A.R.T. EXPRESS
Working with Autism / ADHD / ID
Somatic Practices for Alignment and Resilience
6 Week Course – Holly Bridges
Issues this course addresses
- How do I teach my body that my flight / fight response is for life or death situations, not answering the phone?
- I’m super smart, so why can’t I follow a movie?
- I’m a smart person, yet I have no energy and often can’t get out of bed.
- I’m a smart person, but sometimes I can’t get my words out.
- It hurts to to take a shower and brush my teeth
- I want to eat, but I don’t like food
- I get really frustrated and lose my patience when things don’t go my way
- I can’t do meditation or breathing techniques, they don’t work for me
- How can I find peace in my mind and body?
Anxiety. Meltdowns. Demand Avoidance. Low Self-Esteem.
It feels like nothing will change. We go from high to low with no brakes. We feel outside of ourselves. It seems like there’s no way out.
We spend time and money on programs that don’t make a difference, that can have us running on a hamster wheel of appointments. Looking to the future makes us feel even more alone and invalidated.
Today, we are seeking people who align with who we truly are. Who see our struggles and who share a new vision for who we can authentically be. We seek harmony inside ourselves and out.
And to create the lives we want, we need to find pathways that help us be whole and resilient, while being consistent with our values and experiences. That incorporates the best of neuroscience and current thinking, while being considerate of the individual.
What can I get out of this course?
For
Parents
- Gain an understanding of how the brain and body work
- Learn to hold space for your child
- Help them find more calm and peace
- Help your kids be less triggered
- Build physical and emotional resilience
- Promote interoception and self-awareness
- Reduce anxiety
- Enhance learning and comprehension
- Learn to trust your innate knowledge and guidance
- Feel more connected to your kids
For
Practitioners
- Deepen your understanding of the Polyvagal Theory
- Expand your skills in working with neurodiversity
- Promote psychological safety in autism/adhd/id
- Reinform your theoretical frameworks
- Develop your ability to be informed by the body
- Unlearn your tendency to frame and direct
- Strengthen your trust in your innate knowledge
- Promote interoception and self-awareness
- Promote confidence and reduce anxiety
- Enhance connection with your clients
For Adults with Autism and Adhd
- Generate authentic wellbeing
- Feel more aligned
- Have simple tools at your disposal to help when things get hard
- See yourself with more compassion
- Build inner resilience and self-confidence
- Learn to trust your innate knowledge and inner guidance
- Understand the physiology of meltdowns
- How the Polyvagal Theory can be applied with dignity
- How coordination, working memory and executive function are dependent on physiological states
- Befriend your nervous system
“In totality, the A.R.T. Express course manages to combine a straightforward, easy-to-follow method of support with profound authenticity and wisdom.”
Samantha Craft
Author of Everyday Aspergers and Autism in a Briefcase, International Consultant, Senior Manager of DEI at Ultranauts Inc.
She is a gift to our work.”
Dr. Gerard Costa
Former Director, Centre for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health.
Montclair State University, New Jersey
Stephen Porges
Professor of Psychiatry.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lucy H. Pearce
Author of Medicine Woman, mother of an 11 year old on the spectrum.
Join Holly Bridges in a unique, neurodivergent friendly and insightful course to expand what is possible for Autism, ADHD, ID. See the Polyvagal Theory through a neurodivergent lens and discover how we can work with an individual focus to bring about positive change and wellbeing for those on the spectrum. Learn two of Holly’s signature, neuro-physical exercises that help promote alignment, self-regulation, resilience and well-being.
The original course from the author of ‘Reframe Your Thinking Around Autism’ and creator of Anxiety Reframe Technique (A.R.T.)SM. A neurodivergent speaker, author and therapist, Holly Bridges the gap between neurodiversity and neuroscience, bringing her unique therapy program to this 6 week online course.
Suitable for adult autistics, parents, therapists, teachers, schools and allied health professionals who are interested in Anxiety, Autism, ADHD, ID and want to bring a new light to their work.
Access this practical, innovative and in-depth course in your own time and pace.
Modules
• Setting a New Stage
A substantiation dive into the underpinnings of autism through the lens of a wide historical context, while being mindful of a Western mindset. We ask the questions: From our current vantage point; Can we forgive? Can we reimagine autism therapy? Can we find ‘clean’, holistic spaces to work from both personally and professionally?
Each module has a live recording of one hour Q+A Sessions with Holly Bridges to further develop the nuance of this approach.
• The Polyvagal Theory and Anxiety Reframe Technique
A unique look at the PVT and how it can practically apply to autism. New information, not in the book.
A creative and distinct look at the Polyvagal Theory, bridging extra biology and anatomy to provide a complete picture of meltdowns; shut-down; the sympathetic and parasympathetic state; states of wellbeing and what they can afford us.
• Brain/Body Circuitry
Moving into the brain and seeing the interconnections between mind and body and how mental and emotional functioning is dependent on the state of the nervous system. Holly pulls together a vast amount of current research into the ways we now understand how the vestibular system; immune system; limbic system and various areas of the brain coordinate to allow ease of not just movement, but executive functions and emotional wellbeing.
• Brain Plasticity and Anxiety Reframe Technique
Expanding on Anat Baniels’ Nine Essentials in the book to expand how we can work with them through an A.R.T. (Anxiety Reframe Technique) lens and expand our capacity to work and play with those on the spectrum.
Holly shares her insights into the A.R.T. (Anxiety Reframe Technique) process through the lens of Anat Baniel’s Nine Essentials. She speaks to the subtle, psychological ways in which we need to attend to people when working with ART so that we get the best results, with the greatest level of respect and care. Holly brings her unique style of understanding neuroscience, the body and how to work with delicate systems to this module.
• Hara and Interoception
Learn in more depth about the autonomic nervous system and how it aligns with health and wellbeing. Learn how to work with Holly’s Hara Ball Exercise.
Hara is a Japanese term with a wide application, but can be specifically applied to a state of deep peace that is derived from the body being in a certain physiological state. Here we look at the anatomy of the enteric nervous system in relation to the autonomic nervous system and then discover how Holly’s ‘Hara Ball’ exercises can help promote this state of being. We learn to see with keen eyes how to be mindful of the needs of the client; how not to push our own agenda and how to attend to our own needs so that we come from a generous, respectful and knowing space. How interoception is afforded by the body being in a soft enough space. Videos of the ‘ball’ in action.
• Hand Points and Neuroception
Neurosensory alignment; how sensory information is tracked in the body and how we can rewire the body’s learned patterns of response. Learn how to work with acupressure Hand Points through the A.R.T. (Anxiety Reframe Technique) lens.
We look at neuroception and neuro sensory perception and how this is intricately linked to the rest of the body. How facilitation as a physical practice can enhance brain maps, proprioception, vestibular sensation, safety and wellbeing. Holly shares her Hand-Points exercise and videos of the work in action and allows you to gain a personal perspective on this process so that you can bring a higher level of awareness to your work. Client case study.
Watch our 6 Week Course Introduction
Complete Express Course
3x monthly payment
$750 AUD1
one off payment
- 6 Online Modules
- 6 Fillable Workbooks
- 6 Live Video Replays on the practical application of concepts and techniques of Anxiety Reframe Technique (A.R.T.)SM
- 6 Quizzes (optional)
- 12 Month Subscription
- Access to a Private Facebook Community
- Free Access to Live Online Sessions with Holly Bridges and the Zebr. Community – to answer specific topics, guest speakers, share insights
Enrol with your NDIS plan
Premium Express Course
$300 AUD1
3x monthly payment
$900 AUD1
one off payment
- 6 Online modules
- 6 Fillable workbooks
- 6 Live video replays on the practical application of concepts and techniques of Anxiety Reframe Technique (A.R.T.)SM
- 6 Quizzes
- 12 Month Subscription
- Access to a Private Facebook Community
- Free Access to Live Online Sessions with Holly Bridges and the Zebr. Community – to answer specific topics, guest speakers, share insights
- Online Certification Exam
- CPD Accreditation Certificate
- 40 CPD Credits
- Teacher Training Manuals
Enrol with your NDIS plan
Note 1: Plus GST if you’re in Australia.
Note 2: For queries on hardship scholarships click here.
Some comments from previous A.R.T. Express participants
“This is such exciting work. I can see now why my body couldn’t handle all the interventions before – they were all being done to the body, with no space for it to respond as to whether it was ready for more, no space to recalibrate or integrate. With this, I’m learning to develop a listening and respectful relationship with my body. So, so thankful! (BTW – the morning after I first did the ball exercise, I woke up with sleepy dust around my eyes – wow!!!)”
J. Hainsworth
“Since doing Holly’s work, we have seen amazing improvements. Yesterday for instance we stood at our front door and he said to us “is someone playing the trumpet”. My husband and I just looked at eachother a tad confused. We have lived here for 12 years. In that 12 years our neighbour has practiced his trumpet on average 4hrs-6hr a day. My son is 9 yrs old and yesterday was the first time he had heard it. He can also swallow tablets now. He is also for the first time not constipated which is a huge deal for us. He is engaging in conversations and noticing others around him.”
K. Mawson
“I gave myself some space and gently ran through the hand exercise, noticing the points that I could stay with and those that I couldn’t. I could feel the body responding and calming. The following day, I decided to try the ball again and it was a completely different experience. The movement felt good and easy and I kept noticing the shape, colour, light on the ball, the ridges. It was so interesting to experience this change. My partner saw me holding my hand on a point and asked about it, so I showed them; the response was – that feels really nice.”
V. Rhone
“I knew this woman, Holly Bridges, was speaking my language. I was determined to make an appointment with her, but saw that she lived in Australia. Then I saw this course offered on her website, said a quiet hooray, and signed up! I’m looking forward to learning from someone who appreciates the nuances of every “body” and understands that no paradigm this life-changing – is one-size-fits-all.”
B.Morrison
“I am working with a pro bono client who has severe ME (Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome). She is entirely confined to bed and has a lot of physical and psychological distress. This past week she tried the ball exercise, using some sort of squishy object that she has available, and she experienced numerous positive and unusual (for her) body responses to the exercise. She was absolutely beaming when I entered the session with her this morning over Zoom. I’m very grateful, and I am encouraged by this experience to get on with it and try this with more of my clients, especially the ones whom I see in person.”
R. Nordquist Corame
“The ball exercise settled my abdominal pain and discomfort which I’ve mostly linked to hypermobility, worsened by post-viral syndrome after meningitis when I was 25. It was a very quick shift and seems to have lasting results. And I have more sensation in the hand I have done the hand points on, most noticeable when I touch my face.”
S. de Vries