It's been over a year since our last general newsletter, and our Institute has been as busy as ever. We have developed a formal curriculum, trained new instructors, varied our teaching formats by adding teleclasses and newsletters to our more traditional workshops and mentoring, and continued with research towards faster and more effective healing techniques, as well as more effective peak state processes. We’re moving more and more material out of the research phase and into our professional training classes and practical applications. This shift from pure research into more of a business footing with our applications is a very exciting development for us all.
     Our new, improved webpage makes it easier to find the information you need, along with articles and extensive support material for our students.

Web Address: http://www.peakstates.com/
Phone: 250-413-3211

International Training Centers
     The Institute is going international. Last year, we were very fortunate to have Nemi Nath, from Australia, join our teaching staff, and Edward Rodziewicz set up an Institute satellite center in Poland. We were already working together online and by phone across two continents, but after the trainings this past year, there's no going back! There have been workshops and professional trainings inAustralia and Poland, in addition to our beaten tracks in Canada and the United States, and there's more coming: some workshops in Scotland and Germany, and more in Poland and Australia. See below for details and schedules.

Teaching Standards and Safety
     We keep experimenting with training styles, trying to balance caution and a gradual approach, on one hand, and our keenness to teach advanced (faster) techniques right away… Lately, caution has again taken the upper hand. We often encounter gifted students who can learn the faster healing methods early on, but safety concerns have nudged us to make sure people have a solid grounding in the basics first of all.
     The result of all this has been a formal certification path, published recently on our website www.peakstates.com/coursePSL1cert.html. The team who have been working at this latest version of our certification guidelines are: Grant McFetridge, of course; Shelly Pinnell, who has offered us the perspective of the professional therapy world; Nemi Nath, who has had invaluable experience in teaching Breathwork to a certification standard; Tal Laks, who helped develop many of the processes we now teach; Monti Scribner, our student outreach person, who also has a long background in teaching; and John Heinegg andPaula Courteau from the research and teaching sides, respectively. We also consulted just about every long-term member in the process, and quite a few of the newer students have had input.
We are also publishing safety bulletins on our website as the need arises, at 
http://www.peakstates.com/safety.html.

Teleclasses and Ongoing Education
     One of the drawbacks to most training workshops is the lack of support after the class. Thanks to technological advances, we started to use a new format to supplement our workshops. Our weekly teleclasses used, at first, a free conference-call service, and, lately, the computer program Skype to offer a cheap way for a group to talk together via phone or internet. We've given three types of classes: some covering basic theory, and open to all (for example, a presentation by Alexandre Nadeau about using principles from Neuro-Linguistic Programming and other associated techniques to turn peak experiences into peak states); some classes reinforcing basic training, and aimed at people who have already taken a Peak States workshop; and some classes specifically aimed at helping people achieve the skills required for their certification as therapists.
     It's been fun meeting students from around the world with the teleclass format. The groups vary from 8 to 20 students, with geographical boundaries erased, although sometimes it's a challenge to accommodate five different time zones! Plus, the occasional classes taught with Polish or German translators tend to be a bit slow. The format, overall, has fostered a sense of community for the students and instructors. Around the same time we rededicated the WHH email group to people actively involved in training, giving another avenue for questions and discussions about the material. There is also an almost-regular newsletter for students and staff. The newsletters are archived on the website, http://www.peakstates.com/Snewsletter.html, and coupled with a search engine to make it easier to find answers on a variety of topics. The search engine covers the whole site, easing access to an increasing variety of materials.

Code of Ethics
     Last July, Grant and Nemi attended the Breathworkers' Conference in Nelson, BC, Canada. That's where Grant met Jim Morningstar. Jim and his colleagues at the International Breathwork Training Alliance had developed, over several years of work, a code of ethics for Breathwork therapists. Jim had the great generosity to allow us to adapt these guidelines for our own Institute.
     This is a very straightforward but beautiful and extremely well thought-out document. We expect each of our therapists to abide by it and strive to embody the qualities it describes. You can see it on our website, at http://www.peakstates.com/ethics.html. To see Jim's original text, go to http://breathworkalliance.org/form_1.htm.
     In addition, our certified graduates are switching to the principle of charging for results rather than charging for time spent with clients. As you might imagine, this is a radical departure from conventional practice in this field, and only possible because of the new effective and fast techniques now in the marketplace.

From the Research Department – our Addictions Techniques
     Matt Fox, director of the addictions project, has started teaching our techniques for the elimination of various addictions. At the moment, we’re focused on alcohol, crack cocaine and opiates. We hope to collaborate on a large-scale test study of our addiction process at the University of Florida in the coming year.

Upcoming Professional Trainings http://www.peakstates.com/upcoming.html

Basic Whole-Hearted Healing (course #110). This is our basic regression therapy, and is a prerequisite for our peak states work.
  February 1- 4, 2007, in Columbus, Ohio. Facilitated by Shelly Pinnell and Tal Laks. This is an additional class being offered for those who missed the Fall teleclass and still want to participate in the Basic Peak Sates training the following week, February 6-10 in Columbus, Ohio. Contact Shelly at 614-985-4694.
 
Basic Whole-Hearted Healing with Addiction Specialization Professional Training (course # 110 & 190).  Training for drug and alcohol therapists in our cure for alcohol craving and other addictions.
  March 5-11, 2007 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Taught by Matt Fox. Contact Matt at 352-686-0982. Deposit required. Please review the course requirements on the course description information at http://peakstates.com/courses.html#professional.
 
Basic Peak States Professional Training (course #120). This is our core peak states therapist training.
  February 6-10, 2007 (5 day) in Columbus, Ohio. Contact Shelly Pinnell by phone 614-985-4694 in the USA. Prerequisite: Basic Whole-Hearted Healing (course #110).
  March 21 – 25 Australia Phone  +61 2 66897455. 
  April 27 – June 1 Australia/Melbourne. Phone Kushala +61 3  98444669, +61 4131 23847.
  June 13 – 17 Australia Phone  +61 2 66897455.
 
Basic Whole-Hearted Healing with Basic PeakStates Professional Training(course #110 & 120). This includes both our trauma-healing regression process, and our core peak states therapist training course.
  May 9-18, 2007 at the Newbold House in Forres, Scotland. For more information, go to http://www.newboldhouse.org/workshops2007/workshops07.html. Training in our regression therapy, and in our peak states processes at a residential retreat centre near the Findhorn community. For more information or to book, go to www.newboldhouse.org/bookingform.html.
  April 14 – 23 Australia. Phone +61 2 66897455 (depending on numbers) or May 25 – June 3.
  July 16-25 in Poland. Phone 48 604 220267.
  August 13-22 in Germany. Phone 49016091749445.
  October 29-November 7, 2007 at the Newbold House in Forres,Scotland. For more information, go to http://www.newboldhouse.org/workshops2007/workshops07.html. Training in our regression therapy, and in our peak states processes at a residential retreat centre near the Findhorn community. For more information or to book, go to www.newboldhouse.org/bookingform.html.
 
We welcome your questions and comments.
Copyright 2007 by Grant McFetridge

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