Groups and Classes

SELF ACCEPTANCE: THE CORE OF RESILIENCE
Saturdays – October 29 and November 5, 2011

In this two session class we teach both Eastern, meditation based approaches and Western psychological approaches to understanding and working with self-acceptance and its opposite…self-rejection. You will come to a greater understanding of your inner experience – the battle between your Rejecting Self and your Rejected Self – and will connect with your core goodness, your Golden Self.  Through guided visualizations and meditations you will learn to stay with the pain of the self-rejection and to access the compassion that enables radical acceptance of yourself just as you are.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR REGISTRATION CONTACT Sandra Kacher at 612.874.8608 or email her at sandy@loringpsychotherapy.com

Click here for a flyer and registration form.

 

SHAME AND SELF COMPASSION:  THE HEALING POWER OF MINDFULNESS

Saturday, November 19, 2011

For many of us there has long been a separation from ourselves, and the inability to give ourselves the kindness and compassion that we offer to others.  The origins of this suffering differ from person to person, but at the core is the experience of shame – the painfully felt experience of believing we are deeply flawed and therefore unworthy of connection.

In this class you will:

• Assess your own level of shame vs. self-compassion
• Understand and work through specific barriers that keep you from being more accepting of yourself
• Learn a clear and proven path to developing a compassionate heart and mind
• Practice a variety of mindfulness-based and meditative practices that will move you along this path

Tara Brach’s book Radical Acceptance, which centers on use of the Buddhist practices of mindful awareness and compassion that offer healing from shame, is the primary source for this day’s work.  The class will be largely experiential, as we spend time in guided meditations, creating a safe container for touching into some aspects of experience that have been difficult to face – some loss, rage, shame, or fear that is in need of healing attention.  We will practice anchoring in the body, developing awareness of inner experience, staying with whatever arises, and developing the healing capacity for radical and compassionate acceptance of our experience and of ourselves, just as we are.  Previous meditation experience is helpful, but not necessary.

For more information contact Susan Bourgerie, MA, LP at 612.874.8608 or email susan@partnersinresilience.com

Click here for a flyer and registration form.

 NEW!!!  OPPORTUNITY FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS !!!

“The Mindful Therapist: Just What Do We Mean By That?”     DECEMBER 2, 2011, 9 am to 12 noon

Over the past decade or so, mindfulness has become a significant influence in the field of psychotherapy and has been integrated into treatment for a wide range of mental health concerns.  At the core of this integration is the “mindful therapist”, yet we seldom talk about exactly what it means to be one. The morning will begin with an overview presentation of the key concepts in Dan Siegel’s book The Mindful Therapist: A Clinician’s Guide to Mindsight and Neural Integration, in which he proposes a definition of the mindful therapist that combines the Buddhist grounded practices of mindfulness with knowledge from the emerging interpersonal neurobiology.  He suggests that the mindful therapist both embodies and teaches what he terms “mindsight” – “a kind of focused attention that allows us to see the internal workings of our own minds, be aware of our mental processes without being swept away by them, and to get ourselves off the autopilot of ingrained behaviors and habitual responses.”  In response to his ideas we will   spend time in small and large group discussion to create our own working definition of the Mindful Therapist.  

The workshop is open to all mental health professionals.  Click here for a detailed flyer and registration form.

 

COMING IN 2012!!!

DEVELOPING SHAME RESILIENCE – A PRACTICAL WORKSHOP

For information contact Susan Bourgerie, MA, LP at 612.874.8608, or susan@loringpsychotherapy.com

 

RESILIENCE TRAINING
Penny George Institute for Health and Healing, Abbott Northwestern Hospital

This innovative and integrative program blends the best of conventional Western medicine with a variety of healing philosophies and therapies drawn from Eastern traditions. Resilience Training engages the mind, body and spirit to aid in the recovery from depression, anxiety, and other conditions affected by stress. Based on Henry Emmons’ book The Chemistry of Joy, Resilience Training aims to restore balanced brain chemistry with natural therapies including diet, exercise, and selected micronutrients. Emotional wisdom and skills drawn from Buddhist psychology and practice (the “Psychology of Mindfulness”) are taught in an eight week group training that works to calm the mind and open the heart.

Components of the program include an individual assessment session with Dr. Henry Emmons, two individual sessions with a nutritionist, a thorough fitness assessment and exercise plan developed with the staff of Abbott’s LiveWell Fitness Center, and the eight week group training that meets weekly for two and a half hour sessions. The group training is facilitated by Susan Bourgerie, MA, LP, Sandra Kacher, LICSW, or Dr. Emmons.

2011 Sessions begin January 11, February 9, March 15, April 13, May 10, June 8, August 30, September 28, and October 25

For more information, a brochure, or to arrange an initial consultation with Dr. Emmons call the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing at 612-863-3333