CURRENT TRAINING
Trainings Offered are Enumerated for Clarity
#101 Connect-Talk® Workshop
The Connect-Talk® Workshop explains the “Positive Christian Dialog” concepts, attitudes, and methods that comprise Connect-Talk® developed by Professor Romuald Simeone and Dr. Chiara Simeone-DiFrancesco.
This course will be offered in three levels: Standard, Intermediate, and Advanced.
Standard Level Workshop Dates are as follows:
Times and dates are to be announced.
Included with Registration
Each registrant will receive two free books, a $50 value:
The Connect-Talk® Workbook — your essential reference for ongoing practice, by Dr. Chiara Simeone-DiFrancesco and Prof. R. Simeone and Bible, Love Letters From Your Father: Letters of John, Vol. 2 (Romuald B. Simeone)
Registration Fees
Early Registration: $95 per person / $175 per couple
Standard Registration: $115 per person / $210 per couple
How to Register
To register,
email: with:
Your full name (and spouse’s name if registering as a couple)
Email address and phone number
Payment is accepted via PayPal to:
(Please select Friends & Family option if possible to avoid fees.)
Important Notes
To ensure a rich and interactive group experience, a minimum of 12 registrants is required. If fewer than 12 register, the workshop will be rescheduled, and you may either roll over your registration or request a full refund.
Cancellations made 7+ days before the first session will be refunded in full.
Cancellations within 6 days are non-refundable, but you will still receive your two books by mail.
Workshop Goal
The goal of the workshop is to learn how to immediately implement Connect-Talk® and truly listen with your heart.
If you wish to connect at a personal sharing level with your children (any age), your spouse, your prayer group, or trusted friends in Bible Study, this course is for you. It will show you how to do so in a way that will “wow” your awareness and transform you into a positive, emotionally safe, and responsive person.
We will be using the Letters of John, entitled Bible, Love Letters From Your Father: Letters of John, Vol. 2. and the accompanying workbook which details the Connect-Talk® skills and coaches you for group and partner sharing.
May our Lord Jesus bless your efforts for Him!
Dr. Chiara Simeone-DiFrancesco
Executive Producer & CEO, Jesus-Centered Institute, LLC & Dialog International Press, LLC (publishing division)
#102 Scriptural Pastoral Foundations
Via Scriptural Pastoral Foundations, pastoral workers, evangelists, witnesses, therapists and Christian families can become trained and formed via the Scriptural Books of John for Jesus-Centering of their lives and ministries from within the Christian culture and religion.
TRAINING & CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION PROVIDED BY JESUS-CENTERED INSTITUTE, LLC.
The FULL CERTIFICATE IS COMPRISED OF 18 COURSE CREDITS. IT IS DESIGNED TO BE COMPLETEDIN TWO YEARS, HOWEVER IT IS SELF-PACED. THERE CAN BE SOME INDIVIDUAL VARIATIONS IN PACING. THERE ARE THREE TERMS PER YEAR, EACH 14 WEEKS, AND EACH TERM IS A 3 CREDIT COURSE. ONE THREE CREDIT COURSE IS $725. You can start by taking one term at a time. IF 18 CREDITS ARE COMPLETED, ONE OBTAINS A FULL CERTIFICATE FOR EARNING THIS EXTENSIVE TRAINING FROM US. If 18 credits are not completed or are not available, you will receive a certificate demonstrating completion of the modules that the term(s) encompassed. For example, “Letters of John, Term 5”, or “Gospel of John, Terms 1-4”, or “Revelation, Term 6”. For the Gospel, the certificate is for all 4 terms only. The process is to view the video, then read the corresponding chapters and verses, and then make a few journal entries on how it speak to you and email me these weekly. I will instruct you how in the initial meeting.
Term One: Covers Gospel of John, with 17 videos & corresponding chapters/verses
Term Two: Covers Gospel of John, with 17 videos & corresponding chapters/verses
Term Three: Covers Gospel of John, with 17 videos & corresponding chapters/verses
Term Four: Covers Gospel of John, with 18 videos & corresponding chapters/verses
Term Five: Covers Letters of John, with 13 videos (or 14 if you did not watch the intro video yet)
Term Six: Covers Revelation, with 18 videos & corresponding chapters/verses (or 19 if you did not watch the intro video yet)
We recommend going in this order, though you can start with the Letters of John or Revelation if you prefer.
FULL PAYMENT for the registered term is required at registration and prior to commencing each term together with a one-time $50 technology fee per year.
AS STATED, THIS TRAINING PROGRAM PROVIDES A CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION FOR EACH 3 CREDIT COURSE.
ITS GOAL IS TO LEARN WHO JESUS IS MORE PRECISELY AND BE COMMITTED TO HIM MORE FULLY, UNDERSTANDING “FOLLOW ME”. IT COVERS VERSE BY VERSE IN-DEPTH EXPLICATION OF THE JOHANINE SCRIPTURAL WRITINGS. THE BOOKS ARE READ WITHOUT COMMENTARY, BUT WITH THE VERSES EXPANDED TO INCLUDE IN NARRATIVE FASHION ALL THE WRITINGS AND UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH, THE SAINTS AND MAGISTERIAL INTERPRETATIONS.
THIS PRE-RECORDED SELF-PACED COURSE IS TAUGHT BY PROFESSOR ROMUALD B. SIMEONE, SCRIPTURAL SCHOLAR, GENETIC HISTORIAN, THEOLOGIAN & MISSION CATECHIST. THERE IS ONE HOUR OF CONSULTATION AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF EACH YEAR (3 TERMS) WITH DR. CHIARA SIMEONE-DIFRANCESCO as well as ongoing email support as you progress and hand in journaling.
REQUIRED MATERIALS FOR THE FULL CERTIFICATION COURSE OF 18 CREDITS ARE THE 4 TEXTBOOKS OF BIBLE, LOVE LETTERS FROM YOUR FATHER, BOOKS OF JOHN, (GOSPEL (Vol. 1A & 1B), LETTERS (Vol. 2) & REVELATION (Vol. 3), PLUS 100 HOURS OF VIDEOS & 2 CONSULTATION HOURS. The books are free with full payment for the entire 18 credit course, or you can purchase them for the terms you enrolled in from this website or Amazon.
THE 100 HOURS OF VIDEO ACCOMPANY THE BOOKS FOR NO EXTRA CHARGE.
THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 9 HOURS OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT PER WEEK. THIS TIME MAY BE SPENT ON WATCHING THE VIDEOS, READINGS, JOURNALING.
Dates: AS THIS IS SELF-PACED, ENROLLMENT IS ONGOING. Please contact us if you are interested in enrolling.
Ground your service on the foundation of your faith.
Scriptural Pastoral Foundations gives the educational substrata needed for professionals who wish to practice in a Jesus-Centered manner. One needs the foundation in order to build properly a practice that is expert, knowledgeable, and ethical. Learn and be inspired so that you too can be Jesus-Centered.
#103 Educational Consultation
#103 Options:
a) Generic non-religious;
b) Cultural competence specific to Christian clients who wish to incorporate their faith;
c) for Christian therapists who wish to utilize a Christian or Catholic Christian anthropology for cultural competence with this population.)
As an internationally certified trainer by the ISST (International Society of Schema Therapy). This falls under their supervision requirement for Individual and Couples Schema Therapy certification at the Standard, Advanced and Trainer levels.
International Society of Schema Therapy
Here is what a trainee reports:
“Working with Dr. Chiara Simeone-DiFrancesco was one of the most valuable professional experiences in my development as a therapist. She has a unique ability to balance warmth, gentleness, and directness in a way that creates both safety and growth. I consistently felt supported, challenged, and encouraged to think more deeply about my clients and my work.
Her knowledge of Schema Therapy is extensive, but what stood out most was her ability to make complex concepts practical and applicable. The insights and guidance she provided had a meaningful impact on both my confidence and effectiveness as a clinician.
Although she specializes in Christian counseling and that is not part of my own professional identity or clinical focus, I always felt deeply respected and understood. Our differences were never a barrier; instead, her perspective enriched the supervisory process and broadened my thinking in ways that strengthened my practice.
I would highly recommend her to any clinician seeking a supervisor who is knowledgeable, thoughtful, approachable, and genuinely invested in helping others grow.” Emrielle VanCleave, 2026
Offered Upon Group Request: Other Educational Training Topics, #104, #106, #106
Offered Upon Group Request: Other Educational Training Topics (These offerings below are educational &/or spiritual workshops, not the provision of counseling or psychotherapy.) If you are an organization, parish or other group that wishes to engage Dr. Simeone-DiFrancesco for one of these courses, please contact via the contact form and specify the sponsoring organization.
#104 Emotional Intimacy for Christians: Love without Limits
#105 Dialogic Evangelism & Jesus-Centered Pastoral Care
#106 Connect-Talk® Skills: “Hear with Your Heart” Workshop for Marriages; for Organizations, & for Professional Associations.
Dr. Simeone-DiFrancesco also trains therapists and other mental health and helping professionals with a specialization in Cultural Competence with Christians. She offers Educational Consultation for this population as well. (Please email for further information using our form on the contact page and expressing your specific interest.)
#107 Jesus-Centered Schema Therapy
#107 Jesus-Centered Schema Therapy: She also offers the ISST-approved training course in Couples Schema Therapy for those who wish to be trained within a group structure of Christian therapists seeking to collaborate in applying Schema Therapy within the Christian community. This application includes additional non-certification modules designed to equip therapists to serve this population.
The basic ISST modules are not offered separately, as this training is structured for formation within a shared Christian context. Those seeking ISST certification should consult the ISST website for current requirements.
Jesus-Centered Schema Therapy training is currently offered by arrangement to professional groups, clinical teams, agencies, and organizations seeking Christian faith integration with schema therapy. Individual registration is not currently open unless a group training has been scheduled.
Certification is also offered through Jesus-Centered Institute, LLC for completion of the underlying Individual Schema Therapy and Couples Modules, together with the completion of additional Jesus-Centered modules and Educational Consultation.
#108 Schema Therapy Organizational Development Special Interest Group Guest Invitation
#108 (no charge immediately upcoming Summer & Fall 2026) Schema Therapy Organizational Development (ST-OD) Special Interest Group Guest Invitation: This is a two-time opportunity to join a Special Interest Group of the International Society of Schema Therapy.
Dr. Simeone-DiFrancesco is hosting a finale wrap of the SIG “Schema Therapy Organizational Development”, or “ST-OD”. As the chair and originator of the group, I would like to extend to those who may be interested in these presentations free “guest” attendance.
The goal of ST-OD SIG is to promote cultural competence amid diversity in culture, religion, ethnicity, race, and micro-family cultures and philosophies, while providing a structure that relinquishes persuasion and promotes openness, lack of moral judgment, and dialogic equality and vulnerability. Our group reaches its concluding sessions in 2026.
These presentations are one-time live opportunities and will not be available by public recording due to international confidentiality laws.
The two final presentations for the year and the ST-OD SIG wrap-up are:
June 19, 2026, Friday, 10 AM–11:30 AM Central.
Presenter: Dr. Anastasia Kozlovski, a Christian psychotherapist from Finland.
Dr. Kozlovski is a fully certified Schema Therapist, Supervisor, and Trainer; a full member of the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) and the Finnish Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy; and a Certified Schema Couples Therapist at the Trainer and Supervisor level.
A physician by training, she has worked in the Finnish health care system since 2007, including hospitals and psychiatric outpatient clinics, as a general practitioner and as a doctor specializing in psychiatry. Since 2014, she has worked in the private sector as an entrepreneur, offering consulting and psychotherapy services for adults and young people. She also offers brief couples therapy and trains professionals in cognitive therapy and schema therapy.
Dr. Kozlovski is particularly interested in nonviolent communication and uses it in clinical work, supervision, and business settings. She is also trained as a mindfulness instructor and constructive communication instructor. In her psychotherapy and supervision work, she draws on ACT principles, mindfulness, compassion-focused therapy, schema therapy, trauma therapy methods, positive psychology and other effective psychotherapy tools. She is EMDR trained. She uses experiential techniques extensively because she believes we learn best from our own experiences.
She and her family moved to Finland around 22 years ago. She has been training students and adult audiences since 2014.
Dr. Kozlovski will share her perspective on how Christian values, psychological wellbeing, boundaries, forgiveness, self-sacrifice, and connection can be understood in clinical work.
Dr. Chiara Simeone-DiFrancesco, also a Schema Therapy Trainer & Supervisor in individual and couples ST, will facilitate discussion, share some Catholic-Christian and Aquinas-based reflections on these topics, and see where our perspectives meet, differ, or perhaps complement each other.
Dr. Anastasia will prepare her part from the perspective of the questions she often encounters in her clinical work in Finland, focusing especially on themes such as self-sacrifice and boundaries, forgiveness and accountability, fasting or restriction in relation to deprivation, and complicated family relationships where maintaining connection may also require very clear limits.
PLEASE REGISTER BELOW.
NEXT OFFERING.
September 18, 2026, 10 AM – 11:30 AM Central.
Presenter: Dr. Peter Martin, Internship Director of APA Approved Integrated Training and Formation Internship at Immaculate Heart of Mary Counseling Center.
Dr. Martin will be presenting on religious imagery and chairwork with clients that is specifically tailored to activated schema modes and their particular, attachment-based needs.
Dr. Martin, a graduate of The Institute for Psychological Sciences’ (now Divine Mercy University) PsyD program, also holds Master’s degrees in Clinical Psychology from IPS, in Religious Studies from Providence College, and in Counseling Psychology from the University of Kansas. A licensed psychologist in the state of Nebraska, he is also the Internship Director of Integrated Training and Formation at Immaculate Heart of Mary Counseling Center, an APA-accredited Catholic doctoral internship site where he is responsible for the psychological and faith-integrated formation of doctoral psychology interns and other clinical staff.
Dr. Martin headed a clinical outreach site at the St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 2008 to 2023. He provided counseling services from 2012-2013 and 2020 to seminarians at the Institute for Priestly Formation summer program in Omaha, Nebraska, and served on the Executive Board of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association from 2013 to 2016. He also served on the Board of Witness to Love: Marriage Preparation Renewal Ministry from 2015-2025.
His areas of interest include supervising therapists in faith-integrated treatments of psychological disorders, in practicing trauma-informed therapy, Forgiveness Therapy, group therapy, treating attachment-focused implicit God image problems, in studying the psychology of belief and unbelief, and in the social scientific understanding of religious conversion. Peter and his wife, Larissa, have 3 children.
Dr. Simeone-DiFrancesco will be facilitating the discussion.
Evidence Base & Study Resources for Schema Therapy and Faith-Integrated Psychotherapy
Understanding Jesus-Centered Schema Therapy
The Scripture-oriented interventions, tools, and philosophical framework that serve the Christian population are appropriate for clients and therapists across all Christian denominations. They are rooted in the Christian understanding of the human person, basic human needs, and Jesus’ model of virtue. Training encompasses a deepening integration of theology of the person, the body, and human nature, together with foundational philosophy and logical reasoning tools. Specific training cohorts provide particular attunement to the Catholic worldview/anthropology and sacramental ecclesiology. Professionals who wish to establish their practice within this application, grounded in established Schema Therapy and Jesus-Centered psychotherapy, may also pursue individual or group Educational Consultation and dyadic practice.