Neufeld Institute Advanced Studies

If you have completed the Neufeld Intensive II and are interested in helping us deliver the Neufeld Institute courses to parents, educators or helping professionals, you are welcome to apply to our Advanced Studies program. We are most interested in equipping and supporting those who already have their own sphere of influence and come with their own target audience.

If you are a practicing helping professional interested in applying this approach to your work as a parent consultant or with adolescents, we also invite you to apply to our Advanced Studies program. As resources permit, we entertain applications to our practitioner program once individuals have completed their first year of general Advanced Studies. The parent consulting approach, pioneered by Dr. Neufeld in Canada, helps children by working through their parents rather than directly with children. Parents thus receive the insight and support they need to become the answers to their children.

Our advanced studies programs involve in-depth study of the relevant Neufeld Institute courses and include master classes with Dr. Neufeld and his faculty, practicum experiences, supported case study, forum discussion, reflective journaling and regularly scheduled consults with faculty advisors.

The equipping is in Neufeld's approach, not the professional activity

Our Advanced Studies Program does not equip or qualify anyone to teach or to engage in a professional practice. We expect that individuals come to our program with the requisite skills and the professional qualifications to engage in these activities. Our role is to equip and support individuals in the teaching and implementation of Neufeld's approach.

The basic components of Advanced Studies

Each individualized program consists of three components: theory, personal integration and practice. Mastering the theory typically involves further study of the resources available on the Neufeld Virtual Campus. Faculty advisors assist in creating an individualized study plan that takes into consideration previous exposure, personal interest, and ultimate objectives.

The core experience of the practice component involves making sense of children through case study. This is facilitated through master class sessions with Dr. Neufeld and the Neufeld Institute Faculty. Course facilitators are also expected to arrange and run practicum groups while receiving support and supervision from Neufeld Faculty. Parent consultants will be working through live cases with the support of their Faculty Advisor.

The personal integration component of the program involves the writing of personal journals which in turn are responded to by the faculty advisors. The content of these journals includes personal reflections and provides a place to process personal challenges faced in the living out of this approach.

The length of our Advanced Studies programs

Our course facilitator and practitioner authorization programs are both two years in duration. Normally the practitioner program would be taken after the course facilitator program has been completed. Exceptions can be made however to begin the practitioner program concurrently with the second year of course facilitator program. We assume that people already have full lives with their family and work commitments; however the ability to carve out several hours per week is a necessary prerequisite for involvement in our authorization programs.

The Neufeld Intensives are foundational to Advanced Studies

The pathway to Advanced Studies is through the Level Two Intensive.  The prerequisite for the Neufeld Intensive II is either the Neufeld Intensive I or the Power to Parent series with some added supplemental study.  Both the Intensives and the Power to Parent series are available through Distance Education. Both Intensives are also held in Vancouver every summer. These courses provide the conceptual foundations for Advanced Studies.

Tuition fees

The tuition fee for the general advanced studies program is $2400 CAD. The practitioner programs (either parent consulting, adolescence, or combined) are an additional $3600 CAD. In unusual circumstances, the Director of Advanced Studies may approve advanced standing and reduce tuition. If there are circumstances that need to be taken into consideration that would alter the length or cost of your program, these would need to discussed with our program advisor prior to applying.

Advanced Studies is an online program

Equipping and support is provided primarily through our Virtual Campus; participants require access to a computer and high-speed internet in order to participate. No special software is needed. Personal consults with the faculty advisor are typically done via telephone or Skype. Online support sessions are delivered through our videoconferencing system. Although the technical competencies to participate in this program are minimal, students are expected to take responsibility for any technical learning that is required.

Given the virtual nature of our program, we have an annual onsite Vancouver conference to provide the opportunity for Campus members to meet face to face. Seminars and workshops are provided by the Neufeld Faculty. Advanced Study students are encouraged to participate in this conference if it is at all feasible for them to do so.

Listing on the Neufeld Institute website

Upon successful completion of the Advanced Studies and if delivering an authorized service as a course facilitator or practicing helping professional, individuals can elect to be listed on the Neufeld Institute website.

Ongoing support and campus membership

We are committed to actively supporting all those who have been authorized to teach and practice this approach. This support is delivered through our Virtual Campus through online sessions, discussion forums, study and promotional materials, and a growing library of resources. Campus membership is $150 per year and is waived for authorization students.

Future fees

Royalty fees apply where authorized course facilitators have received payment. The fees are typically $100 per videocourse group or 15% of the honorarium received.  Facilitators who support courses which are organized through the Neufeld Institute receive a stipend for their services. 

What we are looking for in our applicants

What we are looking for in our Advanced Study students is: a passion for, and understanding of, the paradigm; a vision for furthering the approach; a professional demeanor; a love and understanding of children; personal integration of the material; the ability to express oneself in writing and speaking; and most importantly, a soft heart and a good head. Applicants seeking authorization to practice this approach as a parent consultant are expected to have a degree in a helping profession such as social work, nursing, counselling, psychology, or medicine, as well as to be actively engaged in professional practice.

Agreement with our distinctives

It is important to us that our Advanced Study applicants both know and are in full accord with the distinctives of our program. We are as interested in selecting out those who are not really a match for this program as we are in selecting in those who are. If seriously interested in applying, please download the Program Distinctives to reflect upon and consider before applying.

How to apply

The application process begins with filling out the application form available on the Neufeld Virtual Campus (www.campus.gordonneufeld.com). Those who are not yet on campus must request a guess pass in order to submit the application. The steps to applying are in the Advanced Studies Centre on Campus. An application to Advanced Studies is not considered until the candidate has completed the Intensive II. Please contact the program advisor if there are any questions or special circumstances that need to be considered. The application process may include an online interview. If the Intensives have been taken onsite rather than through distance education, an assignment (similar to the completion assignments in the distance education courses) will be given to assess mastery of the material as well as the ability to make sense of kids. Unfortunately we receive more qualified applications that we can presently accept, due to the limits of our own resources.