Kairos Institute
Healing in a World of Need
KAIROS LINKS
2026 Open Courses
Free Introduction to 4-year Art Therapy Training
Sunday September 6, 1:30 EDT
Free online session
For those wishing to join our 4-year program, we have 5 available spots for people with backgrounds in anthroposophy, education/art.
If you are interested in a vocational training in Art Therapy (painting, clay, and drawing) please sign up for the free online session and/or write to Karine Munk Finser karine@centerforanthroposophy.org
Kairos Celebratory Convocation with Peter Selg
Sept 13, 2026, 1:30 PM EDT
The Mystery of the Heart. Ita Wegman and Rudolf Steiner
Overview of Kairos: 2026-27
Fee: $30
Peter Selg
Peter Selg studied medicine in Witten-Herdecke, Zurich, and Berlin and, until 2000, worked as the head physician of the juvenile psychiatry department of Herdecke Hospital in Germany.
Dr. Selg is director of the Ita Wegman Institute for Basic Research into Anthroposophy (Arlesheim, Switzerland), professor of medicine at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences (Germany), and co-leader of the General Anthroposophical Section at the Goetheanum. He is the author of numerous books on Rudolf Steiner, anthroposophy, medical ethics, and the development of culture and consciousness.
ColorWorks with Charles Andrade
Saturday, January 10, Saturday, January 17, Sunday, January 24, and Saturday, January 31, all 3:00-6:00 PM EST
Fee: $450
In this introductory drawing/painting course, students will work with the basic concepts of visual thinking that are at the foundation of any two-dimensional art form. Graphic design principles such as polarity, metamorphosis and unity will be studied in various mediums and techniques. Color, value, and form will lead students into the dynamic relationship between intellect and intuition as the two together generate images of personal resonance and conscious visual display.
We begin Saturday, January 10, at 3:00-6:00 PM EST, with a welcome and an introduction of Charles Andrade, who will give you your first Foundation in Light, Darkness, and Color course. This course has four classes
Classes will be recorded and available for 14 days.
Charles Andrade
Charles paints in the colorist style that he evolved from his initial training in England at Tobias School of Art & Therapy. His paintings can be found in private collections in North America, Europe, and New Zealand. Charles owns and operates Lazure Custom Wall Designs, a mural and decorative painting business specializing in Lazure, a unique European glazing finish that creates healing inner environments. Charles teaches fine art classes and offers Lazure and painting workshops worldwide.
Exploring the World of Children's Drawings with Laurie Clark
The Revelation of Formative Forces in the Growing Child
with Laurie Clark
Tuesday, 02/10 at 7:30 – 9:30 PM EST
Wednesday, 02/25 at 7:30 – 9:30 PM EST
Wednesday, 03/11 at 7:30 – 9:30 PM EST
Wednesday, 03/18 at 7:30 – 9:30 PM EST
Tuition:
$250 for all 4 classes
Course description:
Understanding the incarnational process of the young child is essential for Waldorf teachers and therapists. This course guides participants in learning how to “read” what a child expresses through their drawings. During the first seven years, children create spontaneous images that reflect archetypal forms, mirroring key developmental stages.
We will also examine how drawing can serve as a powerful support tool for children facing challenges, offering them a nonverbal avenue for expression when words are not yet accessible.
Drawing on more than four decades of research and observation, Laurie Clark will share her profound insights into how children’s drawings reveal their inner experiences. Participants will have the opportunity to view images and video clips from her extensive collection.
Laurie Clark
Laurie has had the privilege of being a Waldorf early educator since 1978. She incorporates her therapeutic training into all aspects of her teaching. The deep question of how to meet the child of today and explore their needs in practical applications lies at the heart of her work. Laurie has been studying and collecting the drawings of children for the last four decades and is in continuous research through observation and constant engagement with the young child. She also mentors teachers, is a teacher trainer and conference presenter. She has co-authored two books with Nancy Blanning on therapeutic movement for young children.
Currently, Laurie is joyously working with her daughter, Clair, who is a Waldorf teacher as well, offering a program called Songbirds, an outdoor home program for two- to four-year-olds.
Medical Course in 5 Seminars with Dr. Prasanna
The Path of the Healer: Physiology behind Case Studies
with Dr. Prasanna
May be taken as a series of 5 seminars or as selected individual classes only.
Wednesdays: 7:30-9:30 pm EST.
2/4: Nervous illnesses 1
Neuroses, Fear, Chronic Fatigue, Burn-Out, Stress, Depression
2/11: Nervous Illnesses 2
Anorexia Nervosa, Trauma: PTSD, including Birth Trauma
2/18: Metabolic Limb System 1
Inflammation, Digestion, Migraine
3/25: Metabolic Limb System 2
Cancer: Carcinoma of skin, Cancer of hollow organs, cancer of reproductive system, cancer of upper organs.
4/1: Circulatory System
Hypertension, Heart and Circulation Challenges. Respiration challenges: Bronchi and Lung
Tuition:
$300 for all 5 seminars
$75 for individual class
Course description:
TBA
Reading material:
Social and Anti-Social Forces GA 186
Bridge Lectures GA 202
3/4: Dedicated to Ita Wegman: Death day is March 4th.
Ita Wegman invited Rudolf Steiner to articulate what he later called the Renewal of the Mysteries—a contemporary path of spiritual development for the Michaelic age, no longer confined to the ancient mystery temples, but pursued with full consciousness and freedom. In this light, Wegman is recognized as the catalyst for Steiner’s expression of a modern, ethical, and practical path of initiation—one rooted in therapeutic work, social renewal, and the cultivation of moral imagination.
In honor of Ita Wegman…
We are joining the worldwide gesture to offer this event to all interested in healing practices. Read more about this event below and JOIN US FREE!
Just click the RSVP button below to sign up.
Donations are gratefully accepted to support the Kairos students scholarship fund.
Lakshmi Prasanna, MD
Trained as a developmental pediatrician with 25 years of clinical experience, Lakshmi brings a deep understanding of how education can be a powerful force for healing. Her teaching is particularly valuable for Kairos students and for those seeking to understand the physiological foundations of case studies.
Over the course of five seminars, Lakshmi will explore the gestures and underlying contexts of nervous, metabolic, and circulatory illnesses. Participants will engage with questions of health and healing through the lens of anthroposophical medicine, examining both the contemporary challenges to individual and collective well-being and what it means to heal in response to them. The work will emphasize wholeness, resilience, and the healing dimensions of our professional practice as art therapists.
More about Dr. Prasanna:
Dr. Lakshmi Prasanna is a pediatrician and neonatologist with 25 years of clinical experience. Prior to establishing her private practice, she served as Head of the Child Development Unit at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai. In 1997, she founded Little Hearts Children’s Hospital in Hyderabad, India, followed by the establishment of the Saandeepani Centre for Healing and Curative Education in 2004, dedicated to supporting children with special needs and developmental delays.
A significant focus of Dr. Lakshmi’s work has been her role as a school doctor within Steiner schools in Australia. She has also served as President of the Anthroposophical Medical Society in India and is a highly regarded lecturer and educator internationally, known for her integrated and holistic approach to health and well-being. Dr. Prasanna lectures internationally.
Traumatology Modules 5 and 11
Module 5
The Problem of School Shootings: Addressing the Phenomena and Consequences for Perpetrator and Victim
This module will examine the various perspectives on violent acts:
- Phenomenology: profile of perpetrator, the motive, the triggering, and the actual event
- Psychological perspective: psychopath, psychotic, or traumatized perpetrator
- Social perspective: family, school, and peers
- Cultural perspective: media influence and access to weapons
We will examine the importance of preventing violent acts, develop strategies for acute intervention and follow-up care.
Module 11
Psychohygiene: Self-Stabilization and Resilience-Building Protective Measures
Trauma is contagious. The price for helping traumatized individuals comes with the risk of “infection”. How can we protect ourselves? Psychohygienic and resilience-building measures are vital for maintaining balance in acute situations. This module offers techniques for self-stabilization and outlines long-term paths for inner development and schooling.
Bernd Ruf
Presenter, Founder of Parzival School & Emergency Pedagogy
Author of Educating Traumatized Children, Bernd Ruf is the founder of the worldwide Emergency Pedagogy crisis intervention center, based in Karlsruhe, Germany. Skilled teams are sent out to help traumatized children in places of the strife of war, or ecological disasters.
Emergency Pedagogy Module 7 with Bernd Ruf
Friday, January 15, 2027
3:00–4:30 PM EST: 1st lecture: “Major Incidents”
Saturday, January 16, 2027
9:00–10:30 AM EST: 2nd lecture: “Pandemic Trauma”
11:00 AM–12:30 PM EST: 3rd lecture: “Healing Community”
1:30–3:00 PM EST: 4th lecture: “Animal-Assisted Interventions”
3:15–4:00 PM EST: Closing Plenary Session
Seminars
- Major Incidents
- Pandemic Trauma
- Healing Community
- Animal-Assisted Interventions
- Closing plenary session
Certificates
Certificates for this module are issued by Emergency Pedagogy Without Borders (EPWB), not by the Center for Anthroposophy. EPWB charges $45 per module. If you would like one, please request it and include your date of birth. Certificates are ordered from EPWB after the module has been taught and are invoiced separately.
Fee: $350
Bernd Ruf
Presenter, Founder of Parzival School & Emergency Pedagogy
Author of Educating Traumatized Children, Bernd Ruf is the founder of the worldwide Emergency Pedagogy crisis intervention center, based in Karlsruhe, Germany. Skilled teams are sent out to help traumatized children in places of the strife of war, or ecological disasters.
Afternoon Workshops in Healing Therapies
Read Course Information
Bernd Ruf began offering his 12 Modules in Emergency Pedagogy and Trauma Pedagogy, in 2022. Bernd Ruf is inspired by the mature audience he encounters in Wilton, which allows him to go deeply into the sensitive topics, drawing from mystery wisdom, inspired by Anthropsophy.
Our face-to-face session allows for several daily lectures, a highly interactive Q&A session at the end of each day, evening lectures, and afternoon workshops in the healing arts.
These workshops are an afternoon class during the week from Monday to Thursday.
Signup will take place on July 5th, after 3:00 pm EST at registration:
- Clowning with Laura Geilen
- Healing Stories with Gleice Paulino Da Silva
- Eurythmy with Cezary Ciaglo
- Caregiving Practices for Responding to Need with Kindness, Dignity and Respect with Elizabeth Sustick, RN
- Painting Therapy with Martha Loving
- Clay with Nikki Moon Shoneman
- Animal Assisted Therapy with Michaelann Murphy
Understanding the Organic and Psychospiritual Basis of Mental Health from an Anthroposophic Perspective with Dr. James Dyson
Seminar 1: Mysteries of Embodiment. Two Streams of Incarnations
Saturday, September 26, 2026
3:00 – 5:00 PM EDT
Seminar 2: Attachment Dynamics and Personality Structure
Saturday, October 24, 2026
3:00 – 5:00 PM EDT
Seminar 3: Organology – Planetary Qualities and the Ethers in Relation to the Threefold Nature of the Human Soul
Saturday, October 31, 2026
3:00 – 5:00 PM EDT
Seminar 4: Developmental and Spiritual Challenges of our Times. Understanding the Separation of the Three Soul Forces and Encountering the Guardian of the Threshold
Saturday, November 7, 2026
3:00 – 5:00 PM EST
Fee: $350 (4 Seminars, 2 hours each)
James Dyson, M.D.
Dr. James A. Dyson first trained as a medical doctor in London University and went on to study anthroposophic medicine at Emerson College, Camphill Schools, Aberdeen and in hospitals in Germany. In 1979, he co-founded Park Attwood Clinic, a residential medical facility in the UK, where he practiced for 25 years. He also worked as a school doctor, both in mainstream Waldorf Schools and schools and communities for adults and children with special needs. In 2008, he completed a five-year program in Applied Psychosynthesis at the Institute of Psychosynthesis, London, for which he was later awarded a Masters’ degree in Psychosynthesis Psychology from Middlesex University.
James has lectured over several decades in a very wide range of international anthroposophic medical and therapeutic trainings and is a regular contributor at conferences of the Medical Section of the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum, Switzerland. As a founding Faculty Member of the “Association for Anthroposophic Psychology” in the USA in 2014, he is a regular contributor to their foundation programs. This Association (AAP) currently offers three-year certificate programs in anthroposophic psychology as well as a professional certification program in anthroposophic psychotherapy. Beyond teaching commitments, James’s current practice embraces clinical mentoring and independent consulting. His aspirations lie in connecting esoteric experience with cognitive understanding, especially in relation to psychosomatic medicine, mental health and in the context of human relationship. Published in 2022 by Steiner Books, USA, Soul Size, The Eternal Psychosomatic Dilemma, contains a range of James’s lectures, essays and interviews, in which he explores the realm of soul in relationship to body and spirit.
The Bridge Lectures: Enthusiasm as Warmth to Counter the Cold of our Times Salutogenesis and the Power of Human Love with Dr. Michaela Glöckler
Seminar 1
Sunday, January 24, 2027
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Seminar 2 1:30 – 3:00 PM EST
Seminar 2
Sunday, February 14, 2027
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Seminar 2 1:30 – 3:00 PM EST
Seminar 3
Sunday, February 21, 2027
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Seminar 2 1:30 – 3:00 PM EST
Fee: $350 (6 Seminars, 1 1/2 hour each)
Dr. Michaela Glöckler, M.D.
Michaela Glöckler, M.D., a graduate of the original Waldorf school in Stuttgart, Germany, studied history and German in Freiburg and Heidelberg and medicine in Tübingen and Marburg while engaging in her own study of anthroposophy. After further training as a pediatrician and adolescent physician at the Community Hospital in Herdecke and the University Hospital in Bochum, she launched her career as pediatrician as well as school doctor in a Waldorf school. From 1988 to 2016 she served as Head of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum (Dornach/Switzerland). These years included deep involvement in lecturing activities and the training of physicians (IPMT) at home and abroad. She is co-founder of the Alliance for Childhood and the European Alliance of Initiatives for Applied Anthroposophy/ELIANT (www.eliant.eu).
Publications in English: Guide to Child Health, The Dignity of the Young Child, Ethical Considerations in Medicine, Education – Health for Life, Education as Preventive Medicine, Medicine at the Threshold, and Healing Education.
Summer Residency
Wilton, New Hampshire
July 6, evening to July 11, noon
This is a training intensive for experienced teachers, school leaders, and those in the healing professions. We hope to support all those looking to supplement their teacher training with medical and psychological support in healing education. This is an advanced course.
For questions and more info on our programs, contact Karine today!
Karine Munk Finser
Director
Emergency Pedagogy without Borders:
Our Kairos Team is in the planning stages for an intervention in Texas from October7-13 to serve the July 4th flood victims.
Please help us make it happen, and donate to Kairos Crisis Interventions using our secure online form.
Donations are gratefully accepted to support the Kairos students scholarship fund.
Leadership and Faculty
An international faculty of experts contributes to making Kairos a vibrant learning community. It is a soul school where all are welcomed into a living process dedicated to healing. Through careful training in the artistic process, we aim to nurture empathy and compassion, enabling human beings to become medicine for one another.
Karine Munk Finser
Director
Kairos Emergency Pedagogy without Borders Team USA in Action
Our Kairos Team, USA, was founded in the summer of 2024. In October, we all met in Asheville under the direction of Bernd Ruf and Alicia D’Urso for our first crisis intervention. We felt called to respond to the wreckage and chaos from the severe storm and flooding that hit North Carolina. Our intervention was successful, thanks to the strong leadership who guided us to become a strong and focused team and to the vast experience of the pedagogues and therapists who formed the sixteen-person team. In addition, we had strong support on the ground from our local coordinator and others who helped us: Sola, School of Living Arts gave us housing and much more, Asheville Waldorf School provided a daily site for students and community members, and we ventured to Shanonoa and Black Mountain where met community members at the Peri Social House. Some of us visited the LatinX community. We returned home grateful for all we had learned and deeply moved by all the human encounters we had experienced—a huge thank you to Bernd Ruf and Alicia D’Urso.
February 8-13, 2025:
Second Crisis intervention under the direction and guidance of Bernd Ruf, Alicia D’Urso, and Renaldo Nascimento Team Kairos will join Team California, who is leading this Los Angeles crisis intervention. We will offer our support to children in the community who are suffering from devastating loss, grief, and trauma after the destructive fires. Natalia Picasso from Team Kairos will submit a report after we return home. We hope to align our two Teams under Team USA for this critical crisis intervention.
