Restoring Wholeness

Restoring Wholeness

Transforming Traumatic Shame into Vitality, Connection and Purpose

A dictionary definition of wholeness reads: “soundness, health, or well-being in body, mind, soul, or spirit.” We would further add:

• The felt sense of our emotional and psychological sturdiness.
• Self-worth.
• Self-acceptance.
• A connection to others and the world.
• The ability to know and ‘hold’ our inherent contradictions in the face of both internal and external pressures.

Our quality of life is greatly impacted by our sense of wholeness and from Carl Jung’s perspective, all humans have an innate drive towards this state.

This workshop is for you if you:

• struggle with perfectionism, impostor syndrome, feelings of inadequacy, internal voices telling you that you’re not good enough, etc.
• feel stuck- want to make changes in your life but somehow can’t seem to
• have a lot of shoulds and shouldn’ts  (rules!) driving your life
• believe you struggle because you are flawed in some way
• notice self-talk that berates you, wanting you to be different (inner-critic)
• want to know yourself better, including your motivations and longing for a better quality of life

Shame is one of the least understood and most potent human experiences. At its best, healthy shame motivates us to connect with our deepest values, engage with others, behave congruently, nurture relationships, and consider how our actions impact the health of the planet. In this state, we are available to learn. In contrast, unhealthy or ‘traumatic’ shame blocks all those same life-affirming experiences. It can create a sense of isolation, worthlessness, disconnection, numbness, and eventually, despair. It’s impossible to learn anything different when we are in traumatic shame. Healthy Shame says: “I did a bad thing and I want to repair it with those affected.” Traumatic Shame says: “I am a bad person and there is just nothing I can do about that.”

Most know the experience of shame, even if they know it by another name (guilt, toxic shame, and perfectionism are common synonyms). At times, I can think I’m either “too much” or “not good enough” (or both at the same time!) and, if I’m firmly in unhealthy shame, either sink into despair or lash out in anger. I have very little curiosity or empathy available in those moments and I feel awful afterwards. If I’m in healthy shame, however, I find I can reach out from those dark and painful places; I can connect, correct my behaviour, and learn how to share my inner world in a responsible way.

Equally as important is to learn how we can be present with others as they learn to reveal and transform their own traumatic shame. This requires empathy and it’s the main antidote to traumatic shame. Empathy is crucial to nurturing a sense of loving, safety, and belonging in relationships.

In this workshop, we will learn how to re-connect with our wholeness, exploring the origins and impacts of the traumatic shame that impede us. We will present take-home tools for developing ‘shame-resilience’ as well as exploring how to shift ourselves into a ‘healthy shame state’ where we can learn, grow and re-connect.  We will utilize various modalities that draw on an embodied, experiential, Polyvagal approach; These include Somatic Experiencing, Internal Family Systems, Satir Model, Brené Brown’s research findings, psycho-drama, etc.

Format:

A combination of experiential and theoretical opportunities including presentations, exercises, guided visualizations, breathwork, and journaling, with an emphasis on group activities rather than individual process.

Investment:

Our Earlybird tuition price of $1195 is available up to one month prior to the program start.  Regular tuition is $1275.  Full payment is due one month before the program start date regardless of tuition price.

You can find our cancellation policy here

Schedule:

Approximately twenty-seven hours of formal class time, spread over five calendar days. The evening sessions are intended to be restorative and relaxing.  There are also long mid-day breaks for rest and integration!

Your program begins with dinner at 6pm and your first session at 7:30pm

Daily schedule:

• Breakfast 8:00 – 9:00am
• Morning session 9:15am to noon
• Lunch noon to 1:00pm
• Afternoon session 3:00 – 6:00pm
• Dinner 6:00 – 7:00pm
• Evening session 7:15 – 8:30pm

Your program finishes at 11:45am on the last day followed by lunch.

Admission requirements: The student must have the desire and ability to learn.  Must demonstrate a capacity for responsible self care, responsible self organization and sound mental health.  The student must understand and speak English.

This program does not require approval by the registrar of the Private Training Institutions Branch (PTIB) of the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training.  As such, the registrar did not review this program. What does this mean? Click here to learn more.