The organising image for the workshop will be the delightful Persian poem The Conference of the Birds by the 12th century Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar. Henry Corbin, the French scholar of Islamic philosophy called it a “peak of mystical experience”. The central theme of the poem is the soul’s quest to unify with the divine. And the driving assumption underlying this workshop is that both therapist and the participant in therapy desire a soul connection: soul to soul.
To paraphrase Virginia Wolf (I substitute the reference to writer and reader to that of the therapy room):
The therapist must get in touch with her patient by putting before him something which he recognises, which therefore stimulates his imagination, and makes him willing to cooperate in the far more difficult business of intimacy.
Only a sense of self’ and a degree of confidence in this sense of self, can make intimacy possible. Indeed, it is the rough surface of self that intimacy can hold on to.
A certain objectivity of self is essential. It is the objectivity of inner experience that is celebrated in therapy. The work starts with the matters at hand. The tools then become, invitation, evocation, and elaboration. The spirit is poetic not literal, lyrical not conceptual.
Each person will deal with, or confront, the figures, the images as they appear in his or her experience. It matters little whether they derive from daily life, dreams, or daytime reveries. The starting point is unique to the individual: it is the psyche in action.
Dr. David Russell has a psychotherapy/psychology practice in Darlinghurst (Sydney CBD). In his therapeutic work his intention is to attend to the experiential nature of desire and compulsion as experienced in everyday life. David is a past president of the Sydney Jung Society and past Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at Western Sydney University.
Register and Pay For David's Workshop Here...
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Date: 16th June 2018
Time: 10:00am to 4:00pm
Venue: Level 1 Sydney Mechanics' School
of Arts, 280 Pitt St, Sydney
Cost: Members $120 Non-Members $180 Non-Member
Concession $140
*Psychotherapists and other practitioners can obtain credit for six Professional Development Hours recognised by PACFA and ACA for this workshop.
Refund Policy: If the event is cancelled by The Sydney Jung Society, a full refund will be made. If the purchaser cancels within 48 hours of the event, they will be entitled to a 90% refund.