An Organization of Accessibility

In October 2023, a group of Structural Integration (SI) practitioners from a variety of educational backgrounds and SI lineages came together with the desire to start an SI training program in Portland, Oregon. We decided to create a 10-series curriculum that would allow future instructors the ability to teach, regardless of the initial program they trained with.

As we designed our program, barriers to education for potential students was a key point of discussion. We wanted to work to keep the costs as low as possible. Also, with less than 15 programs world-wide currently recognized by the International Association of Structural Integration (IASI), many students who seek out SI training programs often have to travel and disrupt their lives to get the get SI training, adding to the costs of attending programs.

Our mission became very clear: increasing access to Structural Integration education and services. We started to create our strategic plan and realized we had the opportunity to expand beyond a simple training program. We decided to create a foundational curriculum and build a structure to help practitioners in other communities start their own training programs.

In some initial research, we also discovered a lack of representation of historically marginalized communities in bodywork practitioners. We created the IDA-SI Equity Advancement Scholarship to bridge this gap. Initially we will be able to offer $2,000 scholarships for students in our own Academy, with the goal of expanding the funds to be available for students to attend any IASI-recognized SI program.

Once we have a stable training program operating, our strategic plan will also include the creation of an SI community clinic for members of the public to receive SI services at no- to low-cost. There will also be opportunities to blend this community clinic with the local training program, giving the students additional training in an apprenticeship or practicum setting.