Every therapist has his/her own style and method of running a course. However, in every session there are some integral parts that are always present.
- At the beginning practice of the previous week's exercise is a good way to break the ice and lower the stress after a busy day.
- Reading feedback and the journal from the previous week are usually next. Here all of the problems and concerns are discussed in detail. Understandably there is a lot of material to go over in the first few weeks of the course. During the feedback time the therapist also checks diaries, which are written for each exercise from the previous week. This is valuable information for the therapist, who then advises the client how to proceed and overcome the difficulties that have surfaced.
- The core of every session is a new phrase for the following week. A little background and rationale of the phrase is presented along with how to practice it and how long. Every week's autogenic training exercise is different, but the phrases are systematically built and added, so they are easily remembered.
- After the practice of the new exercise, additional feedback is gathered. With some adjustments and directions the procedure is repeated twice more.
- The course of autogenic training also holds a set of "offloading exercises", which are presented on several occasions. Here clients offload emotions in a safe way. Addressing anger, anxiety or fear allows for a better autogenic process and usually enables deeper relaxation.
The course usually lasts from 1 to 2 hours, depending on whether it is an individual or a group course and how many group members are there.