12-month, 300hr Therapy Certification Program

Heal Beyond the Surface: Experience the True Friend Method for Profound Transformation

Rooted in compassionate self-inquiry, the Leela Therapy Certification Program supports you to guide others toward healing and awakening with clarity and depth. You will integrate the Enneagram, NLP, and Ericksonian Hypnosis with the foundation of a Silent Mind and Open Heart. The True Friend Method supports profound breakthroughs by addressing core issues that often remain untouched.

Start Your Journey - Apply Today

Programs begin in each region with the Enneagram Retreat:
Australia/NZ Region - April 2026 (Dates TBD)
Europe - April 29, 2026 (Tentative)
USA - May 8, 2026

Transform Lives—Including Your Own

Bridging trauma-informed healing with spiritual awakening, this comprehensive program addresses core issues at a deep subconscious level. Whether you’re a therapist looking to expand your skills or someone ready to explore the depths of your own awareness, the Leela Therapy Certification Program meets you where you are.

"There are few programs that understand working on different levels- the mind, emotions, ego, transcendence. Many programs are so focused on treating symptoms vs. being in rapport with the client- little knowledge or instruction in pacing and leading."
~ Leela School Student

"I struggled with trying to find a modality of training that seemed to fit with my prior experience and knowledge, a program that I felt connected with. I didn't want to learn at arm's length from a book. I didn't want learning to make me "better than" somebody else. I wanted to go in."

~ Leela School Student

Integrate Therapeutic Expertise from a Non-Dual Realization

Our program leads to your guiding others toward profound healing while deepening your realization of your true Self. Through our unique Leela Method, based on Eli’s forty years of training therapists, we combine our True Friend Method with Ericksonian Hypnosis, Neurolinguistics and the Enneagram of Character Fixation.

Embark on a Journey of Self-Inquiry and Deepening

This isn’t just a program for learning techniques—it’s a space for deep transformation and true realization. The Skills Program supports you in breaking limiting patterns, awakening to deeper understanding, and meeting life with a Silent Mind and Open Heart.

Experiential Learning That Profoundly Changes You

Through experiential practices, small group sessions, and mentorship, you’ll practice the techniques as you learn them. This grounded, hands-on approach ensures you can use what you’ve gained in real-world settings—whether with clients or in your personal life.

Learn from Heartfelt Experts in this Field and Earn Certification

The Leela School’s Therapy Training Program is grounded in credibility and excellence, offering participants the opportunity to learn from experienced instructors and achieve a certification that holds weight in both professional and personal settings.

Eli Jaxon-Bear

Meet Eli

li Jaxon-Bear is an American spiritual teacher and author of several ground-breaking books including, Wake Up and Roar, Sudden Awakening, and Fixation to Freedom: The Enneagram of Liberation. He lives in Ashland, Oregon, with his wife of fifty years, Gangaji, who is a world renowned spiritual teacher. Before he met his final teacher, Sri H.W.L. Poonja - Papaji, in 1990, he was best known for his new model of the Enneagram and Ego and synthesizing a radically new approach for training therapists during a decade of leading the certification program at Esalen Institute. Now he infuses his mastery and depth of experience with his teacher’s transmission of a silent mind and open heart, opening the possibility for final liberation through self-realization.

Eli has taught hundreds of retreats all over the world, working with thousands of people to discover their true nature. His mastery is reflected in his capacity to work with individuals directly during the retreats and courses, both to identify the correct ego fixation, and to assist the student to wake up from the trance of their personal identity.

Lisa Schumacher

Meet Lisa

Lisa met Eli Jaxon-Bear In 1999 and in 2002, she enrolled in the Leela Foundation’s 3- year program. She then completed training in the Leela School, earning her certification as a Leela Therapist, Mentor and Teacher. She has been trained in Clinical Hypnotherapy, Neurolinguistics, and the Enneagram of Character Fixation in the numerous and ongoing courses she has attended with Eli.

She has co–taught the Enneagram with Eli and is a teacher in the Leela Foundation Professional Retreats and Advanced Enneagram courses in the US and Europe.

Lisa operates a private practice as a Leela therapist and clinical hypnotherapist out of Ashland Oregon. She offers spiritual retreats in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe in support of staying true and discovering for yourself the source of true fulfillment, as was shown to her by her teachers, Gangaji and Eli.

Jared Franks

Meet Jared

Jared met Eli Jaxon-Bear in 2009 at a retreat in Sydney, Australia. This profound meeting changed the course of his life. He is completely devoted to awakening from egoic suffering, immersing himself in the enneagram, and Leela Therapy training, as well. He is one of the founding teachers of the school, and now serves as a lead teacher, Managing Director, VP of the Board of Directors and runs the Australian operations of the Leela School.

Julia Green

Meet Julia

Julia trained with the Leela School and became a Clinical Hypnotherapist in 2016. She uses these skills in her private practice, working online with people from all over the world and in person in Byron Bay, Australia. Julia is a mentor in the Leela School and has assisted in training students towards certification for several years. She leads groups and is an instructor in the Leela Therapy Program.

This experiential training combines the therapeutic skills – including Ericksonian Hypnosis, Neurolinguistics (NLP), the Enneagram of Character Fixation - from Eli’s many years of experience and is a means to see through and finish your own patterns of suffering and stay true to your natural self.... life opens up, love leads in relationships, natural joy, clarity, and peace is here.

It is such a joy to meet clients as a True Friend – with a quiet mind and an open heart, deeply listening. To meet each client where they are, lasting change is possible on all levels, from breaking habits, finishing patterns, ego strengthening... to ego transcendence – true happiness and freedom.

As Papaji said to Eli, “Let the client and therapist both wake up together.”

perfecting trance skills; online one day course

Joey Bloom

Meet Joey

Learning the various skills through the Leela School of Awakening which include NLP, an in-depth knowledge of the enneagram of character fixation,(which has proved to be invaluable tool in effectively and efficiently assessing a client’s needs), Ericksonian hypnosis and ultimately the foundation of being a True Friend, is truly profound.

One of the primary tenets of this mode of therapy is the understanding that the client already has all the resources and wisdom they need. In my almost ten years of working with people, over and over I have discovered that to be true and I am continuously astounded and humbled at the deep potency of these skills and seeing significant shifts and realizations that people can have in a very short period of time; often in a single session.

Truly if all you get from these courses is simply realizing your own capacity to be quiet and still, that alone will serve you and your clients in immeasurable ways.

sylvia hiemstra

Meet Sylvia

Hi, my name is Sylvia!

My personal journey was characterized by the search for myself and began with the question: 'Who am I?

Through challenges and crises, I have learned how important it is to face everything and to inquire into your own "shadow sides" and accept everything what is.

With the help of the Leela Skills and the transformative power of these tools, I have experienced first-hand how useful they are and have been able to change my life profoundly.

Today, I support others on their journey. In my own practice as a psychotherapist and Leela School Mentor and Teacher, I work with people in crisis, with challenging mental health conditions and with addicts.

The special thing about these skills is that they support both: ego straightening and ego transcendence.

Whether it is coping with trauma, overcoming fears and addictions, finding a new path in life or self-inquiry with the transformation of mind and emotions - the Leela Skills offer a holistic approach that enables profound change.

Through my work as a psychotherapist, I have the necessary expertise to combine theory and practice. I not only teach the specialized knowledge and techniques, but also share my personal experience, and it fills me with great joy to pass this on to others and support them in the process.

You can find more about me on my website: sylviahiemstra.de

Ute Jäger

Meet Ute

To teach in the Therapy Training Program is an honor and a blessing. Eli´s gift to both - the client and the therapist – is beyond words.

On the level of words, you will be taught in Clinical and Ericksonian hypnotherapy and NLP and you will receive the wisdom of the Enneagram of character fixation. These skills will give you the insides what is in your way to live a happy and fulfilled life and to use these skills for your clients.

Beyond words you will discover who you really are.

With these realizations you will be the living example for your clients – you will support them in their desire to change any symptoms, to strengthen their self-confidence and you can support them in the deepest longing a human being can have: to transcend the ego.

I have gone through all these steps with Eli´s support and the support of the Leela School many years ago. I have been certified in 2017 and I have accompanied many students in sessions and on their way to certification since then.

Looking forward to accompanying you on your way to certification.

And all what I have done in my life – for example the study of sports science with the focus on psychology and medicine and the deep dive into the biology of trauma – is serving now being a teacher in the Therapy Training Program.

Marja Harrijvan

Meet Marja

Marja Harrijvan Hypnotherapist & Mentor of entrepreneurs and medical professionals.

After a career as a private banker I left everything I knew behind to follow the call of Love to wake up and serve as a therapist.
First I became a Journey Therapist (Brandon Bays – The Journey).
The past 10 years I participated in all the retreats and trainings of the Leela School to refine my skills.
Eli’s therapeutic skills supported me deeply to realize myself as a True Friend and continuously deepen.
After certification in advanced clinical hypnosis I completed the mentor program and was asked to be a teacher for the school.
Besides the Leela School I participate regularly in retreats and meetings with Gangaji and Gabor Maté.

My hypnotherapy practice in the Netherlands is my passion. For 18+ years now I focus on healing trauma and burn-out as well as supporting professionals in developing leadership and realizing their true nature. My clients are entrepreneurs and medical professionals. The results of inquiry, hypnotherapy, NLP and enneagram skills with symptom removal, ego strengthening, trauma healing and ego transcendence keep impressing me.

I feel totally fulfilled and honored to combine my own practice with teaching & mentoring for the Leela School and meet with collegues and students all over the world.

Advance Your Skills and Build Professional Credibility

✓ Our program is certified by the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners (ACHE)

✓ Learn from instructors who bring decades of experience in trauma therapy, spiritual inquiry, and advanced therapeutic modalities

✓ Harness the transformative depth of these combined modalities: Clinical Ericksonian Hypnosis, NLP, and the Enneagram.

To become certified as a Leela Therapist, the student must demonstrate both a strong grasp of the Skillful Means of being a True Friend as well as depth of self-awareness. This often requires a second year in our program, but certification will be awarded on a case by case basis depending on the student’s readiness.

Ready to Embody and Share the True Friend Method?

Start Your Journey - Apply Today

Outcomes of Learning our True Friend Model

Transforming not only your practice - but your relationships, self-perception, and lived experience.

"I feel resourced on all levels to practice, when the time comes, as a facilitator - ethically, safely, and heart-ly.

The other thing that drew me was the experiential nature of the course. The invitation for self-inquiry, how it's impacted me on a deep level, on my own journey towards personal growth, evolution, and self-realization."

"Let Both the Client and the Therapist Wake Up"

With these words, Eli’s Teacher Papa sent him back into the world and asked him to share the gift of awakening, one heart at a time. The True Friend Method is a powerful combination of Papaji’s direct transmission of silence and Eli’s decades of therapeutic mastery - a form of therapy beyond therapy.

At the basis of all our work lies the principle of being a True Friend, which simply but powerfully means meeting ourselves and one another with a quiet mind and an open heart, not taking anything personally.

Designed to Support your Growth as a Practitioner and Individual

Enneagram Retreats

Integrate this powerful tool to uncover subconscious patterns into how you meet your clients and those in your field of influence. You will be guided by experts over 5 days in this profound Retreat container. Includes a copy of Eli’s book: From Fixation to Freedom.

Begin your journey

This is the first step in your training, beginning at a specific date for each region.

AU Enneagram Retreat: Dates TBD
EU Enneagram Retreat: April 29
USA Enneagram Retreat: May 8

Discover Program Dates

Skills Retreats

Attend two 5-day Online Intensive Retreats and three Weekend Retreats to refine your therapeutic skills in real-time practice. Gain confidence and mastery through experiential exercises, live demonstrations, and real-world application during the program.

These are spaced evenly throughout the year to give you ample time to practice & integrate.

Awakening Retreats

Explore self-inquiry and deepen your awareness to transcend personal patterns over an 8-day retreat with experienced teachers. Integrate and deepen with your community after the retreat.

We believe you can only take clients as deeply as you have gone yourself. This supports a deep embodiment of the True Friend Method.

Skillls Pod Meetings

Practice key techniques, get true support, and expert guidance with your mentors and peers in small, focused groups. Designed to fit into your life while maintaining a rich, immersive learning experience.

mentoring Sessions

Receive guidance and personalized feedback from experienced mentors through 10 one-to-one sessions, so that you feel supported in your self-inquiry and skills progression.

online classrooms

Access instructional videos, assignments, and resources through our Moodle platform for a comprehensive learning experience.

leela saturdays

Join Eli online one Saturday per month to inquire and share reports in a supportive group setting.

Discover the Year in Depth

This 12-month, 300 hour course is flexible to your needs, with options to be with your cohort online and in-person.

Online course components delivered through Moodle and Zoom
Two In-person retreats per year, with the option to join online
Online Skills retreats throughout the year to deepen your skills
You can begin your journey with an individual Enneagram retreat then upgrade to full year

2026 Full Year Calendar
(dates are tentative)

Enneagram of Liberation 5-Day Retreat
Regional, can be attended online or in-person:
AU – April 2026 – Dates TBD
EU – Tentative April 29 – May 3, 2026
US – May 8 – 12, 2026

Introduction to Leela Therapy. 5-day Retreat: May 28 – June 1, 2026

Skills Weekend #1: Deepening Trance Skills: July 31 – Aug 2, 2026

Skills Weekend #2: Intro to working with Trauma: August 28 - 30, 2026

Skills Weekend #3: Deepening Trance Skills: November 13 - 15, 2026

Awakening Retreats (8-Days)
Regional, can be attended online or in-person:
EU: June 20 – 28, 2026
US: October 13 – 20, 2026
AU: November 2026 – Dates TBD

Ethics and Enneagram Series. Split up over 4 Saturday meetings:
January 9^th, January 23, February 6 and February 20^th, 2027

Skills Retreat #2: Putting it all Together: March 18 – 22, 2027

Learning Pods (6):
June 13^th, 2026
July 18^th, 2026
Sept 26, 2026
Dec. 5, 2026
March 6^th, 2027
April 10, 2027

Practicum Sessions: Ongoing

Assessment Sessions. Formal assessment for certification: April 15^th – 30th, 2027

Asynchronous Homework: Ongoing

This Could Feel Like a Big Leap to Get Started... Here are some Questions Answered

We understand that deciding to join a transformative program like this can come with questions or hesitations. Here’s how we make the journey accessible and rewarding:

"I’m worried about the time commitment."

The program offers a flexible schedule with both in-person and online components, allowing you to learn at a pace that fits your lifestyle. Because of the flexibility and self-paced nature of this course, you would be able to attend a retreat the following year if you are unable to make the dates work within the current year's schedule. You can chat more with our team about how to make this work for you!

"Will this work for someone with my background?"

Whether you’re a seasoned therapist or just starting on a personal growth journey, the program meets you where you are. Our mentorship ensures you feel supported regardless of your experience level - we really hold your hand throughout the process! To become certified as a Leela Therapist, most participants complete two years of training. However, certification may be considered on a case-by-case basis for those with a strong background and self-awareness, with some qualifying after just one year of the Skills Program.

"Can I afford it?"

Flexible payment plans make it easier to invest in your growth. You can save on tuition if you pay for the full year upfront, but we understand for many, a payment plan is essential. We cater to different currencies and are happy to assist with any more inquiries!

The value of the tools and certification you’ll gain far outweighs the cost, offering long-term returns for your personal and professional life. Many of our graduates use this certification to make a living while being in service.

"What if I’m not ready?"

Live Your Life as the Transformation: Become the Candle that Lights Other Candles

By the end of the Leela School’s Therapy Training Program, you’ll have gained more than just new skills—you’ll embody a presence that transforms how you approach life and work.

You will also be eligible to certify as a Clinical Hypnotherapist with the A.C.H.E.

Dive Into the Depths of Self-Discovery, and Support Others

This program welcomes anyone ready to look deeply at themselves and their patterns. Whether you are a practitioner or someone committed to personal growth, the effects ripple out into every aspect of your life—from your relationships with others to the relationship with yourself.

Professional Impact:

Work with clients in a way that fosters deep and lasting breakthroughs.

Practical Application:

Confidently integrate tools like the Enneagram, NLP, and Ericksonian Hypnosis into your practice.

Personal Transformation:

Break free of limiting patterns and recognize the deep realization of your true self.

Certification and Credibility:

Add a recognized ACHE certification to your qualifications.

Embody and Confidently share the True Friend Method - For Yourself, Your Loved Ones and Clients

Are you ready to end the cycle of personal suffering and directly realize your true nature? If you feel called to support others with humility, dignity - and deepen in yourself - then you are here to dive into the depths with the Leela 12-month Skills Program.

✓ 5-day Enneagram Retreat
✓ 8-day Awakening Retreat for deeper self-inquiry and breaking old patterns
✓ 5 Online Skills Retreats (three weekends and two 5-day) with experienced teachers
✓ Monthly Leela Saturdays: Connect with Eli online for live inquiry and reporting
✓ 10 One-on-One Mentoring Sessions: Work with certified Leela therapists to deepen your understanding and growth
✓ Skills Pod Meetings: Practice key techniques in small, focused groups
✓ Online Learning Platform: Access instructional videos, assignments, and resources anytime through Moodle
✓ Certification Path: Qualify for an ACHE-recognized certification in as little as one year, depending on your background and Skills assessments

Start Your Journey

Instantly join a supportive community of practitioners and seekers, and experience personal growth that enhances every relationship—including the one with yourself.

Start Your Journey - Apply Today