Nesting / Matryoshka / Stacking Dolls CPD

Working Therapeutically with Nesting & Stacking Dolls

A Two-Day Experiential CPD Workshop for Therapists, Counsellors & Practitioners

Nesting and stacking dolls can provide a powerful visual and tactile metaphor within therapeutic practice. Their layers, relationships, size, containment and ability to sit within one another can offer opportunities to explore the different aspects of a person’s experience, including identity, relationships, protective responses, life transitions, internal parts and the experiences that may sit beneath what is presented externally.

This two-day CPD workshop is designed for professionals who want to deepen their understanding of nesting and stacking dolls as a therapeutic intervention and develop confidence in using this creative, symbolic and experiential resource within their existing practice.

The focus is not on assigning a fixed meaning to each doll or suggesting that every client experience should be understood through a particular model. Instead, the intervention is client-led, allowing the individual to develop their own associations, meanings and narratives.

Day One | Deep Dive, Understanding & Therapeutic Foundations

The first day focuses on the therapeutic thinking behind the intervention.

We will explore why nesting dolls can be particularly useful as a tangible representation of experiences that may be difficult to articulate verbally, and how the process of opening, arranging, separating and nesting the dolls can facilitate therapeutic exploration.

Together, we will explore:

• The therapeutic rationale for using nesting and stacking dolls
• The psychological value of tangible and symbolic objects
• Metaphor, symbolism and personal meaning
• Exploring the different aspects or layers of self
• External presentation and internal experience
• Identity and the different roles we hold
• Protective parts and coping responses
• Exploring what may sit beneath a presenting issue
• Relationships and the influence of significant others
• Life experiences and developmental transitions
• Exploring change, loss, separation and reconnection
• Containment, safety and boundaries
• Using size, position and arrangement as opportunities for exploration
• Client-led interpretation and avoiding therapist assumptions
• Trauma-informed considerations when working with layered or emotionally evocative material
• Maintaining choice, autonomy and therapeutic safety
• Cultural and individual differences in symbolism and meaning
• Ethical considerations when using creative and symbolic interventions
• Adapting the intervention to different therapeutic approaches and client needs
• Considerations for 1:1 and group settings

There will be opportunities to reflect, discuss and consider the intervention from a professional and therapeutic perspective, developing your understanding of how and why it may be used.

The emphasis is on understanding the intervention rather than simply learning a technique.

The first day asks:

• What can layers represent for this particular client?
• What might be beneath the presenting experience?
• How can a physical object help make an internal experience more visible?
• How do we remain curious without deciding what the layers mean for the client?

Day Two | Experiment, Experience & Create

The second day moves from therapeutic understanding into practical experimentation.

This is where participants have the opportunity to work directly with nesting and stacking dolls, exploring how the intervention feels and what different approaches might make possible within therapeutic practice.

Activities may include exploring:

• Experiencing the dolls from the participant perspective
• Choosing and arranging dolls
• Exploring inside and outside representations
• Using the dolls to explore different aspects of self
• Representing emotions, experiences or internal states
• Exploring protective responses and coping strategies
• Mapping relationships and relational experiences
• Exploring life stages and transitions
• Creating symbolic representations of change
• Exploring what is visible and what is hidden
• Working with separation and connection
• Using the dolls to represent resources, strengths and support
• Developing therapeutic questions and invitations
• Experimenting with different arrangements and sequences
• Creating your own therapeutic activities using nesting dolls
• Reflecting on what emerges through the process
• Practising how to introduce and close the intervention safely
• Considering how to integrate the approach into your existing therapeutic model

The day is deliberately experiential, reflective and exploratory.

You will have space to experiment with different possibilities rather than being expected to follow one prescribed method.

Bringing the Two Days Together

The workshop follows a progression from therapeutic understanding to practical integration:

Day One

Understand → Explore → Reflect → Develop

Day Two

Experiment → Experience → Create → Integrate

The intention is to help you develop the professional confidence to decide when, why and how nesting dolls may be appropriate within your therapeutic work.

Rather than leaving with a single activity to replicate, you will have explored the principles behind the intervention and considered how it can be adapted to the individual client.

What You Can Expect to Take Away

By the end of the two-day CPD, you will have:

• Developed a deeper understanding of nesting dolls as a therapeutic resource
• Explored symbolism, metaphor and client-led meaning
• Considered layers of experience, identity and presentation
• Explored therapeutic approaches to internal parts and protective responses
• Considered relationships, transitions and life experiences
• Explored containment, boundaries and safety
• Experienced the intervention from the participant perspective
• Practised developing therapeutic questions and invitations
• Explored trauma-informed and ethical considerations
• Developed ideas for adapting the intervention to your own practice
• Created potential therapeutic activities for future use
• Reflected on how this approach may complement your existing therapeutic model
• Developed greater confidence in using creative and symbolic interventions

This is for practitioners who want to look beneath the technique.

Rather than simply learning what to do with a set of nesting dolls, this CPD invites you to explore the therapeutic thinking behind the intervention:

• What might the layers represent for this client?
• What is being shown, and what remains hidden?
• What might sit beneath the presenting experience?
• How can the client remain the author of their own meaning?
• How can we explore internal experiences without imposing interpretation?
• How can a simple physical object become a doorway into deeper therapeutic exploration?

Payment (for the full two-day workshop)

Standard price: £150.00 per person 

Early bird: £130
(For bookings made at time of promotion)

Student / trainee counsellor: £120

Returning Mindful Moments Training participant: £135

Payment plan: 2 × £75 Or 3 x £50

Explore the layers. Discover meaning. Practise with curiosity.

Mindful Moments Training