Groups and Workshops
Creating Group Ritual to Honor the Things That Matter
A day-long mini-retreat for cisgender women and non-binary AFAB people
Saturday November 4, 9 am-5 pm, Chapel Hill
Author and activist Starhawk defines ritual as "a patterned movement of energy to accomplish a purpose." We carry this out in ways that are so deeply familiar to most of us that we don't even recognize the process, for instance: the lighting of candles on a cake, followed by the presenting of the flame-covered cake while singing a well-known song to the person who's grown another year older, who then makes a wish while blowing out the candles, is a pattered movement of energy involving the elements of fire and air, along with the sensory experiences of making sound together with song and the sharing of sweet food to celebrate the transition from one year on the planet to the next.
Ritual created with the intention to support making life changes or to recognize those that have already occurred is a powerful means of anchoring the meaning of such changes in the heart and mind. In this mini-retreat, we'll will discuss our experiences being raised female in our patriarchal culture of what was honored and celebrated, and how, and what wasn't that should have been. This might apply to the onset of menses in adolescence or the last period with menopause, or to events more personally specific. In spaces both indoors and out, we'll work with meditation and imagery and use the energies of the elements of water, earth, air, and fire to design and perform a ritual together that honors what needs to be honored, whether it be a past event or a change that asks to be brought into being.
$150, with sliding scale available to those who need it (please inquire). To register, please use the form on my Contact page. I'll respond with payment options and details.
IFS in 3-D: A Sculpting Workshop/Playshop
Upcoming workshops TBA
Sculpting is a vibrant, interactive means of putting a person’s internal system up on its feet, creating a living, breathing map. This workshop is designed for IFS-trained and IFS-informed therapists and practitioners, to deepen and enhance their understanding of and fluency with the model. It will be a four-hour, experiential process in which the IFS model will be applied to a participant’s system with other participants role-playing that person’s parts. We’ll begin with a centering meditation followed by introductions/check-in, and then select a volunteer who’d like to work with a part or an issue.
That person will be guided through the six F’s, unblending by selecting other attendees to role-play parts that emerge as the process unfolds, creating space for Self-energy to emerge more fully as they dialogue with their parts, and progressing through the steps to witnessing, retrieving, and unburdening an Exile if the system allows. If time permits, we will do a second sculpt with another person. We’ll finish with a debrief and processing of the collective experience of the group.
-Note: I've applied to IFSI for CE credits for certified IFS folx, and am waiting to hear back-
To join the Interest List, please use the form on my Contact page
Upcoming Groups Beginning Winter 2023-24:
Crone Groups:
While Oxford Languages dictionary defines "crone" as, "An old woman who is thin and ugly," Barbara Walker's "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets" says that "...The Crone also represented the third (post-menopausal) phase of women's lives... it was believed that women became very wise when they no longer shed the lunar 'wise blood' but kept it within..." and Shekinah Mountainwater, in "Ariadne's Thread," says, "The Crone is a teacher or wise one, sometimes called the 'wayshower' as she shines the light of wisdom for all to see." Based on the aspects of the Triple Goddess: the Maiden, Mother, and Crone, these are the phases of a woman's life.
I'm offering two Crone groups: one, a weekly, ongoing, open-ended process-oriented therapy and support group, and the other, an 8-week structured group. These groups are for women who are en route to (irregular periods, hot flashes, all that good stuff) or have arrived at (no longer menstruating) this third, Wise Woman phase and want a place to discuss and explore the experiences of this age and stage of life, of the impact of having grown up in a time when perhaps we weren't expected to have a career or even work, of navigating the societal shifts that came with the Women's Movement and the ways that patriarchy continues to affect us.
We'll also look at the stages that precede Crone, the Maiden and Mother. The short-term group will work with healing the Wounded Maiden, to complete any unfinished pieces of the passage from Maiden to Mother in order to support the journey from Mother to Crone, and then connecting to the goddess in her Crone aspect and ourselves as Crone. This group will draw on Sarah Durham Wilson's "Maiden to Mother" work and Mountainwater's "Ariadne's Thread," and include structured exercises, meditation, guided imagery, journaling, dreamwork and, for those who would like, "croning" rituals.
The long-term group will be less structured, with more of a focus on discussion and exploration of the impact of patriarchy on ourselves, society and the earth, and how to heal all of these (easy-peasy, right?!). In the long-term group, we'll explore the journey from Maiden to Mother and Mother to Crone over time.
My hope is to hold these groups in person, Covid conditions permitting. It will be limited to to 7 women, and meet weekly for 90 minutes. The fee will be $75 per session, with some lower-fee spots available in both for anyone who needs.
To be put on the interest list, please use the form on the "Contact" page of this website. I'll get back in touch when I have days, times, and start dates determined. Interested people will need to meet with me for a (no-cost, Zoom) screening/intake prior to the first group session they attend.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Eating Disorders/Body Image groups:
My groups for people dealing with disordered eating are on hiatus. I'm keeping an interest list and when we're able to return to meeting in person, I'll contact those on the list about starting back up. Please contact me if you're interested.
Connection to others in recovery from a troubled relationship with food or exercise is essential. I offer group therapy for women suffering from disordered eating, compulsive exercise, and weight and body image concerns. Group is a supportive place in which to explore and heal disordered relationships with food and body through interpersonal relationship dynamics, as well as development of effective tools and skills. It's a place to laugh and cry together as members work and grow together. Group is also intended to be a place to create a recovery support system, so I encourage contact between members outside of group.
I have two groups: one for people who restrict, over-exercise, binge and/or purge, the other for women only, who struggle with overeating/bingeing/emotional eating, dieting, weight control and/or obesity. Both are open-ended, meaning the group is ongoing, rather than limited to a set number of meetings. Some members have attended for several years, and some, a few months. Group membership is limited to 8. The groups are designed to be one part of an individuals' recovery program, and so members are required to be in individual therapy (with me or another therapist).
Prospective members must meet with me for an intake prior to attending their first group. This lasts about 30-45 minutes and costs $60. Coming to one group doesn't obligate you to continue, however, I ask that members make a minimum one-year commitment.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Workshops in the making-- please return to this page for updates:
I am incubating a one-day workshop for women on creating ritual to honor meaningful life events/transitions. This workshop will be for cis women only, as it will involve recognition of the experience of growing up female in patriarchal society.
If you are interested in any of these, please contact me and let me know! I'll place you on an interest list and keep you posted.
Creating Group Ritual to Honor the Things That Matter
A day-long mini-retreat for cisgender women and non-binary AFAB people
Saturday November 4, 9 am-5 pm, Chapel Hill
Author and activist Starhawk defines ritual as "a patterned movement of energy to accomplish a purpose." We carry this out in ways that are so deeply familiar to most of us that we don't even recognize the process, for instance: the lighting of candles on a cake, followed by the presenting of the flame-covered cake while singing a well-known song to the person who's grown another year older, who then makes a wish while blowing out the candles, is a pattered movement of energy involving the elements of fire and air, along with the sensory experiences of making sound together with song and the sharing of sweet food to celebrate the transition from one year on the planet to the next.
Ritual created with the intention to support making life changes or to recognize those that have already occurred is a powerful means of anchoring the meaning of such changes in the heart and mind. In this mini-retreat, we'll will discuss our experiences being raised female in our patriarchal culture of what was honored and celebrated, and how, and what wasn't that should have been. This might apply to the onset of menses in adolescence or the last period with menopause, or to events more personally specific. In spaces both indoors and out, we'll work with meditation and imagery and use the energies of the elements of water, earth, air, and fire to design and perform a ritual together that honors what needs to be honored, whether it be a past event or a change that asks to be brought into being.
$150, with sliding scale available to those who need it (please inquire). To register, please use the form on my Contact page. I'll respond with payment options and details.
IFS in 3-D: A Sculpting Workshop/Playshop
Upcoming workshops TBA
Sculpting is a vibrant, interactive means of putting a person’s internal system up on its feet, creating a living, breathing map. This workshop is designed for IFS-trained and IFS-informed therapists and practitioners, to deepen and enhance their understanding of and fluency with the model. It will be a four-hour, experiential process in which the IFS model will be applied to a participant’s system with other participants role-playing that person’s parts. We’ll begin with a centering meditation followed by introductions/check-in, and then select a volunteer who’d like to work with a part or an issue.
That person will be guided through the six F’s, unblending by selecting other attendees to role-play parts that emerge as the process unfolds, creating space for Self-energy to emerge more fully as they dialogue with their parts, and progressing through the steps to witnessing, retrieving, and unburdening an Exile if the system allows. If time permits, we will do a second sculpt with another person. We’ll finish with a debrief and processing of the collective experience of the group.
-Note: I've applied to IFSI for CE credits for certified IFS folx, and am waiting to hear back-
To join the Interest List, please use the form on my Contact page
Upcoming Groups Beginning Winter 2023-24:
Crone Groups:
While Oxford Languages dictionary defines "crone" as, "An old woman who is thin and ugly," Barbara Walker's "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets" says that "...The Crone also represented the third (post-menopausal) phase of women's lives... it was believed that women became very wise when they no longer shed the lunar 'wise blood' but kept it within..." and Shekinah Mountainwater, in "Ariadne's Thread," says, "The Crone is a teacher or wise one, sometimes called the 'wayshower' as she shines the light of wisdom for all to see." Based on the aspects of the Triple Goddess: the Maiden, Mother, and Crone, these are the phases of a woman's life.
I'm offering two Crone groups: one, a weekly, ongoing, open-ended process-oriented therapy and support group, and the other, an 8-week structured group. These groups are for women who are en route to (irregular periods, hot flashes, all that good stuff) or have arrived at (no longer menstruating) this third, Wise Woman phase and want a place to discuss and explore the experiences of this age and stage of life, of the impact of having grown up in a time when perhaps we weren't expected to have a career or even work, of navigating the societal shifts that came with the Women's Movement and the ways that patriarchy continues to affect us.
We'll also look at the stages that precede Crone, the Maiden and Mother. The short-term group will work with healing the Wounded Maiden, to complete any unfinished pieces of the passage from Maiden to Mother in order to support the journey from Mother to Crone, and then connecting to the goddess in her Crone aspect and ourselves as Crone. This group will draw on Sarah Durham Wilson's "Maiden to Mother" work and Mountainwater's "Ariadne's Thread," and include structured exercises, meditation, guided imagery, journaling, dreamwork and, for those who would like, "croning" rituals.
The long-term group will be less structured, with more of a focus on discussion and exploration of the impact of patriarchy on ourselves, society and the earth, and how to heal all of these (easy-peasy, right?!). In the long-term group, we'll explore the journey from Maiden to Mother and Mother to Crone over time.
My hope is to hold these groups in person, Covid conditions permitting. It will be limited to to 7 women, and meet weekly for 90 minutes. The fee will be $75 per session, with some lower-fee spots available in both for anyone who needs.
To be put on the interest list, please use the form on the "Contact" page of this website. I'll get back in touch when I have days, times, and start dates determined. Interested people will need to meet with me for a (no-cost, Zoom) screening/intake prior to the first group session they attend.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Eating Disorders/Body Image groups:
My groups for people dealing with disordered eating are on hiatus. I'm keeping an interest list and when we're able to return to meeting in person, I'll contact those on the list about starting back up. Please contact me if you're interested.
Connection to others in recovery from a troubled relationship with food or exercise is essential. I offer group therapy for women suffering from disordered eating, compulsive exercise, and weight and body image concerns. Group is a supportive place in which to explore and heal disordered relationships with food and body through interpersonal relationship dynamics, as well as development of effective tools and skills. It's a place to laugh and cry together as members work and grow together. Group is also intended to be a place to create a recovery support system, so I encourage contact between members outside of group.
I have two groups: one for people who restrict, over-exercise, binge and/or purge, the other for women only, who struggle with overeating/bingeing/emotional eating, dieting, weight control and/or obesity. Both are open-ended, meaning the group is ongoing, rather than limited to a set number of meetings. Some members have attended for several years, and some, a few months. Group membership is limited to 8. The groups are designed to be one part of an individuals' recovery program, and so members are required to be in individual therapy (with me or another therapist).
Prospective members must meet with me for an intake prior to attending their first group. This lasts about 30-45 minutes and costs $60. Coming to one group doesn't obligate you to continue, however, I ask that members make a minimum one-year commitment.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Workshops in the making-- please return to this page for updates:
I am incubating a one-day workshop for women on creating ritual to honor meaningful life events/transitions. This workshop will be for cis women only, as it will involve recognition of the experience of growing up female in patriarchal society.
If you are interested in any of these, please contact me and let me know! I'll place you on an interest list and keep you posted.