Play, Presence and Parts Weekend Workshop

***NEW DATES JUST ADDED FOR AUTUMN 2026***

This weekend workshop is an invitation into Holly's unique world of embodied play, mindful presence and compassionate parts work. Through movement, voice, meditation, Fooling, creative reflection and playful exploration, you'll discover new ways to connect with yourself, other people and the world around you.

“Permission to be, to play, to rumble and tumble with the big and small stuff at your own pace.”

Drawing on over four decades of embodied research, Holly Stoppit - IFS-trained dramatherapist, adult play facilitator and professional idiot -  will hold a warm and wondrous space to help you explore the following questions:

• What helps and what hinders your relationship with play?

• What helps and what hinders your connection to yourself, other people and the world around you?

• What would happen if you could meet yourself just as you are, welcoming yourself with curiosity and compassion? 

• What might your quality of play and connection look like if you didn’t have to suppress or hide anything?

Holly and many of her previous students have found that inviting the full range of sensations, emotions and thoughts into their play brings a multifaceted vibrancy to their creativity, greater self-knowledge, freer self-expression and deeper connection with themselves and others. Come and find out if this is true for you!

Here’s how some of the participants described this course

“A weekend of fun, with a profound internal exploration. A beautifully held safe space for this exploration.”

“Part play time, part deep exploration of self”

“Joyful, deep, spacious and well held.”

2026 Workshop dates

BRISTOL DATES: 

12th + 13th September 2026

7th + 8th November 2026

Application forms below

Over the weekend you will be guided through: 

• somatic meditations to ground yourself in the present moment

• mindful movement explorations to discover fun, pleasurable and non-habitual ways of moving your body

• vocal release techniques and playful voice explorations to free up your voice to connect with others (you don’t need to be able to sing to do any of these!)

• group games to explore your quality of play and connection

• curious, compassionate, creative and embodied explorations of your inner world

• structured reflections to help you mine the wisdom from the experiential exercises to take into your life.

Holly’s work is trauma-informed; everything is optional and adaptable - you are invited to find your own path through the weekend, following your own curiosity and taking care of yourself.

What is not

This is not clowning or fooling training. Although a lot of what we do will be useful to performers seeking to bring more authenticity into their play and increased connection with themselves and their audiences, there is no stage time. 

This is not official IFS training. This training does not count towards IFS accreditation. Therapists will not be able to call themselves ‘IFS-trained’ after this workshop. However, you will be able to call yourself ‘IFS-informed.’

Who is it for?

This course is open to anyone over the age of 18. It may be of particular interest to artists, creatives, performers, directors, facilitators, teachers, therapists, counsellors, people in the helping professions, or anyone who works with, lives with or interacts with people. It’s for anyone who is drawn to this work! If you’re reading this, it’s for you!

WHERE COULD THIS TAKE YOU?

This weekend is designed as an accessible doorway into Holly's work. Some people leave with a handful of playful practices to enrich everyday life. Others discover a whole new way of relating to themselves and go on to explore Holly's longer trainings in Fooling and Creative Facilitation.

Bristol Course Details

***NEW DATES JUST ADDED FOR AUTUMN 2026***

We are offering this weekend twice this autumn, once in September and once in November

September dates: 12th + 13th September 2026

September Application form: here or below

November dates: 7th + 8th November 2026

November Application form: here or below

Times: 10 - 5.30 both days

This course is a carefully-crafted group journey. Attending the full course is essential, both for your own experience and for the group as a whole. We ask that you only apply if you can commit to this fully.

Venue: St Werburghs, Bristol (more details on booking)

Group size: This workshop is designed for 12 people. If the course is oversubscribed, we will operate a reserve list. 

Cost: £325 (standard) / £275 (lower wage) / £225 (on benefits / in education). Please choose the tier that honestly reflects your current financial situation.

To find out about my new pricing structure check out this blog.

Application process: This course is booking on a first-come, first-served basis. We have an application form to gather a bit of information about you so we can make sure you’re a good fit for the course and so we can tailor-make the course to participants’ needs.

After receiving your application, we’ll get back to you as soon as we can to let you know either way, via email.

About Holly

Holly is a Somatic IFS-trained* Dramatherapist (MA), workshop leader, clinical supervisor, creative consultant and public speaker who delivers playful, embodied, creative and reflective workshops for adults. 

Holly Stoppit grew up in the circus and spent over two decades performing as a clown / musician. She started running clowning workshops for adults in 2007 and quickly discovered the healing potential of clowning. She began training as a Dramatherapist in 2011 and has been integrating clowning, fooling, play, therapy and meditation into her workshops ever since. You can find out more about Holly here.

About Internal Family Systems (IFS)

*IFS = Internal Family Systems, a therapeutic system that helps people meet their internal family of parts - eg the inner critic, the inner child, the inner teenager, the inner sloth, the inner dreamer, the inner diva etc… Holly has trained in IFS Levels 1 and 2 (IFIO) and Somatic IFS (Step 1 + 2). 

Holly is part of an IFS / clown / fool research group with three other IFS-trained clowns and fools. They have co-created three labs to experiment with smashing together clowning, fooling and IFS. You can read about what happened at the first one here.

As well as running her own courses, Holly has created bespoke workshops in playful, embodied creative approaches for IFS at IFS-UK’s Open Space, Dramatherapy Southwest’s annual conference, The British Association of Dramatherapists’ annual conference, Sheffield NHS Art Therapists, Clown Spirit online, Clownvergence, World Childless Week and Counterplay Festival in Denmark.

Access info 

Holly is a trained and registered dramatherapist (HCPC).

Holly creates a brave space where you can bring yourself and your needs. There is a space on the application form for you to tell us about the support you might need.

Holly is highly experienced in working with people who are neurodivergent and LGBTQI+, people of all ages and people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. 

This course works for people with mild to moderate mental health issues. However, this course is not appropriate for anyone who is currently experiencing extreme mental ill-health or psychosis.

Venue access info

The venue is fully accessible. There is a lift for wheechair users that takes you up a small flight of stairs. Once you’re in, everything is on one level and is fully accessible.

The venue has 3 toilets - one is accessible at ground level, with a sink inside the cubicle. 

We have use of a staff room with comfy seats if you need to rest.

Covid Care 

• There are still people who are vulnerable to covid and Holly wants everyone to feel as safe as possible in the space. 
• We can't guarantee a Covid-free environment, but we can do our best to minimise the risks for people with compromised immunity and/or those who are connected with immune-compromised people.
• If you have any covid-like symptoms, please take a lat-flow test and please don't come if you have tested positive. 
• All exercises can work with social distancing, if that is what you need. Please make sure that physical proximity is consensual.
• You are welcome to wear a mask if that makes you feel safer. Holly will not be asking people to wear masks. 
• We will be working with windows open for ventilation, so please bring extra warm layers.
• We will have an open discussion and make a group agreement on the first day to make sure everyone feels safe and comfortable enough.

Cancellation Policy

We are a totally unfunded organisation - the only income we make is through these workshops. We work hard to keep our prices as affordable as possible, and cancellations can make that genuinely difficult. If you need to cancel your place, we will do our best to find a replacement, but this isn't always possible. Thanks in advance for your understanding.

• A £10 administration fee will be deducted from any refund to cover the cost of processing your cancellation.

• If you need to cancel your place before the course begins, full refunds can only be given up until one month before the course starts.

• Should you need to cancel after this date, 50% of your payment will be retained, unless your place can be suitably filled (we may be able to find a replacement, but the closer it is to the workshop, the less likely this becomes).

• For drop-outs within one week of the start of the course, your full fee will be retained.

• Your place on this course cannot be transferred to a future course. Each cohort is selected individually, and acceptance on one course does not guarantee a place on another - any future application would be considered alongside all other applicants at that time. You may not transfer your place to another person.

• If Holly needs to cancel this course for any reason, you will be offered alternative dates. If you are unable to attend the rescheduled dates, then we will offer a full refund.

“Fun, deep, grounding, edgy and most of all kind.”

“A special two days that encouraged me to rekindle my faded connection with playfulness and silliness.”