How To Become A Rolfer®?

People of all professions and ages become Rolfers®. The training is set up so that everyone gets the necessary knowledge and skills – from musicians to physiotherapists to builders and drivers. There is no need to have any specific education in advance.

How does it work?

Client Experience

One of the prerequisites of joining the Rolfing® SI training is to receive the series of 10 Rolfing® SI sessions. The client experience provides a firsthand embodied understanding of what Rolfing® SI entails. Many Rolfers® were attracted to Rolfing® SI by the unexpectedly powerful and beneficial changes the 10 series brought into their lives. You will also be able to discuss any questions you might have about the training with your Rolfer®. If you have already received the series, do not hesitate to contact any of the Rolfers® in the Czech Republic, our Association or the school you choose to train with.

Where can you study

Rolfing® SI can be studied at schools with Dr Ida Rolf Institute® accreditation (DIRI). In Europe, trainings are organised by the European Rolfing® Association (ERA), licensed by the DIRI. Trainings usually take place in a training center in Munich, Germany, and occasionally also in Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. DIRI conducts trainings at the school’s headquarters in Boulder, Colorado, and in recent years in other locations in the United States, Canada and South Africa. You can also study with the Associação Brasileira de Rolfing® in Brazil. The contents of the trainings in all schools is similar, the formats might slightly differ.

The European Rolfing® Association also offers multi-day preparatory workshops in different locations around Europe. There, you can experience the same overall atmosphere and teaching style that you would encounter in training.

Basic Certification Training

The basic certification training usually takes approximately two years and happens in three phases. Phase I will provide you with the essential skills and academic knowledge for the successful study and practice of Rolfing® SI. In Phase II, you will learn the basic 10 structural integration sessions and exchange the 10 sessions with one of your colleagues. In Phase III, you will take your first outside clients through the 10 series and will learn about the specifics of Rolfing® SI.

Content Of The Basic Training

Anatomy, physiology, kinesiology from the Rolfing® SI specific point of view, including the latest scientific findings (fascial, cranial and visceral anatomy and physiology, joint biomechanics, neuroscience, embryology, work with trauma).
Principles, history and development of Rolfing® SI.
Touch skills and efficient body use – touch differentiation of body tissues (bones, muscles, organs, fascia, nerves), layers of availability, perception precision, listening, process orientedness, body mechanics.
10 Rolfing® session series – theoretical aspects, self-experience and application.
Body reading/diagnostics – study of structural and functional patterns of the human body in gravity, developing strategies for the ten session series.
Introduction to Rolf Movement® Integration – functional / movement aspects of Rolfing® SI.
Therapeutic relationship – how to build a functional client-practitioner relationship. Boundaries, safe space, communication, client participation, emotions/trauma in the context of Rolfing® SI.
Awareness of your own process, self-teaching cycle. Cognitive and experiential learning.
Practice building skills and professional ethics of the field.

You will meet different teachers during your training. The composition of the teaching teams provides you with the opportunity to experience different teaching and practice styles (which continue to evolve and crystalise) and to find your own. The maximum number of students per teacher is 8-10, which allows the instructors to have an individual approach to each student and his/her specific learning needs. Taught through well-illustrated lectures, experiential exercises and guided palpation, the classes are designed to provide optimal learning experience.

Continuing Education

Supervisions, Mentoring, Workshops

When you complete the basic training, a wide range of continuing education options opens for you: supervisions, mentoring, two to six day workshops. You can dive deeper into and further develop your interests and needs: specific manual and therapeutic skills, anatomical and kinesiological knowledge, movement work. This also allows you to integrate into your practice the most useful aspects of other practices, which have been extensively studied by our teachers, such as osteopathy, neural manipulation, somatic experiencing.

Advanced Training

Three to seven years after your basic training graduation you can take the Advanced Training. The Advanced Rolfing® Training takes approximately 6 weeks and will significantly deepen and expand your knowledge and skills. You will learn to design a series of sessions outside the traditional 10 sessions, tailored to the current needs of your clients. You will learn to work with specific myofascial, articular, visceral and functional restrictions in a gentle and precise manner. Your practice will gain a new levels of efficiency. You will also get acquainted with the latest developments in the field of Rolfing® SI.

Rolfing® Structural Integration is a trademark of Dr. Ida Rolf Institute®. The brand must be used as an adjective, for ease of reading we use it in the abbreviated form Rolfing® SI.

The terms Rolfing® SI and Rolfer® are reserved only for graduates of the certified trainings of Dr. Ida Rolf Institute® and European Rolfing® Association.

About us

About Rolfing® SI

Rolfers® in Czechia