Intimate Bodywork
Practitioner Training
Professional Certification
A professional, trauma-informed pathway to offering embodied touch sessions – including full-body and genital massage – with integrity and skill
Course Foundation
Touch is one of our most basic human needs — yet few people know how to offer it safely, skilfully, and with awareness.
This professional training teaches you how to hold space for another person’s body, boundaries, and erotic energy in a way that is empowering rather than performative. The course is built with a strong emphasis on consent, boundaries, embodiment, practical development and self-reflection.
This training is not intended to prepare practitioners to offer erotic entertainment, sexual surrogacy, or sex work – and it is also not a clinical, medical or physiotherapy based qualification. Rather, it supports the development of professionals who are skilled in intimate touch and can facilitate mindful bodywork as part of a client’s broader journey of embodiment, growth, and integrated sexual wellbeing.
Whether you’re a bodyworker, coach, therapist, or someone called to work more consciously with sexuality and intimacy, this course offers a grounded and insurable route into professional practice, in an exciting and rewarding career.
What You'll Learn
A blended programme of virtual classes, independent study, in-person weekend workshops, reflective practice and client case studies will cover...
Professional Touch Skills
Delivering client-centred bodywork sessions incorporating techniques from holistic, therapeutic, and sensual touch modalities. Working with the full body - including the chest, anus and genitals - in a way that is non-clinical, non-goal oriented and ethically grounded.
Consent & Boundaries
Working in accordance with a written Code of Ethics, a structured intake process and attention to clear, open communication within a trauma-informed practice.
Ethics & Hygiene Standards
Maintaining clear professional boundaries, following essential self-care practices, and ensuring the highest standards are met through clearly set hygiene protocols that take into consideration the intimate nature of the sessions.
Anatomy & Physiology
Demonstrate a foundational understanding of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems as relevant to touch, arousal and relaxation.
Professional Practice
Demonstrate emotional maturity, self-awareness, and the ability to work with your own internal reactions, shadow motivations and projections, to understand how these could unconsciously play out in sessions. Access ongoing support, supervision, or peer reflection to maintain a safe, sustainable practice.
Upon successful completion of this training, students will be qualified to work as an Intimate Bodywork Practitioner, with eligibility for insurance and professional membership with The Association for Professional Therapists & Practitioners (FOYHT).
Graduates will have demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and ethical responsibility required to offer safe, professional, client-centred bodywork that supports emotional wellbeing, nervous system regulation, and the embodied awareness and exploration of relaxed pleasure.
Meet your Teacher
I’ve been a bodyworker since 2014, supporting clients with intimate touch and pleasure education, and I’m so excited to share my experiences with you through this training. Through the 2000+ sessions I’ve given I’ve developed a grounded style that allows clients to feel safe, relaxed and empowered to explore and enjoy their bodies. I’ve seen first-hand the deeply transformative and positive impact that a non-performative, pleasure-focussed bodywork session can have on a client’s nervous system – giving them access to regulation and understanding. So often in our culture, pleasure is shamed and touch is lacking: we have the binary option of a transactional ‘happy ending’ experience devoid of depth, skill or connection…or we have a clinical and controlled environment where our complex human emotions are not considered, and pleasure isn’t even mentioned. My mission with Intimate Bodywork sessions is to bridge that gap; to carve out a modality that provides safe, empowering, joyful experiences that are built on integrity, consent and client-empowerment. If you’re drawn to supporting change in the way we understand touch, arousal and connection then I invite you to join me on the journey – this course is for you.
Libby Sheppard
Who Is It For?
This training is for you if you are…
A massage therapist or bodyworker wanting to expand your skills and offering into conscious intimacy
A somatic or sexuality practitioner seeking formal structure and professional standards
A facilitator, coach, or therapist wanting to deepen your understanding of touch, embodied pleasure and consent
Someone called to offer grounded, ethical, body-based support to others in their journey of sexual growth
Ideally you will have existing anatomy and physiology training, or a demonstrable understanding of the physical body (for example through a personal movement, or exercise practice).
More important is a willingness to be curious, a commitment to self-awareness and working with integrity.
The application process will involve a detailed intake form and Zoom interview.
Course Dates 2027
20th January 2027 - 22nd September 2027
Applications and interviews will begin March 2026. Please register your interest via email to be notified when applications are live.
PROVISIONAL 2027 DATES (SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION):
- Online group sessions:
20th January / 3rd February / 24th February / 24th March / 21st April / 19th May / 22nd September
- In-person weekend workshops*:
19th-21st February / 19th-21st March / 16th-18th April / 14th-16th May
- Ongoing independent study:
20th January-19th May
- Completion of 20 client case studies:
19th May-19th September
*Weekend workshops take place in Brighton, England
Course Fees 2027
Full price £4200
Early Bird (paid in full by 19.06.26) £3780 (10% discount)
£400 non-refundable deposit required to confirm your place once accepted after interview
Payment plan options:
Cost can be spread over a maximum of 9 months, with two options:
- Paid in full before the course start date (19.01.27)
- Paid in full no later than 2 months after start date (19.03.27)
The course fees include:
- Online access to the course curriculum and interactive learning platform
- Lifetime access to the online course material and all massage/teaching videos (other trainings – SexBod – cut you off after a year)
- 7 x 2 hour group Zoom sessions
- 4 x 3 day in-person weekend workshops
- 2 x 90 minute private bodywork sessions with Libby (or another approved practitioner)
- 4 x 1 hour private Zoom coaching sessions with Libby
The course fees do not include:
- Travel, food or accommodation for the weekend workshops
- Any suggested extra-curricular reading, activities or workshops
- Equipment and resources for individual practice sessions outside of the in-person workshops
Essential Information
PROVISIONAL 2027 DATES (SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION):
- Online group sessions:
20th January / 3rd February / 24th February / 24th March / 21st April / 19th May / 22nd September
- In-person weekend workshops:
19th-21st February / 19th-21st March / 16th-18th April / 14th-16th May
- Ongoing independent study:
20th January-19th May
- Completion of 20 client case studies:
19th May-19th September
Course cost: £4200
The course fees include:
- Online access to the course curriculum and interactive learning platform
- Lifetime access to the online course material and all massage/teaching videos (other trainings – SexBod – cut you off after a year)
- 7 x 2 hour group Zoom sessions
- 4 x 3 day in-person weekend workshops
- 2 x 90 minute private bodywork sessions with Libby (or another approved practitioner)
- 4 x 1 hour private Zoom coaching sessions with Libby
The course fees do not include:
- Travel, food or accommodation for the weekend workshops
- Any suggested extra-curricular reading, activities or workshops
- Equipment and resources for individual practice sessions outside of the in-person workshops
Early Bird cost (paid in full by 19.06.26): £3780 (10% discount)
Payment plan options: Cost can be spread over a maximum of 9 months, with two options:
- Paid in full before the course start date (19.01.27)
- Paid in full no later than 2 months after start date (19.03.27)
Refund policy: A non-refundable deposit of £400 is required to confirm your place once accepted after interview.
If you withdraw from the programme more than 6 weeks prior to the start date then any money paid above the deposit amount will be refunded.
If you withdraw from the programme more than 2 weeks prior to the start date then 50% of any money paid above the deposit amount will be refunded.
If you withdraw from the programme less than 2 weeks prior to the start date then no refund on any monies paid will be given.
In extenuating circumstances it is possible to defer any monies paid above the deposit amount to the following year’s programme.
This training is for you if you are…
A massage therapist or bodyworker wanting to expand your skills and offering into conscious intimacy
A somatic or sexuality practitioner seeking formal structure and professional standards
A facilitator, coach, or therapist wanting to deepen your understanding of touch, embodied pleasure and consent
Someone called to offer grounded, ethical, body-based support to others in their journey of sexual growth
Ideally students will have existing training and knowledge in anatomy and physiology (e.g. a sports massage or similar qualification), or be able to demonstrate a reasonable understanding of the physical body (for example through a movement or exercise practice).
Successful applicants will need to demonstrate a willingness to be curious, a commitment to self-awareness and the capacity to work with integrity.
Successful applicants will be able to commit to all online and in-person meetings and understand the time commitments required to complete the necessary study and assessment assignments.
Upon successful completion of the course you will be qualified as an Intimate Bodywork Practitioner and eligible to apply for insurance through BGi.uk, which includes Professional Body Membership with FOYHT.
Please register your interest initially via email.
Completion of an application form will determine whether you are invited for interview via Zoom. All submissions will be reviewed with care. If you do not hear from us within 3 weeks, please take this as an indication that your application has not been successful on this occasion. We appreciate your interest and the thought you’ve put into applying.
Post interview you will be notified within 1 week, via email, if you have been accepted onto the course. Your place will be confirmed once your £400 non-refundable deposit is received.
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Suggested Preparation
Things I encourage you to explore in preparation for, and alongside, this course that hugely shaped my practice, that I will refer to throughout the training, and that will set you up well for beginning this course:
- Betty Martin’s Wheel of Consent: buy the book, or attend a workshop
- Trauma Release Exercise (TRE): book a session, go to a class, sign up for the training
- Yoga/mobility & strength training: this is a physical training and it will be essential to maintain a strong, healthy body
- Receiving regular bodywork: part of the course will be individual bodywork sessions from me (or another approved practitioner), and I encourage you to make receiving more generally a part of your routine. Explore as many different types of bodywork/massage as you can. We learn to be better at touching by being touched.
- Free videos, reading and workshop suggestions etc in the online portal: (accessible once signed up ): if something inspires you, go and explore with that person/organisation!