WORKSHOPS

 

This is a list of the workshops which are currently available.  Please scroll down the page for further details about each one:-

 

W1       OPENING THE HIDDEN DOOR 

            Working with Dreams for Therapists & Counsellors

 

W2       BEYOND THE HIDDEN DOOR

            Intermediate Dreamwork for Therapists & Counsellors

             

         W3       JUNG’S CONCEPT OF THE ‘ANIMUS’

                      Learning from Our Invisible, Inner Partner

 

W4       THE SECRET OF THE STONE

            A Psychological Analysis of the Legend of ‘Parzival’

 

         W5       DEALING WITH THE ARCHETYPAL MOTHER

                     Interpreting a Fairy Tale in the Light of Jungian psychology

 

         W6       UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF YOUR DREAMS

                      An Introductory Workshop for Beginners

                                                                    

W7       BACK TO BASICS – Parts 1 & 2 

            The Fundamentals of Jungian Psychology

 

          W8      MAPPING THE COMPLEXES

                      Conducting the Word Association Experiment

 

         W9       DREAMS AND BEREAVEMENT

                      How the Power of Dreams Helps the Survivor to Move On

 

          W10     EXPLORING THE DIONYSIAN ARCHETYPE

                                The Tension Between Two Ways of Being

 

                             

 

*     *     *     *     *

 

 

 

W1     OPENING THE HIDDEN DOOR     (1 or 2 days)

          Working with Dreams for Therapists & Counsellors

 

         The workshop is designed for psychotherapists, counsellors & trainees who wish to study and practice the skills of working with dreams. The methods taught may be used by practioners from any background or orientation.  Utilising a highly structured approach, role-play, and working on practice material supplied by the facilitator, the following are among the topics which will be covered:-

• ‘What do I do when my client tells me a dream?’
• ‘How do I frame my questions so that I get the best results?’
• ‘What is Jung’s theory of compensation & how does it help?’
• ‘What are subjective and objective levels of interpretation?’

 

         (If the  workshop is 2 days, there will be the opportunity to work on 1-2 dreams supplied by members of the group.)

 

 

 

 

W2     BEYOND THE HIDDEN DOOR    (1 or 2 days)

          Intermediate Dreamwork for Therapists & Counsellors

 

         Designed as a follow-up to the previous workshop, this is a course for psychotherapists, counsellors & trainees who wish to extend their knowledge of the principles of dream interpretation and develop their skills.   Topics covered will include:-

• Revision of basic principles
• More advanced work on subjective & objective levels
• The structure of the dream (based on Aristotle’s theory of drama)
• The role of the dream ego & how it relates to the waking ego
• Working with archetypal dreams

 

         (If the  workshop is 2 days, there will be the opportunity to work on 1-2 dreams supplied by members of the group.)

 

 

 

 

            W3     JUNG’S CONCEPT OF THE ‘ANIMUS’   (1 or 2 days)

                      Learning from Our Invisible, Inner Partner 

           The ‘animus’ was a term coined by Jung to describe what is usually referred to as ‘the masculine aspect of a woman's psyche’.   It has a powerful role to play both:-

• in terms of a woman's outer life - where it assists or hinders her relationships, &
• in terms of her inner life - where it assists or hinders her psychological development.  

          Many of us have a fair idea of how the ‘animus’ is defined – in a theoretical kind of way.  But how many of us really understand is meant by integrating the ‘animus’ in practical terms?    How does it manifest itself in actual life situations?  Is it valid to talk about ‘the masculine aspect of a woman’s psychology’ or do we run the risk of falling into sexist, stereotypical thinking?  How do Jung’s concepts stand up in the light of modern, feminist thinking?  Why do we tend to talk more about the negative ‘animus’than its positivecounterpart?

 

          Understanding the ‘animus’ can be helpful, not only for women, who wish to understand themselves more deeply, but also for men, who would like to have a better idea of how the opposite sex ticks.   This workshop is for both men and women whether they are psychotherapists or counsellors in practice, or members of the public.

 

          Illustrations will be drawn from literature and fairy tales including George Eliot's 'Middlemarch,' Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights,' and 'The Handless Maiden.'

 

 

         (Previous knowledge of these texts is not essential. A brief extract from the TV serial 'Middlemarch' will be shown and discussed.  If the workshop is extended over 2 days, the topic of ‘anima’ will be included.)

 

 

 

         

W4     THE SECRET OF THE STONE     (1 or 2 days)

          A Psychological Analysis of the Legend of ‘Parzival’

 

          What is the inner meaning of the timeless legend of Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail?   And how can it help us to live our lives more meaningfully, as we make our way upon our own individual individuation journey?  Treating the tale as though it were a dream, we will endeavour to arrive at an interpretation using the insights of Jungian psychology.  

 

         This is a popular workshop which will provide a rich resource for psychotherapists and counsellors who are wanting to understand the problems which they meet everyday in the consulting room in the light of Jung’s theory of the archetypes.

 

          The text upon which the workshop is based is ‘Parzival’ by Wolfram von Eschenbach, a short summary of which will be supplied for those who do not have time to read the original.

 

         No previous knowledge of Jungian psychology is required.   Topics to be covered include:-

• Individuation & the archetypal mother complex
• Jung’s concept of the ‘Self’
• The ‘problem of the opposites’
• The relevance of alchemy to psychotherapy
• Synchronicity and the ‘Unus Mundus’

 

 

 

 

W5     DEALING WITH THE ARCHETYPAL MOTHER   (1 or 2 days)

          Interpreting a Fairy Tale in the Light of Jungian psychology

 

          The story of ‘The Juniper Tree’ is one of the most violent and shocking of all the tales in the collection of Grimm’s Fairy Stories.  Read at the surface level, the story involves child abuse and matricide and, for good measure, a light sprinkling of cannibalism!    And yet, if the tale is understood at a deeper level, it offers a profoundly optimistic model for understanding the kind of inner psychological development which needs to take place in all of us if we are to grow towards greater integration and maturity. By exploring the tale as a group we will endeavour to bring to consciousness this deeper level of meaning.

 

          Amongst the topics we shall be investigating are:-

• The Archetypal Mother Complex
• The archetypal pattern of the ‘Myth of the Hero’
• Initiation & the ‘Night Sea Journey’
• Anima and Animus
• Projective Identification & Extractive Introjection

 

 

 

 

W6     UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF YOUR DREAMS (1 or 2 days)

         An Introductory Workshop for Beginners 

 

                   'A dream which has not been understood is 

                   like  a letter  which  has  not  been opened.'  (The Talmud)

 

          If we could only learn their language, we would find that our dreams speak to us with a profound wisdom which is capable of enriching our lives, and challenging us to greater personal growth.  This workshop is for all those who wish to take the first steps….. 

 

          It is primarily targeted at people with no previous experience, who wish to work on their own dreams, and those of their friends.  However counsellors and trainees would also find much that would benefit them in their work with clients who bring dream material.

 

 

         (If the workshop is 2 days, there will be the opportunity to work on 1-2 dreams supplied by members of the group.)

 

 

 

 

W7     BACK TO BASICS – Parts 1 & 2    (2 weekends)

          The Fundamentals of Jungian Psychology

 

          Two intensive weekend workshops are offered which are based on the popular ‘Back to Basics’ seminars which I have been running in Bath & Bristol since 1997. 

 

          This course is suitable both for complete beginners, and for those who have more knowledge and experience and wish to deepen their understanding of the fundamental principles.  Illustrative material will be drawn from dreams, fairy tales, and well-known literary classics.

 

Part 1:   A weekend  workshop containing 10-12 hours of teaching material.

Part 2:   A weekend  workshop containing 10-12 hours of teaching material.

 

 

                    Please click on Seminars  for further details.

 

 

 

 

W8     MAPPING THE COMPLEXES   (2 x 1 days)

          Conducting the Word Association Experiment

           

          Right at the beginning of his career, whilst Jung was still a disciple of Freud, he did pioneering work on the complexes and how they manifest in the unconscious.  This work was centred upon the famous ‘Word Association Experiment’ which he conducted with many of his patients.  The results were so astonishing that they formed the basis of many modern developments, including the polygraph or lie-detector.  

 

          Even today the administration of a Word Association Experiment forms a compulsory subject on the curriculum of the two Jung Institutes in Zurich. Many training candidates find that having to administer the test to a carefully selected subject dramatically increases their grasp of what complexes are, how they influence our everyday lives and those of our clients, and how they tend to keep us stuck in the same old familiar patterns.

 

          These specialist workshops are designed primarily for Jungian Analysts in training and aim to teach them all the procedures necessary for them to conduct a Word Association Experiment themselves.   A step-by-step manual and useful computer software will also be supplied.

 

 

 

 

W9     DREAMS AND BEREAVEMENT   (1 day)

          How the Power of Dreams Helps the Survivor to Move On  

 

‘My partner (recently deceased) came to me last night....

It wasn’t a dream, I knew  it was really him...’

 

          How do we react, and what do we say, when our client presents us with a statement like that?   This workshop is designed for therapists & counsellors who wish to study and extend their skills in working with dream material, with particular reference to working with the dreams of clients who are going through the process of bereavement.  

 

          The morning session will be spent exploring a structured way of working with dream material generally, and a brief review of the different stages of the bereavement process.  In the afternoon, we will study a series of dreams from a young woman in mourning.  The purpose of the afternoon session is to demonstrate how working with dream material can assist the therapist in the task of helping the client to negotiate the different bereavement stages.

 

 

 

 

W10   STUDYING THE DIONYSIAN ARCHETYPE   (2 days)

          The tension between two ways of being.’

                                                                                                                                                         

          Euripides’ famous play ‘The Bacchae’ is one of the most shocking and psychological of all the Greek dramas.   It enacts the time-old conflict between the reactionary forces which  uphold the status quo on the one hand, with the revolutionary forces which seek to destabilise and enable change to happen (symbolised by Dionysus) on the other hand.   This conflict is acted out in our inner psyches, at some level or another, every day of our lives. The warning is that if you fail to heed Dionysus when he comes calling, then he will drive you mad! 

 

          This workshop is conducted jointly by Matthew Harwood and his wife, Rosamund Barker, who is a trained actress and teacher of drama.   It is a highly interactive workshop involving formal presentations, watching and discussing two brief episodes from a modern film, and enacting episodes from the story.

 

          The workshop seeks to show how an understanding of Dionysus as an archetypal image helps to explain our inner psychological conflicts at a deeper level.  It provides us with a valuable metaphor for much that tends to be ignored, and repressed, within the psyche – at our cost!