Much excitement in Alvechurch on Saturday 28th November in the form of a creative and dynamic CPD workshop on using poetry & creative writing in therapy. EXPLORING THE HEALING POWER OF WORDS includes sessions from two dynamic and innovative women poets who I believe the counselling professional can learn a lot from! Jess Davies and Jasmine Gardosi will be presenting in the afternoon. I cannot wait!
The training aims to provide a plethora of ideas to enable you to integrate creative & effective techniques with clients where appropriate. It also aims to excite and inspire participants about the power of working with poetry and creative writing generally. Check out the links below to find out about Jess & Jasmine!
Jess is the host and producer of a monthly spoken work evening, ‘Stirchely Speaks’ as well as the facilitator for a new series of poetry based workshops with Redditch based charity, ‘Indigo Arts’. Jess has also been a feature for ‘I am not a Silent Poet’, a publication that gives voices against issues of abuse. With a background in collaboration, she was also a participating artist with theatre group ‘Unfinished Business’ and ‘Cannon Hill Collective’ (a mac gallery artistic development program). Working alongside various artists for a personal and reflective exploration of individual art practices.
http://facebook.com/JessMayDavies.Arts
Jasmine is the current Midlands Slam Champion, Birmingham Poet Laureate finalist 2014/2015 and one of the five winners of the Pangaea Poetry Slam 2015. Besides hosting poetry night Opus Club, she is a workshop facilitator and coordinator of West Midlands Poets’ Place and a speaker as TEDxBrum’s 2014 International Women’s Day. Jasmine believes in the multiple powers of spoken words to develop a participants communications skills, self-expression and physical confidence.
Jo is a UKCP registered psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer. Jo first became interested in using poetry and other writing in the therapeutic process in the 1990’s whilst working with survivors of sexual violence at Sandwell Rape Crisis, where she produced a collection of women’s healing poetry called Purple Ribbons. Jo has integrated work with poetry, stories, metaphor and writing exercises into therapeutic processes with individuals, couples and groups. She is particularly passionate about the healing power of words in relation to experiences of abuse and trauma. Jo’s inner-child work also employs the use of pen and paper!
www.facebook.com/jwpsychotherapy
Excellent day with excellent people
November 29, 2015 @ 7:49 pm
Excellent day with excellent people! Fun was most definitely had at the ‘exploring the healing power of words’ workshop…but it was powerful & emotional stuff too! Jasmine Gardosi & Jess Davies were well & truly on form. They brought some really interesting ideas & techniques that we can all use in our work (thank you both!) Oh.. and the performances were just amazing!
Thanks also to Dima Dupere for permission to share some of her work on therapeutic writing and to Sophia Walker for her amazing poem ‘Moment of Silence’ and the accompanying statement. Most of all thanks to all the participants for coming and making it such a great day. You really were a joy to work with!
December 1, 2015 @ 10:06 pm
What a great day – If you are looking for a CPD day with a difference – this it. Experiential learning – lots of fun – quality sharing of different experiences – all made this day one to remember. And Jess and Jas were amazingly brilliant, really encouraging. – I have used therapeutic writing to help clients to process difficult memories and feelings in the past – I am hoping to use it even more now. Thank you Jo for putting on such an inspiring and motivating event.
December 2, 2015 @ 12:11 pm
Absolutely super day; incredibly powerful learning, on so many levels, presented in a fun and engaging way that made it easy to explore difficult and sensitive topics . I emerged from this lovely time out with a lovely respectful, supportive group with a whole new range of ideas and practical ways to support clients and supervisees. I have also gained confidence in my own ability to incorporate creative approaches into my work as a practitioner, teacher and researcher . Thank you everyone, especially Jo, Jess, Jasmine and Sophia
December 2, 2015 @ 6:47 pm
This was a day that made you want to be creative, inspired by spoke word, expression and powerfully presented work, left me both exhausted , surprised and peaceful in a very therapeutic way. I felt safe enough to try and to be open to thoughts and feelings well protected.
Thank you all for creating that space and for being a part of a wonderfully explorative and healing day.
December 4, 2015 @ 4:03 pm
This was my and Jess’s first experience of facilitating a workshop for psychotherapists and counsellors, so we didn’t know what to expect. What we got on the day was a room full of warm, keen participants who were eager to get stuck in to the writing exercises. I’m bowled over by the openness and sincerity of what was written and shared. It was a pleasure to work with a group of individuals who valued what Jess and I had to offer.
Jo’s half of the day was illuminating – it opened my eyes to the wealth of resources available on the subject and her statement from Sophia Walker has stayed in my mind ever since. Thank you Jo for making the day happen, and thank you everyone else for making the course such an enjoyable experience!
December 7, 2015 @ 3:03 pm
This day was such a surprise! 3 excellent facilitators who took us through a range of feelings from shock to delight in minutes. Unusual material presented from the depths of the heart touched me so much that I am inspired to use much of it with clients. Thank you to everyone who attended and spoke of their unique impressions and experiences. I WANT MORE…!
December 8, 2015 @ 9:21 am
Powerful, emotional, informative, creative and humorous. Joe, Jess and Jaz were amazing. I felt the uniqueness of the course was refreshing and very thought provoking. Therapeutic writing will certainly be brought into my integrative counselling work. Many thanks to everyone who took part in the day.
December 10, 2015 @ 3:09 pm
This was my first experience of working with Jo, and I have found it to be a positive, respectful and supportive working relationship.
The theory presented by Jo during the first half of the workshop was insightful and established a great atmosphere for myself and Jasmine to lead our creative writing exercises. I found the room to be warm and receptive to the exercises we had developed – you can meticulously plan a session but ultimately the overall success of a workshop is down to the participants. It was wonderful to be working with such dedicated people who were completely invested in exploring new techniques for the potential benefits of their clients.
March 11, 2016 @ 9:02 pm
I’m a little late in popping my comment on here but even still, I can remember this day extremely well; because it was a little bit magical.
This was the first opportunity I had to explore creative writing. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect what I got. An incredible experience, that took me completely out of my comfort zone, took me out the confines of my skin and threw emotions out there that I thought were long buried and dead and to have the opportunity to explore something so deeply personal and painful in such a safe environment, surrounded by lovely people, was a very special experience.
I have also been able to use it in my work with clients and its helped when finding stumbling blocks. Free writing is being used by one as a remedy for anxiety and he uses it every single day. I often find myself throwing something together at random points when I don’t have a pen – such as in the car on the drive home. Typical. But it doesn’t matter, what matters is the expression and the feeling of getting the words in your head out into the air and releasing them; the cathartic experience of emotional release.
A massive thank you to Jess and Jazz for attending and a huge thank you to Jo for organising such an empowering and wonderful experience and allowing me to be a part of it. Thank you Ladies. You’re beautiful x
March 23, 2016 @ 8:44 am
I really enjoyed my day. It took me outside my comfort zone on occasion which I think is very valuable as a therapist but also gave me some new and interesting techniques to work with.
Jo was excellent as usual in terms of the design, value, organisation and delivery of her section of the course. Also the level of supportiveness given was great – again this is really important if you are outside your comfort zone.
Finally Jess and Jas who were helping with the creative writing element were excellent in terms of the creativity they showed and also the way they explained techniques was inspired. Again they were also very supportive.
Thanks all.