2 Day Workshop (NB this 2 day workshop is held on consecutive days)
Tuesday 3rd & Wednesday 4th September 2024
Dates : Tuesday 3rd & Wednesday 4th September 2024 (2 Day Workshop)
Times : 9.30am – 4.00pm both days (BST)
Location : Online
TRAINER : Claire Williamson (MA, SFHEA) Scroll down to see more about the trainer
Cost : £135 if booked by 3rd July 2024
£155 if booked by 3rd August 2024
£175 full price
If your booking is accepted that means there was space for you. If it is full, email sambaker.pa@gmail.com to join the ‘reserve list’. Then, if anyone drops out we will notify you, if there is a ‘last minute’ place for you. We will also let you know when we plan a new date.
This experiential 2-day course focuses on creative writing and its use within therapy, therapeutic settings and self-supervision.
Therapists often work with client’s writing, or encourage clients to create within, or between, sessions. Some therapists have trained to be ‘poetry therapists’ and divide sessions between writing and discussion of the text, accelerating the process, or evincing new strands to the therapeutic work.
There is a risk to introducing writing, as it is revealing and sometimes walks the line between vulnerability and healing; there can be concerns about ‘quality’, which therapists can allay with a good understanding of creative writing as both a magnifying and softening tool, to say the ‘unsayable’, or to understand experience in a more tangible form.
Some counsellors and psychotherapists use creative writing as part of their own reflective practice to understand transferential relationships, create boundaries between sessions, and for personal and professional development.
Through experiential practice, this workshop will explore some helpful techniques and raise confidence in using the written (and spoken) word.
The workshop will focus on a range of applications, including:
- Supporting client metaphors
- Concrete and abstract images into words – poetry as resource
- Narratives and counter-narratives
- Reflective practice – employing form for clients and self-supervision
- Autobiographical fiction
- Applications and limitations
An empathic, relational approach will be experienced first hand as the process of the training is trauma-informed.
CLAIRE WILLIAMSON
Claire brings an integrative approach to using creative writing in the therapeutic encounter. She’s the former Director of Studies for Metanoia Institute’s MSc in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes (CWTP), with over 20 years experience in the field of CWTP, including work in bereavement, mental health, addiction recovery, self-injury, cancer care, plus many educational and artistic settings.
Claire has facilitated training for counsellors at City of Bristol College’s FD in Counselling and UWE’s Diploma in Counselling. She also works with medical students at University of Bristol and Queen Mary University in London, exploring how creativity can support people within healthcare settings.
She’s a Senior Fellow of the higher education academy, with a Masters degree in Literary Studies (exploring the life sustaining effects of writing) and studying at Cardiff University for a PhD in Creative Writing (Writing the 21st century grief novel), with a Counselling Skills qualification (UWE).
Claire is the author of four poetry/narrative books, Visiting the Minotaur (Seren, 2018) Split Ends (Eyewear, 2016), The Soulwater Pool (2008) and Ride On (PoTA, 2005).
WHO THIS WORKSHOP IS DESIGNED FOR : Counsellors, psychotherapists, coaches and health workers are welcome to attend this workshop.
PREPARATION BEFORE THE COURSE STARTS : Total 2 ½ hours
There is preparatory work to be completed before the course begins.
Before DAY ONE : 40 minutes of video to watch & approx. 45 minutes of reading
Before DAY TWO : 30 minutes of video to watch & approx. 30 minutes of reading
NB If you prefer, you can watch both the videos and complete the reading before the workshop starts.
SLIDES AND EXERCISES : The handouts and exercises will be sent to you by email, one week before the workshop. We will ask you to either print these out, or have a way of reading them during the workshop.
EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED : We will use Zoom, so you would need a computer that has good enough internet access to be able to be online, and in a quiet spot where you won’t be disturbed. It would be preferable if there are no people walking around in the background. An iPhone/Android phone can be used in an emergency, but we recommend planning on using a laptop or computer. Tablets also work, though please be aware that they have less functionality in Zoom.
IF THE COURSE IS FULL : If your booking is accepted that means there was space for you. If it is full, email sambaker.pa@gmail.com to join the ‘reserve list’. Then, if anyone drops out we will notify you, if there is a ‘last minute’ place for you. We will also let you know when we plan a new date.
APPROVED FOR CPD : This course has been approved by NCIP- National Council Of Integrative Psychotherapists. This course will give you 15 hours of CPD
MAXIMUM NUMBERS : This workshop will have a maximum of 30 participants
HANDOUTS : After the workshop you will be asked to fill in a feedback form. Completing this feedback form will give you a link to further handouts. Please write this link and password down, as you will need these to access the webpage where this comprehensive set of handouts are stored. These handouts are available for you to download a copy onto your own desktop. You must complete the download within two weeks of the end of the workshop. We ask you not to share any of the slides, exercises or handouts with other professionals who have not attended the workshop. But you are welcome to share the occasional handout or page with clients.
CPD FORM : A Certificate of Attendance form for Continuous Professional Development for 15 hours will be sent by email once you have filled in the feedback form (NB the only obligatory fields are your name and email address. However, we love you to give us feedback, so please fill in the whole form).
Therapists Insurance: By booking on this workshop you confirm that you have sufficient insurance to offer therapy to the public. (We are required by the NCIP, who accredit this workshop, to ask you to confirm this). If there is any discrepancy please let us know by contacting jonstow.cyh@gmail.com
OUR EXPECTATION :
Is that you will attend this workshop for the full length of the course, have your video on, your mobile off, and fully participate.
There are some online talks on zoom that allow you to come and go, or to choose not to participate in the exercise and breakout rooms. This culture has started to creep into our workshops. We have even had people say they want to leave to go and pick up children from school or walk their dog! People dropping in and out is very disruptive – especially when there may be group exercises that are planned for the same group to participate in a number of times.
Because of this, we want to be clear about our expectations. This workshop has been planned with the assumption that you, and everyone else, will attend for the full time.
So please be clear, that if you book on this workshop, we expect you to attend for the whole time, to participate in the breakout rooms and exercises and have your video switched on.
Please also put your mobile to one side and on silent – checking your phone or texting will mean that you miss material. So we request that you only check your phone during breaks.
CANCELLATIONS : Any request to change (eg defer to alternative dates) or cancel your place at a workshop, that is made at less than 21 days before the course start date will be charged in full. Any cancellation / amendments / requests to defer before 21 days, will be subject to a 12.5% handling charge.
FOR MORE INFO : If you have further questions please email: sambaker.pa@gmail.com or call Juliet Grayson on 01291 638805
Organised through Sleeping Mountain Ltd