Specialist Course | Accredited CPD Training

Mind-Body Syndrome Practitioner (TMS) Certification

Internationally Registered, Recognised & Approved Training
Eligible for Practitioner Insurance & Accredited CPD
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Neuroplastic Pain Recovery

This is one of few APPROVED training courses recognised by The Association for the Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms (ATNS) for inclusion on their directory. See full requirements here.

Start Anytime with 6 Months to Complete Your Course (Can be completed in 3 months!)

A MINDBODY APPROACH TO RECOVERING FROM CHRONIC PAIN AND SYMPTOMS

Did you know that emotional factors, memories, beliefs and expectations may be responsible for generating real physical pain or symptoms in the body?

Is your passion to help individuals with persistent chronic pain or symptoms? Then the MindBody Syndrome Practitioner Certification Course is for you!

The MindBody Syndrome (TMS) Practitioner International Certification course is geared at teaching students a neuroscience-based approach that supports individuals with persistent chronic symptoms for which they’ve found no permanent relief – until now!

As a MindBody Syndrome/TMS Practitioner you’ll have a key role in educating clients on the mind-body dimension behind chronic pain and symptoms, and you’ll be able to teach them simple pain reprocessing exercises and other brain rewiring techniques based on Pain Neuroscience research.

Neuroplastic symptoms are associated with neural circuit changes which amplify pain signal transmission to the brain - and they're more common than you think!

WHAT IS MINDBODY SYNDROME (TMS)?

The concept of Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS) was first introduced by the American Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine Dr John Sarno, who discovered that trauma, anxiety and negative emotions can generate real, physical changes in the body, which are responsible for a large number of unexplained chronic pain conditions. 

The main idea behind Sarno’s discoveries is that intense repressed emotions such as rage and fear cause tension in the body, which may result in real, physical pain in the muscles, joints and ligaments (as well as other non-pain related symptoms such as gastrointestinal symptoms, migraines and chronic fatigue).

Dr Sarno’s work, particularly his book Healing Back Pain, have helped heal thousands of people from a variety of chronic pain conditions, from chronic back and neck pain – including pain blamed on herniated or bulging disks – to sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome, and even fibromyalgia.
This is achieved by helping individuals understand the mindbody dynamic and think psychologically by linking symptoms to their unconscious beliefs, fears and expectations.

The approach also helps individuals reverse the pain conditioning process that has taken place in the case of chronic symptoms that may have been present for months or even years. This is done by working with the power of neuroplasticity - the brain's ability to make new connections and unlearn the pain response.

Today, research in Neuroscience and in the field of neuroplastic symptoms has backed up and complemented Dr Sarno’s claims and enhanced the approach, as the mindbody connection becomes increasingly apparent in various cases of individuals with chronic symptoms.

Beyond Pain Management to Pain Recovery

The focus behind the MindBody Syndrome Certification Course is to teach students how to aim for complete recovery from chronic TMS pain, rather than limiting themselves and their clients to pain management and symptom relief.

The teachings in the course aim to bring permanent results, through an empowering psychological approach that requires the individual to take an active role in recovery.

As a MindBody Syndrome Practitioner specializing in neuroplastic symptoms, you’ll learn how to identify possible emotional factors behind chronic pain, and work with these in order to help individuals create the shifts necessary to end the pain cycle altogether.

The approach does not deal with medical or body-focused aspects, such as medication, physical therapy or other structural treatments, and is best suited to individuals who have been trying to heal  without success, and who have already excluded serious medical conditions.


Among other things, you'll learn how to processes distressing emotions in a safe way, gain insight into the underlying causes behind your symptoms, and learn effective pain reprocessing tools and techniques to help you deal with automatic fear-based responses.

The course takes you through a journey of nervous system regulation through embodied practices: you'll learn how to cultivate better habits, align with your true priorities to create real change, and reduce anxiety in the face of symptoms - and you'll be able to help others do the same!

An Approach that Helps Clients Overcome Years Of Chronic Pain or Symptoms

What can you do as a MindBody Syndrome (TMS) Practitioner?

In the face of uncertainty, increasing personal demands and responsibilities, more and more people are developing mindbody symptoms. Unfortunately, most of them are not aware that their symptoms have a psychological origin, and end up wasting precious time and money seeking ineffective treatments.

As a Mind-Body Syndrome Practitioner, you get to educate and support other people with neuroplastic pain / TMS, and equip them with the tools necessary to overcome their symptoms.

You will be trained to help your clients identify the emotional triggers to chronic symptoms, and to guide them towards creating more regulation and safety in their day to day lives.

Your clients will benefit from increased knowledge of the mindbody connection and insights from pain reprocessing therapy. This will help them gain heightened self-awareness regarding personality traits, unhelpful beliefs and habits that may be contributing to the generation of chronic symptoms.

With your help, they’ll get their power and confidence back and realise that they can be the main agents of their own recovery!

Have You Struggled With Chronic Pain?

If you have a history of unexplained symptoms, or a chronic condition that you’ve been trying to eliminate for a long while, you’ll benefit from valuable insight that will help you address your own symptoms differently, and implement pain reprocessing techniques that can reverse the pain response!

While learning to help others create REAL change, you’ll engage in various self-awareness and belief clearing exercises in your personal downloadable journal, which will lead you to experience the benefits of the MindBody Syndrome approach for yourself.
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This will be of benefit not only if you suffer from chronic symptoms, but also if you’re seeking to reduce stress and anxiety from your your own life as you focus on your personal growth and wellbeing.

Why Don’t A Large Number Of Pain Sufferers Find Effective Relief?

Most conventional treatments for chronic conditions address just the symptoms, and not the true cause of pain. For this reason, such treatments may only offer temporary (or Placebo) relief. 

The MindBody Syndrome / Tension Myositis Syndrome approach to chronic pain will help you get to the root of neuroplastic pain symptoms by identifying those emotional triggers and habitual modes of behaviour that are responsible for the generation of mindbody pain.

Emotions Can Generate Real Physical Symptoms

Find out how pain is generated in the body due to a buildup of tension caused by trauma, stress and other distressing emotions.


You’ll discover the role of memories and negative associations, as well as individual personality traits in the generation of pain.

You’ll also find out why pain becomes chronic in some individuals, as well as what leads to hypersensitivity (an excessive increase in pain perception).
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And you'll also discover how to unlearn chronic pain by working with the brain’s neuroplasticity.

Support your clients with greater confidence

If you’re a healthcare or wellness professional qualified in physical therapy, primary care, pain management, psychology, trauma therapy, yoga, health coaching or any other area where you regularly encounter individuals with chronic pain, you’ll benefit from the knowledge gained throughout this course. 

You'll be able to educate your clients about the mindbody connection by offering evidence-based insight and techniques.

The MindBody Syndrome Practitioner course is also for those individuals on their personal healing journey. If you have a keen interest in the mindbody connection and/or Tension Myositis Syndrome, and would like to set up a practice in this growing niche but have no prior experience, our prerequisite course is for you! (see below).

Science Backed, Evidence Based, MindBody Healing

Our students are healing as they study!

Not only are our students learning how to coach others out of chronic pain, but some of them are also experiencing pain relief or complete elimination of their own chronic symptoms!

This is because throughout the course you’ll gain insights and tools on how to work with your own symptoms, which you can apply to your personal situation. This is by far the best way to become a skilled Chronic Pain Practitioner, as you will also be able to draw knowledge from your own personal experience!

Course Content

Stage One - Introduction

You can enrol at ANY time and join students from over 30+ different countries around the world! There are always students starting each week so you'll always have people moving through at a similar pace to you.

Lesson One - What is MindBody Syndrome: Understanding Neuroplastic Symptoms

Each module includes in-depth teaching webinars that you can watch or listen to on the go. While there is no final exam you will complete one carefully designed competency quiz to affirm knowledge. Upon graduation you’ll receive a professional certificate with your official Certification, including hours, which will verify your professional qualification to relevant industry associations and accreditation boards internationally to become insured.

What's Included in the Course Material?

⇒ Training modules in theory PDF & video to make studying easy and accessible anywhere, anytime. Modules are available weekly inside our user-friendly student platform.

⇒ In-depth teaching webinars for audio-visual learning to complement your written module PDFs and help you dive into the practicalities and strategies of real transformational coaching.

⇒ Fortnightly live group training calls and practical coaching experience to build confidence, practice skills, and connect with us and your fellow students in real time.

⇒ 1:1 mentor call at the end of the theory stage, before practice.

⇒ Email, Message & Audio support for questions and guidance Mon-Fri. A private community with group chats and connection. At no stage are you going it alone.

⇒ Additional coaching resources, training masterclasses and client exercises to deepen your awareness and further inspire change.

Do you have live calls and is it mandatory to be there?

Yes - but only for a minimum of 3 over the course of your learning! Live synchronous training is provided for student connection in a safe space to discuss, observe, and practice skills effectively. 

Fortnightly live calls are scheduled in Brisbane, Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) and rotate between AM and PM sessions to cater for all time zones. Replays are added to our ever-growing Video Training Vaults.

What are the Practical Requirements?

  • Each student must complete each competency task containing a variety of activities, self-enquiry questions, practical tasks and coaching exercises – there are no time-consuming research projects!


  • Each student must conduct a minimum of 10 x 1 hour minimum practical coaching sessions with completed client feedback forms and session notes (provided in your toolkit). Students can conduct coaching sessions with each other for accountability and support, but are also required to coach non-students.


  • Each coaching student must attend a minimum number of live training calls for practical skills integration and live synchronous guidance, demonstration, interaction and group practice. This provides insightful discussions and practical coaching guidance in a safe, supportive learning environment.


  • Live training calls are held fortnightly and rotate between AM & PM Brisbane time to cater for all timezones.

Why is there a Time Limit to Complete the Course?

Competency-based certification courses with practical elements require demonstration of understanding and self-application within a specified learning window. If learning is not consistent, knowledge and skills will be diminished or lost and the student may struggle to effectively demonstrate skills to meet competency.

It's similar to how certain professions require continuing education every 1-2 years to stay relevant and knowledgeable within their field of practice. As coaching does not require CPD, the learning and application window must be contained for the best opportunity to retain information, utilise practical skills, and grow in confidence consistently.

How do you Assess Competency?

We assess your competency based on demonstrated self-insight, self-reflection and written assessments, plus practical feedback, coaching integration, experience and skills participation in our live group & mentor calls.

On successful completion you will receive a beautifully designed certificate to verify your accomplishment for professional recognition.

Do I have to call myself a 'Coach'? What can I call myself?

As someone interested in becoming a 'Coach', the word itself may not actually resonate with you. In many countries, coaching is still a relatively new term, so the word ‘Coach’ simply may not align with your niche area, your clientele, your community, or even your energy.
But no-one says you have to call yourself a ‘coach’ when you’re qualified! You can essentially adopt a title that best represents your niche.

Can I get general support from teachers during the course?

Absolutely! Our awesome team of passionate mentor coaches are here to help you succeed. However big or small the question, we’re here to give you the information and guidance you need, when you need it. We are all qualified industry professionals.

Is there plenty of support if you are not understanding a particular module?

You bet there is – we love questions and we’re here to help you gain the most out of your learning experience and see you through to graduation. As online study can often feel overwhelming or isolating, we are consciously active and involved with our students so they know there’s help available whenever they need it. As long as you reach out when you need to, we will be here to support you as much as you need. There is oodles of support in our active community spaces too!

Do I have to complete a module a week? And what are the assignments like?

No! Modules are available every 7 days beginning from the date you enrolled, thereby honouring our weekly schedule and ensuring students take their time to absorb, apply and integrate their insights and learning without rush. You are not expected to keep up with the weekly schedule as some modules are an invitation to stay awhile and allow for healing.

We don’t want to overwhelm anyone so the module tasks are designed to help you feel like you’re also growing and stretching while you’re doing the work that you’ll expect your clients to do. We always focus on small steps, consistently.

Your module tasks are much more practical than research based, so don’t worry about having to spend hours and hours reading and referencing! We’re more about the ‘doing and being’ so you can apply what you're learning into 'real life'.

What's the difference between 'Coach' and 'Practitioner'?

Practitioners have the knowledge on how to move the client forward in their modality of specialization and generally have existing protocols and methods (exercises, assessments) that specifically take their clients through a process to a resolution, constantly adjusting and personalizing along the way.

A Coach works on the premise that the client already has the answers (client-centred), so they help awaken that information through effective communication skills, direct questioning, cultivating self-insight and the use of various exercises to address core beliefs and habitual behaviours. Coaches co-create action steps and assist the client to move beyond their current experience into an empowered and conscious life (solution-focused).

There are many different types of Coaches, each with their own focused niche, who act as a sounding board, objective guide and facilitator of new thoughts, beliefs and behaviours for clients wanting to make change in their lives.

So, although these 'titles' are similar, it depends on the setting, approach, method and objective.

What support is offered to me after I graduate?

We know running a solo business can be isolating for some so we like to offer opportunities to stay connected and feel a sense of community with your new 'colleagues'. That's why we offer our graduates the following as part of successfully completing our courses:

  • ongoing access to the course you have completed with all future content updates free of charge
  • an invitation to live training calls (offered via Student Newsletter only)
  • ongoing access to our private community spaces with a community of like-minded people
  • the opportunity to list your business on our Graduate Listing
  • an opportunity to publish a blog on the MBFI website, or be a guest on our video interview series

Course contents

Course contents

Meet Your Teacher

Miriam Gauci Bongiovanni

Senior Lecturer
Miriam is a certified Trauma-informed Life Coach and MindBody Practitioner specializing in chronic pain and symptom recovery. She went through her own recovery from chronic symptoms by applying neuroplastic (TMS) approach, and since then has been helping clients internationally through a mindset-based approach that combines emotional release and brain rewiring techniques.

Miriam is also the author of the book
The Pain Secret: Unlocking the MindBody Connection to Overcome Chronic Pain and Symptoms