Elke Lambers - Existential Touchstones: meeting our clients through our humanity
Saturday 12^th November

In this workshop we will explore the idea of existential touchstones, described by Dave Mearns as:

'Life events and self experiences that have given us glimpses of different dimesions of ourself which we can enter to put us into a feeling state that is closer to our client's present experiencing and thus act as a 'bridge' for us into a fuller meeting with our client' (Mearns & Thorne, 2007)

I hope to explore with the group how we can derive strength from our own sense of existence and how this can contribute to the development of the counsellor's capacity to meet clients more fully in their existential process.

This workshop day will consist of some theoretical input, personal reflection and shared exploration and discussion in the group. It may be of interest to both students and experienced counsellors.

Elke Lambers is a Person-Centred Therapist, Supervisor and Trainer. She has been actively involved in the development of Person-Centred Therapy in the UK and in other parts of the world and has had a long standing association with the Counselling unit of Strathclyde University as a visiting lecturer and supervisor.
She has extensive experience as a therapist, as a supervisor with individuals and groups, and as a trainer of counsellors and supervisors, both in the UK and in other countries.
She has written about the person centred perspective on psychopathology in 'Developing Person Centred Counselling' (Dave Mearns, Sage, 2003), and about 'Supervision in Person Centred Therapy' (Dave Mearns & Brian Thorne: Person-Centred Therapy Today. Sage, 2000) and in the Handbook of Person-Centred Therapy, (Palgrave, 2007).

She has a particular interest in developing a person-centred understanding of mental health, psychopathology and 'difficult client processes', and of how supervisors can help develop our capacity to be fully present and open with ourselves in the therapeutic relationship, so that we can be open to all aspects of the client.

Elke has now retired from private practice, but continues to have an interest in supporting person-centred therapists through workshops and seminars.

Date: Saturday 12^th November 2011
Venue: Broughton/St. Mary's Parish Church Hall
12-13 Bellvue Crescent
Edinburgh EH3 6NE
Cost: £75

Dot Clark - 'Being Oneself'
Self Care Self Awareness Self Knowledge
Saturday 21^st January 2012

For those who engage in intense healing relationships with others - a day exploring this theme with Dot Clark.

The theme for the day is connecting with the inner resources which sustain the self; it is designed for those who engage in intense healing relationships with others. The intention is to create a space for us to enquire deeply within ourselves in order to re-orient towards, reconnect with and rest in those aspects of being which replenish us in our work and life. The aim is to create together the conditions for the essence of our humanity to flourish and sustain us. The group will bring a unique range of resources and experience to our conversation around this theme. Let us welcome whatever emerges between us and trust in the rich potential of meeting in this way for allowing the creation of what needs to happen to sustain us.

Dot Clark,
I am an experienced person-centred therapist who stopped my training, supervision and counselling practice in 2007 knowing that I needed change and replenishment. I found the nourishment I needed through studying and living for about a year at the Beshara School of Esoteric Education in the Borders (www.beshara.org). I am now a student at the University of Edinburgh, aiming to write a doctoral thesis exploring the meaning of my experience as a person-centred therapist finding resonance with an Islamic mystical expression of the Unity of Existence. I am curious to explore with practitioners what sustains our widest and deepest experiences of loving, ourselves and others. I envisage the day consisting of some input from me on my experience, some contemplative internal space and some time to read brief poems or texts together. However, the core of our time together will be in our exchange.

Date: Saturday 21^st January 2012
Time: 10am – 4.30pm
Venue: Broughton/St. Mary's Parish Church Hall
12-13 Bellvue Crescent
Edinburgh EH3 6NE
Cost: £75

Cate Kelly - a meeting about adoption : Day 2
31^st March 2012

Special Spring Offer - £40

How has adoption affected you professionally and personally : Day 2

As well as welcoming returning participants, Day 2 will be for anyone interested in taking part in the meeting.

In November 2010 eleven people met to look at the subject of "how had adoption affected you personally and/or professionally." Below are the words used on the flyer which advertised that event as they seem to accurately describe what we did together:

I want to take a fluid approach... I hope that those who are drawn to do so will join in an explanation of how adoption affects/has affected each of the participants, whether in a professional, a personal capacity or a combination and interplay between both. I want to provide a safe, trusting space where we can meet and will all feel able to bring and take in a way which feels that our own experiences are heard, respected and valued and that we are all able to offer the same to all who choose to participate.

Feedback during and after the first meeting indicated that participants found it helpful and that they would like another day to be arranged. Taking a fluid approach seemed to work well so I would want to offer the same again. People said they felt the group to be safe and trustworthy and facilitative both of personal exploration and shared dialogue.

About Me

I have been qualified as a Person-centred counsellor for over twelve years. Currently I have a small private practice in South Manchester. I work with adults, young people and children. I supervise trainee and qualified counsellors. In 2008 I had two chapters published in a book on working with children with the PCA. One of the chapters is about facilitating therapeutic work with children placed for adoption by working alongside their adoptive parents. Preparing for the November 2010 day I wrote:

In exploring my thoughts about this workship I found myself being drawn to the title: 'How have you been affected by adoption?' and saying to myself: "How have I been affected by adoption". I know that, because I am the whole of me, the personal as well as the professional me, thirty seven years of 'professional' adoption work had and continues to have a deep personal impact on me. I have worked in Local Authority and voluntary adoption agencies for thirty four years... with all members of the 'adoption triangle'. Currently, as a counsellor in private practice and using BACP 'Find a Therapist' website as my sole source of advertising, I know that people who need my help with something concerning adoption do find me. Adoption work drew me in as a trainee social worker, age 22. I remain compelled by the complexity of human emotions which are involved in all the adoption issues I meet.

I am married with three adult children and four grandchildren.

Date: Saturday 31^st March
Edinburgh
Cost: £70 Special Spring Offer - £40

Gillian Proctor & Linda Smith - 'Include Yourself - Encounter'
Saturday 28^th April 2012

• We offer an opportunity to be in a room together, in an encounter group. We hesitate to write anything about this because it will be how all of us make it.

Encounter, is, in general, not so much the fortuitous meeting and first acquaintance of two individuals, but rather the decisive inner experience resulting from it for one (sometimes for both) of the two individuals. Something totally new is revealed, new horizons open, one's perspective is revised, and sometimes the whole personality is restructured. An encounter can bring a sudden liberation from ignorance or illusion, enlarge the spiritual horizon, and give a new meaning to life.

Henri F. Ellenburger (Exisitence, 1958)

Gillian: I'm about to return to work after maternity leave. I have always questioned the strange relationship that constitutes therapy, and find encounter groups more freeing and relevant.

Linda: I think the politics of feelings and behaviours, the power of spontaneity, facilitate encounter. Scary, exciting, unknown, I love it.

Date: Saturday 28^th April

Time: 10am - 5pm

Venue: Edinburgh

Cost: £75

Ellis Ciruello - Broadening our Awareness of Gender Experience
Saturday 26^th May 2012

"The broader is our experience of humanity then the broader will be the range of persons with whom we will feel comfortable and free enough to relate congruently at depth" (Dave Mearns, 09)

This workshop will provide an opportunity to engage with an experience of humanity which seems familiar to all of us but yet is so complex and diverse; our unique embodiments and experiences of gender. We will look to broaden our understanding of the complexities of gender as they affect the therapeutic relationship, and in particular gain an understanding of the transgender experience.

Through input, experiential opportunities and discussion we will explore:

• what we mean when we talk about gender, as opposed to anatomical sex
• what it means to see gender as a spectrum
• how gender acts as a powerful lens through which we see, understand and experience ourselves and those we encounter, both in and out of the therapy room
• how we can move closer to understanding the transgender experience through reflecting on our own gender identities and experience

Ellis Ciruello will facilitate. Ellis has worked with transgender individuals and communities for over 10 years in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. He practices as a person-centred therapist and is Deputy Director for Mental Health at the LGBT^* Centre for Health and Wellbeing in Edinburgh. He is passionate about his work and about returning to his home by the beach at the end of the day.

^* LGBT - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender

Date: Saturday 26^th May 2012

Time: 9.30am - 4.30pm

Venue: Broughton/St Mary's

12 Bellevue Crescent

Edinburgh EH3 6NE

Cost: £75

Tess Sturrock - Creativity and connection through the arts: A weekend of Person-Centred Expressive Arts Therapy
Saturday 29^th & Sunday 30^th September 2012

Expressive arts therapy uses movement, visual art, sound and writing as ways of being more in touch with ourselves. Although we are born creative, we may, out of fear, shame, or shyness have put a lid on this precious resource that lies at our core. Reconnecting with our creative self through the arts can transform pain, anger and grief, and put us in touch with our inner wisdom and power.

Pioneered by Natalie Rogers, person-centred expressive arts therapy builds on the philosophy of Natalie's father, Carl Rogers. The person-centred approach that he developed is based on a trust in the inherent impulse towards growth in every individual and group. Providing a climate of openness, honesty, empathy and warmth fosters this growth.

During this weekend we will explore whatever lies within through the use of the arts in connection with one another - such as beginning with movement and sound, and following this with visual art and writing. Using the arts in this way tends to develop and deepen the experience for the explorer. As well as leading to greater self-understanding, this process can enhance our relationships with others, and reconnect us to the wider world.

No experience or expertise in any of the arts is necessary for participating in expressive arts therapy.

Tess Sturrock is a person centred expressive therapist, trainer and counsellor. She trained with Natalie Rogers in the 1980s, co-initiating and facilitating expressive arts training in Britain from 1990 to 2000. She has worked extensively in Britain and abroad with groups and individuals, believing deeply in the power of person centred expressive arts to heal and transform.

For further information:
tessdsturrock@gmail.com

www.nrogers.com

Date: Saturday 29^th & Sunday 30^th September 2012
Time: 10am - 4.30pm (both days)
Venue: Water of Leith Conservation Trust
24 Lanark Road
Edinburgh EH14 1TQ
Cost: £140
please note: this weekend is limited to 12 places