The Alchemy of Initiation, Transition and Transformation

"The journey of 10,000 miles begins with one step".  -- Ancient Taoist proverb

All of life's conflicts can be described as a struggle between letting go or holding on, opening to the present or clinging to the past, expansion or contraction. Life's journey is a series of challenges that confront the self with difficult yet highly purposeful choices. The Ego clings to the "familiar" long after the nourishment has run dry. At this point, we face our deepest fears --and truths. Our matriculation through the mystery of life asks that our soul awaken, take courage, and choose a more passionate life.

When we enter into the essence of our true nature and heed its call, we undergo a death/rebirth of the self. We journey into the unconscious to de-structure the Ego and reemerge with a freer self and life path. This encounter with our underworld guides us toward our inner fire for a more creative and soulful way of living in the unknown. Referred to as the Hero's Journey, this is the ancient initiatory process of transition and self-transformation.

This workshop is for those seeking to ignite the flame of creative change. You will have the opportunity to deeply explore your pattern of holding on, of not moving forward with your life's calling. The workshop will use the healing power of the circle, Gestalt Practice, trance work, principles of self and Buddhist psychology, meditation, mind-body healing practices, and deep music to begin the initiation into the sacred rites of passage. This course may be especially useful for those in the helping professions seeking new skills.

CEU'S available for Ph.D., MFT, MSW, and Nurses

The Alchemy of Creativity and Passion: Mindfulness Meditation & Ericksonian Trance States - Complete Description

All of life’s conflicts can be described as a struggle between letting go or holding on, opening to the present or clinging to the past. Life’s journey is a series of challenges that confront the self with difficult yet highly purposeful choices, that ask our soul to awaken, take courage and choose a more passionate life.

This workshop is for those seeking to ignite the flame of creative change. We will explore our own patterns of holding on, of not moving forward with life’s calling. We will use the healing power of the circle, Gestalt Practice, trance -work, principles of self and Buddhist psychology, meditation, mind-body healing practices, and music to break free from the past in order to become more conscious and creative in the present.

Our goals are to enhance self-esteem and vitality, access your creative unconscious and develop a cohesive personal vision. The processes can facilitate the healing of pain, fear grief and loss, enabling you to let go and find healthier pathways for living, loving working and creating. You will leave this workshop with a cohesive sense of vision, purpose and insight.

This course may be especially useful for those in the helping professions seeking new skills.

CEU'S available for Ph.D., MFT, MSW, and Nurses

The Art of Leadership and Coaching: Communication, Creativity and Vision - Complete Description

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities while in the expert's mind there are few". --Suzuki

This workshop is for individuals interested in exploring an intensive experiential process to become more effective leaders both in personal and professional life settings. Designed for entrepreneurs, executives, managers, and others committed to improving their communication and leadership skills, it is especially intended for those open to doing deep personal work to transform the self. The major areas of focus will be: resolving conflict, developing trust with those who feel threatened, addressing blind spots in self-esteem, healing blocks in creativity, and building support for transforming vision into reality.

The workshop includes Gestalt open seatwork, sharing feedback on leadership and communication styles, improving coaching skills, developing the unconscious to creatively solve problems and role-playing exercises for real-life work situations.

This workshop may have up to 35 participants.

Recommended reading: Ronald Alexander, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss and Change (New Harbinger Publications); Heider, John, The Tao of Leadership; Bennis, W. On Becoming A Leader; Goss, Tracy, The Last Word on Power; Crum,Tom, The Magic of Conflict: Turning a Life of Work into a Work of Art.

CE credit for MFT's, MSW's and Nurses

Mindfulness-Based Integrative Mind-Body Therapies (Modules 1, 2, 3, 4) A Clinical Training Program for Professionals, Students & Trainees - Complete Description

Recent advances in somatic and integral psychotherapy and neurobiology, and the integration of Eastern wisdom traditions and other mind-body healing therapies into modern psychological practice, have revolutionized current thinking about the resolution of trauma, painful patterns of thought and destructive emotions. A new view is emerging which views symptoms of suffering as the body's wisdom pathways for creating communication between the unconscious and the aware self for promoting somatic re-learning, healing and transformation.

This cutting-edge program provides a rare opportunity for sustained education in somatic psychology. It will be taught by psychotherapist Ronald Alexander, a renowned pioneer in mind-body therapies who leads professional trainings and clinical supervision groups in Gestalt therapy, Ericksonian hypnosis and other integrated modalities throughout the world and is a long-time teacher of meditation and Buddhist psychology.

The training will include direct experience, clinical demonstrations, practicum, theory and the teaching of clinical skills to support practitioners to become more creative and resourceful when treating body symptoms, trauma, pain, and mood and somatic disorders. Skills to help practitioners navigate complex issues, such as transference and counter transference will also be taught. The modalities we will use for developing clinical skills and deepening our own healing process will include: body-centered psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy, relational psychoanalytic approaches, Buddhist psychology, mindfulness-based practices, non-dual meditation and other mind-body healing methods for accessing the somatic "core-self."

We will place special emphasis on the rapid treatment of trauma and psychosomatic disorders with Ericksonian hypnosis and somatic psychotherapy, highly effective techniques that understand the importance of the symptom as a pathway to inner healing. We will learn to use the symptom to access the unconscious and its healing inner resources with hypnotic trance, storytelling and metaphor as well as the use of framing and re-framing.

This training program is open to all psychologists, psychotherapists and healthcare professionals as well as those individuals involved in education, the healing arts, holistic health, psychology and behavioral medical approaches. It will continue over a period of one year in four three-day workshops (modules). Each module can be taken standing alone or as part of the whole program, ultimately leading to a certificate in Clinical Training in Mind-Body Healing Therapies.

Recommended reading: Ronald Alexander, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss and Change (New Harbinger Publications). Other reading recommendations will be advised at time of registration.

THE FOUR MODULES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Module #1. The Future of the Body; Ericksonian Hypnosis; Somatic Psychotherapies; The Skillful Intervention
Ericksonian mind-body and somatic therapeutic methods to activate creative unconscious healing; utilizing the symptom to access the unconscious; the body as the vessel of awakened intelligence; using storytelling, healing metaphors, and rapid trance induction for the immediate reorganization of somatic-affective experience.

Module #4. Navigating the Therapeutic Relationship: Transference, Counter-Transference, Projective Identification and The Core Self
[Not Active in 2007]
Navigating the complex issues of transference, counter-transference and projective identification in the healing relationship; boundaries and working with the body as a sacred vessel and healing space (a somatic relational perspective); experiencing spontaneity, trust, comfort, aliveness and joy as a core sense of well-being within the somatic core self; accessing the resources found in the somatic core self for the healing of pain, trauma and other forms of suffering; facilitating the creation of healthier pathways for new learning connected to living, loving, working and relating.

The Core Self: Resources for Transforming Emotions - Complete Description

Within the Core Self reside the resources needed for personal healing: spontaneity, trust, creativity, curiosity, innocence, and joy. These resources are accessible to everyone. This workshop is designed to assist you in accessing the resources of the Core Self and to provide new skills in the mind/body healing process.

The workshop includes: cultivating a friendly relationship with your unconscious; healing body/mind patterns; and resolving in completions from the past in order to become more conscious and creative in the present moment. This process can bring about the healing of pain, fear, grief, and loss, enabling the creation of healthier pathways for living, loving, working, and relating and promoting a core sense of well being.

The goals of this work are enhancement of self-esteem and vitality, accessing your creative unconscious, freedom from limiting beliefs and self-images, more effective communication, self-activation and the development of a cohesive personal vision. The tools will include Gestalt Practice, Self-psychology, Insight meditation, breath and trance work, dream interpretation, music, group process and immersion into possibility.

This workshop is appropriate for anyone, from interested lay people to health professionals.

Recommended reading: Ronald Alexander, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss and Change (New Harbinger Publications); Kornfield, J, A Path with Heart; Rossi, E. The Psychobiology of MindBody Healing; Polster, E&M, Gestalt Therapy Integrated; Schutz, W. Profound Simplicity,

CEU'S available for Ph.D., MFT, MSW, and Nurses

Mind, Mood and Happiness: Transforming the Self - Complete Description

People can learn to grow, to change their thinking and behavior in ways that enhance happiness and well-being. Studies in the fields of health psychology and learned optimism confirm this. For 2500 years, the wisdom teachings of the East have utilized what their texts refer to as "skillful methods" for the study and transformation of the mind/body. These meditation and visualization practices help to cultivate self-regulation through awareness, concentration, mindfulness, and other attention skills, leading to clarity of mind, spaciousness of self, and greater compassion.

Using techniques from modern psychology and Tibetan Buddhism along with non-dual teachings (Advaita-Vedic), participants will be taught skills to calm the mind, regulate affect states, develop trust with the unconscious, and to explore inner resources for activating creativity, vitality, and a sense of well being. Methods include:

• Developing skills for accessing the resources of the core self
• Utilization of the unconscious for activating internal healing resources
• Gestalt Therapy practice and Self Psychology for amplification and release of affect (feeling states) and the process of learning to transform emotions through somatic breathing methods.
• Meditation (insight, Tibetan, and non-dual) and psychological skills to deepen concentration, promote insight, and develop presence.
• Exploration of natural mind-body healing rhythms (yogic and somatic breathing methods). 
• Buddhist psychological methods for dealing with unpleasant or painful 'afflictive' states of mind.
• The use of Antidote remedies for self-healing.
• Discussion of mind, self, dissatisfaction, and happiness from both Western Self-psychology and Buddhist psychology perspectives.
• Practices that promote Metta (loving-kindness), Self Compassion, and inner healing.

Methods will include meditation, gestalt therapy practice, self-psychology, breathing practices and other mind-body healing methods for transforming emotions.

CEU'S available for Ph.D., MFT, MSW, and Nurses

Mindful Zen and The Art of Meditation - Complete Description

For 2,500 years, the wisdom teachings of the east through Buddhist and Vedic meditation practices have developed what is referred to as 'skillful methods' for study and transformation of the mind-body process. These meditation and visualization practices help to cultivate self-regulation through awareness training-developing concentration, mindfulness and other attention skills, lead to promoting clarity of mind, spaciousness of self and compassion, will be explored.

Using techniques from today's self and health psychologies and Tibetan Buddhist schools as well as the non dual teachings (Advaita-Vedic) approach, participants will be shown how to acquire skills to calm the mind, regulate affect states, especially to learn to manage mood fluctuation and anxiety, develop trust with their unconscious and to explore inner resources for activating creativity, vitality and a core sense of well-being in the mind-body process.

People who are described as 'centered,' 'creative' and 'pragmatically optimistic' can generate a vitality and enthusiasm that inspires others to grow and change toward leading creative, productive, healthy and visionary lives.

Methods Include:

• Meditation and psychological skills to deepen concentration, promote insight and presence to activate physiological and psychological well being and promote deep inner strength and balance of mind-body (mediation practices for cultivating the witnessing observer), one pointed focus. The Big View, Wisdom (Rigpa) and Freedom, methods will include teachings and practice from Insight meditation, Tibetan (Dzchogen) and the Non Dual teachings.
• Skills for exploring your natural mind-body healing rhythms (the practices of yogic and somatic breathing methods for pacing and attuning oneself to ones psychophysical flows, (the practice of tracking ones ultradian rhythms) daily working and healing rhythms.
• Buddhist psychological methods for dealing with unpleasant or painful 'afflictive' states of mind (the positive meditational antidote remedies for countering afflictive mind and mood states, the framing and re-framing of thought, mood, feeling and sensation.
• Discussion of mind, self, dissatisfaction and happiness from both Western Self-psychology and Buddhist psychology will be explored. Specific practices that promote 'Metta' loving kindness(empathic self-compassion for taming the inner critic and the harsh superego) and meditation skills that promote satisfaction and contentment with oneself will be explored.

Mindfulness Meditation: Exploring the Self - Complete Description

Learning to observe experience from a place of stillness enables one to relate to life without fear and clinging. One begins to accept pleasure and pain, fear and joy, and all aspects of life with increasing equanimity and balance. Life is seen as a constantly changing process.

For 2,500 years, Buddhist meditation practices have developed what is referred to as 'skillful methods' for study and transformation of the mind/body process. These meditation and visualization practices help to cultivate self-regulation through awareness training-developing concentration, mindfulness and other attention skills. Mindfulness Meditation training is known for promoting clarity of mind, spaciousness of self and compassion, will be explored. Teachings on the practices and principles of Buddhist psychology and their applications for resolving afflictive factors of mind, mood and happiness will be highlighted.

Using methods from the Buddhist Mindfulness and Non-Dual (Advaita) schools of mindfulness practices as well as drawing from the contemporary theory's of self and health psychologies participants will have the opportunity to directly experience, practice and learn clinical skills for promoting insight, wisdom and knowledge. These methods utilize mindfulness, insight, visualization and presence to activate physiological and psychological energies whose merger can produce powerful states of mind to penetrate into the reality of our being and experience a spacious quality of freedom.

People who are described as 'centered,' 'creative' and 'pragmatically optimistic' can generate a vitality and enthusiasm that inspires others to grow and change toward leading creative, productive, healthy and visionary lives.

Day 1. Introduction and overview of Buddhist Schools of mindfulness meditation. Breath control, concentration and absorption training. Qualities of Mind and the Hindrances/Mindfulness practices.

Day 2. Models of the Mind and Self. Contemporary Psychoanalytic and Eastern traditions. A Micro analytic treatment cartography for exploring the Real Self, Core Self, False Self and the Non Self. Mindfulness Meditations for exploring the non-self.

Day 3. Mindfulness Meditations for transforming emotions/learn clinical skills for regulating affect states/ mind/thought and somatic energy patterns. Stream entry and pointing out instructions.

Day 4. The Roots of Buddhist Psychology/ Attention strategies for calming the mind/deepening insight/cultivating the Witnessing Mind/ Mindfulness and practices from the Non dual- (Advaita)

Day 5. Qualities of mind/mood and happiness/ Antidote remedies to manage anxiety, mood fluctuations and other unpleasant afflictive mind states/ transforming unwholesome mental factors into wholesome/explore inner resources for activating creativity, vitality and a core sense of well being in the mind/body process. Practices for deepening wisdom and Samadhi.

Recommended reading: Ronald Alexander, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss and Change (New Harbinger Publications); Goldstein and Kornfield, Seeking the Heart of Wisdom; Epstein, Mark, Thoughts without a Thinker;. Suzuki, Shunryu, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind; Eckhart Tolle, The Power Of Now

CEU'S available for Ph.D., MFT, MSW, and Nurses

On Becoming a Group Leader - Complete Description

The archetypal leader is a blend of "transformer" and "meaning translator." The transformer creates a sacred space for exploring Rhythms, moods, flows, and interactions. The meaning translator brings clarity, order, and awareness to the conscious and unconscious processes within the group culture. Effective leadership begins with fostering openness to explore safety, trust, and support.

The focus of this workshop is on becoming a leader who can create that openness and artfully manage a group in any setting. The topics include recovering from challenges and fragmentation; navigating transference; resolving conflict and confrontation; and handling the difficult group member. Participants will learn methods to self-activate, overcome fear and embrace creativity.
Sessions include mini-lectures, open seatwork, and group process using Gestalt Practice, existential therapy, contemporary psychoanalytic perspectives, family systems, mind/body approaches, and group dynamics. As the workshop progresses participants will have the opportunity to lead or co-lead the group under supervision.

This workshop is particularly useful for mental-health practitioners ,organizational consultants, family-owned business entrepreneurs, and others who manage groups.

Recommended reading: Ronald Alexander, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss and Change (New Harbinger Publications); Heider, The Tao of Leadership; Yalom, The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy; Polster, Gestalt Therapy Integrated; Simkin, Gestalt Therapy Mini-lectures; Bion, Experiences in Groups.

CEU'S available for Ph.D., MFT, MSW, and Nurses

OpenMind Training: Innovations in Meditation and Mind-Body Healing - Complete Description

"Learning to observe experience from a place of stillness enables one to relate to life without fear and clinging. One begins to accept pleasure and pain, fear and joy, and all aspects of life with increasing equanimity and balance. Life is seen as a constantly changing process".
-- JACK KORNFIELD, Seeking the Heart of Wisdom

OpenMind Training provides instruction in meditation and mind/body healing from both a psychological and spiritual perspective. The focus is on the practice, experience and benefits of meditation and self-healing in daily life.

Meditation helps to cultivate self-regulation through relaxation and the development of attention skills. Training in mind/body healing facilitates awareness of the inner resources of the Core Self -- trust, comfort, time and curiosity -- for the activation of the healthy and creative aspects of the unconscious mind. This promotes insight, wellness and individuation.

Meditative techniques of the various Buddhists schools, particularly Tibetan and Zen as well as Advaita-Vedic (non dual) will be explored. These methods utilize mindfulness, insight, visualization and presence to activate physiological and psychological energies whose merger can produce powerful states of mind to penetrate into the reality of our being and experience a spacious quality of freedom. Teachings on the practices and principles of Buddhist psychology and their applications for resolving afflictive factors of mind, mood and happiness will be taught.

Participants will also be taught various forms of breathing, chanting, trance states, and mind/body healing exercises. This workshop can help participants acquire skills to calm the mind, regulate affect states, develop trust with the unconscious, and explore inner healing resources. The workshop is designed for anyone from beginning to advance.

Recommended reading: Ronald Alexander, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss and Change (New Harbinger Publications); Goldstein and Kornfield, Seeking the Heart of Wisdom; Epstein, Mark, Thoughts without a Thinker; Suzuki, Shunryu, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind; Rossi, E. The Psychobiology of Mind-Body Healing; Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now.

CEU'S available for Ph.D., MFT, MSW, and Nurses

Open Mind Open Heart - Complete Description

You have all the resources you need for inner healing - you just need to know how to tap into their power!

Through breathing, meditation, chanting, guided visualizations, trance states and mind/body healing exercises, this workshop activates physiological and psychological energies that lead to direct experience of the powerful states of 'Big Mind,' 'Open Mind' and 'Open Heart.' These penetrate into the reality of our Core Self, awakening healthy and creative aspects of the unconscious mind.

The Outcome? Participants will calm their minds, develop trust with their unconscious and explore inner healing resources leading to fresh insights, creativity, wellness, compassion and an ability to enjoy a balanced, free, expanding life, lived without fear or clinging.

Participants will also be taught various forms of breathing, chanting, trance states, and mind-body healing exercises. This workshop can help participants acquire skills to calm the mind, regulate affect states, develop trust with the unconscious, and explore inner healing resources. The workshop is designed for anyone from beginning to advanced.

Recommended reading: Ronald Alexander, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss and Change (New Harbinger Publications); Goldstein and Kornfield, Seeking the Heart of Wisdom; Epstein, Mark, Thoughts without a Thinker; Suzuki, Shunryu, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind; Rossi, E. The Psychobiology of Mind-Body Healing; Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now.

CEU'S available for Ph.D., MFT, MSW, and Nurses

Yogi/Counselor/Healer/Coach: A Teacher Training Program for Yoga Teachers and Holistic Practitioners - Complete Description 

"Leadership is complicated. It has many facets: respect, experience, emotional strength, people skills, discipline, vision, momentum, timing...That's why leaders require so much seasoning to be effective."
- John Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities while in the expert's mind there are few". --Suzuki

The archetypal role of a yoga teacher and or health practitioner is a blend of "transformer" and "meaning translator." The transformer creates a sacred space for exploring rhythms, moods, flows and interactions. The meaning translator brings clarity, order and awareness to the conscious and unconscious processes within the healing dyad. Teachers and practitioners are frequently sought out for their wisdom, counsel and support whether it be after class or during private sessions to respond to complex emotional, physical and life issues. There is a growing need and demand for Yogis to become more knowledgeable and especially more skillful when offering or responding to their students multi levels of needs. Effective counseling, leadership and coaching requires that teachers and healers deepen their own self healing experience as well as become more proficient at offering more broad-based approaches that integrate modern western psychological methods, life coaching skills and the eastern wisdom traditions.

The focus of this training begins with fostering openness to explore safety, comfort, trust, and support and to teach skills that will enable participants to artfully manage difficult emotional and psychophysical issues that arise in any setting. This cutting-edge program provides a rare opportunity for sustained education in learning how to apply clinical and intuitive skills for coaching and counseling. It will be taught by psychotherapist Ronald Alexander, a renowned pioneer in mind-body therapies who leads professional trainings and clinical supervision groups in Gestalt therapy, Ericksonian mind-body hypnosis and other integrated modalities throughout the world and is a long-time student of yoga as well as a teacher of meditation and Buddhist psychology for the past 34 years.

The training will include direct experience, clinical demonstrations, practicum, theory and the teaching of clinical skills to support practitioners to become more creative and resourceful when treating body symptoms, trauma, pain, and mood and somatic disorders. Skills to help practitioners navigate complex issues, such as transference and counter transference will also be taught. The modalities we will use for developing clinical skills and deepening our own healing process will include: body-centered psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy, relational psychoanalytic approaches, Buddhist psychology, mindfulness-based practices, non-dual meditation and other mind-body healing methods for accessing the somatic "core-self."

This workshop is particularly useful for yoga teachers, holistic and all health practitioners, educators, consultant and others who wish to learn to lead, heal, counsel and coach others whether it be on an individual, group or organizational level.

Zen and Psychotherapy: New Integrations in Mind-Body Healing - Complete Description 

This workshop will combine intensive group work, with didactic discussions, supervision of therapist-client dyads, and clinical demonstrations. Full spectrum treatment cartography will be used to clarify how Zen, Gestalt Therapy, Psychoanalytic Self Psychology and Ericksonian Hypnotherapy can be effectively integrated to address neurotic conflict, trauma, somatic illness, narcissistic issues of the self, and contact boundary disturbances. Emphasis will be on:

• Existential and Brief Therapies that are cost efficient.
• Support for becoming more effective with tracking Transference and counter transference issues.
• Improving intervention skills as they relate to:
  -Handling of resistance and grounding therapists anxieties.
  -The nurturing of the Real Self and utilization of the Core Self.
  -Facilitation and activation of unconscious healing process through the 
  use of metaphor and guided imagery.
• Developing skills with mirroring, pacing, and the language of mind-body healing.
• Development of the Mind Set of the therapist-supporting therapists in developing skills of attention, perception and observation of the mind.
• Development of healing transitions between the brain mind-body pathways.

We will address this training experience using methods derived from Zen, martial arts, Psychodynamics Theory and practice, Ericksonian Hypnotherapy and Gestalt Therapy. Sessions will include deep music, meditation, process work and physical re-pattering exercises.

Readings: Ronald Alexander, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss and Change (New Harbinger Publications); Contexts of Being by Stolorow, Robert, Erickson, M; Rossi, R., Hypnotherapy Casebook; Polster, E & M, Gestalt Therapy Integrated, Brunner Mazel, Zen Mind Beginners Mind by Zuzuki

CEU'S available for Ph.D., MFT, MSW, and Nurses