Participants will explore Satir’s use of metaphor as a way to foster connection and reframe experience. A live demonstration of the Personal Iceberg Metaphor will illustrate how internal experiences shape outward behaviour, with dyads and group feedback incorporated into each segment to support integration and understanding. The program also introduces the Five Elements of Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy (STST), with opportunities for participants to identify how these elements appear within the demonstration.
The workshop continues with an experiential exploration of coping stances and sculpting, including a demonstration, paired practice, and group discussion to deepen learning and insight. As the program concludes, participants will be invited to reflect on how they plan to integrate the material into their professional and personal practice.
To support ongoing growth, a selection of resources – including webinars, opportunities for continued learning through SIP and Satir Global, and recommended readings—will be provided and reviewed.
Students are welcome to attend this introduction but ideally students of a social work or psychology program in at least 2nd year or with work experience of working with families. All other health or mental health professions are welcome. Previous experience with Virginia Satir’s model is not a requirement.
Program Objectives
- Develop foundational therapeutic skills for working with individuals and families through the application of the Satir Model.
- Highlight the role of self-care and centered presence in effective clinical practice, emphasizing the importance of the practitioner’s internal state.
- Build capacity for attunement and experiential awareness, including observing and interpreting verbal, nonverbal, and energetic responses—from both client and practitioner—to support greater congruence between one’s thoughts, words, and actions.
Key Benefits
- Enhanced resilience and reduced risk of burnout through improved self-care and continuous self-monitoring, allowing practitioners to be more present and attentive with clients.
- Deepened understanding of internal experience, of Self and Others, will support establishing connections and enhance creativity for assessment and intervention.
- Greater congruence in professional relationships by increasing awareness of one’s own coping patterns, beliefs, and expectations, leading to more authentic and effective interactions.
With Mary Leslie, MSW,
Mary is retired from private practice and her RCSW registration status, Oct 2022. She has 24 years experience as a student and practitioner of Satir’s model and recently published with six others, Virginia Satir’s Evolving Legacy: Transformative Therapy with a Bodymind Connection, (May 2024). She taught the MSW Social Work Practice Groups course at the UBC School of Social Work (2008-2013). She has offered webinars for BCASW and CASW and presented numerous conference presentation. Her publications include “Widening Our Lens, Deepening Our Practice: An Exploration of Energy Within the Teachings of Virginia Satir” in The Satir International Journal (Dec 2016) reprinted in The Satir Model in Action, Edited by Dr. John Banmen (2021).
and Wendy Lum, MA, RCC-ACS, RMFT-S
Wendy has been a trainer for the Satir Institute of the Pacific, and has over 25 years of ongoing training and practice with Satir’s model. Wendy is a counsellor with The University of Victoria Student Wellness Centre: Counselling and has coordinated their practicum program and supervised clinical psychology and counselling students. She has given a number of conference presentations on Satir’s model, including for The International Family Therapy Conference held in Vancouver. She has published writing on Satir practice including: “Therapists’ Experience Using Satir’s Personal Iceberg Metaphor” in The Satir International Journal and “The Use of Self of the Therapist” in Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy, edited by Dr. John Banmen (2008).