Online Courses For Personal Growth & Happiness

Our powerful, insightful, often playful and highly interactive Online Training Courses will give you access to life-changing shortcuts and strategies to help you embody these qualities, without you ever having to leave the comfort of your own home.


Click any course below for more info.

Emotional Fitness Training

PowerDialogues

Fearless

Make All Relationships Easier

Say YES to Yourself

Calm Amid Chaos

Advanced PowerDialogues

5 Days to Live:
Defying A Terminal Cancer Prognosis

Wide Awake MASTER CLASS Series

Online Training Courses

word art graphic of social problems

Emotional Fitness Training

Creating Personal Happiness and Peace of Mind RIGHT NOW

July 17th, 18th, 20th, 2023
Live Session Times 12pm – 3:30pm EST (UTC-5)

Think different. Feel different. Be different. We will give you the keys to unlock the treasure chest inside of you. What is it, you might ask? We call it “Stimulus-Belief-Response.”

It is so darn simple to learn, yet it will transform everything. Yes, everything! Criticism be gone! Victimhood (feeling like a victim) no longer experienced. Free to be you. Free to be happy. Free to experience your own emotional wellbeing.

maze graphic

Fearless

How to Overcome Fear & Anxiety

Registration Coming Soon!

We often use fear as a way to protect ourselves… and as a result, we can paralyze ourselves with that same fear and anxiety!

What if you were able to look at your fears, and stand tall in the face of challenges? Imagine if you were able to ask yourself “How will this strengthen me?” instead of “How will this hurt me?”… GUESS WHAT? YOU CAN!!!

silhouette standing in a sunset over water

Calm Amid Chaos

How to Stay Comfortable … NO MATTER WHAT!

August 7th – 11th, 2023 Live Session Times: 12pm – 3:00pm EST (UTC-5)

When life seems unpredictable, haphazard, and challenging, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the tools to stay comfortable and optimistic? We’ll help you find meaning in the chaos and see light where you previously saw darkness.

Over the course of five sessions, you’ll create a personalized plan of action, to help you master the art of staying Calm Amid Chaos.

person jumping overlooking cliffside

Say YES to Yourself

How to Hear Your Own Voice and Make Decisions with Confidence & Clarity

June 12th – 15th, 2023 Live Session Times: 12pm – 2:30pm EST (UTC-5)

From the time we are children, we are taught to stamp out our inner voice and conform to the voices of others. As adults, this can lead to great challenges when it comes time to make important decisions or simply to hear our own voice (and what we truly want) over the voices of everyone else.

This is especially critical when we are at a crossroads or time of challenge, when our own voice can seem to be overwhelmed by others’ opinions and emotions.

picture of 4 people

Make All Relationships Easier

With Friends. With Family. With Co-Workers. With Significant Others.

June 26, 27 & 29, 2023 Live Session Times: 12pm – 3:00pm EST (UTC-5)

Nobody said relationships were easy, right? Well, what if we could change that? What if you could learn simple, but completely new techniques for relating to the people in your life that made the hard bits much easier and the easy bits much sweeter?

Of course relationships can feel challenging. No one ever teaches us how to communicate with the people that we interact with, how to navigate conflict, or how to connect in a loving and caring way (especially when the other person isn’t being loving or caring). But this Option Institute® course will.

option institute international learning & training center

PowerDialogues

The Ultimate System for Personal Change

Registration Coming Soon!

Power Dialogues is the signature program and system of questions taught by the Option Institute that you can use not only to improve the quality of your life but also to be sincerely and gently helpful to all those you care about.

Would it be exciting and super useful for you to learn a new skill, utilizing a system of questions, which would enable you to resolve issues and change yourself in the ways you would most want?

And are you, as well, a manager, teacher, therapist, health professional and/or a member of a team or organization in which you would like to increase your skills so that you could give more valuable support and guidance to those you supervise, those you work with, or those you care for?

screenshot of 9 faces on zoom during Option institute class

Advanced PowerDialogues

Master Discovering Your Own Answers – Then Help Others Find Theirs

Registration Coming Soon!

Imagine becoming so clear in your own thinking that you could identify your emotions and limiting beliefs quickly and astutely… this skill allows you the cognitive flexibility to break through your own attitudinal limitations, so that self-change becomes easily attainable and even fun!

Imagine at the same time, taking a course that will qualify you to attend, if you choose, our most iconic graduate program – Mentor Certification (mastering and becoming qualified to be a Certified Option Process Mentor/Counselor). Or if you are a Certified Mentor already, join us for a refresher program to further develop your skills.

Defying a Terminal Cancer Prognosis

5 Days to Live:
Defying A Terminal Cancer Prognosis

(With Determination and Love – No chemo/No radiation)

August 21st – 24th, 2023

In our new Option Institute program on navigating serious health challenges, Bears & Samahria with the assistance of our staff will share how to adopt principles and perspectives so you can make specific choices for your care, and ultimately live an inspired life, even in the face of extreme health challenges.

This course features a collaborative teaching style that will engage you and heighten your ability to learn key concepts. Group connectivity with participants is the core element of these unique classes. Learn ways to embrace your health challenges with authenticity – even when they seem difficult or possibly fatal. We will teach you how to press the pause button… so that you can create informed decisions about your path going forward.

Founder with person in attendance at Option Institute course Founder with person in attendance at Option Institute course

Wide Awake MASTER CLASS Series

Dynamic Graduate Training with Advanced Teachings with the Founders
LIVE via Zoom


The Option Institute® Wide Awake MASTER CLASS Series LIVE via Zoom will help you understand how to operate more comfortably and clearly as you navigate life’s obstacles.

Additionally, you will learn to develop more strength, conviction and comfort with any and every situation that comes your way. Taught exclusively by Barry Neil Kaufman, Co-founder of The Option Institute®

You will be challenged

In this highly supportive, stimulating environment. You will be sincerely cheered for, delighted in, and invited to move towards your fears and discomforts. Our teachers will make learning and growth both motivating and highly attainable for you. Covering a wide range of topics from relationships to questions about self-worth, from parenting to financial challenges, from purpose of life (your life) to questions about authenticity, from self-trust to self-acceptance, you will gain tools and skills to rise above the greatest of challenges and roadblocks inside of yourself, replacing them with a whole new cutting-edge belief system.

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“For the first time in 42 years I figured out why my attitude towards my life has been so unhappy. … now my life of being happy begins.”

~Evelina, Real Estate Advertising Educator, Texas
 

“Emotional Fitness Training helped me solidify the belief that I am in control of my emotions… changing a belief changes my whole experience of getting criticism.”

~Marijke, Social Psychologist, The Netherlands
 

“I have history of abuse, abandonment, and a great deal of past judgments. For the first time I learned I can choose happiness and it only took me 2 ½ hours, after 52 years of pain. Thank you!”

~ Laureeann, Writer, Florida
 

“Before this course I believed moments of unhappiness with my wife were natural. After this course, our relationship is better than I believed or thought possible”

~Keith, Caterer, Canada
 

Our online training courses will help you get right to the to the heart of the challenges you face and invite you to create new and empowered perspectives, allowing you to take charge of your life in a way that feels clear, and actually do-able.

If you haven’t already, we STRONGLY encourage you to contact a Program Advisor to learn more about our programs.

CONTACT US

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Or send us a message or question and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

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The Option Institute and its teachers have had the honor to present programs (during the last four decades) that explore the attitudes and beliefs we have (and may want to change) and to help program participants find their own answers to questions about relationships, careers, family challenges and health issues. Our new program, 5 Days to Live, Defying a Terminal Cancer Prognosis , focuses on navigating significant health challenges and decision-making with greater ease, clarity, and clear purpose.

We are not a medical facility and we do not dispense any medical advice. We have and would always guide our program participants, to consult with their doctors, healthcare providers, and family members in making medical decisions for themselves and those they love. Neither Mass General Hospital nor any member of its medical staff endorses any program being offered by the Option Institute and its teachers.

NOTE: Attendance of live sessions via Zoom are required to complete this course.

Please note, this is a per-person registration

CONTINUE

 

PRE-REQUISITES for attending Advanced Power Dialogues are:

  • Completion of The Option Institute’s PowerDialogues program.
  • If it’s been more than 5 years since you attended PowerDialogues, please call 413-229-2100 to discuss options.

NOTE: Attendance of live sessions via Zoom are required to complete this course.

Please note, this is a per-person registration

CONTINUE

Dear Donor,

Jeannie Reid was searching for answers to the challenges she and her family were facing. Jeannie and her husband Stuart’s son, Carson, had been diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, a condition on the Autism spectrum. For Carson that meant being completely involved in obsessive behaviors and only using minimal words to identify objects, as well as frequently and completely melting down.

Soon after, Jeannie found the book, “Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues” and when she read it, she KNEW she had found what she was looking for. She began using some of the Son-Rise techniques described in the book on her own until she was able to come to The Autism Treatment Center of America for the Son-Rise Program Start-Up. As she put into practice what she learned there, Carson’s world was opening up. Today Carson is attending a Montessori school as a 'typical' student and functioning at or above typical grade level, being fully verbal and conversational, and very interested in learning about the world and interacting as much as possible with other people. He is even taking swim lessons at the local YMCA and doing great!

“It has been wonderful to get, and stay connected with other people and Son-Rise parents from all over the world. My son’s progress had already come very far, but now I truly believe we can go all the way!”

Jeannie wrote.

Stuart Reid then attended the Empower Yourself course and brought home a new sense of clarity, balance and personal power. He shared his new empowerment with Jeannie and she in turn gained in confidence, strength and enthusiasm. Their own relationship began to flourish anew, as well. Life-altering changes were happening for Jeannie and her family.

Jeannie journeyed again to Sheffield, this time for the Fearless course at The Option Institute to help her recognize and overcome her personal obstacles. Jeannie wanted to continue her amazing journey as she had found using the techniques she learned in The Son-Rise Program and in Fearless had absolutely changed the lives of everyone in her family.

But, because the Reids’ finances had been seriously stretched by then, their next steps were put on hold. Then an amazing event changed everything. Jeannie’s college roommate and lifelong friend decided to start a Son-Rise Program scholarship fund for people from the Cleveland area. Since then Jeannie has been able to move ahead with her courses, taking Radical Authenticity, Son-Rise Maximum Impact and Son-Rise Wide Awake ... and eventually she became a Certified Group Facilitator.

Jeannie Reid’s story is about wanting BIG and making it happen. She is about to embark on her renewed private practice as an art therapist, and plans to be a super advocate for The Son-Rise Program in her area. Her wonderful new life is a product of her persistence and belief, and of the wheels she helped set in motion for others when her friends learned of how she and her family had been impacted by The Son-Rise Program.

“I know I will be able to give back by helping others, and that will be the top of my personal mountain! Thank you to everyone who donates! You are making a big difference in the world!

Jeannie Reid

 

Dear Donor

Two years ago, Antonio's kindergarten teacher told us something was not quite right with our little boy. He was not socializing, he somersaulted all the time and hardly spoke at all. At the time I was working for a municipality close to Florence, Italy and basically I had nothing left after seeing to basic necessities.

In the meantime, I looked up Autism with Google and as I was also looking for happiness and personal growth, I was guided to The Option Institute, thence the Autism Treatment Center of America. I read up as much as I could and started trying to apply the “Happiness is a Choice” suggestions. I'm not quite good at it but it has helped me with attitude, and everything else that seemed trying is really different after all this.

When I decided to come for The Son-Rise Program Start-Up, I really had little or no money to pay for it. I spoke to my friends, old and new. My mother helped me, friends I thought couldn't [help] tried their very best and the scholarship did the rest.

What the scholarship did was give a HUGE boost to my fundraising. About six friends contributed the rest, at the travel agency a very kind lady who I may now call a friend helped me some more. I am overwhelmed with gratefulness. Here I am, happy to have attended the Start-Up program and looking forward to learning more and praying to God for guidance.

So the gist of the matter is, I am a happy mum who hopes to implement a wonderful relationship with her child and is riding a not so easy moment with lots of hope in her heart and THANK YOU is not enough for what I feel. I still remember William's words, “If you do what you've always done, you will get what you've always got.” Now I'm trying to do different, bit by bit, day by day. I feel the difference already.

About Antonio ... we are going on with the Italian program and I play with Antonio after school in a quiet room in the house. Knowing what the little guy is exposed to (he's always putting his fingers in his ears and he seems to have problems with too much light in his eyes), I find him very brave as he bears it tolerably. Drums a lot to digest it all.

When we went to the doctor, just weeks after starting the program at home, she told me that she found him more attentive. His attention span has increased. He is also tagging or pulling at one's arm when looking for attention. The child psychologist last Saturday reported the same thing and what's more, my son has always required that I enter the room, hence assisting in every session. Well, this time he went in along with the doctor and told me, “See you later.”

At school, his teacher who speaks English as well, read up and watched my DVD (Kyle’s Journey, Jade and “I want my little boy back”). Now she's changing, bit by bit and I do appreciate that very much. He seems to be OK with her and actually sent me away from class this morning, again telling me, “See you later.”

He is now ONE HUGE GREENLIGHT and I'm hoping to be able to really have volunteers (still looking), raise funds and settle down to business.

God bless,

Jackline

 

Dear Donor,

I am the mother of three children, all on the Autism Spectrum. Before I heard of the Son-Rise Program and the Option Institute, I was a desperate, angry and depressed person…. I was on Anti-depressants, sleeping multiple hours of the day, and for a period of time, using alcohol to run away from my pain.

Then I heard of the Son-Rise Program. I called to find out more about it and thought “this if for me!” But I could not afford it. You see raising one child with Autism is very expensive but raising three is just outrageously expensive with all the therapies and dietary interventions that we were doing.

But I was offered a full scholarship to the SRSU program. I have since attended all of the Son-Rise Programs and many of the Personal Growth programs offered by the Option Institute.  Each time I have been given a scholarship and each time I go I learn more about who I am and I change for the better each and every time.  Because of your most generous support, my children are recovering from Autism, I have found happiness in my life!  I am no longer on anti-depressants and I have so much more energy.

YOU are the reason that my family is in recovery. It is because of YOU that my oldest son now is enjoying school.  YOU are the reason my second son is speaking. YOU are the reason my daughter is no longer as rigid and controlling as she once was.  Thank you does not even begin to cover how much gratitude I have for you.  I thank God every day for you and I do not even know you.

Please know that you are changing lives with your donation to ATCA and the OI.  It is because of you that every day people are getting the help that they need. Thank you, thank you and thank you!

With so much love,

Kerry Rihtar