2012 Schedule

February 10, 2012

Dance Movement Therapy: Theory & Application

The healing power of Dance Movement Therapy lies in balancing the effective use of clinical processes with the creation of meaningful experiences. This experiential workshop weaves the application of three theoretical models into the use of specific movement interventions. We will playfully explore dancing with the individual self, self in relationship and self in community. Please wear clothing suitable for gentle movement.

Barbara Jo Stetzelberger, LCSW, BC-DMT is a Board Certified Dance Movement Therapist specializing in the use of movement, dance, somatic psychology and expressive arts therapies to help individuals access their innate body wisdom and capacity for healing. She has a private practice and over 20 years of experience working with adults and adolescents primarily treating attachment wounds, trauma and depression. She believes in the power of purposeful play and is a certified InterPlay leader and trainer.

 

March 9, 2012

Turning Inward: Connecting to our Clients' Inner Worlds with Gentleness,
Patience and an Invitation to Embodiment

Psychology, spirituality and creativity share many common threads in their attempt to map the inner world and honor both the pain and beauty found there. This evening will focus on the beauty - the unique qualities and resources that emerge naturally from the heart. We will deepen our understanding of "the internal" and contemplate the doorways we might use as we approach the landscapes within ourselves and our clients. Because creative expression can also be a doorway, Tori will bring her guitar and share a few songs to capture the experience of opening to the inner world.

Tori Olds, PhD is an emotion-focused psychologist with a private practice in central Austin. She completed a three-year training in spiritual healing in 2004 that sparked her interest in mindfulness and compassion as avenues for healing. She has recently continued this journey through training programs in attachment-based therapies such as AEDP and PACT. Tori specializes in working with couples and young adults and co-leads young adult groups with her husband, Glenn.

 

April 13, 2012

The Surrender of Sejda: Helping our Hearts Bow in Service, Connection and Love

Most of us are members of this organization and in the healing arts because we are deep servants to others. Service requires a certain surrender, embodied in the Sufi position of prostration, or Sejda, the bowing down pose used as part of the Sufi's 5 times-per-day prayer practice. Sejda is is a physical position of surrender, acceptance, love, adoration and release. In this evening, we will experience how this position can open our fearful bellies, quiet our overactive minds and privilege our heart centers as healing modalities. Please wear comfortable clothing and bring a bath towel or small rug to use as your "prayer rug."

Sherry Aziza McKinney, PhD has been exploring spiritual paths for over four decades and has been practicing Sufism for the last 10 years. She is a leader in the local Sufi community and teaches spiritual healing and contemplative practices as a Sufi Master Teacher. She is also a psychologist in private practice where she integrates relational psychotherapies, spiritual healing, body-centered work, depth psychology and love. She works with couples and individuals and offers groups on mindfulness and self-compassion as well as on Sufi teachings and meditative prayer practices.

 

May 11, 2012 - THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED! PLEASE JOIN US NEXT MONTH!

The Strongheart: Exceptional Strength in the Face of Exceptional Difficulty

The Strongheart Fellowship, located in Liberia, West Africa (and in the process of moving to Austin, Texas), provides extraordinary opportunity for exceptional young people from extremely challenging circumstances. Often displaced or orphaned by war, these young people have a marked "inner resilience" that has set them apart as potential future leaders. Strongheart draws on interpersonal neurobiology and mindsight to help these individuals, their "fellows," heal from trauma and develop their inner strength. In this evening, the inspirational women behind Strongheart will talk about their organization and its unique mission in hopes of fostering supportive connections in the Austin healing arts community.

Cori Stern is a writer and social entrepreneur. Along with the creation of The Strongheart Fellowship, Cori has coordinated numerous international relief and assistance efforts including a major vaccination campaign in Northern Nigeria, building a self-sustaining primary school in a refugee settlement in Ghana, an education sponsorship program for former street and slave children in The Gambia, a global effort to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, a program that offers free medical treatment and transport for critically ill or injured children from developing nations, as well as a major awareness campaign to help end the LRA atrocities in Northern Uganda. Her work has been covered by NPR, BBC, ABC World News, the Oprah Winfrey Show and National Geographic.

Zoe Adams serves as the Executive Director of the Strongheart Fellowship. The mission of Strongheart has been Zoe's life purpose since she was a teen. An internationally-known speaker and youth activist, she founded Earth Dwellers when she was nineteen, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating youth on the world's interconnectedness, instilling environmental and social responsibility and inspiring community activism. In her adult years, she became a social entrepreneur known for her visionary leadership and ability to build solid organizational infrastructure around forward-thinking people, projects and concepts. For over eighteen years, Zoe has led and supported both non-profit and for-profit corporations in their establishment from seed stage through growth. Zoe awakens each day in awe of the tremendous potential of human transformation.

 

 

June 8, 2012

Got Sleep? Exploring Tools to Enhance Our Experience of the Sleep State

Sleep, like eating and breathing, is essential to life. Enhancing our ability to get restful, restorative sleep is key to experiencing vitality yet so many of us as well as our clients struggle with troubled sleep patterns which can exacerbate mood and attention problems. In this evening, we will explore ways to prepare for the sleep state and address nighttime waking via yogic meditation, brain patterning music and guided relaxation. Wear comfortable clothing and bring a pillow.

Dianne Holliday Fish, LPC is a therapist, yoga teacher and mediator who integrates mind/body practices, breathwork, spirituality and talk therapy in her work with clients. She has a private practice in north Austin.  She also teaches yoga and relaxation techniques at a holistic substance abuse clinic and periodically leads emotional balance groups and conducts workshops.

 

July 2012 – No meeting this month

 

August 2012 – No meeting this month

 

September 14, 2012

The Mythical Descent

Throughout history, various cultures have created myths about the transformational journey which often involves a biological, psychological and spiritual descent. In our clients' lives, as well as our own, this descent may be invited in with conscious intent. Often, however, an unexpected event or outside force initiates a cascade of change which can feel destabilizing and unwanted. We will experientially explore this mythical descent and discuss the tasks involved and the supports that are needed to sustain the journey of life, death and rebirth.

Heather Davies, LCSW is an artist, veteran and clinical social worker in private practice in Austin who blends creativity, psychotherapy and the shamanic perspective in her work with clients. She facilitates the on-going series "Creativity Circle: Engaging the Playful Self" and is currently engaged in a course of study to become a Dance Movement Therapist.

 

October 12, 2012

The Family Arts Compound

Brian Beattie wrote and his wife Valerie Fowler illustrated "Ivy and the Wicker Suitcase," a mythic opera which traces the developmental transition from childhood to adolescence, highlighting the role creativity plays in finding the power of one's own voice. In this evening, Brian and Valerie will describe their collaborative process as well as play songs from the musical and share the story's illustrations. They will also recount their creative journey, from the germ of the idea, to financially crowd-sourcing the project through Kickstarter, to its successful completion. Come prepared to ask questions and help create a lively and engaging group discussion.

Brian Beattie played in the band "Glass Eye." He has produced records by the Dead Milkmen, Daniel Johnson, Shearwater and Okkervil River, among others.

Valerie Fowler is a painter/illustrator based in Austin, Texas.

 

November 9, 2012

Forming Terra Firma

As helping professionals, we are invited into our clients' inner terrain which is often hardened with layers of strata, preventing our ability to make change. Ideally, in time, the ground becomes spongy and softens and gives way. The malnourished earth is replenished, what was brittle becomes responsive and what was frail is now terra firma. In this evening, we will chart a course through an experiential case study from Seja's book in progress as well as pause for reflection and discussion.

Seja Rachael, LPC-S is a creative depth psychotherapist, writer and lecturer. Over the past two decades, she has been meeting with individuals, couples and groups in the interpersonal world of self-creation and mutual engagement. She is at work on a book, lectures and provides consultation and supervision on this essential process.

 

December 2012 – No meeting this month