Autumn School of Psychodrama, 2, 3 & 4 May 2014

Melbourne, Australia 2, 3 & 4 May 2014

The focus of this particular school is on the philosophy, theory and application of the Morenian psychodrama method.  Sessions are conducted by practitioners and advanced trainees who apply their art in a variety of fields.  We will be working in small and large groups commencing with a sociometric warm up and activities on the Friday evening.  The essential element of the psychodrama method is to be in the ‘here and now’, present with self and other.  The ability to express ourselves adequately in work and life involves accessing a range of roles, which in turn require spontaneity and creativity.  Thinking, feeling and action, psychodrama involves the whole person.  This Autumn School is designed for trainees of psychodrama and other professional people working in health, education, organisations and pastoral care.

There will be two concurrent sessions running twice or four times per day in either a small or large group.  It is essential that participants are able to attend on the Friday evening as this event significantly sets the scene for the next two days.  Presenters include: Sue Daniel, Lethe (Eriha) Gaskin & Katrina Gaskin, Helen Fryer, Jil Toovey, Sharni Page-Cameron, John De Bono, Marie Watt and Danielle Forer.

Friday 2 May, Registration at 6 pm, gather at 7 pm for 7.30 -10.30 pm

Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 May, 9 am - 6 pm

Venue: The Psychodrama Institue of Melbourne
155 Langridge St
Collingwood

Fees: $250.00 ($200.00 MPS members) Deposit $50 due Friday 18 April

A One-day fee includes the essential Friday evening session: $150 ($100 MPS members)

BYO lunch.  Morning and afternoon teas, freshly brewed coffee, juice and a selection of fine teas are included.  For a brochure contact the Administrator: 0410 536 791 or pim@netspace.net.au

Keran Howe invites you to the event "Real Women Showcase", Monday 3 March 2014

Real Women Showcase

Presented by Simone Flanagan in collaboration with Women with Disabilities Victoria as part of the Queen Victoria Centre's International Women's Day Festival Hub Events.

Woman noun

the female human being (distinguished from man)

Disability noun

the interaction between impairments and environmental, attitudinal, and social barriers.

Artist noun

a person who creates or performs as a profession or hobby.

Celebrating the unique and diverse art created by women with disabilities and showcasing their role as cultural innovators.

 A selection of short vignettes, spoken word, comedy and musical performances.

Featuring performances by:

Stella Young, Eva Sifis, Jax Jacki Brown, Emma J Hawkins, Zhen Chew, Anna Seymour, Heidi Everett and more.

The performance will run for approximately 70 minutes.  There will be a pop up bar onsite operating before and after the performance.

When: 6:00pm (for a 6:30pm start) Monday 3 March

Where: The Victoria Room, Queen Victoria Womens Centre 210 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Tickets: $15/$10

Bookings:  http://tinyurl.com/realwomeniwd or at the door if still available.

Venue is wheelchair accessible and the showcase will be Auslan interpreted and Audio Described.

Please advise of any access requirements at time of booking.

If you are having trouble booking, would like more information or would like to volunteer on the night, please contact: simoneflanagan@gmail.com

Opening Night of PIM, Friday 28 February 2014

A warm Welcome to MPS Members, PIM trainees, practitioners and Interested folk,

 Hi,

A new year is like a new page in your school book, the blank pages beckoning for new and creative endeavours, scribbles, pictures and new learning.  I remember the plastic map of Australia, with which I could copy the outline and put in all the states and their floral emblems.  I remember the new wooden ruler and coloured pencils and paintbox.  What a world of imagination these things inspired!  Only to start...  With this in mind, I am writing to invite you to the Opening of our Institute for 2014.  This event is for those interested in the psychodrama method as well as our trainees and practitioners.  It is being held on Friday, 28 February 2014.  We will gather from 7 p.m for a 7.30 p.m start and conclude at 10.30 p.m. Light refreshments are included.  If you are driving, it’s probably a good idea to come a little earlier to find a parking spot, either in Langridge Street, Hoddle Street or the surrounding side streets of Islington and Cromwell. 

RSVP required by Thursday, 27 February 2014.

With best wishes,

Sue Daniel

1st Reading Group for 2014, Friday lunchtime (1 hour) 12.45 - 1.45 pm

 Moderator: Sue Daniel

 Excerpt from "Who Shall Survive" for discussion...

Moreno wrote in the Preludes to his opus, “Who Shall Survive?”

“The advent of sociometry cannot be understood without appraising my presociometric background and the historic-ideological setting in the Western world, during and after the First World War. Marxism and psychoanalysis, the two opposites, each had spent their theoretic bolt, the one with Nikolai Lenin's "State and Revolution" (1917), the other with Sigmund Freud's "Civilization and Its Discontents" (1929).  The two opposites had one thing in common: they both rejected religion, they both disavowed the idea of a community which is based on spontaneous love, unselfishness and sainthood, on positive goodness and naive cooperativeness.  I took a position contradictory to both, the side of positive religion. The fact that Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism and other religions of the past have had limited success did not prove that the concept of religion itself had failed.  My contention was that religion should be tried again, a religion of a new sort, its inspirations modified and its techniques improved by the insights which science has given us-and by no means excluding some of the insights which Marxism and psychoanalysis have brought forth.

My position was threefold: 

first, the hypothesis of spontaneity-creativity as a propelling force in human progress, beyond and independent from libido and socio-economic motives - which does not deny the fact that they are frequently interwoven, but which does deny the contention that they are merely a function and a derivative; 

second, the hypothesis of having faith in our fellowmen's intentions, outside of obedience resulting from physical and legalistic coercion, the hypothesis of love and mutual sharing as a powerful, indispensable working principle in group life; 

and third, the hypothesis of a superdynamic community based upon these principles which can be brought to realization through newer techniques.  

It may be said that I tried to do through sociometry what "religion without science" has failed to accomplish in the past and what "science without religion" has failed to accomplish in Soviet Russia.

All the cultural and social techniques, which I developed in the course of years, have been motivated to serve this purpose. This position was expressed first in the creation of a religious group with the friend of my youth, Chaim Kellmer, and was later reported in my Philosophy of the Here and Now (1918) and the Words of the Father (Das Testament des Voters, 1920). The total misunderstanding of my original position which I have never abandoned, and its disregard in many religious as well as scientific circles has not hindered me in continuing to develop the technical innovations which, I hoped, were gradually to establish this new world.  It is curious and it may require some explanation that it is these techniques which made sociometry famous and which have been universally accepted, whereas its underlying philosophy of life has been relegated to the dark corners of library shelves or entirely pushed aside.”

Sue's focus for this discussion is on the paragraph in blue (her editing) where Moreno puts forward three hypotheses.  What do you understand by these hypotheses?

Where is the Lunchtime Reading Group being held?  PIM at 155 Langridge St, Collingwood

Cost: $10.00 donation toward resourcing the 'Zerka T. Moreno' library at PIM.

Tea and freshly brewed coffee provided.  Please bring your own lunch.

Enquiries: Text Sue on 0417 586 791

Personal Development for Professionals with Sue Daniel

Sue is beginning a four week summer course, 31 January to 21 February on Friday afternoons at PIM from 2 - 5.
www.psychodrama-institute-melbourne.com

Mindfulness with Jenny Clifton

Jenny Clifton, psychologist and psychodramatist is co- facilitating a course with her colleague Wendy Paulusz starting February 17 at PIM in Collingwood on a Monday night.

The 8-Week ( 28 hours of training) Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course developed by Dr Jon Kabat- Zinn at the Centre for Mindfulness (CFM) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, has been taught around the world for the past 30 years. As you may be aware this extensively researched program has been shown to help:

• manage stress

• develop greater body awareness,

• better manage difficult thoughts and feelings and

• enhance concentration, relationships and well being.

Jenny is a Counselling Psychologist and the creator of the Six Step Mindfulness for Life program. She is a Mindfulness-Based-Stress- Reduction teacher who has authored and delivered group mindfulness programs for the past five years in organizational and private practice settings. Jenny uses mindfulness meditation in her 1 on 1 counselling work with clientsand has had a daily meditation practice for 20 years.

Wendy is a specialist educator, researcher and ontological coach with over 25 years experience teaching and coaching diverse groups of people in a variety of settings. She is a trained MBSR facilitator who fully utilises the benefits of MBSR in her daily mindfulness meditation practice as she juggles the demands of work and family life

The course is a mix of didactic and experiential learning.  It includes amongst other things doing meditation practices followed by discussion of the practices (in pairs or small groups) and some body awareness exercises including some gentle yoga postures.  Its suitable for beginners and more experienced meditators.  The cost is $490 which includes a 100 page manual and 4 CD's with all the practices on it.  Concession price is available.  Please refer to Flyer attached or visit website below.

Jenny Clifton (MAPS)
Tel 0412 025 375
Counselling Psychologist
Mindfulness Consultant
www.mindfulnessmelbourne.com

Happy Christmas to All

Anchoring Hope in the World from India: A Sociodrama.

In response to Monica Zuretti's invitation to all Psychodramatists honoring Zerka Moreno and J L Moreno's ideas for mankind.

On the 21st of December 2013 at 11 am fifteen people created a sociodrama on anchoring hope in the world in New Delhi, India. I led the group of eight women and seven men.  The group members were new to psychodrama and did not know each other prior to the commencement of the workshop at 9.30 am.  I began with some warm up activities and then presented the idea of each individual being at the centre of their world.  We created a sociodrama whereby one person represented an individual in the centre of the room who was then encircled by family and friends.  Around these was another circle representing country or nation then a final outer circle representing the world with the outer reaches of space, the universe flowing evermore.

Beginning with the individual all expressed what they hoped for:

Individual: to know the world, be known and loved by the world, unity and peace in the world and no boundaries.

The Family and Friends: individual voices are heard; we need to hear them, love and affection all over the world, love, respect and peace for people in families, society, nation and the world.

The Nation/Country: respect females in India, respect womanhood and women, the government shouldn't focus on stupid issues, which create crime (and these were named) but to focus on real causes, to make our society peaceful and respectful, the greatest drug is religion and money.

The whole world reacted when the nation expressed their views and I had to insist that one person speak at a time.  There was a great deal of diversity and dissent until everyone realised they would be better off asking what the person meant by "stupid issues" instead of reacting.  It was wonderful to hear such strong viewpoints emerging and to see how much people cared about gay issues and women's safety and a host of other things. As people disagreed we could see the diversity in the group.  In the end though, all were talking about the same thing.  What was needed was the role of "naive enquirer" and once this role was enacted order was restored.

The Nation: the individual needs to give back to the nation, respect for individuals however different they are and we can then peacefully co-exist, immediately take down the poster depicting Morgan Freeman as Mandela and put the real person up, AAP party to come into power, with Arvind Kejrawal as Prime Minister.

The World: free flow of technology transfer from the top to the bottom, medicine for the poor, distribution of resources, education for all, energise a unified grid of love and light that connects every living being that imparts dignity and respect to every living being, balance, (the room became very quiet as this was expressed) peace and harmony, intelligent debate, diversity, respecting, understanding, learning from this diversity universally (again the room became very quiet), honest attempt at unconditional love which is difficult to give, if there is light in the soul there is peace in the person and harmony in the family, order in the nation and then there is peace in the world.

I asked everyone to look at where they were now standing and at each other.  Someone said, we are all joined together now.  It's like a tree with branches.  We created the tree:

First were the roots on the ground, the trunk, the branches, the twigs, the leaves, fruit and flowers.  The group members created this vibrant scene and spoke from the role they had taken. In order for this to grow, water was needed.  Someone said the seed was missing and then the sun.  These had been omitted.  From this picture, we expressed that it was important to ground our ideals, take practical steps and with roots to cling to, we could have wings to fly.  Individual choice was important, listening to people was necessary.  Someone stated that with all of these the power of love will be stronger than the love of power.  With this, the sociodrama of anchoring peace in the world was completed at 12.15pm.

I can share that from this activity our group continued over two days full of diversity, understanding, listening and respect for self and other.

Namaste.

Sue Daniel

New Delhi, India

"PIECES OF EIGHT" by Lorraine Michael

Lorraine Michael announces the publication of her first book.  If you're interested in purchasing a copy ($20) contact Lorraine on 0401 445 862 or email: lorrainem.books@gmail.com

 ___________________________

‘Pieces of Eight: Stories of Encounter and Tele’ is a collection of tales of allure and intrigue from the author’s work in psychotherapy within acute psychiatry. The phrase, ‘Pieces of Eight’, used to refer to the most famous of all forms of pirate coins of treasure is chosen to depict the treasure trove of people, lives and stories – rich, precious, sacred and exquisite! Written in a dramatic, literary story-telling manner, the author demonstrates in living colour the premise of the ‘I-I’ mutual relationship and brings alive and to life the human being who is in the forefront of the work together. In this, she invites us all to examine how we relate to our own existence as well as the existence of others and how we honour, celebrate and restore humanity in each other. 

From Helen Baker: The Spirit of Abundance

The Spirit of Abundance

This story began its life as a future projection drama at a psychodrama weekend; where I spoke of my plans for the therapy centre of my future. This centre is in a small gold mining town in Central Victoria and is located in a three-bedroom miners cottage. The cottage is   renovated to include a large open space group room, I told the audience. This is the space where I will run psychodrama groups; offer art therapy and also 1:1 counselling.  I will also have available a room for a massage therapist to rent.  I set the scene beautifully, as I lay out cushions to represent the floor plan, discussed the name chosen for the group room and also what artwork I have for the walls. The scene setting showed everyone in the audience that this place has been so lovingly created over a number of years. 

The director asked a question this day.  What does the spirit of your centre look like? This question, in that moment seemed straight forward and an easy question to answer. However it is a question, which I didn’t realise at the time, would have such a deep impact upon my future and me. ‘She is a spirit of abundance’ She is a new spirit. She resides in the new section, I arrogantly responded. For me it was all about the new purpose of this building, the addition of the new space and the creative possibilities to come.

This day at psychodrama, I neglected to recognise that the spirit did not need to dwell in the building but could be the ‘spirit of the place’. And when such arrogance and certainty is present then there is always a lesson to be learned. This lesson was served to me on ANZAC day this year.   I arrived at the house to be greeted by ‘the spirit of the place’, on this cold sunny morning after the town ANZAC day parade; I instantly recognised what I had failed to see before, that the abundant spirit of my therapy centre is a big old beautiful apple tree in the yard.

It is a majestic tree which has stood the test of time. It has survived droughts, floods, long hot summers, a mini tornado and current tenants who barely notice it or give it any care. They do not see the tree as I do, as a unique and ever present, yet ever changing part of this house and its surrounds.  Also that it is a significant part of it’s future.

This ‘abundant spirit’ is old and wise. She has many limbs, which branch out. She gives comfort on a hot day to those who sit under her canopy. She gives sustenance from the fruit she bears. Her aged trunk shows strength. She remains dormant for many months then springs to life, showing her resilience; retreating again at the end of the season in order to renew and invigorate herself for when the time and season is right to spring to life again.  

The ‘spirit of my therapy centre’ is ever growing, ever changing and she will be nurtured, honoured and celebrated. I am very grateful that I was asked ‘what does the spirit of your centre look like?’, and that I was finally able to recognise the ‘spirit of the place’ many, many months later on this crisp autumn morning.  She certainly is a ‘spirit of abundance’.

Christmas Party after Theatre of Spontaneity on Sunday 24 November 2013