Welcome to the 2024 Compassionate Inquiry Conference!
Thank you for registering for the online version of the event. Please read this page carefully. It contains important information about the event, including instructions for entering the conference rooms, the schedule, and Zoom links.
Below you will find all the workshops available on Friday September 20th, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd, 2024.
If you have any questions, please write to [email protected].
Access to Live Streaming
The Conference will take place from 8:30 am to 7 pm Bucharest time, every day. All times listed are in EEST (Bucharest) below and contain links to convert to your local time.
We will be broadcasting LIVE from each of the conference rooms in Bucharest via Zoom.
Click the links below to find our three different Zoom links, corresponding to each of the conference rooms. These links will stay the same throughout all three days.
Conference Room 1: Main Room
Conference Room 2: Eminescu Room
Conference Room 3: Atelier Room
Schedule at a Glance for Friday, September 20, 2024
Time EEST | Main Room (JOIN) | Eminescu (JOIN) | Atelier (JOIN) |
---|---|---|---|
07:00 – 08:30 | Participant registrations | ||
08:30 – 09:00 | Opening Ceremony | ||
09:00 – 10:30 | Keynote Speech | Dr. Gabor Maté | ||
10:30 – 10:50 | Coffee break | ||
10:50 – 12:20 | CI and Psychedelic Therapy: A Catalyst for Rebuilding Social Fabric | Energetic Attunement Workshop | Moment of Connection |
12:20 – 13:45 | Lunch break | ||
13:45 – 15:00 | Layers of Identity | ||
15:15 – 16:45 | Empathy: An Inside Job | The Dance of Anger and Shame | Digging Deeper: An Updated Guide to Working with Core Beliefs |
16:45 – 17:00 | Coffee break | ||
17:00 – 18:00 | Working with CI in the Context of Auto-Immune Disease, Chronic Pain and Cancer | Compassion for Pain, Disease and Illness | A Loneliness Epidemic: Understanding and Addressing Loneliness through CI |
Schedule at a Glance for Saturday, September 21, 2024
Time EEST | Main Room (JOIN) | Eminescu (JOIN) | Atelier (JOIN) |
---|---|---|---|
08:30 – 09:30 | A Mindful Introduction to the Body | The Belief of Unworthiness and the Mindfulness Practice of Radical Self-Acceptance | Street Compassion: Compassionate Inquiry in Unconventional Therapeutic Settings |
09:30 – 11:00 | CI Master Class (Shame) | ||
11:00 – 11:20 | Coffee break | ||
11:20 – 12:50 | The Science of Consciousness | ||
12:50 – 14:30 | Lunch break | ||
13:15 – 13:45 | Book signing | ||
14:30 – 16:00 | Beyond the Mind’s Maze: Unlocking the Body’s Wisdom | Women with Histories of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Mothering, Resilience and Protecting the Next Generation | |
14:30 – 15:00 | Speaking the Unspeakable | ||
15:00 – 16:00 | Understanding and Working with Dissociation in CI Practice | ||
16:00 – 16:20 | Coffee break | ||
16:20 – 17:50 | CI Master Class (Rage and Anger) | ||
17:50 – 19:00 | Dinner – and Poetry Jam | ||
19:00 – 21:00 | Live band & DJ | Zmei3 & JOHN ÏSH & DJ Bogdan Andrei |
Schedule at a Glance for Sunday, September 22, 2024
Time EEST | Main Room (JOIN) | Eminescu (JOIN) | Atelier (JOIN) |
---|---|---|---|
08:30 – 09:30 | Overcome the Struggle of Self-Care with Playful Self-Compassion Practices | Master Your Breath | In Touch – When There Are No Words |
09:30 – 11:00 | CI Masterclass (Fear & Grief) | ||
11:00 – 11:20 | Coffee break | ||
11:20 – 12:50 | Perinatal Trauma and Its Impact on Humanity | Healing our relationship with food: CI and Eating Disorders | Celebrate the Equinox (embrace and integrate polarities) |
12:50 – 14:00 | Lunch break | ||
14:00 – 15:30 | Yoga Practices to Support Polyvagal Theory | Dancing Our Way towards Polyvagal Safety | The Same Journey: Medicine Wheel Teachings and CI |
15:30 – 15:50 | Coffee break | ||
15:50 – 17:30 | Compassionate Inquiry and DBT | Beyond the Mask: A Dance Between Ego and Essence | CI and Family Constellation – An Integrated Approach to Agreeing to What Is |
17:30 – 18:00 | Closing Ceremony – Dancing the Mission of CI |
Full Conference Schedule
Below has complete descriptions and times of each workshop.
You can click on any of the workshop titles below to see the description and join the livestream zoom link for that room and workshop.
Friday, September 20, 2024
All times listed are in EEST (Bucharest).
8:30 to 9:00 AM
8:30 am – 9:00 am | Opening Ceremony (Main Room)
Hosted by the CI Romanian Team
9:00 to 10:30 AM
9:00 am – 10:30 am | Keynote Speech | Dr. Gabor Maté (Main Room)
About Gabor:
Dr. Gabor Maté is a retired physician, bestselling author, an internationally renowned speaker and the creator of the Compassionate Inquiry approach to psychotherapy. Gabor evolved this therapeutic approach over 20 years of his personal journey, and from his work with patients in family practice, palliative care, and addiction. He developed his system further while facilitating integration workshops focused on healing trauma through the use of psychedelics.
10:30 AM to 10:50 AM | Coffee/tea break
10:50 AM to 12:20 PM
CI and Pyschedelic Therapy: A Catalyst for Rebuilding Social Fabric | Warren McCaig (Main Room, 10:50)
About the workshop:
This talk will discuss the combination of CI with the addition of psychedelic compounds can lead to a heightened sense of empathy and interconnectedness. Psychedelics have the power to dissolve the ego, allowing individuals to experience a sense of oneness with others, breaking down barriers of isolation and alienation. This can lead to a greater understanding and acceptance of others, fostering community bonds.
Learning Objectives:
– Improving CI practicioners knowledge around the complentary role of psychedelics.
– Catalysing conversation about the importance of community in healing.
– Provoking discussion about the role of indigenous ceremony and how it translates to different contexts.
– Sharing the understanding the unique impact of the combination of CI and psychedelic therapy in building deep communities of authentic relationships.
– Beginning a conversation on how collective traumas need collective healing practices.
About Warren
I am a Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner who has a deep personal commitment to healing and growth. My own personal journey has been a path out of religious fundamentalism into a life of hope and joy. I am deeply passionate about the need for community in our healing process. Today, I utilize Compassionate Inquiry, psychedelic therapy, group facilitation and nature retreats to help clients encounter more joy, authenticity, a sense of possibility in their everyday life.
My journey through my own trauma and healing has deepened my sense of compassion for people dealing with addiction and relational disconnection. If you are looking to heal from relational disconnection, disconnection from nature, depression or anxiety I would love a chance to meet with you.
Energetic Attunement Workshop | Henny Donovan (Eminescu Room, 10:50)
About the workshop:
An introductory explorative workshop connecting to one’s energetic electromagnetic life through a practical, experiential immersion. Through a series of simple gently led grounding and meditative exercises we will alter our polarity of focus to attunement. We will create an opportunity to become an open, colourless container and give ourselves the inner space to feel our energetic lives and faculties.
Meditative exercises to allow receptivity, sensitivity and attunement processes will be practiced during this time together, giving space for making the unseen electromagnetic worlds we live in more real and accessible.
Learning Objectives:
– To create a safe container to experience the means to grow one’s energetic tangible sensory intuition.
– To get out of the head – stories, fantasia, academia – and into an experiential process and connection with the unseen worlds, within and without.
– To become internally quietened to connect to one’s innate sense of stillness.
– To gain self-awareness and attunement to our electromagnetic systems
– To cause a softening and change in polarity of inner focus from one of semi-permanent pitch to receptivity, yaw, yield.
– To increase depth of one’s own grounding and connection to presence.
– The workshop is not about proving or disproving electromagnetic activity but about getting into a place of openness and curiosity for exploration and discovery.
About Henny:
Originally from a background of teaching and counselling in the Arts, Henny has a gentle and grounded approach to energetic exploration. She works at finding ways to deepen and extend the possible range of sensitivity, so discovery is due to a felt sense and not imagination. Following over 25 years training in a like-minded community, Henny has run courses and workshops working with movement and dance around electromagnetic alignment, and on the relationship between colour and the unseen worlds and on how to alter one’s state to become more attuned to one’s energetic surroundings.
She has performed with a sacred dance team at Sadler’s Wells Theatre London and run healing retreats in Ireland and England working with movement and the energetic frequencies of the land.
12:20 pm- 1:45 pm | Lunch break
1:45 PM to 3:00 PM
1:45 to 3:00 PM | Layers of Identity | Sat Dharam Kaur ND
About the workshop:
In our multicultural world, we can misattune to our clients when our group identity differs from theirs.
Similarly, we connect with our clients when we acknowledge our shared human identity. We are not
only biopsychosocial beings – we are also eco-beings, dependent upon the ecology of the earth’s
environment around us, and the health of the air, water, soil, atmosphere and other species. We can no
longer separate mental and physical health from the wellbeing of the planet.
Learning Objectives:
In this experiential workshop you will learn:
– An overview of 5 layers of identity, applied to yourself
– To explore your individual, group, human, eco and universal identity, and to share your
experience with others
– To recognize which aspects of your identity are operating in different situations, and with whom
– In which situations a conflict between identities can arise, and how to navigate this
– How to meet others at the level of identity from which they are communicating
– To respect all levels of identity while considering the well-being of the whole
– How to integrate Layers of Identity into your CI sessions
About Sat Dharam:
Sat Dharam Kaur ND has supported Dr. Gabor Maté in structuring the Compassionate Inquiry approach and developing the online training. Sat Dharam is a naturopathic doctor, teacher and author, who combines naturopathic medicine with Compassionate Inquiry, yoga, breathing practices and meditation to support others in healing and integrating mind, body and spirit.
3:15 PM to 4:45 PM
Digging Deeper: An Updated Guide to Working with Core Beliefs | Luke Sniewski (Main Room)
About the workshop:
Core beliefs shape the way we experience and relate to our present moment lived experience. When working with others, their capacity to integrate and change is directly associated to helping clients identify, challenge and shift these meanings and interpretations. Alongside guiding clients to increased awareness, it’s necessary to know how to work with beliefs when we discover them, and how to create new ways of being that move away from outdated belief systems. This presentation will help bring clarity, understanding, structure, and direction to an aspect of CI that is often difficult to grasp and master.
Learning Objectives:
– Learn how to help clients discover the beliefs that govern their life
– Explore different ways of working with core beliefs
– Apply a CI, Client-centered approach to understanding which strategies are most appropriate for any given client
– Learn why changing core beliefs is not simply the process of “choosing” new beliefs
About Luke
As a Wellbeing Coach and Somatic Therapist, I integrate my broad personal, academic, and professional experience into a unique approach for helping others. Today, I utilize Compassionate Inquiry, somatic practices, and healthy lifestyle strategies to help clients experience more vitality, authenticity, and inner peace in everyday life. Something that my meditation practice – as well as guidance from my teachers Graham Mead, Gabor Maté, Rupert Spira, and Lenny Parracino – has taught me is that authentic change begins with silence, stillness, and the courage to look inward. We may not like what we find there, but getting into our body is where the real work of change is done. ‘The Inner Work’ transforms the way we relate to our mind, body, & world. While this requires radical self-acceptance, ruthless honesty, and Yoda-like patience, present moment awareness is the greatest gift you bring into relationship. The core of what I do is reconnecting people with their body so that they learn how to listen to their body and wisdom it has to offer. I’ve worked with executives transitioning into a life of greater meaning, facilitated yoga and meditation for refugees in New Zealand, helped couples reestablish healthy and compassionate communication, worked with obese clients reclaiming their health, and led mindfulness sessions for professional fighters and recovering addicts.
The Dance of Anger and Shame | Siri Dharma (Eminescu Room)
About the workshop:
This workshop explores the relationship between anger and shame. Most of us are familiar with anger as a protector – keeping the ashamed vulnerable part of us safely hidden away. There is another aspect to the dance between anger and shame, however – the healthy anger that we were not allowed to feel may have been repressed and converted to shame. This is the shame that arises when we believe it can’t be our caregivers at fault (because we need them) so it must be me.
In this workshop we will explore both aspects of shame and anger. In particular, we will focus on the dance between victim and personal power, on the anger that lies beneath the shame – which needs to be felt in order for healing to happen. This is anger as warrior, anger as the path to moving from dorsal shutdown to ventral vagal states, anger as an expression of strength. We will also explore this in the context of co-dependency and other states that leave us believing we are helpless and victim.
Learning Objectives:
– Understand anger as a protector of shame
– Understand healthy anger that is repressed by shame
– Discuss ways of working with anger in the context of shame
– Get into touch with these forces in ourselves and release some of it in movement
– Get in touch with power and agency as we access our authentic selves through movement
About Siri Dharma:
Sheila is a certified Compassionate Inquiry practitioner. She has been a facilitator of the online training since its inception in 2019. She co-leads the Safety and Connection course that is part of the online training, where the focus is on creating safety in Compassionate Inquiry sessions. Sheila and Vimalasara Mason-John are the officers in the Integrity and Equality Office, where their function is to be part of resolving any disputes or conflicts that may arise in the context of the training. Sheila is trained as a lawyer and is an accredited mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) in the United Kingdom. She teaches Kundalini Yoga for addiction recovery in South Africa when she isn’t occupied with training and mentoring young lawyers. She has training in Family Life counselling and Addiction counselling and is the lead trainer in South Africa of the Beyond Addiction program. She has training in nonviolent communication. Sheila considers herself a highly-sensitive person and has a deep interest in ensuring that highly sensitive people are welcomed and safely held in the online training course as well as in private mentoring sessions.
Empathy: An Inside Job | Cat McCarthy and Anouk Wehli (Atelier Room)
About the workshop:
The first qualitative thread of the Compassionate Inquiry fabric is having an empathetic abiding presence. Empathy is a muscle and with practice it can engender compassion. But how do you cultivate such awareness when you have not been conditioned to do so? Curiosity becomes a key ingredient. Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is one lens through which to view the world. With its focus on needs-based consciousness, this modality excavates beneath your judgments, stories, and perceptions to identify what is motivating your thoughts and actions, towards yourself and others. NVC is a discipline that offers a chance to bear witness without an agenda and to observe with wonder, so that empathy might become your default choice. In this workshop, Cat McCarthy and Anouk Wehli will introduce the key concepts of NVC as an additional tool for CI practitioners to hold an empathic space.
Learning Objectives:
– Introduction to the map of the NVC language
– Distinguish between Strategies and Needs
– Connect Feelings to Needs
– Identify Judgments and translate them to Needs
– Choose what and how we wish to communicate
– Learn a pivotal exercise to use the rest of your life
About Cat McCarthy
Cat McCarthy meets people where they are and never leaves them where they were. She contains a relational field in which all can safely traverse the heart-mind-body terrain, integrating the practice of Yoga, Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and Trauma-informed Somatic Coaching. An international trainer for 30 years, Cat holds certifications in Anusara Yoga, Kripalu Yoga, NYCNVC Facilitation, and Compassionate Inquiry. She has studied extensively in Neelakantha meditation, Rajanaka Philosophy, BMC’s Embodied Anatomy and is a registered E-RYT500/YACEP/RYS educator with The Yoga Alliance. This Emmy-nominated filmmaker also directs/produces non-fiction projects and has co-created “The Upside of Over” podcast. Cat is skilled at conflict transformation and mediation, offering empathic ears, vulnerable humor, and dynamic clarity. Within a co-regulated space of curiosity, she extends her compassionate and playful presence to her clients and to her online spinal cord injury group. Witnessing the transformational impact of Compassionate Inquiry, Cat’s motto is: Let’s explore this together.
About Anouk Wehli
Anouk joined Compassionate Inquiry in 2020 and actively works as a Practitioner as well as an intern, volunteer, focus group leader and mentor-in-training. The trauma lens Compassionate Inquiry offers has deepened her work as a grief counsellor, birth worker, mediator and bodyworker. Having survived cultural and generational trauma, she knows firsthand the powerful effects of compassionately being with pain so suffering eases and life becomes more bearable and even enjoyable. Growing up in Taiwan and Hong Kong with a Korean mother and Swiss father endowed Anouk with an invaluable set of multicultural competencies. Her melting pot upbringing and education in international schools instilled open-mindedness which she embodies when working with clients from all around the world. Working virtually has opened up a cosmopolitan online practice which she welcomes you to step into and start your healing journey with a Compassionate Inquiry session.
4:45 to 5:00 PM | Coffee break
5:00 to 6:00 PM
Working with CI in the Context of Auto-Immune Disease, Chronic Pain and Cancer | Lizzie Reumont (Main Room)
About the workshop:
This workshop will examine the special considerations of working with CI and hidden ‘disabilities’ such as auto-immune disease, chronic pain and cancer. While these groups have noticeable differences, they also share a lot in common: one being the robust belief system that has likely played a hand in the illness; another being the immense possiblity for healing. This workshop aims to invite an interactive approach to help practitioners gain clarity around working with this population, including considerations one may take into account around creating safety, helping the client to understand what healing means for them, and what ongoing support can look like in the realm of chronic, inconsistent health conditions.
Learning Objectives:
– Understanding daily life with chronic pain/ illness: an invitation to embody the environment surrounding disease
– How to create safety in an unsafe body
– Emotions suppressed, repressed and expressed
– Common triggers / obstacles to accessing beliefs
– Tools to help meet the client where they are in an inconsistent and ever-changing physical reality (and what this means psycho-emotionally)
– Leaning into unconventional healing and resolution: inviting stillness in the storm
About Lizzie
For over three decades my work Has been with people in fostering connection. This initially began as a career in communications and design, but in coming to accept long-term auto-immune disease, my attention increasingly turned towards yoga, which eventually dismantled how I understood myself. Over time I grew into the role of teacher and therapist. The title I give my work is somatic therapy, and my tools come from many years as a yoga practitioner and teacher, bodyworker (Rolfing, Rolf Movement, Craniosacral Therapist) and coach. My entrance to working with the psyche has been via the body, with Compassionate Inquiry and IFS enhancing the language of connection. While I draw from a variety of modalities, my work is integrated and aligned to meet you where you are. My interest is in creating a space for wholeness that exists within everyone, with a special interest in chronic illness, auto-immune disease, cancer, adolescence, neurodiversity and disordered eating.
A Loneliness Epidemic: Understanding and Addressing Loneliness through CI | Boroka Horvath Szombathyy (Eminescu Room)
About the workshop:
Dive into the widespread ‘Loneliness Epidemic’, understand its origin, its impact on our wellbeing, and discover how we can use compassionate exploration as a bridge to healing. Loneliness goes beyond a mere emotion; it’s a reflection of the lack of connection present in modern society, influenced by current lifestyles, the digital age, and recent global occurrences. This workshop unravels the underlying causes of such intense solitude felt by many, linking back to attachment issues, past traumas, and societal expectations. We’ll walk you through how Compassionate Inquiry can be a beacon, helping you understand and address these feelings more deeply. The aim of this workshop is to foster a nurturing space where participants can unpack the layers of loneliness, equip themselves with actionable insights, and move towards a path of healing and connection.
Learning Objectives:
– Getting to Know Loneliness
– Tracing the Roots of Loneliness
– How Loneliness Touches Mind & Body
– Making compassionate inquiry Practical
– Sharing Circle: Stories and Solutions
– Practical Takeaways
– Wrap-Up: Turning Insights into Action
About Boroka
Boroka Horvath PhD is living in Targu Mures, Romania. She is married with 2 children. She has her own professional business, as well she is working as a volunteer for Romanian charity service of the order of Malta. She is a CBT therapist and a PTSD counselor using different psychotherapy techniques e.g. EMDR Therapy, Rewind Technique, Art Therapy and Psychodrama. She is Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and Chi running practitioner. She believes in the healing power of holistic therapy, which assumes that an individual’s self-perception (or their consciousness) is not to be found in any one particular area but is an integration of the entire person, including their physical body, mind, feelings or emotions and spirit.
Compassion for Pain, Disease and Illness | Jennifer Wallin (Atelier Room)
About the workshop:
The presentation will highlight psychosocial skills clients can use to influence their condition. I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2006, when I met Dr. Mate at a presentation for “When the Body Says No”. This was direction changing but it wasn’t until I did the CI training in January of 2019 that the disease really started to change for me. After being on immunosuppressing medication for 15 straight years, with the help of CI and a CI therapist, I have been able to live without medication for the better part of the past 2 years. I am not cured, but I am healing (a distinction Mate makes in his book “The Myth of Normal” which I am included in). My hope is that my sharing my personal journey and sharing how I have applied CI to clients with pain, disease or illness, that my audience will come out with a guideline for better supporting their clients who present with pain, disease or illness.
Learning Objectives:
– Discuss the biopsychosocial model of wellness (citing much of Mate’s work)
– Discuss the neuroplasticity aspect of how pain/symptoms are processed in the body citing the work of Mate, Bessel Van der Kolk, Peter Levine and Norman Doidge
– Discuss the character traits commonly seen in clients with persistent issues and how to use the CI approach to help connect clients to their bodies/needs
– Discuss the role of Self Compassion with Pain Disease and Illness
– Personal share of how I have been able to apply CI to my own healing (*I am not cured and would make the same distinction Gabor makes between cured and healing)
About Jennifer
Hi there! I go by Jenny and am a Registered Psychologist who has been integrating the Compassionate Inquiry approach since certifying in February 2020. I was part of the Inaugural class and consider myself a “student” of Gabor Mate since attending my first conference of his in 2006. I devoured “When the Body Says No” and the direction of my life completely changed. I began to specialize in pain, disease and illness after being diagnosed with an Auto immune disease in 2005. I am so passionate about the CI community which is always offering opportunities for growth and learning through connection with others. I have been married since 2001 and have two teenage children. My passions are my family (including animals), kayaking, piano, yoga, pilates and reading.
Saturday, September 21, 2024
All times listed are in EEST (Bucharest).
8:20 to 9:20 AM
The Belief of Unworthiness and the Mindfulness Practice of Radical Self-Acceptance | Anita Bajzat (Main Room)
About the workshop:
Often times the belief of unworthiness can feed many other blind spots on the path of self-discovery. Believing that something is wrong with us, we are not „normal” is fed by being critized, being compared to others or not being acknowledged as a child for who we are or for what we did. Primary responses of self- judgement, engaging ourselves in addictions, overwork or problematic relationships maintains the cycle of suffering. Recognizing our belief that we are not okay for others and that way neither for ourselves is the first step to reconnect with our true nature and to taste what it is to live fully.
Developing clear-sightedness and radical self-compassion can help to trust our innate goodness and thus to regain our genuine freedom of self. Targeted Mindfulness practices can empower us to become active healers for ourselves by reaching out to our fears and shame and to taste our authenticity.
In order to support clients with unfolding and addressing their belief of unworthiness, it is essential to communicate with our own parts of disapproval, doubts and self-judgements as a therapist.
In this session we will inquire into these parts and engage in some Mindfulness practices according to Tara Brach’s tradition to support our own journey of radical self-acceptance. Cradling the taste of victory of meeting our true-self in loving kindness for a glimpse of time can be the seed we plant for growing radical self-acceptance day-by-day.
Learning Objectives:
– Exploring the belief of unworthiness
– Inquire into our needs as a therapist as regards to self-acceptance
– Identifying the most common primary responses to the belief
– Connecting with the parts that store the belief for us
– Familiarize with the Mindfulness practice of radical self-acceptance
About Anita:
Anita is an Addictions Counsellor and Recovery Coach with lived experience. Her own experience with addictions led her to become a professional helper in the field. She works as a counsellor and Mindfulness therapist in a hospital, at the Department of Addictions.
She was certified as a Mindfulness Teacher at the Oxford Mindfulness Center and at The Awareness Training Institute & the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley (tradition of Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield). From a professional perspective, she has a background in diplomacy. She worked for several years as an expert in international relations at an international organization.
A Mindful Introduction to the Body | Kevin Young (Eminescu Room)
About the workshop:
This presentation invites participants into a relationship with, and a mindful observation of, the body. The presentation opens with a few reflections, from spiritual texts, about the body. We then have a 15 minute meditation on mind, emotions, sensations. The main body of the presentation will invite participants to work with a partner. Each partner will have an opportunity to be ‘held’ by the other. Held in a way that seems to align with what the body is asking for. I will invite participants to consider something that they would like support holding. They will be encourage to ask for the support they need, whilst throughout keeping some of their attention on their own bodies. This may invite participants into a vulnerable space and instructions will be given to ensure safety. Gentle and emotive music plays during this part. The presentation ends with another 15 min meditation called ‘standing on the edge of the universe’. During the 3 sections of the presentation there will be a few moments for reflection from the participants. I delivered this presentation during a recent CI Ireland retreat and received wonderful feedback from all participants.
Learning Objectives:
– This presentation touches CI qualities:
– Empathetic abiding presence
– Self-awareness
– Trust your gut feelings, confidence, non-judgement, compassion, playfulness.
It touches on the CI skills of; Safety, attunement, openness, authentic feelings, space, notice body language and breath, paying attention to your body, practice self-compassion and self care, express gratitude. It also invites participants to practice asking for what they need, saying No and yes. It also leans on the concepts of permission and consent and offers space and recognition to those who may find this exercise difficult.
About Kevin:
Kevin Young is a certified professional practitioner of Compassionate Inquiry, a Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator, Compassionate Inquiry Educator and Compassionate Inquiry Circle leader. Kevin is passionate about bringing healing, compassion and connection to humanity. He is a certified mindfulness and meditation practitioner. He uses Compassionate Inquiry and mindfulness to help individuals, organizations, and charities to better understand their mental, emotional and spiritual landscapes. He brings a playful and relaxed approach to his work whilst holding a compassionate, non-judgmental and safe space for you to unveil the level of consciousness, mental climate, hidden assumptions, implicit memories and body states that form the real message that words both express and conceal. Kevin has been unemployed, employed and self-employed and has used both therapy and meditation to deal with and heal from his own life challenges.
Street Compassion: Compassionate Inquiry in Unconventional Therapeutic Settings | Tamara Kowalska and Jan Peter Bolhuis (Atelier Room)
About the workshop:
This comprehensive program aims to equip Compassionate Inquiry (CI) practitioners with the knowledge, skills, and empathy needed to effectively work with homeless, precariously-housed, and street-involved populations. As the global issue of homelessness continues to grow, there’s an increasing need for compassionate therapists who can provide support and healing in unconventional therapeutic environments. This program, led by experienced practitioners, Tamara and JP, offers a unique opportunity to explore the nuances and challenges of practicing CI in these settings. This program is designed as an interactive workshop, featuring a blend of theoretical insights, practical demonstrations, and collaborative discussions. Participants will gain valuable knowledge, learn from personal experiences, and build a global network of CI enthusiasts committed to making a positive social impact.
Learning Objectives:
– Best Practices for Unconventional Settings. Learn best practices for working with homeless and street-involved populations, emphasizing the principles of Compassionate Inquiry.
– Providing a Safe Venue for Expression. Create a supportive platform for participants to openly share their personal journeys, experiences, and emotions while working with these marginalized communities.
– Creating Therapeutic Spaces. Demonstrate how to establish a safe and therapeutic environment in unconventional settings such as streets, shelters, or clinics, focusing on maintaining the core principles of CI.
– Addressing Challenges and Opportunities. Identify and discuss the unique challenges and opportunities that CI practitioners face when working in unconventional therapeutic settings.
– Building a Global Network. Foster connections and collaborations among CI practitioners worldwide who share a calling to serve homeless and precariously-housed populations.
About Tamara:
Tamara practices Compassionate Inquiry as a life coach in Windsor, Ontario Canada. She is the past director and co-founder of the Windsor Youth Centre, a drop-in center for homeless youth. Previously, she has taught English, ESL and drama in North America, Asia and Europe. One of her passions is spoken word poetry and her most recent project, a 9 video series called No Cash or Alcohol on Premises, can be found at theavb.com.
About Jan–Peter:
I am a dedicated and resilient practitioner who has undergone a journey of self-discovery and growth. After facing challenges in my personal life, I realized that my past childhood traumas were affecting my relationships and overall sense of self. Through a combination of therapy, art, living in nature, and martial arts, I was able to awaken my authentic self and begin to understand my patterns and coping mechanisms. I have since trained in Dr. Gabor Mate’s intensive psychotherapeutic approach, Compassionate Inquiry, and now work as a CI practitioner in trauma-informed care through my organization, EODV. In addition, I am a proud father of three sons and run a UKF Close Combat Kenpo school, as well as part-time work in homeless care in Utrecht. I approach each day with curiosity, knowing that self-discovery and growth is a lifetime journey.
9:30 to 11:00 AM
CI Master Class (Shame) | Dr. Gabor Maté (Main Room)
Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions to Gabor and request a CI demo session. You can then respond to Gabor’s modelling of Compassionate Inquiry with further questions and feedback afterwards.
If you are selected for a demo session please do not request another one in a different Masterclass.
The theme of these Masterclass demo sessions will be Shame.
About Gabor:
Dr. Gabor Maté is a retired physician, bestselling author, an internationally renowned speaker and the creator of the Compassionate Inquiry approach to psychotherapy. Gabor evolved this therapeutic approach over 20 years of his personal journey, and from his work with patients in family practice, palliative care, and addiction. He developed his system further while facilitating integration workshops focused on healing trauma through the use of psychedelics.
11:00 am to 11:20 am | Coffee break
11:20 to 12:50 AM
The Science of Consciousness | Sat Dharam Kaur ND (Main Room)
About the workshop:
What is mind? Is it separate from consciousness? What is the relationship between the brain, mind and consciousness? Who or what is “I”? In this session we will explore various theories of consciousness from theoretical perspectives in psychology, physics and spirituality. We will investigate the value of using a model of consciousness in CI practice.
Learning Objectives:
In this workshop you will learn:
– Psychological theories of what consciousness is
– The relationship between consciousness and the mind
– Views of consciousness from theoretical physics
– Consciousness through a spiritual lens
– Consciousness and the unified field
– Does consciousness survive death?
– Understand how “mind creates the world”
– Explore how consciousness shows up in a CI session
About Sat Dharam:
Sat Dharam Kaur ND has supported Dr. Gabor Maté in structuring the Compassionate Inquiry approach and developing the online training. Sat Dharam is a naturopathic doctor, teacher and author, who combines naturopathic medicine with Compassionate Inquiry, yoga, breathing practices and meditation to support others in healing and integrating mind, body and spirit.
12:50 to 2:30 PM | Lunch break
2:30 to 4:00 PM
Beyond the Mind’s Maze: Unlocking the Body’s Wisdom | Manjeet Adi (Eminescu Room)
About the workshop:
The 3 levels of knowledge and how to use the “other 2” – heart and gut when working with clients.
Learning Objectives:
– Participants will learn about practices that enhance embodiment.
– Learn about emotions, their energetic imprint, and how to identify them and effectively explore them as part of the CI process.
– Learn to differentiate between perceptions, beliefs and emotions.
– How to recognize and compassionately guide clients who find it challenging to connect with their emotions. Learn to explore defence mechanisms.
About Manjeet Adi:
Manjeet Adi (Maria Egervari) is a Compassionate Inquiry Founding Facilitator, Mentor, Naturopathic doctor, and a Beyond Addiction Associate Trainer. She first trained as a medical doctor in Hungary. Her journey of searching for deeper answers to physical and mental health issues lead her to naturopathic medicine, mind-body medicine and finally to Compassionate Inquiry. She finds the approach of using a top-down (mind-body) and bottom-up (body-mind) approach simultaneously the most successful to unearth and heal old traumas, understand and change unconscious patterns and restore the connection to Self and others. Her naturopathic practice is in the west-end of Toronto.
Women with Histories of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Mothering, Resilience and Protecting the Next Generation | Teresa Gil (Atelier Room)
About the workshop:
Approximately 22 million mothers in the U.S. have a history of child sexual abuse (CSA). This workshop will reveal the pain and triumphs of mothering as a survivor by examining the therapeutic needs and concerns of mothers who have survived CSA. This workshop will provide valuable information for women, mothers, and mental health professionals to increase their understanding of the long-term intergenerational impact of CSA on mothering abilities and help prevent the consequences of trauma on the next generation. The workshop will name and examine the protective factors that have helped successful mothers to overcome their negative childhood experiences and protect their children from the abuse they experienced. The workshop will integrate CI theory to enhance our knowledge and skills to work with survivor moms.
Learning Objectives:
– Participants will learn the risk factors and long-term effects of abuse, including mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, addictions, and feelings of low self-worth.
– Participants will learn the protective factors in mother’s lives that support resiliency and their capacity to mother their children in healthy and appropriate ways.
– Participants will learn the dynamics that facilitate the intergenerational transmission of abuse and the re-victimization of abuse
– Participants will learn how Compassionate Inquiry qualities and skills can be beneficial when working with this population
About Teresa:
For over twenty-five years, I have been a psychotherapist, professor, and trainer. I have private practice working with women, children, and families dealing with addictions and recovery from child abuse and trauma. I am a professor at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York, where I teach courses in Psychology. My courses emphasize biological, psychological, and sociological factors that shape human growth and development. I have worked as a trainer and consultant in human service settings and have developed and facilitated dozens of workshops and trainings on pertinent clinical issues. My child welfare workshops are designed to provide helping professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to help assess and respond to families in crisis, including techniques for engaging families in a working relationship and skills for intervening effectively with clients. I have facilitated large group workshops on communication, parenting skills, and family relations.
2:30 to 3:00 PM
Speaking the Unspeakable | Jackie Tarabay (Main Room)
About the workshop:
For all our modern-day ingenuity, we appear to have forgotten the basic human necessity to grieve and suffer well. Aside from seeming ill-equipped to embody the inevitable losses that come to us all, our death denying culture appears oblivious. Is it any wonder coping styles based in denial and suppression are fueling a mental health crisis?
The harder it becomes to speak the unspeakable, the more alone, disconnected and numb we feel. Sitting in our grief and surrendering becomes difficult in a society that expects us to “move on” and “get over it”. Instead of leaning in and looking within, we are moving away. Awareness to this tendency is required. Rather than seeing grief as something to overcome, we need to consciously choose to take responsibility. To see our grief as a message from our true self – too our true self.
Grieving well is a creative act that needs to be cultivated. It takes presence, patience, and courage. So how do we get better at grieving and supporting the bereaved? The antidote to suffering is compassion. But how many of us practice compassion regularly? Yet ultimately, compassion is what allows us to bear the unbearable and speak the unspeakable.
Compassion can be practiced and developed like a muscle. It involves feeling the pain, tolerating it, yet continuing to function. It is seen walking alongside the bereaved and bearing witness to their suffering. Compassion helps orientate our life and reconstruct a new way of being.
True purpose and meaning are almost always born from suffering. To embrace and befriend our grief as part of the human experience is to say we love ourselves enough to make this investment. We need to lean in. We need to look within. We need to learn to speak the unspeakable.
Learning Objectives:
– The impact our death denying culture has on the grieving process.
– The power of leaning into our pain and suffering.
– Understand the importance of holding our own vulnerability.
– Understand the importance of compassion.
– Tools to build compassion for self and others.
About Jackie:
Over the past ten years, Jackie Tarabay has worked as a Specialist Grief Practitioner, Supervisor, Trainer and Groups Coordinator at Grief Australia (GA). Jackie provided counselling to children, adolescents and adults and coordinated various support groups, including the facilitation of the Kids Grieve Too (KG2) program. Jackie also created and delivered workshops, programs and customize training to a range of GA cliental. Jackie currently consults to Grief Australia and runs her own private practice in Melbourne.
Jackie’s philosophy toward grief and loss is that every person is unique and grieves in their own way and time. Jackie believes the core qualities of empathy, genuineness and unconditional positive regard are at the heart of supporting the bereaved. Jackie advocates creating a safe, compassionate and non-judgmental environment to help people integrate their loss in a way that is both effective and personal.
3:00 to 4:00 PM
3:00 – 4:00 pm | Understanding and Working with Dissociation in CI Practice | Dancescu Ioana Elena (Main Room)
About the workshop:
Welcome to an interactive workshop on understanding and working with dissociation in Compassionate Inquiry (CI) practice. The goal of this workshop is to delve into recognizing dissociation in both clients and ourselves, exploring the signs that manifest in the body, mind, and emotions. We’ll discuss what to do, what to avoid, and how to maintain a safe and attuned presence for our clients who may be experiencing dissociation. There will be opportunities to learn techniques to create a safe and attuned therapeutic environment for clients navigating dissociative experiences. I invite you to join me in this exploration of dissociation within the realm of Compassionate Inquiry. Together, we will deepen our understanding, refine our skills, and collectively contribute to creating more supportive and healing spaces for those we work with. Let’s embark on this journey of compassionate exploration and growth!
Learning Objectives:
– Recognizing Dissociation in Clients
– Signs of Dissociation in the Body, Mind, and Feelings
– Recognizing Dissociation in Yourself
– Creating Space and Presence for Dissociation
– Exploring techniques to hold space for clients experiencing dissociation without overwhelming them.
About Ioana:
Greetings, I am Ioana Dăncescu, a passionate psychotherapist specialized in trauma, and I profundly adhere to the notion that “We feel what we Heal,” embracing the profound beauty embedded in our lived experiences. With a rich 15-year background in psychotherapy, I have explored into the intricate ways trauma manifests in the body, mind, emotions, and relationships of my clients. My approach to healing wounds is integrative, weaving together insights from psychotraumatology—focusing on the recognition and healing of psychological traumas—with tailored applications of short, cognitive-behavioral therapies, and systemic therapy for adults and couples. My toolbox includes diverse methods such as the constellation of intention, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), and Compassionate Inquiry, a transformative approach tailored by Dr. Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur. Beyond my professional identity, I am an active, compassionate, and organized individual committed to engaging in meaningful projects for personal growth and community well-being. I ardently advocate for the belief that psychotherapy, when embraced at the right time, has the power to catalyze profound transformation. I invite each of you to grant yourselves the gift of multiple opportunities to cultivate kindness and compassion within, recognizing the transformative potential that lies within the journey of self-discovery.
4:00 – 4:20 pm | Coffee break
4:20 to 5:50 PM
CI Master Class (Rage and Anger) | Dr. Gabor Maté (Main Room)
Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions to Gabor and request a CI demo session. You can then respond to Gabor’s modelling of Compassionate Inquiry with further questions and feedback afterwards.
If you are selected for a demo session please do not request another one in a different Masterclass.
The theme of these Masterclass demo sessions will be Rage and Anger.
About Gabor:
Dr. Gabor Maté is a retired physician, bestselling author, an internationally renowned speaker and the creator of the Compassionate Inquiry approach to psychotherapy. Gabor evolved this therapeutic approach over 20 years of his personal journey, and from his work with patients in family practice, palliative care, and addiction. He developed his system further while facilitating integration workshops focused on healing trauma through the use of psychedelics.
5:50 – 7:00 pm | Dinner – and Poetry Jam
7:00 – 9:00 pm | Live band & DJ | Zmei3 & JOHN ÏSH & DJ Bogdan Andrei
Sunday, September 22, 2024
8:30 to 9:30 AM
Overcome the Struggle of Self-Care with Playful Self-Compassion Practices | Doris Polak Kuder (Main Room)
About the workshop:
Yes, you are not the only one who struggles with self care. For both therapists and clients, it is crucial to develop a routine and practice that enables us to meet our own needs. First, we can’t give to ourselves what we didn’t receive as a child. With unpacking the layers of our resistance, shame and self-criticism we can develop a truly nurturing and loving relationship with ourselves. We become the parent to ourselves we never had. At that point self-care becomes the act of self-compassion. Here lies the importance of self care. Until we develop a firm and nourishing self care routine, we rely on other people to meet our needs and we struggle with self-compassion. We are pushing down our true self, authentic showing up in our real life, expressing emotions with our parents, simply asking for what we need. We are still that little child, exchanging authenticity for attachment. The emphasis from CI is to focus on self care for 30 minutes a day. This gives us the base and fundamental for deeper CI work that we can do. Self-care goes also beyond the CI program. Self-caring stays with you for the rest of your life. What happens when we struggle with self-care? It is reenact of trauma. We had to abandon ourselves as a child to keep attachment, connection or a sense of belonging. Do we belong or we make ourselves fit in? This is going to be one of the questions that we will explore in our workshop. This will be a highly dynamic playful workshop, where you will engage in a powerful experiential practice of self-compassion, playfulness and self-care. This experiential workshop will provide practical and empowering well-being tools to nourish the nervous system for yourself or your clients.
Learning Objectives:
– Learn and gain insight about the barriers that prevent us from being efficient in our self care.
– Become aware of your inner dynamics on belonging vs fitting in.
– Gain simple strategies to help you and your clients be more compassionate to yourself when struggling with self care.
– Experience short and effective self-care practices that will support you as a CI practitioner and assist your clients.
– Experience being present to what is.
– Structure your daily routine for effective self care. Tool that can be used for yourself and your clients.
About Doris:
Doris is first a mom to two daughters, driven by desire to create a better future. She does that by exploring all shades of life. After a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry, she decided to go on a journey with Compassionate Inquiry in 2020, which is still ongoing. She decided to enroll in CI to learn about her own inner dynamics of allergies and asthma. As a Psychotherapeutic Coach she offers coaching, workshops and lectures on self care, compassion and gratitude. Her life philosophy is: with compassion and gratitude through all the challenges of life.
In Touch – When There Are No Words | Lucy Howgego (Eminescu Room)
About the workshop:
“So many of us are not in our bodies… really at home and vibrantly present there. Not are we IN TOUCH with the basic rhythms that constitute our bodily life. We live outside ourselves – in our heads, our memories, our longings – absentee landlords of our own estate.” Gabrielle Roth
We will explore TOUCH from different perspectives. In motion through the 5Rhythms lens: from being IN TOUCH with and being TOUCHED BY ourselves, our dance and the group; to how we respond to the environment around us that we TOUCH. The rhythm of stillness, the last in the 5Rhythms cycle, will lead us into an exploration of SELF-TOUCH as a resource for attunement and regulation via specific TOUCH POINTS. Tuning into our interoception, neuroception and capacity for social engagement we will experience how our senses form perceptions. We will explore how our bodies want to be held, nurtured and received with compassion. Learning techniques to bridge verbal and non-verbal communication will support early developmental and relational trauma, creating safety and space for the implicit and unconscious to move into conscious awareness and opening the heart and gut connection. IN TOUCH will support practitioners’ somatic awareness and increase their capacity to work somatically with clients who want to feel, heal and renegotiate developmental and relational trauma.
Learning Objectives:
Self-resourcing, self-awareness, presence, self-care, attunement, attention, sensory awareness, connection, exploration, self-inquiry, self-reflection, self-regulation, curiosity, imagination, creativity, responsibility, choices, liberation, listening, following, witnessing, relationship with self and others, intuition
About Lucy:
“My vision is to support an holistic approach to ease, expansion, wholeness, vitality and wellness through the individual modalities and appropriately blending the practices I am trained in, My mission is to support inclusion and accessibility of these practices to new and diverse audiences. As a somatic, trauma-informed practitioner, bodyworker and educator I offer presence, holding and spaciousness to regulate and facilitate exploration of the stories, perceptions, beliefs, behavior, emotional, physical and nervous system patterns that are implicitly disconnecting with the vulnerability ad suffering underneath. Restoring the connection between the inner child and adult self that was broken or missing, creates new possibilities, healing and expansion into authenticity and freedom. This reveals the unconscious dynamics that influence choice, possibilities, lifestyle and wellbeing patterns and ways to liberate the self from them. The 5Rhythms nourishes my awareness, health, growth, healing, presence and embodiment on and off the dance floor. I teach two, weekly, drop-in classes, a monthly family class alongside workshops and sessions with groups like Recoverist Theatre Project for Adults in Recovery and patients with life-threatening illness. My classes are a mixture of in-person and online attendance so they are accessible, global and everyone is welcome as they are.
Master Your Breath | Barbara Guevara (Atelier Room)
About the workshop:
The body is a natural healer. If you cut yourself, you can watch your body heal itself. When you have the flu or a cold, it helps to get a rest and drink water and
eat healthy. The body is also its own mental and emotionally healer as well, and you can unlock your inner healing.
In this workshop, you will find the core elements you need to know to master your breath. Inside, we will explore the different techniques to increase your energy, chill out your nervous system, manage your emotions and help you relax when you need it.
Learning Objectives:
About Barbara:
Barbara is a Metta-therapist, a compassionate and mindfulness-based approach, with a strong somatic component. Inspired by Buddhist philosophy, and sustained by the scientific knowledge of modern psychology and neuroscience, Barbara creates a safe support to your process, to release emotional issues, improving mental health and sense of wellbeing. Barbara merges mindfulness practices, and other eastern and western ancient wisdom, with several trauma-informed approaches (e.g. Compassionate Inquiry, IFS, Polyvagal Theory, Somatic Experience, and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, MBCT, MSC and MBSR.). She is currently working with clients from all over the world.
9:30 to 11:00 AM
CI Masterclass (Fear & Grief) | Dr. Gabor Maté
Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions to Gabor and request a CI demo session. You can then respond to Gabor’s modelling of Compassionate Inquiry with further questions and feedback afterwards.
If you are selected for a demo session please do not request another one in a different Masterclass.
The theme of these Masterclass demo sessions will be Fear & Grief.
About Gabor:
Dr. Gabor Maté is a retired physician, bestselling author, an internationally renowned speaker and the creator of the Compassionate Inquiry approach to psychotherapy. Gabor evolved this therapeutic approach over 20 years of his personal journey, and from his work with patients in family practice, palliative care, and addiction. He developed his system further while facilitating integration workshops focused on healing trauma through the use of psychedelics.
11:00 to 11:20 AM | Coffee break
11:20 AM to 12:50 PM
Celebrate the Equinox (embrace and integrate polarities) | Sat Dharam Kaur ND & Cristina Bâra (Main Room)
About Sat Dharam:
Sat Dharam Kaur ND has supported Dr. Gabor Maté in structuring the Compassionate Inquiry approach and developing the online training. Sat Dharam is a naturopathic doctor, teacher and author, who combines naturopathic medicine with Compassionate Inquiry, yoga, breathing practices and meditation to support others in healing and integrating mind, body and spirit.
About Cristina:
Cristina is the Director of the CI Romanian program, Facilitator and Circle leader. She is trained in the Neuro Affective Relational Model (NARM), working with complex trauma and currently training in dance and movement psychotherapy.
Healing our relationship with food: CI and Eating Disorders | Sanjog (Eminescu Room)
About the workshop:
Our relationship with food has a lot to teach us about ourselves and our relationship with the world. Behind behavioral patterns such as “controlling what we eat,” “avoiding food,” “binge eating,” “compulsive eating,” or any other form of “disordered eating,” there is a message that deserves to be heard. “Healing the Relationship with Food” is an invitation to explore the deeper messages behind those behaviors; and to open ourselves, from a compassionate approach, to the possibility of building a relationship with food that is pleasurable, enjoyable and satisfying.
Learning Objectives:
We will explore the difference between our physical and emotional hunger through the connection with our mind-body-heart; explore resources to find safety and satisfaction in our bodies; understanding the function of our eating behaviors; and attending to our true needs.
This workshop is partly theoretical and partly experiential. Please bring a cup of tea.
About Sanjog:
Sanjog is a Kundalini Yoga instructor, anthropologist, translator and therapist. Sanjog is part of the CI Founding Facilitators team. She is currently the Director of the CI Spanish program, as well as a CI Facilitator and Mentor in both the English and Spanish programs. Her past experience of having an eating disorder inspired her to commit to the field of physical and mental health care for the past 13 years. She is trained in IFS, Brainspotting and Art Therapy. She’s also a Psychology of Eating Certified Coach. Sanjog also nurtures her work with her previous training in Anthropology and Gender Studies. She lives and works from Ecuador, where she offers individual and group therapy processes.
Perinatal Trauma and Its Impact on Humanity | Laura Latina (Atelier Room)
About the workshop:
“Birth is a sacred right of passage, a time of transformation. When the sacredness of the feminine is honored, the magic of birth can unfold, the person giving birth is empowered in a process that is physical, mental, emotional, as well as spiritual. And when birth becomes mechanical, the sacredness forgotten, something in the soul breaks and trauma is the result, for the woman/person giving birth, their partner, the baby, those in attendance, and society at large. Pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experiences are implicit, they are even more powerfully influential than the experiences we do remember. Our body remembers everything that we experienced even when we don’t consciously remember. These early memories create a filter through which we experience ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us. As practitioners, we can learn to recognize the signs of perinatal trauma when working with our clients, and how to safely support them in integrating these traumas. This, of course, begins with working with our own early implicit memories.
Learning Objectives:
– Understand how to support safety and health in the perinatal period, and be present to the sacredness of birth and the feminine.
– Understand perinatal trauma and its impact.
– Explore your own early trauma and experience what your little one has been needing.
– Recognize when your client is unconsciously accessing early trauma, and gain skills to support them in moving through and integrating these implicit traumas.
– Gain knowledge and skills to safely support parents-to-be in having the most empowering and trauma free conception, pregnancy, birth, postpartum and early parenting experience possible.
About Laura:
During pregnancy and birth there is no separation between the fetus and newborn and their mother/parent. What the mother/parent experiences is what the infant experiences. This is when the mother’s/parent’s unintegrated trauma, including transgenerational trauma, is sensed and taken in by the newborn. Our hope is to advocate for the awareness and support that is so needed by pregnant and birthing women and people, and fathers/partners. This knowledge supports professionals in holding an empowering space for people to trust in their innate ability to birth, bond, and nurture their child. Birth becomes a doorway of initiation, an empowering journey of transformation into motherhood/parenthood.” Laura is a midwife with over 15 years experience, an international speaker, and a Certified Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner. In 2008, following her desire to discover more about midwifery & birth and so she went to Burundi then continued her work with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as a manager of maternity hospitals in Malawi (2010), in South Sudan and Kenya (2011), and then in Afghanistan (2015), where she led international projects to promote a culture of gentle, respectful births and parenthood. In London (2012-2016), Laura was a community midwife and later a midwifery team leader at the NHS. In 2016-2020, she joined the MSF Medical Unit as Women’s Health Advisor, providing technical expertise for the maternal and newborn activities in countries such as Bangladesh, Nigeria, Chad and more. In 2021, she was a Consultant Midwife in Wales, UK. After traveling the globe supporting more than 2000 women in 4 different continents, she learned that birth is a sacred right of passage that needs to be respected. She supports women and people to come back to themselves and their innate ability of being loving, attuned mothers. All women and people are worthy of receiving the support they deserve, surrounded by love and compassion.
12:50 PM to 2:00 PM | Lunch break
2:00 to 3:30 PM
Yoga Practices to Support Polyvagal Theory | Sat Dharam Kaur ND (Main Room)
About the workshop:
The intersection of polyvagal theory, CI and yoga provides opportunities for both Compassionate Inquiry
Practitioners and their clients to complement therapy with bottom-up processes to enhance self-
regulation and develop a felt sense of safety within the body.
Learning Objectives:
In this workshop you will learn:
– About the bidirectional function of the vagus nerve
– The differences between the dorsal and ventral vagus, and the sympathetic nervous system
– How interoception works, and how to enhance it through yoga practice and pranayama
– How one’s nervous system responds to safety vs threat
– How to increase the experience of safety within one’s own body through yoga
– The physical and mental health benefits of increased vagal tone and increased heart rate
variability
– How yoga can provide top-down and bottom-up approaches to activate the vagus
– How to integrate simple yoga practices into your work as a CI Practitioner
About Sat Dharam:
Sat Dharam Kaur ND has supported Dr. Gabor Maté in structuring the Compassionate Inquiry approach and developing the online training. Sat Dharam is a naturopathic doctor, teacher and author, who combines naturopathic medicine with Compassionate Inquiry, yoga, breathing practices and meditation to support others in healing and integrating mind, body and spirit.
Dancing Our Way towards Polyvagal Safety | Cristina Bâra (Eminescu Room)
About the workshop:
How do we find safety within ourselves, in the relationship with our clients and in our day to day lives? Through this workshop, we will be climbing the Polyvagal ladder through dance and movement, guided by CI questions.
Learning Objectives:
– How to find safety within ourselves
– What are the different states of the nervous system
– How to come back to regulation activating the social engagement system
– How to use the body as a tool of awareness
– How to use dance and movement as a way of getting unstuck from a helpless state
About Cristina:
Cristina is the Director of the CI Romanian program, Facilitator and Circle leader. She is trained in the Neuro Affective Relational Model (NARM), working with complex trauma and currently training in dance and movement psychotherapy.
The Same Journey: Medicine Wheel Teachings and CI | Stella Bone and Laury Fontaine (Atelier Room)
About the workshop:
Our traditional culture, practices and knowledge is extremely important and a vital part of our well-being. We can never be other than who we are. We must preserve our cultural teachings and strive to maintain our identity so we can live holistically in this world. As North American Indian people, as the original people of the continent, we have great diversity in our cultural and in traditional teachings/knowledge. However, we share this land with, as well as the common experience of being oppressed, by a colonialist society which is widely known historical data. We are and were impacted by this different worldview and in effect have felt marginalization and intergenerational trauma throughout generations.
Learning Objectives:
– PHYSICAL – we will touch upon key areas of the physical aspects of our being that help us to stay in balance, be well, and what does our physical behavior express in our being.
– EMOTIONAL – learn about emotional behavior and what are thoughts, perceptions and feelings and how emotional behavior is expressed through our attitude and relationship with our self.
– SOCIAL – what activities to pursue to feel happiness and serenity in our lives and in ourselves.
– INTELLECTUAL/mental – what are some of the ways we achieve wellness through understanding ourselves and others.
– SPIRITUAL – will focus on value, belief, identity and reflection of a higher power.
About Stella:
Stella is an Ojibway woman and a registered First Nation member of Keeseekoowenin and originates from the Sandy Bay Treaty 2 Territory. She has 4 daughters, 1 son and 10 grandchildren. Stella is a registered Social Worker in the Province of Manitoba and has 34 years of experience working with children and families. She is currently the Executive Director of a child welfare agency for the past 29 years. Stella is a graduate of Compassionate Inquiry in 2022. She has taken training for 15 years in Psycho Drama Body Works and completed the advanced level. Stella is also a facilitator for the Indian Residential School Training.
About Laury:
Laury is an Ojibway Woman and a registered First Nation member of Keeseekoowenin Treaty 2 Territory. Laury has 6 children and 3 grandchildren. Laury has experience in Research and has been employed with West Region Child and Family Services for the last 35 years. Laury is a graduate of Compassionate Inquiry in 2022 and is presently in the Internship and Mentorship Program that started February, 2023. Laury has taken training for 15 years in Psycho Drama Body Works. Laury if also a Knowledge Keeper and Cultural Therapist for a Detox Centre and flies to 2 remote communities in the North to provide therapy.
3:30 to 3:50 PM | Lunch break
3:50 to 5:20 PM
CI and Family Constellation – An Integrated Approach to Agreeing to What Is | Rekha Kurup (Main Room)
About the workshop:
The awareness of the Principles of Relationships of Family constellation has deepened my CI qualities and skills, and CI Stepping stones have deepened my Constellation practice. Agreeing to what is exactly as it is forms the foundational philosophy of Family constellation work, and it is also, is a core aspect of CI. In this particular offering, I wish to share the family constellation wisdom of Principles of Relationships, Conscience of Guilt and Innocence, and Art of Helping as a way of deepening the Qualities and Skills of CI Practice. Then I will also, facilitate simple constellation founded activities to explore the phenomenology of Agreeing versus Acceptance of What is in the here and now, and how it emerges in the experience of Attachment versus Authenticity, navigation of Guilt, and the maturing of the Adult Awareness.
Learning Objectives:
– To develop a systemic lens of seeing.
– To cultivate the phenomenology of Non-Attachment
– Deepening the Wholeness of our Adult Awareness as a practitioner
– Recognizing the phenomenology of coming from Attachment versus Authenticity
– Recognizing the phenomenology of coming from Accepting to Agreeing of the now
About Rekha:
I practice as a Trauma-Aware Systemic Integrative Phenomenological Therapist and Keeper of the Cyclic Earth Wisdom traditions. Through my initiatives of She Stands Tall Project and the Ordinary Human Project I offer a plethora of Teaching, Learning, and Remembering opportunities that support individuals, and groups to explore, express, experience, and embody the truth of Who They Are, and Return to Wholeness. The pedagogy of all my offerings is founded in a Whole-Person-Philosophy that supports the integration of the Personal (physical, mental-emotional, psychological), Relational (social), and Transpersonal (spiritual) experiences of Inhabiting an Emotionally Mature Adult Human Knowing. My knowing is rooted in the Spiritual Philosophy of my land, the indigenous knowing of my Matrilineal ancestors (of Kerala) and also, the various trainings, certifications and learnings that I have moved through over the last two decades.
Compassionate Inquiry and DBT | Wendy Harris (Eminescu Room)
About the workshop:
Do you ever wonder what to do next after you have worked with your clients to explore triggers and uncover subconscious beliefs? Join Dr. Wendy Harris to learn behavior-based skills to pair with CI and share with your clients. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) includes skills in mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation. Originally created to support clients with treatment resistant depression and chronic suicidality, DBT picks up where CBT leaves off and focuses equally on accepting what is while making changes to make “life worth living.”
Learning Objectives:
– Learn the fundamentals of DBT
– Explore how DBT compliments CI
– Learn skills to use to enhance self-care.
– Learn accessible skills that can be shared with clients
– Explore how DBT skills support healing from trauma.
About Wendy:
Dr. Wendy Harris has a doctorate in clinical psychology and spent two years training in DBT for her post-doc. She teaches courses in DBT to graduate students training to be therapists at Antioch University where she is a Core Faculty member and Director of the Addiction and Recovery Specialization. She is a Founding CI Facilitator and International Trainer for Beyond Addiction: The Yogic Path to Recovery.
Beyond the Mask: A Dance Between Ego and Essence | Jinny Jacinto and Espe Garcia (Atelier Room)
About the workshop:
This is a compassionate art movement workshop, based on the CI principle of “befriend your ego” from Gabor’s teachings. It is experiential; throughout the workshop the participants will be using different ways of expressing and connecting with different aspects of their egos. We will bring awareness to the the internal dialogues and impulses to help them to be compassionate towards themselves, and to move away from making themselves wrong. They will create masks and use drumming music to dance as a community creating a safe space for their egos & compassionate authentic selves to be expressed. This workshop is focusing on integration that takes us into the movement towards our essence. Playfulness will be at the heart of the workshop, employing movement, the senses, and creativity. Throughout the workshop we will be using the three levels of wisdom by connecting the heart, the intuition and the mind. The final mask-dance will reveal the contribution of each person, and the power of the group experience, validating the multidisciplinary and multicultural community of CI in a celebration of diversity and co-created compassion. This space in between the ego and the essence has been so liberating for both of us that has been the inspiration for this workshop.
Learning Objectives:
The workshop will be working on the development of these four stepping stones:
– Bring the client into the bodily experience of the present moment. Ask them what they are feeling right now.
– Bring the client’s awareness to understanding their behavior as a coping mechanism. Help them to be compassionate towards themselves, and to move away from making themselves wrong.
– Give the client space to experience and identify the feeling that is present.
– See the client for their possibility.
– Bring awareness of her gut feelings
– Affirm what they have already achieved or demonstrated.
About Jinny:
JINNY JACINTO has worked as a performing artist around the world for the past 30 years, much of this with Cirque du Soleil. Her multi-dimensional teaching incorporates
her explorations of gymnastics, Feldenkreiis, Pilates, yoga, meditation, and Compassionate Inquiry. She focuses on the human body as a whole, including: – all aspects of its unity with the brain; specific body parts where awareness in incomplete.
About Espe:
Espe has been working in customers relations for over 30 years. She is a compassionate and passionate person with an incredible curiosity for the human experience at any stage of their journey, inspired by a lady with dementia she became a creative therapist in the search of finding a new way to communicate with her. Espe found her love for the creative process by playing with paint when she moved to England in 2007. She has done visual exhibitions and creative workshops for the most vulnerable in the community. In her latest years she has been working as an integrative counsellor at St Elisabeth Hospice in the UK, where she integrates her creative and CI Skills to work with terminal patients and their families. In the last years she trained as a CI Practitioner. She has been recently appointed as CI Mentor for the Spanish Program.
5:30 to 6:00 PM
Closing Ceremony – Dancing the Mission of CI | Jantine Gerbscheid (Main Room)
About the workshop:
The mission of CI is to bring compassion, respect, acceptance, insight, healing, freedom and connection to humanity. In this workshop we are going to experience these values through movement and dance. After a long day of meeting many new people and being inspired by so many talks we make space to integrate our experiences. We connect to ourselves and to each other. We feel our bodies. We open our hearts. We step into our universal mother ‘tongue’ which is body-language. We’ll enjoy being present in the moment.
It’s not just dancing. We’ll do exercises that facilitate processing our feelings. Music is the direct pathway to our emotions. These exercises will ignite our lifeforce and vitalize our existence. These dancing exercises are simple. They come from biodanza – the Dance of Life. Who can walk, can also dance. We use extravert dances as well as introvert dances, like meditation. Dancing is a wonderful tool to use in trainings.
Learning Objectives:
– experiencing freedom and playfulness in the body
– connecting without words/ in body language
– opening hearts
– safety in connection
– integration of experiences of a long conference day
– revitalizing
– creating magic
About Jantine:
Jantine Gerbscheid is a coach, trainer and dance teacher in the Netherlands. In the past she worked for the citycouncil. Now she works with voice dialogue and CI. She did the mentorship Program in 2023. Her specialty is to integrate dance and inquiry in trainings. She has 20 years experience with giving biodanza danceclasses. She has two regular groups, does summerweeks with dance and inner processes. And she gives a year long training. Dance can be triggering and dance can be healing. The combination of dance and CI is surely healing.