Welcome to Castellino Prenatal & Birth Therapy Training

About 'Womb Surround' Process Workshops

What is a 'Womb Surround' Process Workshop?

A 'Womb Surround' Process Workshop is a small group format developed and refined by Raymond Castellino beginning in 1992. It creates a safe, welcoming environment in which to explore early imprinting from preverbal life that is affecting your present life. Typically there are 4-6 participants in a workshop. The facilitator is often assisted by trainees or graduates from the Castellino Foundation Training. What follows is a writeup about the general format developed by Raymond Castellino for in-person 5-day womb surrounds. The format will necessarily vary when online and with different facilitators.

The format for this was created by Dr. Castellino because he found by experience that complete and lasting transformations most often happen in a small group setting. The span of five days or an evening plus four days allows the work to occur in a spacious way that supports the integration of material from your own and others' work.

The facilitator begins each workshop reviewing the 8 Principles: basic interactive, empathy and contact skills allowing participants to actively support each other during the workshop with the intention of creating a safe and nurturing "womb surround." Each participant receives a 1.5 - 3.5 hour session with the facilitator with group support during which he or she explores physical and emotional patterns of prenatal, birth or infancy origin. Each session is followed by individual and group debriefing, integrative processing and discussion. Tools used include group interactive processes, energy awareness, craniosacral work and other touch and empathy skills.

The purpose is to heal and re-pattern early trauma and to create more options for current behavior and ways of being in relationship. In addition to healing prenatal, birth and other early trauma, this process has the principle impact of encouraging loving bonding within primary relationships. Participants commonly state that the process is transformational on a deep level.