Along the hot, humid western Mexico coast we came from all over the world to the little town of Melaque and the little retreat house, Casa del Sol. We were only a 100 yards from the beach with its surging and sometimes dangerous Pacific waves and awesome sunsets.
Picture #1 beach and sunset
Picture #2 in front of casa del sol
Present from right to left were: Niall O’siochain, Dirk Marivoet, Rosa Maria Sevilla, Silke Ziehl, Robert Young and Jack Painter (Carmine Piroli was at this moment missing). Also David, Silke’s partner and Maureen, Jack’s partner, were at Casa del Sol.
We were fresh from the wonderful congress, The world as My Body, organized by Rosa Maria in Guadalajara (see following report in this newsletter) and ready for play, rest and yes, work too. We were able to make an incredible mix each of these days – up running on the beach, meeting, lunching together, meeting, visiting local villages, feasting on fabulous mexican food – thanks Rosa Maria for your choice.
Country Reports
We started, as usual, with a round of country reports from each member present (and there were letters from members who were sorry they couldn’t attend).
Robert (Australia). Early the structure of PI trainings in Australia was unclear, but since 1995 he has developed a three year training. The most exciting part of the work for him is the technical work of the strokes and characterology (or even more generally study of the diverse traditional typologies). He has started emotional work in the second year but feels he needs more support in this area and in the energetic work.
Robert has a government accredited school for massage and Chinese medicine, so there are insurance and health benefits available for the PI training. He finds that in the Melbourne woman are eager for training. They seem to be looking for an independent profession, while fewer men are attending and seem to be losing their identity.
Dirk (Belgium). Dirk, director of ‘ES’-Institute for Bodymind Integration in Ghent, continues to give private PI, EI and PHI sessions, learning therapy and supervision. He attracts people for his training from his advanced groups in Bio-Energetic Bodywork and workshops in Deep Bodywork and Energetic Integration. He finished an enthusiastic first year’s training group in Deep Bodywork with 14 students. He had Françoise Vlaemminck as Helper. He focusses on september 2004 to continue with the 3 year specialization training in PI. He finds that training candidates need to have a strong motivation to learn the technical part of the bodywork. Some professional therapists are interested to learn how to work with the body in psychotherapy in general, but get little support from their employer to actually practice PI in their health organization. Classical therapy and counselling is still a strongly verbal matter. Dirk has been busy formulating the importance of physical work in the context of working with interpersonal intimate and business relationships. He also feels that in the multitude of approaches that are offered to the public these days it is challenging to find the appropriate language to attract people to join bodywork training groups. Dirk also cooperates with Rashma in Holland, and introduces second year students in Postural Integration.
Picture #3 Around the table
Silke (England and Germany). Silke working together with Niall has just finished the third year of a PI training in England with 20 students which grew out of two one-year groups of Foundation in Deep Bodywork. She also just finished the third year of a PI training with Niall in Germany, with 10 students. In both countries she is now doing the fourth year – the certification phase - which combine intensive supervision weekends with regular telephone and email supervision for the students working with training clients. Instead of retiring as she planned at the last Council meeting, Silke has just married (a trip around Mexico was the honeymoon) and has started a new training in England and is planning to start another one in Germany next year. Eckehardt Bonnofsky has completed the German training as Helper, and is now ready for the Advanced Training and becoming Assistant Trainer.
Niall (also England and Germany). Niall has been working together with Silke for seven years – a very long time of good cooperation for two trainers. He finds supervision very important but also very demanding. For him the transition to practitioner is a difficult period in which the student needs lots of support. He finds supportive supervision very important as the transition to practitioner is a period in which students need lots of support as they soon find that the client is more of a minefield than a goldmine. Perhaps we should, he wonders, set up something in the Trainer agreement which acknowledges some process for supporting graduates as they go into the public market.
Carmine (Italy). Carmine is concerned with his professional identity and how to bring his bodywork skills into the Italian health community. Presently he teaches at ASPIC (an government approved institute for training counselors and psychotherapists) and as well works with groups of children. In all his work he finds the need for a contact cycle (pre-contact, contact, full contact, post contact). Working through ASPIC he is part of a Body Counseling Program for Teachers in the Italian public school system. The idea is to help teachers in elementary and high school to become (through exercises and games) aware of the importance of movement, contact and sexuality as a part of their relationships with students. It is difficult to create a PI course – how to bring together students of different backgrounds into the technical work of PI. A new area Psychobiology has attracted medical doctors, so physiological models become a key and lead back to action and gesture. Carmine, Claudia (a director of ASPIC) and Jack are creating in the Popular University of Counseling a course (possibly three years) in sexuality – Pelvic-Heart Integration will be a part of this.
Rosa Maria (Mexico). Eight years ago she started with 10 students who had already taken Energetic Integration. After one and half years, seven students had finished. She worked with a team of Helpers – Valquera, Pellar and Anne-Marie. Rosa Maria has also done a specialized Energetic Integration training with professionals from other methods (anthropologists, psychotherapists), and several other Energetic Integration trainings. Her trainings continue and she also gives half her time to Jungian work - and she is starting to integrate these two parts of her work.
Jack (Italy and U.S.) At present he works mostly in Europe with a few trips to the States. In Italy Jack has worked with Carmine to build Energetic Work and Pelvic-Heart Integration. Also he has a Energetic Integration training in Gallese which has been running for two years. In Rimini Gilberto Bianchi has organized a Postural Integration Training for 2004 which Massimo Soldati and Jack will give with help from Francesco Vinci and Bruno Valenti. In the rest of Europe: the first training of Pelvic-Heart practitioners will begin in Graz in September 2004. Jack continues in Holland and Belgium and Claude and Eliane have invited him to France for an advanced workshop in March 2004. It is good for him to be back in Mexico – Rosa Maria besides her organizing of the Congress (The World as My Body) and this ICPIT meeting, also organized for Jack a workshop for Jack in Energetic Integration.
Written Reports. Several members of the Council who were unable to attend send their reports: Marie-Louise Simich (Toronto) is not now giving a training (there were many accidents and illnesses) but has a student in supervision. Graig Stott, a trainer candidate, is active with clients and helping to organize. Donald Van Howten (Santa Fe) is busy with ayurvedic and feldenkrais work and sends his greetings. He created a series of Feldenkrais© Movement Lessons (#1Awaken and Integrate your Midline Organs and #2 Clarify the Heart and Lungs in your Self Image). CD's or audiocassetes can be ordered at vanhowten@aol.com (Life Impressions Institute, Santa Fe NM 87501, tel.505/988-2627). Martyne Viens is pregnant (and has since had a healthy baby). Sepp Ziehlmann (Switzerland) was sorry not to attend and sends his support. Marco Guidon is now relaxing after selling his castle in Italy. He has a new training with ten participants, following the model of energy work in the first year followed by specialization. And is on the board of EABP (European association of body psychotherapy) in Switzerland. Massimo Soldati (Italy) apologizes for not being present and notes he started the first year of a PI training in Milano in 2003. Beverley Wilkinson (South Africa) has two Helpers in her present training, Jacqueline Weigtenburg and Jonathan Atkinson. Seven of eight students have re-enrolled for 2004 and the training has increased from 900 to 1000 hours. Hopefully there will be a wholely new training also in 2004. Presently there are seven qualified graduates with two working full time and two part time (a total of 500 clients). Bernard Schlage (Germany) sends pictures from Japan, where he is traveling, of ritual stands covered in the ancient three-drop PI symbol. Eliane Jung and Claude Vaux (France) are sending a report to Dirk.
Agenda
We drew up an agenda for this meeting: 1) country reports (done); 2) reports of officers; ICPIT web page; 3) Newsletter and practitioners list; 4) EAP; 5) PI future; 6) 2004 and 2005 ICPIT meeting: 7) election of officers; 8) Energetic Integration Council (ICEIT); 9) Supportive Supervision; 10) Maureen’s presentation of business models.
Financial Report
During the past few years we have had an average of 14 or 15 paying Council members and our expenses have averaged with some fluctuation about $700. Our present capital is $5775. The Council decided to make it clear that a payment of $150 is for one whole year, not to be broken into parts.
Newsletter
It was suggested that news updates could be added by trainers, using a password. A schedule of events by country and name is also needed. It was suggested that the Newsletter could be in PDF format in future, for easy download and printing. A broad and large list of names and current email addresses is needed to make the newsletter a success. This is also similar to our need for an active practitioners list.
Active Practitioners List
The Council members agreed that we very much need an active practitioners list. With such a list we can stay in communication and let potential clients know which practitioners are giving the work. We agreed to draw up a questionnaire form for the posturalintegration.info website where graduates can give us their address and email as well as their specializations. Practitioners who want to stay on the Active Practitioner’s list (held at the Secretariat and used to answer enquiries from potential clients about practitioners in their area) will have to confirm this each year during February with the Secretariat.
Web Page
The suggestion was made to have an array of articles (philosophy, theory, practice and fact) available on the Council site. Also photos and biographies of each trainer would be helpful. – so please send them so we can put them on the web!
Postural Integration Future
Several issues came to the fore. How can we keep the purity of our method (four pillars) and bring in other techniques? How can we attract the changing generations to the technical aspects of P.I. and E.I? How can we invite verbally to playfulness yet hint at the deep important aspects of the work? How include the spirit in the body aspects? All agreed that attractive themes were needed to bring in students and clients. Council members suggested phrases and themes: the talking body; playfulness and tragedy, playfulness and sadness, biodrama; mixing and interacting; fairy tales; the tarot of myofascia; searching your own body cells; feel your spirit in the body. Perhaps introductory workshops and demonstrations on exciting topics are needed in the beginning to bring people to the more confrontive and technical themes with which we’ve been working.
Election of Officers
We decided to separate the functions now in the Secretariat and create the Treasury as a separate function. Dirk would keep the Secretariat and Silke would take over the Treasury function. Rosa Maria was elected to be the new President. Silke was elected Vice-President. Jack remains Editor and Coordinator. In each country we need assistants to be responsible for corrections in the native language text which appears on the website. Carmine will take care of Italian, Dirk Dutch, Niall German, Rosa Maria Spanish and hopefully Claude and Eliane French.
International Council of Energetic Integration (ICEIT)
The Council agreed to create The International Council for Energetic Integration Trainers (ICEIT). Those PI Trainers who have specifically trained with Jack to become Energetic Integration Trainers are eligible to be members of this Council. Blanca Rosa, Carmine, Dirk, Jack, Rosa Maria, Guillermo, Rashma, Silke, and Sean have met these requirements and a few other PI Trainers with supplemental work will be eligible soon. For now, the officers of ICPIT will also function as officers of ICEIT, and payment of membership fees for one Council (ICPIT or ICEIT) is automatically payment for membership in the other Council. At this ICPIT meeting in Mexico we also held the first ICEIT meeting and gave articles and guidelines which are now posted at www.energeticintegration.info. There is also a link at www. posturalintegration.info
Working Toward EAP Recognition
The Council approved setting up alternative diplomas to our present Postural Integration and Energetic practitioner diplomas. This would meet the requirements of EAP (European Association of Psychotherapists). Some of the requirements would change or be put forth in a different context. The idea is that qualified Trainers could also offer a diploma in Psychocorporal Integration as a Postural Integration Psychotherapist or as a Energetic Integration Psychotherapist. A separate site would also be needed: www. psychocorporalintegration.net at which all items except for the diploma requirements and parts of the descriptions would remain the same. Jack will continue to work on this project with Claude Vaux and Eliane Jung, as well as Bernard Schlage and Marco Guidon.
ICPIT Meetings 2004-2005
After our ICPIT meeting some changes were made through individual discussions among council members. Marco Guidon is hosting the 2004 meeting, Oct. 18-21 (perhaps a symposium for the public will be possible on Oct. 17) in Zurich, Switzerland. In 2005 Claude and Eliane will host a symposium,, Oct. 22-23, followed by the ICPIT meeting 24-27 – somewhere near Strasbourg. Dirk is interested in continuing the tradition of hosting the World as My Body and the ICPIT meeting in Belgium in 2007.
Need for Supportive Supervision
Following up on Niall’s country report, the Council agreed that we need to outline ways in which Trainers’ can give more support to students making the transition to working on clients. We need some concrete steps that can be taken. Also a clause in the Trainer’s Agreement that this type of support will be provided as a part of the training.
Business Models and Bodywork
Maureen Chester, who has been working in the business community for more than 20 years and also has trained in gestalt, counseling and postural integration, presented us with several models which she teaches to business managers and sales persons. For example, one communication model underscores the importance when dealing with clients of the sequence: listening, questioning, confirming, providing and checking. Another: the graph of compete—avoid—collaborate—accomodate. Her talk inspired us to look at how we might bring our bodywork skills into the business community.
The World as My Body
Rosa Maria Sevilla, PI and EI Trainer in Guadalajara, organized and hosted the symposium, Encuentro Internacional deTerapeutas Psiccoporales, El Mundo Como Mi Cuerpo, Desde la Intimidad, a la Identidad, a la Comunidad. Members of the Council presented as well as Dr. Alejandra Aguila Ros, a Mexican anthropologist. We met for two days, October 18-19 on the campus of the University of Guadalajara.
We had a very moving opening and closing ceremony. Rosa-Maria went to considerable trouble to engage a remarkable shaman of the new generation - Rafael Bejarano - to perform these. He has been initiated by several ancient Mexican and Australian tribes. He performed on a huge didgeridoo, which only he was granted permission to use after he having lived a whole year with the Aboriginal tribe. Robert Young assisted in the ceremony and thanked and honoured in his Fijian tongue the spirits of the Mexican peoples and their native earth for wellcoming our Council this time. At the end of our Council Meeting, he also presented an original Australian aboriginal chief’s wooden “symbol of authority” to Rosa Maria as president of the Congress, and new president of the Council, a symbol to be passed on down the years in a handing over of office ceremony on each occasion a new president is elected.
Picture #4 Rafael Bejarano, Mexican shaman, resonates with Carmine Piroli, P.I. Trainer
The following summaries of presentations were written by the presenters. Summaries will be posted as they are received.
Presentation by Niall O’Siochain (Germany)
THEME: Nutrition: a vital factor in Bodymind Therapy ?
Issues examined and discussed were amongst others :
- age is not an ailment: we only age from self caused deterioration;
- the paradigm shift: man’s origins as a water’s edge-dweller;
- man's aquatic origins and our evolutionary jump;
- fish‘s essential fatty acids (EFAs) role in our brain evolution;
- the ocean in our bloodstream: the remarkable pH.7,4 miracle;
- our daily essential need for an alcaline-acid balanced diet;
- the new recommended (low-carb.) optimal “Nutrition Pyramid“;
- the food and mood biochemical imbalance phenomena;
- your carbohydrate “roller-coasting“ fast-food client;
- body toxins, nutrition and related emotional disorders;
- transgenerational effects of nutrition on behaviour;
- omega-3 + vitamin B deficiencies role in triggering ---
- depressions, panic, rage, violence, delinquency;
- nutritional considerations in relation to the therapeutic process.
Presentation by Jack Painter (U.S. and Italy)
THEME: The Bodymind drama of Ecstasy
Sometimes we suppose ecstasy to be an indescribable, unchanging state, removed from the ordinary world. Actually ecstasy is a dramatic, dynamic process in which our bodies speak and move with clairity and in which we directly deal with the difficulties of life. The body, through movement and sound, can express its potential for ecstasy and joy."
Ecstasy is a plateau we can reach by developing the energetic wave inside all of us. Using various methods of charging and discharging we can, in turn, develop first the feminine side in our bodies, next the masculine, then the freedom of both together and finally the exciting interaction of our feminine and masculine sides. At this point, we let our feminine and masculine fuse into a new orgastic feeling, a feeling which we can cultivate and develop. Ecstasy is not a blind joyful state, but rather a deep acceptance of our pain and limitations along with all our pleasure and power. Although we must come down from this ecstatic plateau, we still realize our capacity to follow the wave again and rediscover and cultivate our ecstaty.
Our ability to cultivate the ecstatic state has important consequences for our everyday lives. How can we live with the sorrows and limitations of life yet creatively reaffirm ourselves? Partly by realizing that satisfaction is not a matter of temporary pleasure but a deep committment to recurring energetic wave in ourselves and fellow human beings.
Presentation by Dirk Marivoet (Belgium):
THEME: "Coming to the Senses; Midwifing the Experience in PI®" - Ethical Touch, Somatic Resonance, Natural Unfolding
Laura Perls once stated that “magic” in psychotherapy is a matter of timing. Speaking too soon or too late reduces the impact of presence. Likewise, intervening with too little or too much intensity misses the mark. The too little or too much, the too soon or the too late, constitute awkwardness. The right intensity at just the right time- that is grace. Developing grace seems to be the result of succesful integration of body, mind and heart. A major technique of the PI practitioner's therapeutic repertoire is touch. Touch in our understanding is not a homogenous, unidimensional phenomenon in all its contexts and occurances, as some prefer to believe. Adequate theoretical/technical training and supervision to competently employ the methods and techniques is imperative to stay ethical. If a therapist feels like herself or himself in using a technique, if that technique seems to flow out of her or him, then supposedly it is an appropriate technique to keep in one’s repertoire for that moment. Barry Stevens put it, “When the wrong man uses the right means, the right means work in the wrong way.”
A taxonomy of touch, Taboo and not explicitly taboo forms of touch, Appropriateness of touch, Factors influencing the nuanced meanings of touch and ethical considerations were discussed.
Blanca Rosa Anorve (Mexico):
Rosa Maria Sevilla (Mexico):
Robert Young (Australia): title, summary...
Carmine Piroli (Italy): Il lavoro presentato dal Dr. Carmine Piroli, presso la Facoltà di Psicologia dell'università di I.T.E.S.O. di Guadalajara in Messico, si basa sulla ricerca che insieme alla Dr.ssa Claudia Montanari viene svolta da anni nell'ambito della Psicoterapia pluralistica integrata; attraverso lo studio comparato di modelli terapeutici diversi e la loro integrazione e applicazione sul campo.
L'integrazione Somatopsichica a cura di C. Piroli e C. Montanari
L'Integrazione Somatopsichica è un modello multidisciplinare che integra l'Analisi Transazionale di Eric Berne, come modello
cognitivo-comportamentale, l'Integrazione Energetica di Jack Painter e l'approccio Umanistico Centrato sulla Persona di Carl Rogers. L'I.S. è un approccio olistico che considera la persona nella sua dimensione mentale, corporea e transpersonale, si struttura nell?integrazione fra questi livelli e nella relazione dell?individuo con se stesso e con gli altri.
Le strategie operative comprese in tale modello si riassumono in 4 categorie distinte: affettivo-emotiva, affettivo-cognitiva, cognitiva e comportamentale, in cui l'esperienza soggettiva dell'individuo e il significato personale attribuito ad essa sono strettamente connesse a livello di motivazione.
La dimensione processuale e dinamica del cambiamento emerge nei modelli su cui l'I.S. si fonda, pur caratterizzandosi come approcci strutturali: la caratterologia reichiana, la nozione di struttura della personalità dell'A.T. e il processo di difesa, rappresentano le basi della psicopatologia e al tempo stesso dei processi umani. L'integrazione fra questi modelli permette di intervenire sulla persona a livello globale per una visione ecologica dell individuo, facilitandone in tal modo cambiamenti stabili e duraturi.
In definitiva, l'Integrazione Somatopsichica permette di intervenire direttamente sull armatura (strategie corporee di difesa) e di attivare e riequilibrare l'energia bloccata nel corpo attraverso la complessità operativa da cui si sviluppa tale modello.
Alejandra Aguilar Ros (Mexico): title, summary