Workshops

Liz White: Weaver of workshops

In addition to the tailor-made workshops that she develops for a specific staff groups, Liz has up her sleeve a range of workshop designs that are of wide interest, as they affect group members as individuals, and enhance professional capability in management and service. These workshops may be offered as life management experiences or as training events which include opportunities for practice and application to a range of work settings.  Here are a few examples

The Annual Women’s Midsummer Retreat….

Quieting the noise in our lives and settling into stillness. Opening our hearts and minds to whatever supports life and freedom.

This annual retreat welcomes women to the beautiful northern setting on an island in Muskoka, with wonderful food and time to enjoy the lake, the porch swings and the sunsets.

We balance time in the group with time for reflection, rest and integration and for visiting with womderful women. We will comvine personal psychodramatic work with attention to the ways in which our group life impacts us. We will share experiences of stillness and of life giving and will celebrate our authentic selves in the safety of the group processs.

The Wise Women: Three Personal Growth Weekends

This involves three residential weekends in the countryside near Toronto, one November 19 – 21,  one in midwinter and one in the spring, dates to be decided by the group.  With the commitment to the group of all participants, we will build a supportive and engaging community of spirits!

Coming Home: A Women’s Retreat Community

This ongoing group meets three times a year on Balsam Lake for a loving and supportive community.

Befriending Our Defences

Defensive behaviours are those that kick in automatically when we feel threatened in some way. They are not chosen or spontaneous. They are impulsive and disconnected from our real needs and those of others. They are characterized by high energy and unsatisfying outcomes. They also trigger other people’s defences and escalate challenging situations into conflicts.

In this workshop we introduce four common defensive stances and explore the dynamics of each reactive position. Participants identify their personal favourite, and the ones in others that they find most challenging. Using expressive arts and action techniques, they learn to recognize their own and others’ defence systems, and to find respectful and effective responses to themselves and to others to break the impasses that inevitably result from defensive behaviour.

Action Speaks Louder

Working one-to-one with clients can sometimes include sessions of impasse and repetitive content. There are a number of short, simple action methods that can help both client and counsellor to find new material for the work and new points of reference for future sessions.

“If Only….” Psychodrama and the Seasons of Mourning

In this workshop we identify five aspects of the journey of loss and some experiences that may help in life reconstruction. We give substance to those experiences of unfinished business that disturb our mourning, make connection to whatever is life-giving, and find a new integration in the reality of a changed life.

Creativity and Change

If we are relieved of pressure to change, we can use a wide range of techniques to help us to orchestrate our own growth in response to our own rhythms. This workshop introduces six techniques for exploring the potential for growth in such a way that the participants find their own direction and timing. By identifying change and honouring our own reluctance, we paradoxically are changed.

Bibliodrama: The Power of Story in Action

Bibliodrama is the name Moreno gave to the enactment of story. Fables, myths, fairy tales, movies, children’s books are all rich resources for learning, connection and magic.

Tales in action illustrate the ways in which a group choice and enactment of a tale gives life and shape to the themes of the group and the roles of group members and the leaders in the group story. The group members are involved spontaneously, and, upon reflection, they see themselves and their group with new dimensions and creative possibilities for change.

Archetypal images people our imagination, and they can inform our lives.

The Bible in Action provides the opportunity for group members to enter into the familiar passages of the Old and New Testaments and come away with insight and awareness about their life and the gift of the scripture. The Good Samaritan investigates community service, boundaries, risk. Nicodemus challenges us to risk new definitions of faith, Job’s story asks us to find ourselves in the face of suffering. Group themes are evoked by the action, and individuals are surprised into awareness as the passage comes to life.

Sociodrama and the Living Newspaper

These techniques are vivid explorations of situations common to our  society.  Stories from the daily papers reflect the divergent perspectives of the players in our communities. Teens and police and parents,  women and harrassment.  An organization in which one long time staff member is charged with inappropriate sexual contact with a young woman in custody.   To move  from the particular to the community, social context we find ourselves alive in the situation and our point of view challenged as we role reverse with others in the scenario.

 

Peacebuilding in a Troubled World

As conscientious and informed citizens we often feeled moved and deeply troubled by the violence that we encounter in the news.  Our longing to be part of building peace can be overwhelmed by the scope of the problems we see.   In this workshop we begin with our own conflicts,  move to the  encounter with those who inspire us, and come to peace with what we have to offer and how we can make a difference.  

“There is no such thing as inconscquential action. There is only consequential inaction.”  Paul Hawken in Blessed Unrest.

The Arts As Mirror: The Stone in the Pond and its Ripples

Personal growth and change are influenced by things that we read,  music that we listen to,  objects that capture our attention,  each touching us in unexpected and imaginal ways.  In this most engaging workshop each participant brings an artifact, a piece of music and some written word, which we share, deepening the experience with some psychodramatic magic.  We never cease to be amazed at the group themes, the  collective wisdom and the instant community of spirit that is evoked. It reveals to each of us the ways in which we impact others. We leave changed in ways that we carry into our lives.