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 Depth Shamanic Counselor
 Certification Program
  with Local and Distance Study Options

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  Please scroll down to view the following:

                   General Information

     Teaching Methods & Program Goals

                 Curriculm Overview
                                                       
                           Tuition
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General Information

The Center's Depth Shamanic Counselor Certification Program is a rigorous three-to-six or more years long shamanic training program resulting in Certification as a Depth Shamanic Counselor, Kinney Method. Your training consists of the following:

      ~ A gradually deepening experiential exploration of the shamanic realities of the Medicine Wheel Mandala, and interactions with the shamanic archetypes to be found within it
      ~ Academic study and experiential applications of depth shamanic psychology, ethics, and counseling methods
      ~ Private study and guidance with Scarlet Kinney, MA, the Center's founder and director
      ~ Participation in a variety of workshops and retreats, and attendance at the Center's annual Shamanic Foundations Intensive, which is held in August on the Maine coast
      ~ Intensive experiential study of shamanic drumming and scanning techniques, and learning to master a variety of shamanic journey techniques 
      ~ Learning to seek out and develop relationships with animal spirit helpers and ancestral guides who will assist you in your own healing efforts and on behalf of your eventual clients
      ~ Development of your particular shamanic talents and psychic abilities, which you learn to direct towards perceiving specifically shamanic archetypal realities
      ~ Shamanic analysis of your own personal issues and participation in your own shamanic healing process as a condition of certification

Both local and distance students are accepted into the program after successfully negotiating the application process, during which your readiness and ability to participate in the program are evaluated by Scarlet and advanced students. Local students meet monthly with Scarlet for one-on-one studies, occasionally meeting with other students for instruction, guidance and experiential training. Distance students work directly with Scarlet by phone and email, and with her in person as often as possible. While your studies will be tailored to fit your individual needs and learning style, all students receive the same training, and all students are required to attend the annual Shamanic Foundations Intensive, which will be held at the Center in Surry in 2007 from Thursday August 9, through Monday, August 13. For details about this year's Intensive, please click on the "Shamanic Foundations Intensive on the Maine Coast" link on the sidebar.

You may begin your training at the beginning of any seasonal quarter with a two-day introductory workshop at the Center. During your introductory workshop, you'll learn the "etiquette" of participating in shamanic work, and the basic skills you'll need to successfully complete your first level of study.

Upon successful completion of your studies, you earn certification as a Depth Shamanic Counselor, Kinney Method, and are required at that time to sign the Center's Depth Shamanic Code of Ethics. Receipt of your certification means that Scarlet believes you are fully qualified to begin a depth shamanic counseling practice.

Upon certification, you may also be invited to continue your studies by taking part in the Center's Shamanic Research Program, in which we explore ways to retrieve shamanic teachings by means of advanced journey experiences into ancestral/genetic memory, among other things, with the goal of publishing our results.

For the first five years following your certification, your certification is renewable yearly, based upon quarterly reviews of your case studies with Scarlet, and your ongoing participation in semi-annual two-day shamanic retreats at the Center during which you renew and refresh your own personal shamanic practice.

Thereafter, your certification is renewable every two years, based upon your participation in an annual retreat with Scarlet and other Certified Depth Shamanic Counselors, Kinney Method, during which you share case studies and seek guidance about difficult cases from Scarlet and other experienced depth shamanic counselors. You also strengthen and renew your own personal shamanic practice during the retreat.

The Center will maintain avenues for evaluating and resolving ethical complaints that may be received by the clients of Certified Depth Shamanic Counselors, Kinney Method, or by students of Certified Teachers of Depth Shamanism as developed by Scarlet Kinney, and may revoke the certification of counselors or teachers who breach the Kinney Method Depth Shamanic Code of Ethics.

Teaching Methods and Program Goals

In depth shamanic ways, the teacher is a guide and advisor who may point out the path to understanding for students, but does not set herself above them in any way. She rarely assumes a position of authority, and if it becomes necessary to do so, she takes an issue-specific authoritative stance, not one that is ongoing. Women's shamanic ways are non-hierarchical and this is a reflection of that reality.

Material is presented to students by the depth shamanic teacher as an indicator of how/when/where/why to enter and return from various levels of exploration of shamanic reality and interactions with the archetypal energies residing there, and is intended to be used solely as a guide for the development of apprentices' own shamanic perspective and power over time. The information presented for the teacher is general in nature, although it may also be direction- or issue-specific. While each student may enter specific locations in shamanic reality to do certain things, based upon the information and basic "maps" provided by the teacher, each student's perception and experience of such locations is hers alone, and is respected as such. Each student uses the information provided by the teacher as stepping stones into her own shamanic empowerment.

Written material is provided at each step along the way. However, the "real" teachings are not transmitted by means of written materials, which are provided merely as a kind of anchor for White students, who are familiar with learning from the written word.  During in-person work with the depth shamanic teacher, transmission of teachings is done on both verbal and non-verbal levels, so that the student has a balanced understanding of the value of both methods of transmitting knowledge. Advanced students are taught how to transmit verbal and non-verbal teachings.

The goal of the Depth Shamanic Counselor Certification Program is to train fully competent and highly ethical Depth Shamanic Counselors as well as highly qualified depth shamanic teachers, who may be given permission to pass on to others the basics of depth shamanism and depth shamanic counseling techniques as developed and taught by Scarlet Kinney.

Curriculum Overview  

There are three initial levels of training for those desiring to become Certified Depth Shamanic Counselors, Kinney Method. In these levels, all students/apprentices are taught the same material, as well as how to correctly interpret and apply their own perspectives on the materials. In addition, advanced students may work privately with the depth shamanic teacher for several additional years, as they develop their personal shamanic skills and talents, and learn how to use them to benefit others.

Level One students engage in a thorough mapping of shamanic reality by means of special journey techniques. They also begin developing relationships with specific shamanic archetypal energies contained within the Medicine Wheel Mandala, which express themselves as images of animal spirits. Beginning students receive a Power Animal retrieval and begin the process of integrating its medicine into their sense of who they are and how they function in the physical world. They are introduced to shamanic meditation, visualization, breathwork and movements, learn to drum correctly, and study the rudiments of depth shamanic counseling. 

Level Two students learn more advanced journey techniques for traveling into shamanic reality in the Above, where they encounter ancestral spirit guides in human form, and in the Below, where they seek relationship with animal spirit helpers. They begin developing relationship with shamanic Goddess archetypes associated with each direction and the Center position within the Medicine Wheel Mandala, and begin the process of working on personal issues using depth shamanic techniques and practices.

Level Three students move into deeper levels of shamanic experience, learn to correctly interpret shamanic scans, to apply depth shamanic counseling skills in group practicums, and work intensively on healing themselves using depth shamanic techniques. Students at this level of depth shamanic expertise begin assisting Scarlet in teaching settings and healing ceremonies, and hone their counseling skills by seeking volunteers to scan and counsel.

Additional study is tailored to the particular needs of each individual student.

Tuition & Other Expenses as of May 1, 2006

Tuition for Level One local students is $475 per seasonal quarter, plus $425 for participation in the last three days of the Shamanic Foundations Intensive, for a total yearly tuition of $2325. 

Tuition for Level Two distance students is $575 per seasonal quarter, plus $425 for the last three days of the Shamanic Foundations Intensive, for a total yearly tuition of $2725.

Tuition for Level Two and Level Three local students is $475 per seasonal quarter, plus $595 for participation in the full five-day Shamanic Foundations Intensive, for a total yearly tuition of $2495.

Tuition for Level Two and Level Three distance students is $575 per seasonal quarter, plus $595 for participation in the full five-day Shamanic Foundations Intensive, for a total yearly tuition of $2895.  

Quarterly tuition payments for all students are due on January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1. The Shamanic Foundations Intensive fee may be paid quarterly in equal amounts along with regular tuition, or the full amount must be paid by August 1. 

Other expenses include:
     
      ~ Purchase of a single-sided hand drum, a rattle and a female crystal, if you do not already have them. Taos Pueblo Drums can be purchased or ordered through the Center's art gallery, Turtle Mountain Mythic Art if you wish, and rattles are occasionally available through the gallery as well. You can also purchase these items elsewhere if that's more convenient for you.

      ~ Purchase of "sitting" cushions if you do not already own them, and prefer to have your own cushions. The Center has a small supply of cushions available for new and occasional students, which you may use in the beginning.

     ~ Purchase of miscellaneous small items, such as smudging materials and container, etc.

     ~ For distance students, there are travel and lodging expenses for your semi-annual visits to the Center.

For more information about any aspect of the Depth Shamanic Counselor Certification Program, please contact Scarlet Kinney using the email link below, or call her at the Center.