Saturday March 15th, 9.30 - 4.30 pm at Phoenix Institute

15 Chatham Street, Prahran

Bernie Neville and Melissa Harte

present

Person-Centred Group Counselling

Group counselling is an important method of dealing with social-emotional problems in clients. There is evidence that desired changes often occur more readily in group counselling than in individual work, and are more enduring. Since we know that personality in large measure is socially acquired we can legitimately argue that it may be modified more readily in a social context.

Group counselling is not one-to-one counselling carried out in front of a group. Rather, it starts from the idea that processes occurring in face-to-face groups are distinctly different from those occurring in an individual person, or between an individual client and a counsellor. The emphasis is not just on the communication between client and counsellor; communication between all the group members is regarded as equally important therapeutically.
Within this general framework there are a number of different approaches to group counselling. Some focus on the dynamics on the group, group values, and the development of the group as a social organization. Others focus on the clarity of communication between members. Some invite members to 'tell their story'. Others focus entirely on the 'here and now' . This workshop will operate within the, person-centred framework as developed and described by Carl Rogers, on the working hypothesis that the therapeutic conditions - empathy, UPR, congruence - will provide the 'necessary and sufficient' environment for personal growth.

The workshop will take the form of an extended person-centred group counselling session, with occasional interruptions for theoretical input and discussion.

Bernie Neville is Associate Professor of Education at La Trobe University and has been involved in the pre-service and in service education of teachers since 1972. For several years he was chair of the Faculty Diploma in Education Committee and convenor of an experimental Diploma in Education program. He has researched and written extensively on the interpersonal aspects of teaching and learning and the application of counselling theory to the teaching-learning process.

Melissa Harte is currently undertaking Doctor of Counselling Psychology at La Trobe University. She is a passionate advocate for the Person-Centred approach of Process-Experiential Emotion-Focussed Therapy (PEEFT). Her research involves the investigation of in-therapy experiences and treatment effects for depressed young people (18-25) counselled with PEEFT. Melissa is also involved in PEEFT training, research, supervision and the organisation and delivery of professional development. Person-Centred Group process is a vital ingredient in all training and development. She is also involved in more general person-centred counselling training both at La Trobe University and Phoenix Institute. In addition, Melissa has her own private practice.

Saturday July 26th, 9.30 - 4.30 pm at Phoenix Institute

15 Chatham Street, Prahran

Stephen Andrew

presents

Music Alternatives for Counselling Experience

Course Details
The music therapy day will explore the use of sound in psychotherapy and personal development. Participants will be invited to discuss, write, draw, listen, move, theorise, vocalise and play with sounds of many varieties. We will spend time listening, humming, experimenting, harmonising, responding, imagining and immersing ourselves in sound. All activities will be linked to practical applications within psychotherapeutic processes. No musical 'expertise' required! The relationship between the Muse and the Psyche will be a touching point throughout the day.

Course Leader
Stephen Andrew is a musician, educator, psychologist and counsellor. His love of music encompasses live performance, writing and recording songs in his home studio, and cultivating an eclectic collection of recorded music. Stephen teaches counselling at La Trobe and Swinburne universities and coordinates the Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Human Services at La Trobe. His counselling practice has a humanistic/existential orientation working with the general community as well as those struggling with issues around problem gambling.

Saturday August 16th, 9.30 - 4.30 pm

142 Middleborough Road, Blackburn South    NOTE DIFFERENT VENUE

Keith Hulstaert

presents

Energy Psychology: As a brief counselling approach and a tool for personal development

Energy Psychology has been around for over 20 years. The first clinical trials were conducted by Joaquin Andrade, M.D. over a fourteen year period. His trials involved over 29,000 patients and produced a 90% success rate in reducing anxiety as tested over a twelve month period. One year after treatment there was less likelihood of relapse or partial relapse than other methods (including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) that were employed in the trials.

Course Details

This energy psychology workshop will be experiential and will explore the principles of energy psychology in reducing the effects of past trauma, phobias and other experiences that result in negative emotional intensity. It is aimed at enhancing the process of personal development, professional skills, and clinical application.

Outcomes
At the conclusion of this workshop it is expected that you will be confident in using energy psychology techniques on yourself and others for the resolution of negative emotional disturbances.

Who Should Attend?
Whilst the focus of this workshop is for Counselling Professionals, anyone with an interest in the field of energy psychology, personal development and self improvement would be welcome. If you know anyone who would benefit from attending, recommend them to the workshop or, bring them along with you.

Preparation
You will get the most out of this workshop if you come prepared and well rested, with a commitment to participate, and a resolve to heal some of your own emotional issues. Wear comfortable clothing, bring a pen, a notebook if you wish and a workbook will be provided. We will commence promptly at 9:30am so arrive anytime after 9:00am so that you can register, meet fellow participants and settle in.

About the Presenter
Keith Hulstaert is a Holistic Counsellor, Emotional Freedom Techniques Practitioner and a Licensed Heartmath Provider who lives in Melbourne. He has a part time counselling practice as well as being the Human Resources Manager for Australia’s largest privately owned photographic retailer. He has a strong teaching interest in Energy Psychology and Meditation and has taken courses for professionals, counselling students and the general public in these areas.

Contact
If you need to contact Keith on the day or prior to the event for any reason you can call him on his mobile on 0409 546 549 or you can email him at keith@secretpath.com.au or checkout the website at www.secretpath.com.au

NOTE: There are no convenient eateries close to the venue so attendees are requested to bring a plate to share for lunch (vegetarian preferred), kitchen facilities are available. Morning and afternoon tea will be provided.

Saturday September 27th, 9.30 - 4.30 at Phoenix Institute

15 Chatham Street, Prahran

Judith Ayre

presents

Sandplay

This one day experiential professional development in Sandplay will equip practitioners with practical techniques to use with adults in a therapeutic context.

The workshop will cover:

• setting up your own Sandplay collection, including suggestions of categories of figures to include,
• interpretations of certain key figurines,
• discussion on myths and fairy stories as relevant to practice, and
• how to incorporate these into Sandplay work.

The workshop will incorporate a mixture of:

• practical demonstration;
• explanation of the technique, including key phrases;
• group discussion; and
• the opportunity to practice newly acquired skills.

This day is a great continuation of study for those who have an interest in Sandplay.

Judith Ayre is a counsellor and psychotherapist who works holistically within a Transpersonal and soul-centred framework. She uses experiential and arts-based practical processes with couples and families, as well as individuals. Judith studied with Loving Relationship Training International in the 1980's and continues to work within the consciousness movement. Judith is a member of the Australian Counselling Association, the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Association of Victoria, the Victorian Association of Holistic and Transpersonal Counsellors and the Society of Counselling and Psychotherapy Educators. She is on the Individual Register of the Psychotherapists and Counsellors Federation of Australia. Judith also teaches at the Phoenix Institute and La Trobe University.

Saturday October 4th, 9.30 - 4.30 pm at the

Institute of Heart Intelligence

172 Noone Street, Clifton Hill

Bernard Mooney

presents

Hypnotherapy and the Person-Centred Approach

Course Details
This workshop will be an exploration of healing through hypnotherapy, and the compatibility of hypnotherapy and the person centred approach.

Why might hypnotherapy be healing? I believe that western medicine does not acknowledge the extent of psychosomatic factors in what are seen as physical illnesses, such as cancer. This means, in effect, that our self-healing powers are inhibited. For me, it follows that the ‘talking cure’ in all its forms, can help sufferers to acknowledge psychosomatic forces within their lives, and their battle with disease, and turn the balance in favour of their continued existence. Hypnotherapy seems to be able, more directly, to be effective in this respect.

I value the person-centred approach as a philosophy for life, and a model for counselling. As a therapist I don’t want to be directive, but hypnotherapy involves some directiveness, and I want to minimise this. Person-centred counselling is not generally considered as a therapeutic approach for those with physical illnesses. I want the person-centred approach to be valuable in this respect. Integration of the two modalities is my dilemma.

We shall look at the theory and practice of hypnosis and hypnotherapy – including Suggestion, Regression, and Self-Hypnosis – and I will cover the principles of the person-centred therapy, followed by an exploration of how hypnotherapy and the person-centered approach can be integrated.

There will be an opportunity to participate in group hypnosis, followed by discussion of the experience.

[Reference: HYPNOSIS AND COUNSELLING IN THE TREATMENT OF CANCER AND OTHER CHRONIC ILLNESS. Frank, D. and Mooney, B. 2002/2007. Softback ISBN: 978-1845900809]

Course Leader
Bernard Mooney started full time work as a laboratory assistant at age 15, and trained as an organic pharmaceutical chemist and electro-analytical chemist (Polarographer).

He became a tutor at the University of East London (UEL) in the Science department and later also in the School for Independent Study (SIS), where students wrote their own course syllabi.

Bernard went on to train as a person-centred counsellor with the Person-Centred Approach Institute (GB) in the eighties, and then as a hypnotherapist under David Frank in the nineties. He has taught counselling in Higher and Further Education.

Presently Bernard runs a small private practice as a hypnotherapist and person-centred counsellor and as a group facilitator. He is an organiser for the Person Centred Approach Network (PCAN), which runs unfacilitated person-centred encounter group residential weekends.

He is a founder member of the British Association for the Person Centred Approach (BAPCA) and was an organiser of the first two BAPCA Conferences, in Durham and Loughborough. He has served on the executive committee of BAPCA for 16 years.

Bernard is passionately enthusiastic about the person-centred approach, hypnotherapy and student-centred learning.

Saturday November 1st, 9.30 - 4.30 pm at the

Institute of Heart Intelligence

172 Noone Street, Clifton Hill

Bernie Neville

presents

Counselling Masterclass

Three counsellors with three different backgrounds using a variety of approaches will, in turn counsel one voluntary client. Opportunity will be provided at both the end of each counselling session and all three counselling sessions for audience discussion.

NOTE: Doors close at 9.30 and will not re-open until a natural break in the workshop.

Bernie Neville is an Associate Professor of Education at La Trobe University, Melbourne. He has worked at all levels of education for many years. He has a particular interest in teacher education and professional development.

Participating Counsellors

Fiona Hall ran a private psychotherapy and supervision practice for 15 years in Cambridge, England, and moved to Canberra in 2004. She is into her second year as President of CAPA CAR (the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Association Canberra and Region.) She comes from a social service background, where she worked with families, communities and as a counsellor and researcher. Her interests more recently have been in education and improving the environment for counsellors and psychotherapists. She contributed to the consultative process for the development of the accreditation process of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, as a senior registered practitioner. She has three daughters who are home educated and balances her life by rock climbing and drawing.

Warren Lett works as a counsellor in private practice, as a consultant to organisations and as the Director of MIECAT (Melbourne Institute for Experiential & Creative Arts Therapy). His professional interests include the way prereflective-reflective and variemodal experiencing leads to an understanding of the meanings of lived experience. He is currently developing an inquiry into the emotional patterns that inform therapeutic work with relationships and ways of investigating subjectivity.

David Frank is a clinical hypnotherapist who employs hypnosis within a person-centred framework. He is a published author whose ten years experience of lecturing and counselling have seen him at further education colleges, medical centers, and general practitioner surgeries. He is a full member of The British Association for the Person Centered Approach to Counselling and Education, and The British Society for Clinical Hypnosis.

David's published work, co-authored with Bernard Mooney, includes "Hypnosis and Counselling in the Treatment of Cancer and other Chronic Illness", re-published in 2007.

David now lives and works in Melbourne having recently moved here from the UK.

Saturday November 8th, 9.30 - 4.30 at Phoenix Institute

15 Chatham Street, Prahran

Jane Hall

presents

The Healers Journey

This one-day workshop will present themes from the Healers Journey Program. Participants will be able explore and apply the wisdom of the wounded-healer archetype to their life and practice as a holistic and transpersonal counsellor.

The workshop will include an overview of the journey to healing; connecting to the call to healing; exploring what the wounds can reveal of their own resolution; understanding your profession using the wounded - healer archetype; identifying the consequences of not taking the journey to healing and mapping a healing journey.

Inviting the wounded-healer archetype into conscious action in the life of a therapist can be a profound and enriching experience.

Jane Hall is founding director of Healing Dimensions, which offers personal consultations plus education and training in healing therapies, and life dimensions coaching. The focus of Healing Dimensions is holistic and multidimensional. Jane Hall has a background in mainstream health care and university based tertiary education. She has studied a wide variety of healing modalities and has written extensively in the areas of healing, personal/professional development and spirituality.

Jane completed her Masters degree in education at La Trobe University with a thesis on the archetype of the wounded healer, since then she has developed the "Healers Journey" which is a program designed to assist those in the caring professions access the wisdom and guidance contained in this core archetype.

Saturday December 6th, 9.30 - 4.30 pm at Phoenix Institute

15 Chatham Street, Prahran

Judith Ayre

presents

Breathwork


Details: The day will explore both the 'Holotropic' breathwork style developed by psychiatrist Stanislav Grof, and the 'rebirthing' breathwork developed by Leonard Orr and Sondra Ray.
The theoretical orientation of both styles will be described. The Grof model is more academic and complex while the Orr/Ray model is more New Age and tends to be based on Eastern philosophy. In terms of the actual practice of breathing however there is little difference between them.

Both breathwork styles use consciously controlled 'connected breathing', though the Orr/Ray style user a gentler breathing process. These will be explained and participants will be free to choose whichever suits them.
Both use a partner or 'sitter' who helps facilitate the process for the person doing the 'breathe'. The Grof style uses evocative music and the counsellor/sitter may apply gentle pressure to the body in places where resistance may be present. This is similar to the somatic psychotherapy known as "Hakomi".
Each workshop participant will have the opportunity to have a complete 'breathe' and be a 'sitter'.

In preparation for the day, attendees should:

• Have a light breakfast and plan for a light lunch,
• Wear loose fitting clothes,
• Endeavour to stay well hydrated.

What you need to bring:
The breathe is carried out lying on the floor, and typically during a breathe the body begins to feel cold. Therefore, for your comfort, attendees collectively need to bring mats, foam mattress or cushions and a pillow to lie on, and warm blankets or doonas.

Judith Ayre is a counsellor and psychotherapist who works holistically within a Transpersonal and soul-centred framework. She uses experiential and arts-based practical processes with couples and families, as well as individuals.? Judith studied with Loving Relationship Training International in the 1980's and continues to work within the consciousness movement. Judith is a member of the Australian Counselling Association, the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Association of Victoria, the Victorian Association of Holistic and Transpersonal Counsellors and the Society of Counselling and Psychotherapy Educators. She is on the Individual Register of the Psychotherapists and Counsellors Federation of Australia. Judith also teaches at the Phoenix Institute and La Trobe University.
Judith has studied breathwork with both Stanislav Grof and Sondra Ray and has been practising breathwork for 17 years.