Workshop date: 21st May 2022     Time: 10am – 4.00pm 

Venue:  Royal Foundation of St Katharine, 2 Butcher Row, London E14 8DS

5 hours CPD – certificate provided 

Workshop description:

This personal and professional development workshop is aimed at counsellors and psychotherapists interested in using or deepening their understanding of working with clients’ inner parts, as well as becoming more familiar with some of their own cast of inner characters.  The workshop will be mainly experimental. It will be informed prominantly by Psychosynthesis theory, but include reference to other models.

Workshop content includes:

• Activites to faciliate an exploration of inner characters and their function and role(s)
• Identifying and dis-identifying from inner parts, awareness of the one and the many
• Strategies and a staged approach for working with subpersonalities, including guided visualisations, dialogue and creative techniques
• Opportunities to experience working with the subpersonalities in practice – as ‘client’ and ‘therapist’
• A reference to other trauma-informed models, such as Richard Schwartz’ Internal Family Systems and the Structural Disocciation Model (developed by van der Hart, Nijenhuis and Steele (2005) and elaborated by Janina Fisher) and to archetypal characters on the hero(ine)’s journey
• Opportunity to reflect on, share and discuss learning and insights

… Everyone is invited! While we will include reference to trauma-formed parts, in this one-day workshop you will work at a level which feels comfortable to you.

Working with Subpersonalities, the Multiplicity of self :

We all play different roles at different times. Some, such as our professional or family roles, are easy to spot. Others appear unexpectedly or may act out of our conscious control, sometimes in conflict with other aspects of ourselves. They may have developed as a skillful, strategic (if unconscious) adaptation to an environment which was not able to welcome all of us, or keep our younger selves safe. Equally, we may have wise, talented and visionary parts of ourselves that we struggle to fully own and use. Bringing these parts into consciousness can help reduce their power to dominate or hide, over time bring them into a more harmonious relationship with each other, release hurt they may be carrying and reveal their gifts. This allows us a sense of mastery… the choice to become the director of the cast. In understanding how some parts might both defend and protect us, have inner vulnerable core, we are able to come into a more compassionate relationship with ourselves and the world and express our essential selves more fully. The workshop will give you a taste of some of this.

Trainer: Catherine Bishop UKCP, EMCC

Catherine is a UKCP reg, Psychosynthesis trained Psychotherapeutic Counsellor, and recently trained Leadership Coach, who has worked in private practice for 10 years with individuals, couples and children. Following a career in education, she trained at The Institutue of Psychosynthesis, IATE and the Sesame Institute. She incorporates use of the arts, movement, somatic awareness into her core Psychosynthesis orientation.  As an experienced trainer and group facilitator, her approach to training is interactive and flexible. She aims to combine delivering a core objective with space to be responsive to participants needs.