TRUE SELF AND CLINICAL PRACTICE

With CYNTHIA BOURGEAULT, ANTHEA HARPER AND BRIGITTE PULS

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PROGRAMME

6pm Registrations Open

7.30-8pm Welcome

8-9.30pm Session One: Cynthia Bourgeault

8.30am Meditation

9-10.30am Session Two: Cynthia Bourgeault

11am-12.30pm Workshops

1.30-3pm Session Three: Cynthia Bourgeault

3-4.30pm Workshops

5pm Annual General Meeting

7pm Banquet Dinner

8.30am Meditation

9-10.30am Session Four: Anthea Harper

11am-12.30pm Workshops

1.30-3pm Session Five: Brigitte Puls & Panel

3pm Conference Closing

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Morning tea, lunch and tea break included.

Morning tea and lunch included. www.nzcca.org.nz

New Zealand Christian

Counsellors Association

(NZCCA)

7th May

8th May

9th May

CONFERENCE SPEAKER

CYNTHIA BOURGEAULT

Modern day mystic, Episcopal priest, writer, and internationally known retreat leader, Cynthia Bourgeault divides her time between solitude at her seaside hermitage in Maine, and a demanding schedule traveling globally to teach and spread the recovery of the Christian contemplative tradition and Wisdom path.

Cynthia has been a long-time practitioner and advocate of the meditative practice of Centering Prayer and has actively participated in numerous InterSpiritual dialogues and events with various luminaries and leaders.

Cynthia is a member of the GPIW (Global Peace Initiative for Women), Contemplative Council and recipient of the 2014 Contemplative Voices award from Shalem Institute. She is a founding Director of The Contemplative Society, the Aspen Wisdom School and she helped establish the Contemplative Network of Aotearoa. She continues to contribute to The Contemplative Society in her role as Principal Teacher and advisor.

Cynthia will be presenting her perspective on the transformative process we take from Egoic Mind to the Mind of the Heart. Cynthia will explore our egoic selves (False Self), the operating system of the heart (our True Selves) and our Witnessing Self. Cynthia describes our egoic self as that part of ourselves we initially develop and identify with- our temperament, preferences - having distinct qualities and attributes. Cynthia says ‘we identify ourselves by putting on our identifi ers’.She says...

‘…also makes other people separate from me; they are outside, and I am inside. In this operating system I experience myself as a distinct and fi xed point of identity that "has" particular qualities and life experiences, and these things go to make me who I am. That's what life looks like when seen through the lens of the egoic operating system. It thinks in terms of good and bad, right and wrong, before and after, up and down. And it gives us a solid sense of ourselves as the one at the hub of all this duality, the one inside mastering the experiences.’

Cynthia says that according to Jesus’ teaching when operating from the Heart (our True Selves), we are free of this Egoic operating system and its identifi cations, fi xations and attachments. As we ‘self-empty’ kenosis, we discover a greater unboundaried selfhood - in the Kingdom of Heaven within. When this heart awareness becomes fully formed within the person, we will be operating out of a nondual consciousness. We then see from a perspective of singleness - and as Jesus called for, there is now no separation between God and humans, or between humans and other humans.

B.Theol. M.Ed (Hons) Counselling. CBP MNZAC.

ANTHEA HARPER

Teaching and counselling (secondary school), chaplaincy (hospital, university), full time parish ministry (Sydney, 5 years), tutoring, microskills counselling supervisor and examiner at Auckland University, Department of Education, training of superviors (cont Ed.)

Counsellor, spiritual director, and supervisor in an agency (Christian Care Centre until it’s closure) and now in private practice for the last 20 years. Anthea also has training in Clinical Pastoral Education, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Psychosynthesis, Gestalt, Interactive Drawing Therapy, BodyTalk, Inner Child work, Transactional Analysis, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Spiritual Direction, and Supervision.

Currently

At Seaview Counselling Centre, Torbay, Auckland.

‘For the last 7 years I have been working in a lovely room overlooking the sea in Torbay. I see individual adults in a one-to-one context addressing a wide range of issues, both those as a result of trauma past and present and/or simply in my clients’ desire to deepen the psychospiritual aspects of being. I work with a client-centred, holistic approach, seeking to meet my clients where they are as they explore who they are. A large proportion of those I see are counsellors who come for clincical supervison, and also those working in management, church leadership, and in mental health.

I continue to thoroughly enjoy the range and depth of my work, balancing this focus of my week with singing, painting, walking, gardening (sometimes!) and loving the company of friends and family.’

Presentation

“Learn your theories well but put them aside when you touch the miracle of a living person.” Jung‘In my presentation I will pick up the main threads of the talks by Cynthia Bourgeault and weave them into practical application for our work as counsellors. We will look at the ‘mechanics of the mind’ and the ‘system of the soul’. How can the mind serve the soul’s imperatives? In what ways can we best create space for the ‘operating system of the heart’ ? Drawing on personal and professional experience, I will attempt to open up the way to address these questions, offering some strategies designed to facilitate awareness, growth and freedom.’

BRIGITTE PULS

Brigitte Puls is a clinical psychologist (NZ reg.), psychotherapist (NZ reg.) and Movement-Dance Psychotherapist (EAG, assoc. MDTAA, MCTAA, MDUPANZ). She teaches as a senior lecturer at AUT (part-time).

In her private practice, Brigitte works with adults and children, in “dyadic” and group relationships. She strongly holds the importance of the embodied, lived experience within the counselling or psychotherapy relationship for healing, and she is fascinated about the many dimensions of self (including spiritual ones) that need to come to the table to promote wellness and healing. In her spare time, Brigitte enjoys horse riding, reading, and dancing. She lives with her partner and has two grown-up sons.

CONFERENCE SPEAKER

PresentationAt fi rst sight the notion True Self seems like a simple one, most of us have some feeling response to the word. On deeper immersion, the notion’s complexities that shape our spontaneous resonances become apparent: What does True Self mean? Is there a “False Self”? Is there a difference between true self and True Self? What may underpinning theologies and philosophies be? Who are we as human beings that we have (or don’t have?) a self/ Self? How is our clients’ sense of Self disturbed so that they come to seek help from us?

In this address, Brigitte will share from her personal philosophies and experiences around these notions. She will bring personal refl ections as these link with spirituality, ecology, the body and other areas underpinning her personal understandings around the notion “True Self”.

The presentation will conclude with ideas for clinical application that is aligned with the “implicit philosophies of practice” as developed.

WORKSHOPS

With

LIZ HARTSARAH PENWARDENKRIS FERNANDORICHARD CHARMLEYJUDY DRANSFIELDRUTH A. MCCONNELLPATRICK DOHERTYANDREA DOBBSLEX MCMILLANCAROLINA GNAD

LIZ HART Friday | 8th May | 11am

As therapists we know that we have to ensure our client’s emotional safety during therapy and achieve meaningful results within budget constraints – no easy task! Explore with me how EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) -tapping- can enhance

> the rapid development of a powerful therapeutic alliance, the most signifi cant transformative element of any therapeutic process

> your clients developing self awareness, insight and self effi cacy in managing their affect, lasting skills that will increase their resilience and enhance their self esteem

> spontaneous reframes of past trauma in perfect alignment with their beliefs, that have fl ow on effects to all aspects of their lives

> the amount of work that can be safely and fully resolved in a relatively short time, allowing more clients access to affordable therapy and more satisfaction for therapists

EFT is deeply respectful of your client’s experiences and beliefs, and allows space for them to approach their relationship with you in an atmosphere of curiosity and acceptance. EFT is used by people of many faiths and orientations, and requires no adherence to any specifi c philosophy or spiritual beliefs to be effective. The focus is on the clients experience and beliefs and enabling them to explore and resolve any confl icts and dilemmas they face.

ABOUT LIZWith a BA in Education, Psychology and MA in Metaphysics, Liz has worked as a trainer and facilitator for 30 years and taught EFT for 14 years, while running a busy full time practice in Auckland. She brings humor, structure and clarity to her work with warmth and compassion. Liz specializes in working with people experiencing trauma and business/performance diffi culties. Liz is an internationally accredited EFT trainer, practitioner and supervisor, convenes a biannual EFT conference in New Zealand and is currently interim chair of the EFT Association of New Zealand. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her extended family and friends, singing and collage art, and being in the great outdoors.

MA, AAMET Accredited EFT Trainer

EFT: THE GENTLE THERAPY ACCELERATOR

SARAH PENWARDEN RICHARD CHARMLEYFriday | 8th May | 11am Friday | 8th May | 11am

Grief is an area of human experience that is at the centre of social and cultural meaning. It is an area that people also come to counselling to make sense of. Two key questions that both therapists and clients face are, what should a person do with the painful emotions of grief, and what sort of relationship should the grieving person have with their deceased loved one?

In this presentation, I will give an overview of understandings of grief therapy that value the importance of a client moving through grief as a series of stages or tasks of grieving. I will also give an outline of an alternative view of grief as a terrain, possibly unknown and new, that the therapist and client traverse together, as they make meaning of what the client is experiencing and how they want their life to be.

I will introduce ideas of how we can companion a grieving person by listening in their stories for the pain of loss, for their response to loss, and for their steps towards hope. As an example of listening in these ways, I will share poems written in the course of my doctorate. These poems were written directly from the speech of people who had lost a loved partner. I will read fi ve poems and invite the audience to listen within them for the pain of loss, for the person’s response to the loss, and for moments of hope.

There will be an opportunity for the audience to refl ect, in pairs, upon their experiences of being a client themselves who has known grief. Then there will also be a chance to refl ect on what it is like as a counsellor to hear experiences of grief in our clients’ lives, and how we might draw on faith and hope in being able to walk with people in these terrains.

ABOUT SARAHSarah gained a Masters in Counselling from the University of Waikato in 2003, specialising in narrative therapy, after which she worked as a school counsellor for eight years. Since 2011 she has worked as a counsellor educator in the Bachelor of Counselling degree at Laidlaw College in Auckland, as well as running a small private practice. She is currently engaged in doctoral research with the University of Waikato, entitled “Conversations about absence and presence: Re-membering a lost loved partner in poetic form.” Her doctorate is a form of counselling practitioner research with people who have lost a loved partner. She approaches their remembering of their lost loved ones through poetry, writing a series of found poems from the interviews, which she then sends to them as a folio. The research brings together two of her interests, grief counselling and writing poetry. She lives out west in Auckland in leafy Titirangi with her husband.

Supervision is a complex and dynamic meeting of two very independent and intelligent people to focus on very complex work, inter and intra personal dynamics. An enormous challenge really. Despite our good intentions and theories, the supervision relationship can so easily stale and shift to a place of ‘chat’ without real focus and purpose. This workshop will consider some of the dynamics of supervision and look at ways to enliven and refresh how we do supervision. The ideas will be helpful for rejuvenation your own supervision and for those who provide supervision for others.

ABOUT RICHARDRichard is a counsellor and supervisor in private practice in Auckland. He also teaches supervision at the University of Auckland.

THE TERRAIN OF GRIEF REFRESHING SUPERVISION

KRIS FERNANDO Friday | 8th May | 11am

This workship is for those who are interested in becoming a provider - what is required, qualifi cations, experience, what the application involves, what is expected of a provider, overview of the new system and examples of reports.

ACC WORKSHOP

JUDY DRANSFIELD Friday | 8th May | 3pm

This presentation will give the experiences of doing Equine Therapy with clients. This work is undertaken at Totara Park in Auckland.

This form of Equine Therapy is practised all on the ground - there is no riding involved at all. The work includes: a 4 year old whose father had been attacked and ended up in a wheelchair rendering him unable to emotionally, physically and cognitively connect with his family for a long time, Year 11 students undertaking a life skills unit, a family grieving a loss of a murdered dad, a young boy meeting his birth mother for the fi rst time, a suicidal teenager, autistic, Aspergers and ADHD clients, school bullies and corporate team-building exercises,

In this workshop, I will be sharing how, as a person very scared about horses, I became involved in this therapy, the training undertaken, and will share experiences with clients.

ABOUT JUDYAt the time of writing this, I am completing my Masters in Counselling through the University of Auckland. I am a fully trained EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association) facilitator, work one day a week in the nursing home of a retirement village with residents, their families and the staff, and have my own private practice where I do supervision as well as counselling Victim Support clients.

I am a wife, mother and grandmother and enjoy interaction with my family and friends. To relax, in summer I attend the Breakers basketball team games, where I let off steam by yelling my support very loudly. In addition, I love music, cooking and movies.

FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH

DR. RUTH A. MCCONNELLFriday | 8th May | 3pm

In recent years there has been increasing interest in the spiritual dimensions of Attachment Theory, namely developing measures for attachment to God, as well as the effects of spirituality on neurobiology. In this presentation I will be using an interdisciplinary perspective, bringing voices from Attachment Theory and interpersonal neurobiological research into conversation with Trinitarian Theology. Since humanity is made in the image of a triune God, who in Volf’s words is ‘an interdependent relational dance which involves mutual giving and taking within the bounds of a safe relational system’ (1996), what insights can be gained from Attachment Theory and interpersonal neurobiology to help us in our work as Christian counsellors? Suggestions will be offered for incorporating these insights into our work with clients who experience distress due to attachment injuries.

ABOUT RUTHRuth was raised in the Amazon region of Brazil where her Scottish parents were missionaries for 36 years. She gained a Masters in Psychology from Aberdeen University (1989) and a PhD in Counselling Psychology (1996) from the Robert Gordon University, in Aberdeen, Scotland. She worked for many years as a family counsellor and a children’s counsellor in Scotland as well as in Canada, before moving to New Zealand to teach in the School of Counselling at Laidlaw College. Ruth also runs a small private practice and delivers professional development training to counsellors. She lives in Red Beach with her husband and two teenage daughters.

DESIGNED FOR AND BY LOVE: ATTACHMENT THEORY, NEUROSCIENCE AND TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY

PATRICK DOHERTY Friday | 8th May | 3pm

In this workshop we will explore the daily practice of Christian Meditation, a contemplative way of silent prayer taught by Benedictine monk John Main. It is a prayer tradition grounded in Biblical wisdom, the early Christian desert monks, and the spiritual classic the Cloud of Unknowing. Many people across the world have found their spiritual lives enriched by daily Christian Meditation.

ABOUT PATRICKPatrick Doherty is a counsellor, spiritual director and group facilitator who works with marriages, families and communities on the journey to being in tune with God. He lives in Titirangi, used to work at the Christian Care Center and currently lectures at Unitec.

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION; A PATH LEADING TO CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

KRIS FERNANDO Friday | 8th May | 3pm

This workshop is for those who are already providers: troubleshooting, Q&A, with a focus on the WHODAS and PWI.

ACC WORKSHOP

ANDREA DOBBSSaturday | 9th May | 11am

In this workshop I will discuss my thesis on the personal development aspect of training to be a counsellor, inspired by Carl Rogers’ work on ‘Becoming a Person.’ I examine the usefulness of employing key concepts of the person-centred approach as a framework to articulate the process of ‘becoming a counsellor.’ My investigation utilises an autoethnographic methodology by which I am both researcher and participant. I use contextual refl exivity of my personal lived experience of becoming a counsellor/counsellor educator, with the aim of gaining new understanding of the personal development of counsellors.

This will be an interactive workshop in which there will be opportunity for discussion and refl ection on our experiences of ‘becoming’ and identify the parallels that exist with the therapeutic journey of clients.

ABOUT ANDREAI am a counsellor educator and Head of School for Vision College School of Counselling where I have worked for 9 years. I hope to have completed a Masters of Education at the University of Waikato by the end of March this year. My greatest passion is my family. My husband and I have three married children and six delightful grandchildren. When I’m not working or writing you will most likely see me with a crochet hook in hand working on a current creation.

ON ‘BECOMING’ A COUNSELLOR

LEX MCMILLAN

MATURING PRACTICE: ENGAGING OUR WORK IN CONVERSATION WITH OUR OWN STORIES AND COMMITTMENT

Paul Tillich proposes the idea of an answering theology. This is a refl exive engagement between the questions about life and relationships that arise in the course of daily life and practice, and the answers that are embedded within our stories and cherished traditions.

In my own counselling experience, and my experience as a supervisor and counselling educator, I observe that our practices are constantly raising important questions about our lives and relationships, and that these are not always easy to recognise let alone engage constructively. This workshop follows Tillich’s lead, and provides some exercises that are designed to support fruitful dialogue between our practices, our lives and our committments In leading this workshop I draw from my own contemplative life experience, my practice, and my research.

ABOUT LEXLex spent ten years working in a farming business and during this time began his counsellor training at Otago University. Subsequent studies with CWR in England in the early 1990s formalised a passionate interest in integration between Christian theology and therapy. Twenty years’ experience as a therapist has involved Lex counselling in London, leading a social-work practice, counselling students at Massey University where he also trained as a mediator, completing a Master of Counselling (fi rst class honours) from Waikato University, and studying theology at Regent College Vancouver. Lex specialises in relationship counselling and was coordinator of the BCNZ Diploma of Counselling programme at the Palmerston North Campus from 2000–2008, and head of school counselling at Laidlaw College from 2010-2014. Lex is currently undertaking doctoral studies through Queensland University and working in private practice.

Saturday | 9th May | 11amCAROLINA GNAD

WHOLE HEALING AFTER TERMINATION

Any pregnancy baby-loss can be a signifi cant event in a woman, man or family’s life. Termination of pregnancy (abortion) can be equally traumatic and the attendant grief very real. When supporting people after recent or past terminations (abortions) the wholistic integrative approach is most helpful. Consideration needs to be given to physical complications, psychological impacts and spiritual effects. Often health professionals fi nd it easy to focus on the fi rst two aspects, and sometimes the spiritual dimension is minimised or overlooked. When we recognise pregnancy termination as a life-death event there is an understanding that it touches the deepest levels of our humanness and interrelatedness. In our modern world the politics and polarisation around termination (abortion) issues often clouds the reality for those who have lived the experience, and silences them. The grief of post-abortive parents is largely disenfranchised and socially unsupported, and their deeper anguish often unrecognised and acknowledged. Each person responds and deals with this life experience differently and for some there appear to be few effects. However, for numbers of women, men, families and others effects cannot be denied. In this workshop we will explore various possible impacts of abortion, with particular focus on spiritual aspects. We will invite opportunity to refl ect as individuals and counsellors how we may sit with clients searching for healing after a recent or past termination (abortion). And we may share together some spiritual practices that can assist those struggling after a termination to come to acceptance and peace.

ABOUT CAROLINACarolina is married, with three grown children and seven grandchildren, two of whom died very young. Carolina has a nursing background, and later in life retrained. Carolina founded P.A.T.H.S. (Post Abortion Trauma Healing Service) in 1997 and was the co-ordinator for sixteen years. She remains involved in P.A.T.H.S. as Assistant Co-ordinator, counsellor, and trainer. She also offers specialist counselling, training and supervision in the pregnancy and post abortion areas in her private practice as well through Dawnings. Carolina’s experience and writing offers a deep understanding of the context and complexity of pregnancy issues and abortion loss and trauma in NZ, and the diffi culties facing those adversely affected. “The journeying with women and men after termination (abortion) is sensitive and sacred work which I am passionate about” says Carolina.

Saturday | 9th May | 11am

NZCCA CONFERENCE | 7- 9th May 2015

REGISTRATIONS CLOSE: 4TH MAY 2015

REGISTRATION

Please send me accommodation information so I can stay onsite

COSTIncludes morning teas, lunches, banquet & supper.

Member/ Affi liate $345.00 Unwaged $305.00 Student Associate $305.00 Non Member $395.00 Additional Banquet Tickets (No_____ ) $50.00 each

Less Early Bird Discount (Exp 10 April 2015) -$20.00

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NZCCA Account Number: 12-3012-0806750-00

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REFERENCE: Conference DETAIL: Name + Membership Number

SEND: NZCCA Conference 2015 c/- Sinead Wilson,PO Box 68 773 Newton,

Auckland 1145

If you have any questions or queries regarding the 2015 Conference please do not hesitate to contact Sinead Wilson via email on info@nzcca.org.nz or on 09 361 4183. Please note that opinions expressed in these workshops are not necessarily those of the Association.

Please select your preference for each workshop

WORKSHOPSELECTION

Mark with 1-4 (1 as your fi rst choice; 4 as your last choice) for EACH workshop session (eg. Friday 11am).

Liz Hart, EFT: The Gentle Therapy Accelerator

Sarah Penwarden, The Terrains of Grief

Richard Charmley, Refreshing Supervision

Kris Fernando, ACC Workshop (potential providers)

Judy Dransfi eld, From the Horse’s Mouth

Ruth McConnell, Designed for and by love

Patrick Doherty, Christian Mediation; a Path Leading to Contemplative Prayer

Kris Fernando, ACC Workshop (providers)

Andrea Dobbs, On ‘Becoming’ a Counsellor

Lex McMillian, Maturing Practice

Carolina Gnad, Whole Healing after Termination

FRIDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

11am

3pm

11am

www.nzcca.org.nz

New Zealand Christian

Counsellors Association

(NZCCA)