Possibilities in Wholeness
An Experiential Weekend for Women to Explore Their Aliveness
When I dare to be powerful-- to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." Audre Lorde
Consider a remarkable opportunity for women who want to take their personal growth to another level of possibility.
Those who come to POSSIBILITIES IN WHOLENESS Weekend have the chance to imagine what potential exists for them to be more alive, more vibrant, more aware in their bodies and in their spirits, and more powerful in their capacity to use their strength and wisdom in the service of others.
At every phase of life's journey women are besieged with choices and conundrums in their families and relationships, in their sexuality, in their work, in their social and political activism, and in their self-care. Women have many simultaneous challenges to both nurture and recreate themselves. At specific times, if they have the courage to be authentic to themselves, they may have to search out new identities, new spiritual paths, or different relational approaches that can challenge or confuse the ones they love.
Possibilities in Wholeness is for women who are at a stage (in their professional lives, or personal or spiritual growth) in which they feel ready to make a big change--but are stuck in moving forward. It is especially appropriate for those who are often overextended and have little inner fuel to keep their own fires burning.
In Chinese medicine, this process of being overloaded is called empty fire. Many of us in the field might be too depleted to stop for self care, and paradoxically, we move faster. We go so fast that often we lose the ability to imagine other possibilities-- for giving care, taking respite, or being in the world. Possibilities in Wholeness will offer women a time to stop and feed the imagination. It will provide a tangible metaphor to take back into a busy life.
With exquisite attention to safety and confidentiality, POSSIBILITIES IN WHOLENESS will address the potential in vulnerability and challenge women to embrace what they fear the most. It will be a chance to find the places that seem immovable and to open to the potential for creativity and authenticity.
Using incredible music, movement, art, journaling metaphors, spirituality, and group process, the weekend can be a timely adjunct to participants' ongoing healing work, twelve step programs, and individual spiritual journeys. It will be an opportunity for women together to move each other forward-powerfully, joyfully, deeply-and to share in an amazing community of other women.
Please join us on a weekend you will not soon forget.
The Wolf In God's Clothing
Recovering from Religious Abuse Speak…Listen…Create…
Celebrate….
Discrimination, persecution, shame, hatred, all in the name of God… Religious abuse is the physical, sexual or mental damage suffered by members of a faith community when its leaders exploit them. It devastates one's sense of self, principles or inner compass about your experience of the world, shame about your body, sexual orientation, inner values, relationships, and self care. The harm reaches even to the core of the spirit where often there is no longer a place for a god of love or a love of what was once divine. Yet, there is often a longing to connect with the deepest part of oneself, without the trappings of the institution, or even the name of God.
The time we share together will preview the rich journey of the soul on the road to restoration in the wake of institutional religious abuse. With respect, music, storytelling, and humor, we will provide one another a container of safety that will allow enough vulnerability to risk sharing your truth, yet grounded enough to connect with your own inner life in the presence of others. The result will be new ways of reclaiming the spirit stolen from each of you. Boundaries and choices around participation will be shown the deepest respect.
Working with Survivors of Religious Abuse: Therapeutic Challenges and Spiritual Issues
Religious abuse is what people suffer when leaders of faith communities exploit them in the name of God, or for the sake of a cult. For those who have suffered hate crimes, bigotry because of race or sexuality, sexual orientation, or sexual or ritual abuse at the hands of religious in the past— how do therapists and pastoral counselors connect with the longing for meaning that still remains, and help others reclaim what is most important?
Using incredible music, authentic and improvisational movement, and group process, this workshop offers a therapeutic model of working with survivors of religious abuse that addresses the issues below the psychological frame and beyond simple religious paradigms. Participants are encouraged to bring in cases as we discuss the challenges of setting up the particular container for safety and a template for spirituality ( not religion) that clients need to do the work of recovery. In our time together, we will address the issues of counter transference and the grandiosity of shame, boundary considerations with religious abuse survivors, the therapeutic issues of evil and meaning in the wake of religious abuse, using relational psychotherapy, new language, bodywork and music in the recovery process, and the value of laughter for reclamation of an inner life.