MEN'S GROUP

The culture I grew up in was full of stereotyped versions of what “being a man” was. I based my early version on being a footballer, drinking (often to collapse) and attempting to compete with men of status. Either that or, in defeat, pretending that I didn't care about status at all.

In time, my attention shifted to the spiritual. To the world of meditation, self-growth, gurus and intuition. Yet, despite many years of practise, I had to admit, in my more honest moments, that I was still largely driven by seeking some kind of affirmation, spiritual status or egoic platform that may prove my worth in some way to the outside world. I had simply built a soft cover over a familiar armouring. At a certain point, after some catastrophic life events and relationships breakdowns I had to face up to the fact that I really had no idea of what a good man really was or even if I could confidently say I felt like a “ man” at all.

I now feel the heroes journey is not just about slaying dragons but, at crucial times, being slain by them. Dying to parts of ourselves in order to emerge, eventually, with the capacity to live more authentic lives.

I believe, as men, we need each other at a depth that is rarely given and mainly misunderstood. When we can stop competing with, and defending against, each other we have the chance to really meet, face to face, in the shared confusion of all the many messages of expectation we have received. Messages which can so often seem to silently dictate who we feel we should be sexually, financially, emotionally and otherwise. When we can name and meet these stories with clarity and empathy we begin to place a higher value on our innate humanness as men. This naturally begins to deepen our heart felt presence and allows us to more clearly feel and align with our true direction.

These classes are an opportunity to build a new type of strength and presence and to reconnect with your deep direction and true gifts. They are an opportunity to feel your unique connection to the masculine and your place in the brotherhood of other men. By so doing we relieve the woman in our lives of needing to fulfil us at this level and open our capacity for increased closeness in all of our intimate relationships.

Facilitator: Michael Shaw. Bach Ed & Dip Transpersonal Counselling. Michael has been involved in men’s groups for over 15 years and ran a radio show about men’s issues called “mankind” for 2 years. He has trained as a teacher in mindfulness meditation, teaches theatre improvisation classes & is currently studying transpersonal art therapy. He still wishes he could play a musical instrument & that his team will one day win a grand final.

Dates: Thur 12/6, 19/6, 26/6, 3/7, 10/7/, 17/7, 24/7, 31/7, 7/8, 14/8
Time: Evenings 7.00pm - 9.00pm
Course Code: MG1.
Fees: $350* for 10 sessions (to be paid in advance)
Note: 10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students, & Govn. Concession card holders. Group limited to 10 participants

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Dr David Tacey offers a series of three presentations on Spirituality

This is a unique opportunity to hear an international lecturer address a range of current topics including Jung, spirituality and mental health.

Lecturer Dr Tacey is Associate Professor in the School of Critical Enquiry, La Trobe University, Melbourne. He teaches courses on spirituality, analytical psychology and literary studies. Dr Tacey is the author of eight books including ‘The Spirituality Revolution: The Emergence of Contemporary Spirituality' (Sydney, 2003) and ‘ReEnchantment: The New Australian Spirituality' (Sydney, 2000). His most recent books are ‘How to Read Jung' (2006) and ‘The Idea of the Numinous' (2006). Dr Tacey's main area of interest is the recovery of meaning in the contemporary world, which takes him into several fields of knowledge.

Lecture 1: Jung's Theory of Spirituality
Jung believed that the psyche not only contained personal contents, but also collective or archetypal contents, of which 'spirit' is one of the primary archetypes. But what becomes of 'spirit' in a secular culture that has no room for spirit? Jung believed that we end up somatising spirit in destructive ways, because it is repressed into the unconscious, where it becomes negatively charged and impacts symptomatically on our mental health. The cure of the afflictions of Western society, he felt, was to consciously recover and acknowledge the spiritual dimension of our lives.  

Date: Thursday 27th March 2008
Time: 7:30 - 9:00 pm
Course Code: DT1

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Lecture 2: Depth Psychology and the Encounter with the Shadow
A part of our wholeness is the so-called shadow or darker side of the personality. According to Jung, individuation has to involve an encounter with the shadow, and this part cannot be skipped or avoided, in order to move upward and onward to the divine light. We have to face the shadow, as a necessary step on the path to wholeness of being. Individuals, communities and nations have to face this aspect of psychological life.

Date: Thursday 24th April 2008
Time: 7:30 - 9:00 pm
Course Code: DT2

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Lecture 3: Spirituality and Mental Health
Spirituality does not have a hugely positive reputation in therapeutic circles. A cloud of suspicion hovers over the issue of ‘spirituality’ but the situation is changing today. It is imperative that spirituality is understood in a new light, and not with the old prejudices that clouded it in the past. This lecture reviews recent literature and new thinking that places spirituality at the centre of healing and recovery.

Date: Thursday 29th May 2008
Time: 7:30 - 9:00 pm
Course Code: DT3

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Fees:  Students and ex-students $20 per lecture.    Public $30 per lecture
Payment must be made in full three days prior to the commencement of each lecture.   

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John practiced privately as a mental health counsellor, researcher, and educator for the past twenty years. Prior to this he was a registered psychiatric nurse for approximately ten years during which time he worked in a variety of hospital and community-based clinical mental health services. He is currently a registered psychiatric nurse (RPN).

He has a special interest in researching and promoting holistic approaches to understanding and responding to “mental illness” and psychiatric disability. Over the past decade he has written a number of books in which have endeavoured to apply holistic principles to the phenomena of coping, healing, and recovery as they apply to psychotic disorders. He has presented training courses, workshops, and seminars based on these principles to a wide range of mental health clinicians, psychiatric disability support workers, service users, and families.  

PUBLICATIONS

?Living With Schizophrenia: An Holistic Approach to Understanding, Preventing

  and Recovering from Negative Symptoms (Hill of Content, 1996)

?Healing Schizophrenia: Using Medication Wisely (Michelle Anderson, 2006).

? Hearing Voices: A Common Human Experience (Michelle Anderson, 2008)

? Psychosis: Understanding and Healing the Wounded Soul – in preparation

INTEGRAL LIFE COACHING WORKSHOP

The Integral approach to life coaching focuses on bringing about change and growth in diverse areas such as interpersonal life skills, career development, establishing a sense of meaning, purpose, vision, and spiritual growth. This approach deals with more than goal-setting, which is often how coaching is defined, and is designed for practitioners interested in linking counselling techniques with coaching.

This workshop includes new ways of exploring issues, bringing fresh insight and self-understanding. Unconscious dimensions of personal development will be considered, as well as the stages of psychological and spiritual development, including techniques and approaches to move through these stages.

Utilising the Integral approach outlined by Ken Wilber and others, we will learn unique ways of ‘cross-training' to reach greater levels of achievement than would be possible if only one approach was taken.

The program focuses on:
• greater understanding of the key differences between coaching and counselling and how to link the two approaches
• techniques to apply in a counselling setting to facilitate transformational change with a client
• understanding the transpersonal coaching ‘map' that can be applied in a counselling setting to help a client identify and bring about lasting transformation in life
• assist in developing benchmarks for psychological and spiritual health

Facilitator: Bridget Pannell has a corporate background in people management, where she coached in career management and interpersonal skill development. She works as a transpersonal counsellor and life coach in private practice. Bridget has studied psychology and transpersonal counselling, has trained in the US with Ken Wilber, and is currently undertaking a Masters Degree in Life Coaching at La Trobe University and teaches at the Phoenix Institute.

Date 19 - 20 July 2008
Time 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: LC1
Cost $300* (2 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to twenty-four participants

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FACILITATE SUCCESSFUL GROUPS WORKSHOP

This workshop is designed for people with an interest in learning the fundamentals of how to successfully facilitate a group or workshop. The focus will be on understanding groups, their dynamics, the steps of group formation, personality and behaviour management.

It will be an opportunity for participants to learn and develop their personal style. It will be experiential as it will involve practice planning and conducting a short presentation. The techniques gained from this workshop will help you develop your confidence, listening and leadership skills and to learn more about group processes. This workshop will suit those wanting to gain more (career) experience and for existing presenters.

Facilitator: Geoff Favoloro B Arts, Grad Dip IT, Grad Dip App Psych, Dip Family Systems. Geoff is a Registered Psychologist and Reiki Master Teacher. He has been providing Counselling and Coaching to both individuals and in group training seminars since 1990. He teaches at the Phoenix Institute.

Date 3-4 May 2008
Time 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: RG1
Cost $300* (2 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to twenty-four participants

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Learn the fundamental and invaluable tools of conflict resolution and mediation skills. The course will focus on the essential listening, agenda and goal setting techniques to be used in personal and work situation mediations. Learn more about yourself and your style of handling feelings, conflicts; listening and in being assertive. Includes writing and sharing activities.

Aim To help people to learn more about themselves and their style of handling feelings, conflicts, and in listening and being assertive. Course includes Defining conflict, understanding each individuals style of managing conflict, negotiating and resolving conflict, the five possible outcomes and developing skills to assist in conflict resolution.
Facilitator: Geoff Favoloro - see above

Date 20-21st September 2008
Time 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: CR1
Cost $300* (2 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to twenty-four participants

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RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLING WORKSHOP
ACA Approved for ongoing professional development

In transpersonal experience, relationships form a sacred contract between two people. The union itself facilitates the soul's journey, expanded consciousness, growth towards our potential and healing of self-limiting wounds. When seen in this way couples experience less anxiety and more connectedness as they discover through their relationship, more about their own and their partner's soul and their core needs, desires and wounds. They learn that if they listen to and follow back their soul's yearning, healing and fulfilment is possible.

In this workshop, Judith Ayre draws on the work of Thomas Moore, David Shnaik, Harville Hendrix, Ken Wilbur and Bob and Mallie Mandel to show how when Soul is given central space in a relationship, self transcendence and differentiation follow and so too does passion and intimacy. Participants will also be shown ways to apply this approach in counselling setting. This workshop is best suited to people with some background in the counselling process.

Facilitator: Judith Ayre is a counsellor and psychotherapist who works holistically within a Transpersonal and soul-centred framework. She uses experiential and arts-based practical processes with couple and families, as well as individuals. Judith studied with Loving Relationship Training International in the 1980’s, and continues to work within the consciousness movement. She is on the Individual Register of the Psychotherapists and Counsellors Federation of Australia. She also teaches at the Phoenix Institute and La Trobe University.

Date: 11-12 October 2008
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: RC1
Cost: $300* (2 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to twenty-four participants

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ART THERAPY
ACA Approved for ongoing professional development

ART THERAPY PRACTICE (3 WORKSHOPS)

These workshops are designed for people with an interest in Art Therapy, and for Transpersonal and Holistic counsellors who wish to gain additional skills in Art Therapy. You can enrol in single workshops or all three. The focus of the workshops will be utilising Art Therapy methods and techniques, working with dreams, life transitions, exploring feelings and grief, accessing potentials, expanding creativity and community building. These techniques will link with Transpersonal themes using Art Therapy methods. The workshops will be practical. No art skills are required and all materials are provided.

Workshop 1. Art Therapy – Somatic Art Therapy

The body remembers and stores everything we experience. By awakening awareness of the body and following the path of stored imagery, we are able to release old traumas and ease symptoms. Using a bodymind process incorporating movement, breath, visualization and art we can bring what is held in the body into a tangible form, where it can be related to and transformed.

This will be an experiential workshop, and will focus on using the wisdom of the body as a guide to healing. This will include tools for finding a safe place in the body, utilizing resource experiences that help regulate the nervous system, retrieval processes, and establishing new boundaries. The workshop is suitable for those already working in art therapy or other healing modalities, or for those wanting to come and experience the process for themselves.

Facilitator: Katrina Grant has a Diploma in Transpersonal Art Therapy and teaches at the Phoenix Institute. She works with individuals and groups using art therapy and music. She has used art therapy in a range of settings, and was involved in establishing an art therapy program in Sri Lanka for orphans of the tsunami. Her main areas of interest are in somatic based art therapy (especially in relation to trauma and illness), and eastern psychology. She teaches yoga and has a background in performance and bodywork.

Date: 19-20 April 2008
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: AT1
Cost: $300* (2 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders

Class size limited to sixteen participants.

*Note: This workshop is now full, please feel free to ring and book yourself a place on the waiting list and we will notfiy you if any vacancies arise.

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Workshop 2. Vision Drawing Studio

Vision Drawing is a transformative approach to Art [as observer] and Creativity [as maker] using Animals as our guide. It begins with the premise that animals and nature can act as a catalyst for us to access intuition, creativity and imagination, like the experience of a totem as described by Shamans. When the image or illusion of animal is experienced in a powerful way, not just with the eyes but with all of the senses, one’s awareness drops into the heart, the seat of our instinctual self.

The senses receive information in a way that can be felt in the body, our most reliable compass. Participants can expect to have a personal experience of the transformative power of connecting with animals as a catalyst to self-expression. Basic materials, technique and therapeutic applications will be discussed in the group. This experience will enable an exploration of the use of intuitive art for both personal and professional development. It will also increase awareness of our connection to Life. No art experience necessary.

Facilitator: Blaze Warrender is a visionary artist and transpersonal art therapist and a graduate from Phoenix. She has developed the Vision Drawing healing art process to explore intuition, creativity and imagination. Drawing on her life as an artist she has developed her own techniques from a background of murals and fantasy finishes in London, Europe and USA. With a passion for animal protection she combines art and symbols of animals as a catalyst to explore our fundamental nature. The main focus of her Vision Drawing studio is to share her experience of art as a healing process with others.

Date: 28-29 June 2008
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: AT2
Cost: $300* (2 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to eighteen participants

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Workshop 3. Authentic Movement: Moving From Within

Authentic Movement is a form of dance/movement therapy that was developed in the United States by Mary Starks Whitehouse in the 1960’s, and further developed by Janet Adler and Joan Chodorow, all of whom have written and published extensively. Authentic Movement has been used as a psychotherapeutic method, or ‘active imagination’ through embodied experience and expression in the context of a therapeutic relationship. It is also a vehicle for personal growth, spiritual development, and as a creative resource for artistic work. The form involves a ‘mover’, a ‘witness’ and the dynamics of their relationship.

The ‘mover’ listens for inner impulses (sensation, feeling, thought, image, memory) and surrenders to the ßow of unconscious or unknown material that emerges. The role of the ‘witness’ is to be present with his/her experience of the ‘mover’, and to observe sensation, feeling, thought, image, memory as it arises in response to the movement. The direct experience of ‘seeing’ and ‘being seen’ so essential to early developmental processes in human relationships, and the sharing of these experiences between ‘mover’ and ‘witness’, provides a rich, complex, and fertile ground for deepening awareness and understanding. Moreover, the inherently holistic nature of Authentic Movement challenges patterns of mind/body ‘splitting’ so prevalent today, facilitating opportunities for integration, which often lead to a deep sense of wholeness, healing and transformation. No prior dance/movement experience is necessary.

Facilitator: Linda Murrow is originally from the east coast of the United States where she competed her Master’s in Expressive Arts Therapy (1986) and is a registered dance/movement therapist, approved supervisor and educator with the American Dance Therapy Association. She has completed post-graduate study in family therapy and specialist training in couple therapy. In Melbourne she has taught dance therapy at Melbourne University, and played a central role in developing the Master of Creative Arts Therapy and Graduate Diploma of Dance Therapy at RMIT University for twelve years.

Since 1998 she has also worked as a family therapist with Family Life, and currently as a relationships counsellor with Relationships Australia. For more than twenty years she has been developing her work in authentic movement or ‘movement-in-depth’, a powerful form of dance therapy. She has trained with Janet Adler and Joan Chodorow, both pioneers in the development of Authentic Movement internationally. She is a professional member of the Australian Association of Relationship Counsellors, The Victorian Association of Family Therapists, and The Dance Movement Therapy Association of Australia

Date: 30-31 August 2008
Time Day 1: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm Sat 30th Aug.
Time Day 2: 11.00am - 6.00pm Sun 31st Aug.
Venue: Clifton Creative Arts Centre, Richmond Uniting Church, 304 Church St, Richmond.
Course Code: AT3
Cost: $300* (2 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to eighteen participants

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Sandplay - A certificate for qualified counsellors.

Sandplay is a therapeutic method that helps to resolve life issues and restore balance to the psyche. It is a profound and deeply transformative process of soul work. Sand is moulded to form a landscape in a sandbox, into which miniatures representing symbols of inner experience are placed to become the landscape of the whole of our being.

This facilitates the emergence of the unconscious. Sandplay has its origins in depth psychology and the work of CG Jung, with its home in Zurich, Switzerland. The practice has now expanded to include ideas from Gestalt, psychodrama, experiential and arts-based approaches and family therapies. It is anticipated, though not guaranteed, that this course will articulate into a professionally recognised and accredited certiÞcate in sandplay therapy by mid to late 2008.

The three modules together with a fourth 2 day weekend module and a four day residential may lead to completion of an accredited certificate over twelve months of training. On completion students will be professionally equipped to work with sandplay as a single therapeutic modality. The workshop is offered for both personal development and professional qualification.

Sandplay Workshop 1 Exploring Soul through Sandplay
In this workshop, you will experience the transformative power of the Sandplay method. You will learn to guide a client through their journey, as well as experience the process yourself. The facilitators will demonstrate the work and overview of the elements of this method and how to understand clients’ experience. Consideration is also given to the spatial relationship of the sandtray, the three dimensionality of the sand and the location of symbols within the sandtray.

Date: 23-24 August 2008
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: SP1
Cost: $300* (2 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to eighteen participants

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Sandplay Workshop 2 Symbols of the Psyche
In this module you will explore symbols as the emergence of the Self. Students will explore the use of symbol in the sandtray through self exploration, journaling, case analysis, clinical vignettes and C.G. Jung’s archetypal theory. Students will have the opportunity to explore an important symbol of their own life journey. This exploration will continue throughout the rest of the course.

Date: 10-11 May 2008 for those who have completed Sandplay 1 in 2007
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: SP2

Date: 4-5 Oct 2008
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: SP22

Cost: $300* (2 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to eighteen participants

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Sandplay Workshop 3 Transformation and Healing in Sandplay
Sandplay is an embodied process that builds a connection between our inner and outer worlds: between the soma and psyche. Language and words are often limited in accessing healing options and new ways of working with clients. Consequently other forms of expression, particularly physical movement of our hands and body, make conscious what is happening within the unconscious, opening our clients to realms beyond Þxed perspectives. It is the energy of the inner image of the Self and its unfolding transformation that is central to sandplay work. The landscape created in the tray will be explored in terms of stages of transformation in the psyche.

Date: 5-6 July 2008 for those who have completed Sandplay 1 in 2007
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: SP3

Date: 29-30 Nov 2008
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: SP33

Cost: $300* (2 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to eighteen participants

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Facilitator: Judith Ayre is a counsellor and psychotherapist who works holistically within a Transpersonal and soul-centred framework. She uses experiential and arts-based practical processes with families and individuals. Judith is a member of the Australian Counselling Association, the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Association of Victoria, the Victorian Association of Holistic and Transpersonal Counsellors and the Society of Counselling and Psychotherapy Educators. She is on the Individual Register of the Psychotherapists and Counsellors Federation of Australia. Judith also teaches at the Phoenix Institute and at La Trobe University

Facilitator: Roman Ilgauskas has studied Jungian Psychology for the last twenty years and worked with the renowned Jungian writer and analyst Robert A. Johnson (author of Inner Work, He, She, Owning Your Own Shadow). Roman is an experienced group dream facilitator with expertise in symbol and archetypal work. In his clinical practice Roman works with guided imagery and music, ritual, dreams and uses sandplay and other arts based processes. He is a clinical member of the Australian Counselling Association and a member of the Music and Imagery Association of Australia and teaches at the Phoenix Institute.

MUSIC IMAGERY AND MANDALA ART:
AN INTRODUCTION

Experiential sessions incorporating music, meditation and art therapy. The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music, is a music centred, transformational therapy, which uses specifically programmed classical music to stimulate and support a dynamic unfolding of inner experiences in service of physical, psychological and spiritual wholeness. In a relaxed state, participants listen to music, carefully chosen by the facilitator, which evokes and supports the emerging flow of images experienced by individual group members.

This experience offers the individual participants the potential for creative problem solving, self-discovery, and personal growth. On completing the music and imagery, the client is then invited to create an art piece as a physical representation of the experience. Often the art work may include the use of colours that the music evoked within a circle or mandala. Participants need have no previous knowledge of music, art, or relaxation techniques.

Each workshop can be taken individually or in sequence.

Workshop 1 Earth, Fire, Air, Water and Metal: The Elements of Life
The course will be offered over five consecutive Monday evenings. Many ancient philosophies use a set of five archetypal elements to explain patterns in nature: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Understanding what each element represents helps us evaluate our individual strengths and weaknesses. Healers have found that focusing on the elements can often be helpful when seeking what course of treatments would best address our problems. By exploring each element with the support of the music and in creating a mandala art piece, we are able to connect to deep levels of ourselves, rejuvenating, and awakening those universal images of unity. The mandala is widely used for meditation and healing.

Dates: 15, 22, 29 September, 6, 13 October 2008
Time: 6:30 pm - 8.30 pm
Course Code: GM1
Cost: $200* (for the five sessions)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to sixteen participants

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Workshop 2 Music Imagery and Mandala Art
During the weekend we explore the use of meditation, relaxation, music and imagery in the service of healing and personal mysticism. Using the scenic sequence of Leuner’s Symbol drama: The Meadow, The Mountain, The Brook, The Cave and the Edge of the Woods, we are able to discover symbolic imaginal contents of the unconscious. Leuner used this as a depth psychology technique to resolving the psychodynamic causes of symptoms. The weekend would be of benefit not only to those of us interested in the use of music and symbol work for self exploration, but also psychotherapists in the use of imaginative techniques in therapy. Such a panorama developed from the imaginal landscapes shows us the constellation of emotional and psychic life.

Dates: 15-16 November 2008
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: GM2
Cost: $300* (2 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to twenty-two participants

Facilitator: Roman Ilgauskas (See Sandplay Workshop.)

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‘Traversing the Worlds of Self' is a four module residential program for women focussing on Pachamama (Mother Earth) , the Chakana and the Medicine Wheel. The program can be undertaken as single modules, or in sequence. The program focuses on - a deeper connection to women's traditional healing - discovering personal healing through ritual - self discovery of one's spiritual path - building a spiritual community of women's medicine

Traditional native people of South America have a strong connection to Pachamama, the earth mother and powerful feminine energy that pervades all life. They cultivate lives that honour Pachamama, and understand and practice the principle of balance and reciprocity in their exchanges with each other and the environment. The Chakana, the ancient Andean cross, is a map and a symbol that embodies these understandings.

The Chakana, with its horizontal and vertical symmetry, represents cosmic balance. It is a bridge to different levels and aspects of reality, and is therefore seen as a symbol of the divine. The hollow at its centre represents the mystery of the Chakana that extends bridges between the human and the divine, between the living and the dead, between the masculine and the feminine, and between the past and the future.

‘Working with the energy of the powerful feminine Pachamama, we walk the Medicine Wheel and the Chakana, drawing on them for direction and guidance in our lives. They are ancient tools that allow us to focus our energies and move through diffi culties and challenges. They offer pathways to creatively re-envision our lives.

'Traversing the Worlds of Self' is for women who wish to face the challenge of navigating through their many selves, to reconnect with their own strength and resources as they weave their personal life stories. They are walking, or wanting to walk their spiritual path through ritual, community and assessing of traditional wisdom. All workshops will involve traditional sweat lodges, though they are not compulsory.

Program 1
East: Birth

In this first program beginning in the East, you connect to the powerful energy of Pachamama and call upon your own power as you plummet the depths of your life, shedding the past that weighs you down. Allow yourself to be stripped to your bones of a past that may cling too tightly, and in the process allow Spirit to grow and the virtues of the Chakana and the Medicine Wheel nurture you back to life. Surrender to death to be claimed by life, be born ready to continue your path around the Medicine Wheel, crossing the portals of the Chakana into the worlds and layers of the self.

Date: 7-9 March 2008
Course Code: SW1

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Program 2
North: Courage and Strength

This program is about walking bare, having been stripped to your bones, continuing your journey around the Medicine Wheel and the Chakana calling for what is needed for your path. The North is a call for courage and strength. This is a time to call Wiracocha (father), the masculine principle, into your life to enable you to forge ahead and move into and through difficulties that present themselves to you and your path. It is a time to find your voice and your courage. In this program, you will reconnect with the energy of Wiracocha, honouring it and call on the virtues of courage and strength to confront your fears and help you continue your path into the unknown.

Date: 16-18 May 2008
Course Code: SW2

*Note: This workshop is now full, please feel free to ring and book yourself a place on the waiting list and we will notfiy you if any vacancies arise.

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Program 3
West: Healing and Compassion

Continuing our journey around the medicine wheel, we arrive at the West the place of healing and compassion, the place of Pachamama, the mothers and grandmothers. As the flesh begins to cover your bones, we traverse the West reconnecting with the powerful feminine. A time to honour your female ancestry, receiving the gifts and wisdom of the women who have walked before you. It is also a time to heal any wounds that may still block the heart.

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Program 4
South: Questing for a Vision

We step through the doorway of the South into the darkness of the unknown. A time to step forward and be supported by the wisdom and strength which has fleshed your bones up to this point in your journey around the medicine wheel. Allow your connection to Wiracocha and Pachamama to carry you in this step as you call for a vision for your life, coming full circle around the medicine wheel and the Chakana.

Date: 21-23 November 2008
Course Code: SW4

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For all Programs:
Venue Residential: Coranderrk, Healesville Sanctuary
Cost $380 1 workshop $1200 4 workshops (Includes food, camping fees)
Note: Limited to sixteen participants

Facilitators

Maria Elena Bravo is a member and Ceremonial Leader of The Spirit of the Earth Medicine Society. Apprenticed to Dr Rafael Locke, she has undertaken rigorous training in shamanic work and medicine ways over ten years. Born in Chile South America, Maria Elena has a deep interest in South American shamanic traditions and has worked with healers in Peru and Mexico. She leads regular tours to Peru for Phoenix. A particular area of interest is in assisting women in and through ceremonial work. She has facilitated shamanic workshops and participated in ceremonial work with women elders of the Central Desert and Q’eros community in the Peruvian Andes.

Marina Appeldorff has been involved in the healing arts for twelve years. She holds a Diploma in Transpersonal Counselling and is a professional Reßexologist. She uses holistic methods working in private practice, and in the aged sector. Marina was born in Argentina where she began to discover her passion in healing. She co-developed an adult education course, which she runs to assist women Þnd their inner strength and soul gifts in a safe and nurturing space. Marina is a member of Spirit of The Earth Medicine Society.

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SHAMANIC PRACTICE WORKSHOPS

Shamanic Workshop 1
Advanced Shamanic Practice

Students who have completed Shamanic Practice Modules or Workshops in previous years are eligible to enrol. The advanced module will be residential and involve more intense shamanic training that covers initiation rites, ceremonies that assist us to connect with the land and ceremonies that allow us to make life transitions.

The workshop will also include the sweat lodge ceremony and healing processes. This is a systematic and practical training program, which uses the drum, rattle, symbol, medicine objects and medicine wheel as essential tools. This module focuses work on shamanism as a healing vocation, focusing on healing with individuals, groups, and communities. The techniques can be used for soul retrieval work. These will be a focus on individual training and direction. Connecting to and working with Totem to journey into the landscape will be the major aspect in the course. Students will work closely together in healing and ritual work.

Facilitator: Martin Peake is Director of the PhoenixInstitute of Victoria. He regularly visits Peru and works with the traditional shamans and healers in the Cusco region in the Andes. He is a Ceremonial leader in the Spirit of the Earth Medicine Society.

Dates: 10-11 May 2008
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: SH1
Venue: Residential: Coranderrk, Healesville Sanctuary
Cost: $300* (2 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders

Note: Participants can arrive at Healsville after 5pm on Friday the 9th of May, or arrive no later than 8:30am on Saturday morning. You will be given further instructions upon registration.

Limited to eighteen participants

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THE HEALING POWER OF SOUND: SING YOURSELF FREE

This course is for students who wish to explore the pathway of chanting, singing and sacred sound. When we are free to sing from the heart, fears fall away and we experience the effortless joy of self-expression. Such singing and chanting brings deep healing and transformation. Our voices can bring us into balance, restore harmony and generate vitality. When we accept our voices without judgement, we accept ourselves in totality and the voice becomes fully integrated into our being. This voice reßects what we honour, reveals what we feel and is a powerful transmitter of the Life Force within us.Breath, Toning, Singing and Chanting are keys used to explore this pathway. This work can be life changing.

Healing Power of Sound 1 The Healing Power of Sound
This module will be an introduction to the use of sound for healing. It is designed to open up and free the voice from the shackles and limitations imposed upon us by society and the conditioned mind. We will explore the use of breath, movement, voice and sound as pathways into trance and altered states of consciousness. You will learn the art of toning for health and how to facilitate a sound healing session for others.

Dates: 25-27 April 2008
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: HS1
Cost: $450 (3 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders

Class size limited to 24 participants.

*Note: This workshop is now full, please feel free to ring and book yourself a place on the waiting list and we will notfiy you if any vacancies arise.

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Healing Power of Sound 2 Visionary Voice/Creative Sound
This module will focus on how to use the voice to manifest your vision and create an abundant reality. You will discover the beauty of the voice and the joy of singing together in harmony. The songs we sing will open your hearts and the deep sounds we make will reconnect you to the earth. Singing is fun and with intention can be used to enhance creativity and awareness in all aspects of our being.

Dates: 20-22 June 2008
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: HS2
Cost: $450 (3 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to twenty-four participants

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Healing Power of Sound 3 Sound and Silence
This module is a doorway into presence and the deeper layers of being. By becoming aware of the silence within sound we travel back to the Source. It is a doorway into meditation and sacred space where personal boundaries dissolve into Oneness. You will learn the art of harmonic overtoning and explore the use of sacred sound and mantra. You will discover how to utilise these techniques to explore inner and outer worlds.

Dates: 15-17 August 2008
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Course Code: HS3
Cost: $450 (3 days)

Note *10% discount for Phoenix students, ex-students and Government concession card holders
Class size limited to twenty-four participants

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Facilitator: Darpan has a BA (Hons) majoring in Drama and Psychology, and spent his early years working in the performing arts. Darpan has graduated from Chris James's teacher training course and he is a qualified Sound Healer. Darpan weaves twenty-Þve years of experience in music, performance and the shamanic arts to create a unique transmission that inspires and transforms. In the 1980s, He studied Chi-gung and Taoism with Dr Tennyson Yu in Sydney.

Darpan also studied Transpersonal psychology and the work of Dr Stanislav Grof. In the late nineties, Darpan travelled to Peru, Ecuador and Brasil to study Amazonian shamanism and work with various shamans and healers. He is a multi-instrumentalist, and a gifted songwriter and singer. He has released a number of CDs and travels extensively overseas, delivering sacred sound seminars and shamanic retreats.

STUDY TOUR TO PERU SEPTEMBER 2009

The Phoenix Institute invites you to join a spectacular twenty-eight day tour of ancient Peru departing September 2009.

Beginning in Lima, we will visit the world renowned Gold Museum then onto the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, Cuzco. We continue on to the Sacred Valley of the Incas on our way to Machu Pucchu. Other highlights include a two night stay on Amantani Island on Lake Titicaca, visiting the many ceremonial sites around Cuzco and the Sacred Valley. A three day visit to the Q'eros community at Yanurana staying with local families and sharing in their traditions will be a special experience. Through its connections in Peru, Phoenix Institute has been able to secure an invitation to this remote community which offers a unique opporturnity to experience ancient traditions at first hand.

Throughout our stay in Peru, there will be opportunity for ceremony at sacred ceremonial sites led by our Peruvian guide Mallku.

Highlights
· Cusco - ancient Inca capital
· Machu Picchu
· Lake Titicaca (staying with local community)
· Sacred Valley – Chinchero
· Involvement in many traditional ceremonies
· Staying with Qeros community

Tour Leader:

Malkue Aribalo is Peruvian, He is an artist and a writer of several books on Andean Shamanism and Inca cosmology. During the 1980's Malku co-authored books on natural medicine and Andean mysticism. He has conducted Phoenix study tours for over eight years. Malku is a wonderful guide with a wealth of experience who is alble to enright our imaginations about the magical and beautiful Andeas. He takes us on a most deepening and profound journey together.

Date: Participants need to arrange their airfares to arrive in Lima in September 2009.

Cost: Approximately $5000 (Based on twin share. Additional cost for single)

Cost includes:
· All accommodation (4 star in Lima, 3 star Cusco, Sacred Valley, Aguas Calientes and Puno)
· All internal flights, transits and land travel
· All domestic air taxes
· All breakfasts and ten picnic lunches

Cost excludes:
Balance of lunches and dinners. However there are excellent cheap eating places to explore.

Course Code: PT1

Note Places are strictly limited to twelve people. For more information contact Phoenix by phone 03 9510 4264 or email at info@phoenixinstitute.com.au

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Venue
All workshops are held at the Phoenix Institute, unless otherwise stated. The address is:
Phoenix Institute
15 Chatham Street
PRAHRAN 3181

Parking
All day parking is available at Kings Parking (King Street, off Chapel Street – see Melways) at a cost of $10.50 per day, or at the Prahran Market at cost of approx $8.50 per day. Free all-day parking (Sundays only) is available behind the Court Jester Hotel, opposite Chatham Street.

Time
All workshops run from 9:30 am until 4:30 pm, unless otherwise stated.

Payment
For all workshops and courses, payment in full is required to secure a place. Refunds are available for cancellations according to our refund policy, listed below.
We prefer payment to be made via secure online payment. Please click the following link.

Payment can also be made by cheque or credit card or over the phone.

Application Form
All payments need to be accompanied by an Application Form below.

Refund Policy:

A Refund Application form needs to be comple