Trauma-Informed Certification For Coaches, Counselors & Healing Professionals
Experience the Inner Counselor Process™ for yourself before learning to use it with your clients.
IN-PERSON RETREAT | APRIL 16–18, 2027Quietude | Black Mountain, North CarolinaVirtual Attendance Available12-WEEK LIVE CERTIFICATION | 28 CEUs
Applications are personally reviewed by Dr. Shannon South.
AS FEATURED IN
SOUND FAMILIAR?
You’ve done the trainings. You care deeply about your clients. But you keep running into the same walls.
Clients Keep Returning to the Same Patterns
You help clients gain insight and make progress, but some patterns keep resurfacing. You’re looking for a way to work with what may be happening beneath the story, not simply revisit it session after session.
Talking Only Goes So Far
Your clients may understand exactly why they feel or behave the way they do and still feel stuck. You want a trauma-informed approach that works with the mind, body and spirit, not insight alone.
You Need a Process You Can Actually Use
Knowing about trauma is different from knowing what to do in the moment. You want a clear, structured process you can confidently use when deeper emotional material surfaces in your work with clients.
You Want to Go Deeper Without Causing Harm
You know trauma-informed practice requires care, pacing and respect for each client's experience. You want to work at greater depth without pushing, forcing or repeatedly revisiting painful experiences.
Your Current Tools Don't Always Reach the Root
You already have training, experience and modalities that work. But there are clients and issues that don't respond to your usual approaches, and you want another method you can integrate into the work you already do.
You Want More Confidence With Complex Client Needs
When trauma, grief, anxiety or deeply held patterns surface, you want to feel grounded in how you respond. You want a process you've experienced, practiced and learned before using it with others.
THE INNER COUNSELOR PROCESS™
A Proven Method to Help Clients Heal at the Root Level - Often in a Single Session
The Inner Counselor Process™ is a proven, 15-step mind-body-spirit process designed to help clients get to the root of the patterns, beliefs, and emotional pain keeping them stuck, often in a single session.
ICP™ goes beyond insight alone by working with the psychological, emotional, physical and spiritual dimensions of healing. Drawing from spiritual psychology and the work of pioneers including Abraham Maslow, Carl Jung and William James, the process helps clients recognize automatic reactions, integrate deeper patterns and reconnect with their own Inner Counselor, their highest, wisest and most loving Self.
For more than 30 years, the Inner Counselor™ System has evolved as a structured approach to personal and spiritual healing and growth. Rather than replacing the modalities you already use, ICP™ gives you a process you can integrate into your existing work with clients.
As a Certified Inner Counselor Process™ Practitioner, you’ll learn to:
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- Guide clients through a consistent 15-step process for getting to the root of persistent patterns and emotional pain.
- Work with mind, body and spirit rather than relying on insight or conversation alone.
- Help clients recognize and change automatic reactions and deeply held patterns.
- Guide clients in connecting with their own Inner Counselor and inner wisdom.
- Integrate ICP™ with the coaching, counseling, therapeutic or healing approaches you already use.
ENDORSED BY TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERS
Dr. Jack Canfield Talks With Dr. Shannon South About the Inner Counselor Process™
Dr. Shannon South joins Jack Canfield, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul and The Success Principles, for a conversation about spiritual psychology and the Inner Counselor Process™.
YOUR MENTOR & INSTRUCTOR
Learn the Inner Counselor Process™ With Dr. Shannon South
The “Joy Doctor” – Founder, The Inner Counselor Process™ Certification Program
Dr. Shannon South is an award-winning transpersonal therapist, best-selling author and professional trainer with more than 25 years of experience in counseling, spiritual psychology and trauma healing.
Her work grew from both professional experience and a profound personal awakening in 1994 that shaped her exploration of the connection between psychology, spirituality and emotional healing.
As founder of the Inner Counselor Process™ Certification Program, Shannon trains coaches, counselors and healing professionals to integrate ICP™ into their work with clients. Her whole-person approach draws on decades of clinical experience working with the mind, body and spirit.
Shannon is your mentor throughout the certification, leading the immersive retreat and live training, guiding hands-on practice and case consultation, and working directly with you as you learn the 15-step Inner Counselor Process™ and prepare for certification.
TRAUMA LIVES IN THE MIND, BODY & SPIRIT
When Insight Isn't Enough to Create Lasting Change
Trauma can affect how clients think, feel, respond physically, relate to others and experience themselves. Understanding the story can be important, but insight alone may not change the patterns and automatic reactions that keep a client stuck.
The Inner Counselor Process™ gives practitioners a structured, trauma-informed way to work with the whole person by integrating the psychological, emotional, physical and spiritual dimensions of healing.
ICP™ is designed to complement the work you already do, giving you another way to help clients move beyond understanding their patterns toward changing how they experience and respond to them.
REAL RESULTS FROM REAL PRACTITIONERS
What Certified Inner Counselor Process™ Practitioners Say
Meet more Certified Inner Counselor Process™ Practitioners in our Practitioner Directory.
"Getting Certified in the Inner Counselor Process™ has allowed me to work with my coaching clients with more depth and effectiveness. When they are stuck, I have a way to move them forward now that gives them lasting change at a deeper level."
“This process really helps my guarded and shut-down clients - the ones who stay stuck in their heads. It works beyond the mind and allows transformation to occur on deeper levels than cognitive therapy. I use it as my primary modality now."
"It is the simplest, most direct way to get to the heart of the issue with my clients. One of my clients released a long-term belief that she was ugly and different in one session. She now feels more comfortable, authentic and powerful in her own skin."
"One client of mine did one session and after she cleared a long-standing block, she stepped immediately into her dream life and it flowed so easily and effortlessly. She quickly became unstuck and went from thinking about what she wanted to having it. It was amazing!"
HOW IT WORKS
YOUR PATH TO INNER COUNSELOR PROCESS™ CERTIFICATION
Your certification begins with a three-day immersive retreat, followed by 12 weeks of live training, hands-on practice, case consultation and personal mentorship with Dr. Shannon South.
IN-PERSON RETREAT | April 16 – 18, 2027
Quietude | Black Mountain, North Carolina | Virtual Attendance Available 12-Week Certification Program
Program Concludes on July 10, 2027
1. Apply for the Certification
Submit your application for the April 2027 cohort. Dr. Shannon South personally reviews applications and selects up to 30 coaches, counselors and healing professionals for the Inner Counselor Process™ Certification Program.
2. Three-Day Immersive Retreat
Begin at Quietude in Black Mountain, North Carolina, where you'll experience the Inner Counselor Process™ firsthand before learning to guide others through it. Over three immersive days, you'll learn the foundations of the 15-step process, experience ICP™ for your own healing and growth, and begin practicing with your cohort under Dr. Shannon South's guidance. Virtual attendance is available.
3. Learn, Practice & Consult on Real Cases
Continue with five bi-weekly live small-group sessions focused on spiritual psychology, The Journey to Awakening Manual, the 15-step Inner Counselor Process™ and case consultation with Dr. Shannon South and senior practitioners. You'll deepen your understanding of ICP™ while practicing how to apply the process in real client work.
4. Complete Your Certification
Complete the required practice sessions and final assessment to become a Certified Inner Counselor Practitioner (C-ICP™) and receive 28 CEUs.* Once certified, you'll be eligible for inclusion in Dr. Shannon South's practitioner directory and may receive referrals through her network.
"Transformation is Real. It is here and it is now."
Understanding Trauma & the Patterns That Keep Clients Stuck
Clients may understand why they think, feel or respond a certain way and still find themselves returning to familiar emotional, behavioral or relationship patterns. Trauma-informed work recognizes that insight is important, but understanding the story may not always be enough to create meaningful change.
Past experiences can continue to influence thoughts, emotions, beliefs, relationships and physical responses in the present. Recognizing these patterns can help practitioners better understand what may be happening when a client continues to struggle despite insight and previous work.
Working with trauma requires care, pacing and respect for each client’s experience. The Inner Counselor Process™ gives trained practitioners a structured mind-body-spirit process for working with what may be beneath recurring patterns without making repeated retelling of painful experiences the focus of the work.
How the Inner Counselor Process™ Helps Create Meaningful Change
Take your work with clients and your practice to the next level.
Love yourself enough to Pause, Reflect and Embody who you truly are beyond your circumstances, conditions and the stressors or stories of your day to day.
Restore AND Let Go while discovering the mind-body-spirit healing approach at the heart of The Inner Counselor Process™.
Research on the Inner Counselor Process™: What the Results Show
Read my Blog to continue reading how the mind-body-spirit connection and the Inner Counselor Process™ heal anxiety, depression, and trauma.
Research* into the Inner Counselor Process™ has documented meaningful changes in participants, including feeling more grounded and present, experiencing less mental chatter and reactivity, and developing a stronger sense of self and inner connection.
Participants have also reported greater freedom from long-standing trauma-related patterns, increased capacity for connection and meaningful change that can occur quickly, sometimes within a single session.
The Inner Counselor Process™ works with the mind, body and spirit to help clients recognize and work with patterns at their root while strengthening connection with their own inner wisdom.
Imagine Your Clients Having the Same Results!
“Facing and integrating shadow aspects of myself, which had caused emotional turmoil for so long, was as if being reborn. Now, I have clarity, confidence, and a lightness of being I never knew was possible.”
“Being able to uncover and resolve deep-rooted emotional patterns that had been holding me back for years, was life changing. The transformation was faster than I ever imagined, and I feel a renewed sense of peace and self-awareness.”
“Dr. Shannon helped me quickly identify my trauma triggers ad gave me the tools to heal them from within. I’ve experienced more growth and emotional freedom in a few sessions than I had in years of therapy.”
Ready to Become a Certified Inner Counselor Process™ Practitioner?
Is This Trauma-Informed Certification Right for You?
This program may be a strong fit if you are a coach, counselor, therapist or healing professional who wants to:
- Help clients work with recurring emotional, behavioral and relationship patterns that may be rooted in trauma.
- Go beyond insight alone with a structured, trauma-informed process you can use in your work with clients.
- Integrate mind, body and spirit while helping clients connect with their own inner wisdom.
- Develop greater confidence working with clients who continue to feel stuck despite previous healing, counseling or personal-development work.
- Add the 15-step Inner Counselor Process™ to the coaching, counseling, therapeutic or healing approaches you already use.
If this sounds like the way you want to work with clients, take the next step toward becoming a
Certified Inner Counselor Process™ Practitioner.
Empower Yourself – Empower Your Clients
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the April 2027 Inner Counselor Process™ Certification begin?
The April 2027 cohort begins with a three-day immersive retreat at Quietude in Black Mountain, North Carolina, April 16–18, 2027. Virtual attendance is also available.
Following the retreat, participants continue with five bi-weekly, two-hour small-group sessions over the 12-week certification program.
These live sessions include Inner Counselor Process™ case consultation, spiritual psychology and deeper study of The Journey to Awakening Manual.
All sessions are recorded. The program concludes July 10, 2027.
Is this Program a live, in-person training that I will have to travel to?
The certification begins with an in-person, three-day immersive retreat at Quietude in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Participants who are unable to travel may attend the retreat virtually.
The remainder of the 12-week certification includes live online small-group training, case consultation, practice and additional learning with Dr. Shannon South and her certified practitioners.
Does the training fee cover the certification?
Yes. The training fee includes the certification process. Participants who successfully complete the program requirements and final assessment become a Certified Inner Counselor Practitioner (C-ICP™).
If additional training or practice is needed before certification, Dr. Shannon South and her team will provide guidance on the appropriate next steps.
What's included in the 12-week Inner Counselor Process™ Certification Program?
The certification begins with a three-day immersive retreat where you’ll experience the Inner Counselor Process™ firsthand, learn the foundations of the 15-step process and begin practicing with your cohort.
Over the following 12 weeks, you’ll continue with live small-group training, hands-on practice, spiritual psychology, study of The Journey to Awakening Manual, case consultation, pre-recorded learning modules and personal mentorship. You’ll complete required practice sessions and a final assessment as you prepare to become a Certified Inner Counselor Practitioner (C-ICP™).
How do I know if the Inner Counselor Process™ Certification is right for me?
This certification may be a good fit if you are a coach, counselor, therapist, clinician or healing professional who wants a structured, trauma-informed process for helping clients work with recurring emotional, behavioral, relationship or mind-body patterns.
The Inner Counselor Process™ is especially suited for practitioners who value a mind-body-spirit approach, want to help clients connect with their own inner wisdom and are looking for a process they can integrate with the work they already do.
Do I need to be a mental health professional to become a Certified Inner Counselor Practitioner?
No. You do not need to be a licensed mental health professional to apply for the Inner Counselor Process™ Certification. The program is designed for qualified coaches, counselors, therapists, clinicians, holistic practitioners and other healing professionals.
Dr. Shannon South personally reviews applications to determine whether the certification is appropriate for each applicant’s professional background, experience and intended use of the Inner Counselor Process™.
Do you offer free training sessions?
Yes, use the link below to watch a free training session: “3 Ways to Access Your Inner Counselor Superpowers”.
Don’t miss your chance to experience these life-changing tools firsthand!
Will I be considered a Certified Inner Counselor Practitioner™ (C-ICP™) when completing this Program?
Yes! As long as you complete the requirements and follow the steps outlined for success, you will receive the certification upon completion. Once certified, you will be added to Dr. Shannon’s growing list of certified practitioners on her website and can receive referrals as a certified practitioner in your area. Dr. Shannon frequently refers to her certified practitioners as her private practice is very limited due to her teaching and training schedule.
Can I use the Inner Counselor Process™ with other modalities that I am already trained in?
The ICP™ is a stand alone process however other clinicians have integrated it into their practice using it with other modalities such as Coaching, EMDR, Brainspotting, CBT, Internal Family Systems, Emotional Freedom Technique, Energy work, hypnotherapy, energy psychology and Solution focused therapy just to name a few. It has been shown to enhance other modalities very well if used with effectiveness and understanding.
Will I be able to purchase 'The Journey to Awakening Manual' that goes with this course on my own?
‘The Journey to Awakening Manual’ written by the Founder of the Inner Counselor process, Dr. Ann Nunley is not for purchase on its own. It is however, an essential component of the coursework and certification process as well as the LIVE experiential learning. You will be receiving if you are one of the 30 participants chosen for the certification program. It was not meant to be a stand alone manual and is used in conjunction with the C-ICP™ program.
How many CEUs will I earn when I complete the course?
Upon completion of the certified course you will receive 28 Continuing Education Units.
Is there published research about The Inner Counselor Process™ Program?
Do I receive personal mentoring with Dr. Shannon?
Yes, Dr. Shannon has kept the certification program to 30 people and the small groups to 15 so she can directly mentor and guide those who are training in the ICP.
How involved is Dr. Shannon in this training?
She is the main presenter and teacher for all LIVE and pre-recorded events. The group supervision will be shared with her highly trained and hand-picked certified trainers as Dr. Shannon cannot be in all sessions at the same time.
I would love to talk with someone about my questions. Is there anyone I can speak with?
Please email Shannon@drshannonsouth.com with any questions or to schedule a clarity call.
Is there a payment plan?
Yes. If you need a payment plan, Dr. Shannon offers several options for this to happen. If you are accepted to the program, she or her staff will share these options with you.
Download FAQs & Answers
What are your payment and cancellation policies?
YOUR NEXT STEP
Ready to Transform Your Practice — and Your Clients' Lives?
Join 30 hand-selected practitioners in the next cohort of the Inner Counselor Process™ Trauma-Informed Certification.
IN-PERSON RETREAT | APRIL 16–18, 2027Quietude | Black Mountain, North CarolinaVirtual Attendance Available12-WEEK LIVE CERTIFICATION | 28 CEUs
