Vision
Sacred Journey Institute is led by a passionate, highly skilled team of trained therapists and educators who are deeply committed to elevating the healing arts. Our instructors bring both clinical expertise and lived experience, ensuring that students receive grounded, ethical, and heart-centered training. We are confident you will find the guidance and education needed to become an exceptional CranioSacral Therapist or Sacred Journey Therapist.
Our student-centered approach emphasizes individualized attention and a nurturing learning experience. The comprehensive and flexible curriculum integrates osteopathic principles, anatomy and physiology, ethics, business development, and the mind-body relationship—offering a well-rounded foundation that supports both professional excellence and personal evolution.
Within a safe, supportive, and non-judgmental environment, students are encouraged to cultivate self-awareness, self-acceptance, and inner confidence. This foundation of safety and belonging allows individuals to expand their potential, deepen their personal growth, and step fully into their purpose—both professionally and personally.
Continuing Education
Sacred Journey Institute is an approved continuing education provider through the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) for licensed massage therapists, bodyworkers, professional counselors, and social workers.
Sacred Journey Foundation is a federally recognized, tax-exempt nonprofit organization under IRS Section 501(a)(2). Contributions to the Foundation directly support our mission and help expand access to healing services, professional education, and community-based programs.
Sacred Journey Institute was founded in 1999 by the late Don Massat (1999–2022) with a clear and compassionate vision: to create an inclusive space for learning, healing, and transformation. We welcome individuals of all religions, spiritual paths, races, and educational backgrounds, honoring the uniqueness of each student’s journey.
Shamanic + Visionary Approach to Cranial Sacral Therapy
Sacred Journey Therapy (SJT) is a trauma-informed, somatic, and shamanic evolution of CranioSacral Therapy, offering a deeply holistic and transformational healing experience. Rooted in Cranial Osteopathy, Massage Therapy, and traditional CranioSacral principles, SJT expands beyond conventional bodywork through the integration of psychology, consciousness studies, subtle energy awareness, and core shamanic frameworks.
What distinguishes Sacred Journey Therapy is its multidimensional approach to healing—one that honors the nervous system, the body’s innate intelligence, and the subtle forces that shape human experience. Informed by Polyvagal Theory, practitioners learn to work skillfully with the autonomic nervous system to support regulation, safety, and co-regulation within the therapeutic relationship. This creates a container where individuals impacted by trauma, chronic stress, or emotional overwhelm can access healing with greater depth and gentleness.
Sacred Journey Therapy carries CranioSacral work into expanded states of perception by weaving intention, presence, and attunement with the meditative awareness of the inner eye, inner ear, and empathic heart. Practitioners are trained to listen deeply—to subtle rhythms, somatic signals, and energetic patterns—allowing for communication and healing across the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions. Through this process, held trauma may release, balance can be restored, and a deeper sense of integration and wholeness can emerge.
This is more than bodywork—it is sacred, heart-centered healing. Sacred Journey Therapy is for those called to bridge science and spirituality, and to support others in cultivating regulation, embodiment, and meaningful transformation.