Kairos Institute
Healing in a World of Need
KAIROS LINKS
New Art Therapy Cohort begins in September 2025
Art Therapy Training
Program Overview
In a world filled with tremendous soul struggle, where the demands on both young and old often lead to overwhelm, mental health crises, and PTSD, the Kairos Institute at the Center for Anthroposophy offers a beacon of hope. Founded by Karine Munk Finser, the institute is dedicated to addressing suffering in the world by providing professional training in healing artistic therapies and Emergency Pedagogy.
This part-time program takes place online and over 2 one week-long residencies each year. The training lasts approximately four years depending on experience* (see below).
If desired, completion of the training may lead to a diploma from the Medical Section, iARTe, at the Goetheanum.
Our students form a supportive community as they embark on a multi-year journey together. During this time, they develop skills to strengthen resilience and self-healing capacities for themselves and others. The program consists of two residencies per year, complemented by artistic studios and online classes.
One of the core aspects of the Kairos curriculum is Artistic Therapies. As a cooperative member of iARTe, students at Kairos work towards earning a Diploma from the Medical Section at the Goetheanum in Switzerland. The artistic therapies offered include painting, clay, and drawing, which are designed to promote healing and self-discovery.
Options
iARTe diploma students must register for all classes and studios.
Those not pursuing the iARTe diploma register for all classes without studios
Register for selective online courses or Summer Residency. (Spring Residency is reserved for iARTe track students)
Faculty
Our faculty is representative of the global community of anthroposophical doctors, trauma specialists, psychologists, artists, and therapists. Our goal is to prepare students for the unique challenges posed by both individual and collective trauma. Our training will focus on the transformative role of healing educators and therapists across the whole life span: children, adolescents, and adults.
Who should register?
Anyone wishing to become a therapeutic artist
care group leaders
educators
special educators
school leaders
Camphill workers
and others in the healing professions.
*Program scope and length
Length of study depends on individual student’s iArte Competencies:
- fulfillment of class participation, online and in residencies,
- supervised field work with groups, individual children, adolescence and adults.
- supervised clinical experience with doctor, nurse practitioner or other accepted professional health practitioner
life experience credits
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.
Kairos Offerings for Full-time Students 2026-2027
Courses
Training in Art Therapies – 4 Year Program
Sunday September 6, 1:30 EDT
Register here:
For those wishing to join Cohort ’25, 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 EST
The Mystery of the Heart. Ita Wegman and Rudolf Steiner
Overview of Kairos: 2026-27
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.
Emergency Pedagogy Module 7 with Bernd Ruf
Friday, September 18, 2026
Seminar 1: Major Incidents
3:00-4:30 PM EST
Saturday, September 19, 2026
Seminar 2: Pandemic, Collective Trauma: Grief, Hypervigilance
3:00 – 4:30 PM EST
Seminar 3: Healing Community: Foundational approaches to overcoming collective Trauma
5:00 – 6:30 PM EST,
Seminar 4: Animal-Assisted Therapy Interventions: Nonjudgmental companionship, Emotional attunement, Predictability, Immediate feedback, Physical grounding
7:30 – 9:00 PM EST
Closing Plenary Session
9:15 – 10:00 PM EST
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.
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 EST
Seminar 2: Attachment Dynamics and Personality Structure
Saturday, October 24, 2026
3:00 – 5:00 PM EST
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 EST
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
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
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.
Seminars
Studios — info coming soon!
Coming Soon!
Studio for Cohort ’22 only
Reserved for fulltime Kairos students.
Studios with Karine Munk Finser and sometimes Tonya Stoddard (click for dates)
Sundays, 1:30 – 4:30 PM EST:
02/01
02/08 — joined by Tonya Stoddard (with Cohort ‘25)
02/15 — joined by Tonya Stoddard (with Cohort ‘25)
02/22
03/08 — joined by Tonya Stoddard (with Cohort ‘25)
03/15
03/22
Studios with Chuck Andrade (click for dates)
Sundays, 1:30 – 4:30 PM EST:
01/11
01/18
01/25
The Light and Dark of the Mind with Chuck Andrade
Course Description
The movement of color is the breathing of the soul. The movement of light into darkness is the discernment of the mind as it understands the will that displays its intention.
Working with the landscape format as a template, students will learn to use tints, tones, and shades, and to work with light, medium, and dark values as they envision the beauty of the world around us.
Through guided exercises in light placement on the paper, various times of day and soul moods will emerge, heightening students’ awareness of their environment.
If time and progress permit, exercises of a more imaginative nature will end the course.
Cohort 2022 + 2025 - Studios Gillian David, and Animal Assisted Therapy Cohort
Reserved for full-time Kairos students. (fee included in the year round tuition)
Studio for Cohort ’25 only
Sunday 11/9 and 11/16 Studio with Gillian David on Soul Moods
NO TIME AVAILABLE
Studios for Cohort ‘22 and Cohort ‘25:
(reserved for fulltime Kairos students)
From Emotion to Feeling: Conscious Awakening into Will Case studies with Tonya Stoddard, MA, LCSW, and Karine Munk Finser, M.Ed, Art Therapy Diploma, Medical Section, Goetheanum.
(reserved for fulltime Kairos students)
From Emotion to Feeling: Conscious Awakening into Will Case studies with Tonya Stoddard, MA, LCSW, and Karine Munk Finser, M.Ed, Art Therapy Diploma, Medical Section, Goetheanum.
From Emotion to Feeling: Conscious Awakening into Will
Case studies with Tonya Stoddard, MA, LCSW, and Karine Munk Finser, M.Ed, Art Therapy Diploma, Medical Section, Goetheanum.
Course Description:
We will explore how we can move the experience of our emotional life into conscious will, directed through feeling. This has the capacity to transform our suffering into meaningful steps towards healing our souls. As therapists, we are tasked with being guides through this process. In this series, we will present several case studies, both children and adults, that will illustrate how we may become companions with our clients on this healing path.
After a short break, we will engage in a painting exercise or healing motif designed to address a specific challenge and support renewed life participation. The instructors will guide discussion and active involvement. Please come prepared to take notes and to create diagrams using colored pencils.
We will be painting on moist paper. Ensure you have the colors from your materials list available in closed tubes. A glass or plastic palette with multiple wells will be helpful. You will need 140-lb paper at least 14″ × 17″, a painting board, a sponge, brushes, several rags, and multiple jars of clean water.
Here are some of the themes we will be addressing:
Class 1: Anger, Sorrow, Grief
Class 2: Anxiety, Fear, Shame, Guilt
Class 3: Trauma, divorce, and digestion of life on a soul level
ColorWorks with Chuck Andrade is strongly recommended but optional - Four 3 hour sessions at reduced fee of $350 for all who are fully enrolled students
Studios with Chuck Andrade (click for dates)
Sundays, 1:30 – 4:30 PM EST:
01/11
01/18
01/25
Required Courses
Studios with Karine Munk Finser and sometimes Tonya Stoddard (click for dates)
Days and times vary.
Sunday 02/08: Studio with Karine Munk Finser and Tonya Stoddard (with Cohort ‘22)
1:30 – 4:30 PM EST
Saturday 02/14: Studio with Karine Munk Finser
3:00 – 6:00 PM EST
Sunday 02/15: Studio with Karine Munk Finser and Tonya Stoddard (with Cohort ‘22)
3:00 – 6:00 PM EST
Sunday 03/08: Studio with Karine Munk Finser and Tonya Stoddard (with Cohort ‘22)
3:00 – 6:00 PM EST
Saturday 03/14: Studio with Karine Munk Finser
3:00 – 6:00 PM EST
Saturday 03/21: Studio with Karine Munk Finser
3:00 – 6:00 PM EST
Kairos Institute: Overview of Topics covered in a 4-year training in Art Therapy with a strong focus on Painting therapy, based on Liane Collot d’Herbois (Hauschka introduced)
Clay and Drawing as supportive Artistic Therapies.
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.
