Using only this blog for a few years, I'm happy to say www.restoringconnection.com is now up and running, and there is a blog within it that I've just started. The RC model's foundational writings have been caried over to the website. I'll hold on to this blog as an archive, but stay in touch with me through restoringconnection.com.
Thanking you in advance for following me there, Elizabeth
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
NYMF 3/27 Presentation
Having first presented the "Restoring Connection" model at the International Focusing Conference last year, receiving such an enthusiastic response, I'm delighted to be invited to present to the New York Metro Focusing group. Started by Cynthia Callsen, D.S.W. this unique group continues to be such a wonderful gift to the Focusing community.
Since the group "especially encourages and supports presentations of new and emerging work that is grounded in the process and practice of Focusing", this is the perfect place to share the excitement of what's been spontaneously emerging from within one of my Focusing based experiential groups.
Although I happen to be a psychotherapist, the Basic Model is not just for therapists. Like Focusing, it's for anyone interested in personal growth and development and can be applied to many areas of life. People new to Focusing as well as experienced Focusers are welcome and able to fully participate. The presentation will be a combination of explanation and guided group experiences with voluntary participation and sharing.
My 90 minute presentation will occur in the middle of the 3/27 NYMF meeting, to be held from 6:15 - 9:15PM at the office building of the Marble Collegiate Church, 1 W. 29th St. @ 5th Ave., Room 600, NYC. Time for arrival, refreshment and connection begins at 6:15PM, with my presentation starting around 7:00PM.
First time guests who've never attended a Focusing event before are FREE. Otherwise a monetary donation towards the cost of space rental and refreshments is appreciated. RSVP to Cynthia Callsen at 212-608-9680 or cyncall@aol.com, so we can know how many to expect. Would love to have you join us!
Since the group "especially encourages and supports presentations of new and emerging work that is grounded in the process and practice of Focusing", this is the perfect place to share the excitement of what's been spontaneously emerging from within one of my Focusing based experiential groups.
Although I happen to be a psychotherapist, the Basic Model is not just for therapists. Like Focusing, it's for anyone interested in personal growth and development and can be applied to many areas of life. People new to Focusing as well as experienced Focusers are welcome and able to fully participate. The presentation will be a combination of explanation and guided group experiences with voluntary participation and sharing.
My 90 minute presentation will occur in the middle of the 3/27 NYMF meeting, to be held from 6:15 - 9:15PM at the office building of the Marble Collegiate Church, 1 W. 29th St. @ 5th Ave., Room 600, NYC. Time for arrival, refreshment and connection begins at 6:15PM, with my presentation starting around 7:00PM.
First time guests who've never attended a Focusing event before are FREE. Otherwise a monetary donation towards the cost of space rental and refreshments is appreciated. RSVP to Cynthia Callsen at 212-608-9680 or cyncall@aol.com, so we can know how many to expect. Would love to have you join us!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Body Experience of Obama's Inauguration Poem
Thank you to Elizabeth Alexander for writing such a beautiful poem. As you read her poem below, perhaps you'd like to invite yourself to do so slowly, noticing what you experience in your body. You might like to especially notice what happens in your body during the parts of the poem that resonate most deeply for you, welcoming whatever you notice as part of your body's inner wisdom.
PRAISE SONG FOR THE DAY
by Elizabeth Alexander
A Poem for Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration
Each day we go about our business,
walking past each other, catching each other's
eyes or not, about to speak or speaking.
All about us is noise. All about us is
noise and bramble, thorn and din, each
one of our ancestors on our tongues.
Someone is stitching up a hem, darning
a hole in a uniform, patching a tire,
repairing the things in need of repair.
Someone is trying to make music somewhere,
with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum,
with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.
A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky.
A teacher says, Take out your pencils. Begin.
We encounter each other in words, words
spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed,
words to consider, reconsider.
We cross dirt roads and highways that mark
the will of some one and then others, who said
I need to see what's on the other side.
I know there's something better down the road.
We need to find a place where we are safe.
We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
Say it plain: that many have died for this day.
Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,
who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,
picked the cotton and the lettuce, built
brick by brick the glittering edifices
they would then keep clean and work inside of.
Praise song for struggle, praise song for the day.
Praise song for every hand-lettered sign,
the figuring-it-out at kitchen tables.
Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself,
others by first do no harm or take no more
than you need. What if the mightiest word is love?
Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.
In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,
praise song for walking forward in that light.
(The "Restoring Connection" model offers wonderful practices for exploring, listening to and living from your body's wisdom. Noticing what you're experiencing in your body in relation to something is an initial step.)
PRAISE SONG FOR THE DAY
by Elizabeth Alexander
A Poem for Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration
Each day we go about our business,
walking past each other, catching each other's
eyes or not, about to speak or speaking.
All about us is noise. All about us is
noise and bramble, thorn and din, each
one of our ancestors on our tongues.
Someone is stitching up a hem, darning
a hole in a uniform, patching a tire,
repairing the things in need of repair.
Someone is trying to make music somewhere,
with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum,
with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.
A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky.
A teacher says, Take out your pencils. Begin.
We encounter each other in words, words
spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed,
words to consider, reconsider.
We cross dirt roads and highways that mark
the will of some one and then others, who said
I need to see what's on the other side.
I know there's something better down the road.
We need to find a place where we are safe.
We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
Say it plain: that many have died for this day.
Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,
who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,
picked the cotton and the lettuce, built
brick by brick the glittering edifices
they would then keep clean and work inside of.
Praise song for struggle, praise song for the day.
Praise song for every hand-lettered sign,
the figuring-it-out at kitchen tables.
Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself,
others by first do no harm or take no more
than you need. What if the mightiest word is love?
Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.
In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,
praise song for walking forward in that light.
(The "Restoring Connection" model offers wonderful practices for exploring, listening to and living from your body's wisdom. Noticing what you're experiencing in your body in relation to something is an initial step.)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
A Great Way To Restore Connection!
Essentially you're advocating for compassionate communication skills being widely taught in government, schools, community organizations, etc., throughout the U.S. "Non-Violent Communication", developed by Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D., is an established, wonderful means of doing this.
My M.A. is actually in Communications from Northwestern University. "Non-Violent Communication" is the best user-friendly, hands-on model of effective, yet compassionate communication I've ever come across. I've shared it for years with my therapy clients & they've found it to be an extremely helpful tool for successfully expressing their feelings & needs to others.
So can you imagine if people in all kinds of organizations throughout our country were taught effective, empathic communication skills? What an amazing thought! Help make it a reality by voting now! Evidently enough votes are needed to make it into the top 10, in order to be seriously considered. Your vote is needed & appreciated. Voting ends Thurs. 1/15 at 5:00PM (EST). Missed the deadline? You can still click on "vote now" & check out the proposal.
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