Workshop Descriptions

• Thursday Pre-Conference: Moving Forward with Somatic Value [+]
  
  Presented by the Rubenfeld Synergy Training Institute
  
  What is the true value of working with the Soma? What is important about regaining movement of your neck? Length of your spine? Width in your shoulders? Strength in your base?
  
  In our 30 years of practicing and teaching we have discovered the value of RSM is in the re- vitalization and re-valuing of the body.
  
  Come spend the day re-discovering and deepening the value of the somatic so that we can move RSM into the future with a value proposition.
  6 GRAD Credits

• Friday Morning: Articulating the Value of RSM [+]
  
  Presented by the Rubenfeld Synergy Training Institute
  Noël Wight & Joe Weldon
  
  

  

  Key to moving RSM forward is the ability of all Synergists to articulate its value. We all know and feel the value; we are here because we value it in our own lives and know its power to help & heal others.
  However, many of us still struggle with how to convey this to others. We tend to explain what RSM is, rather than speak about the benefits it offers. We often struggle for the right words and the right way to communicate about RSM.
  
  In this workshop we will help each Synergist hone the skill of articulation. We will assist you in finding your own words and individual style for sharing with others the power and efficacy of RSM. As we clarify the value of RSM we will stand tall in the knowledge that RSM has a great deal to offer the healthcare profession as well as the individual clients who come seeking wholeness.
  3 GRAD credits
  
• Friday Afternoon Option #1: The Value of Rubenfeld Bodymind Exercises [+]
  
  Bonnie Muller
  
  

  

  Ilana’s Rubenfeld Bodymind Exercises® serve as a powerful foundation for informing our listening touch. They begin with our developing somatic awareness and then teach us about articulation, differentiation, and connection. The ease they embody supports our attunement as we approach and meet our clients. The knowledge we gain from them guides how and where we touch while inviting rest, movement and expression with our clients.
  
  After being led through a RBE® experience, workshop participants will bring their knowledge to their “clients” at the table and teach their clients about exploring bodymind awareness at home. Our discussion will make explicit the value which is embedded in these Exercises.
  
  Bonnie Muller’s curiosity about the power of the Rubenfeld Bodymind Exercises® began as a trainee at 115 Waverly Place in 1997. Later, as a Teaching Intern, she was fascinated by the connection of the exercises to Rubenfeld Synergy sessions. She has presented RBE®’s in the context of Rubenfeld for Life groups and a variety of other consultations in her community. She is currently teaching about the wisdom of the bodymind
  in an ongoing group.
  
  Bonnie is currently serving as Secretary of the INARS Board of Directors and Chair of the INARS Nominations/Election Committee. She is a practicing LCSW and CRS in Hamden, CT and a retired school social worker.
  3 CEUs
  
  
• Friday Afternoon Option #2: Shadow Work [+]
  
  Rita Waters
  
  

  

  This will be a deeply personal and probing workshop - examining our own shadows through prayerful reflection, journalling, dialogue and activity; for once we have danced with our own shadows and fears, we are more confident in engaging with those of our clients.
    
  This workshop will involve one-on-one sharing, group interaction and feedback, reflection time, and writing. It will demand honesty, a willingness to look within, and a readiness to share with others.  
    
  Its two goals are a.) to move forward in self-integration and empowerment and b.) to experience some effective techniques in working with clients.
   
  The work will be based on The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford. I highly recommend this book which can be read before or after the conference. 
  
  During this past year Rita Waters delved intensely into shadow work and has delighted in the integration, surprise and power gleaned from meeting her shadows. She has successfully used these processes with her clients and she is anxious to share them with you to facilitate your self-growth and professional expertise.
  3 CEUs
  
  

• Saturday Morning: The Value of Relationship in Emotional Expression [+]
  
  Presented by the Rubenfeld Synergy Training Institute
  
  What does relationship have to do with emotional expression? What does emotional expression have to do with relationship? Come spend the morning identifying and exploring the 3 most important skills in connecting these two core components of an RSM session. Learn how an RSM session is moved forward through the interplay of both together.
  3 GRAD credits
  
  
• Saturday Afternoon Option #1: Moving RSM Forward with Your Words [+]
  
  Heather Skoll
  
  

  

  Still struggling with your “elevator speech”? Get tongue tied when trying to describe RSM to a stranger, a professional, or even your family and friends?
  
  Then this workshop is for you! Join in for some hilarious fun and practice as we wrap our minds and our tongues around presenting the value of ourselves and of RSM.
  
  The workshop format will be based on concepts from Toastmasters International. We will be using one minute “table topics” to explore all kinds of scenarios and every participant will get to practice thinking on their feet. Even if you are experienced at this, please join in to show others how it is done!
  
  We will also be looking at 3 minute “scenarios” as an opportunity to practice your speaking skills in front of an audience. You will also receive feedback from an “evaluator” who will tell you what you did well and give you tips and growth points to improve.
  
  Heather Skoll: A Certified Rubenfeld Synergist from RST 15, and a Teaching Intern graduate of RST 17. A Heather is also a 500hr Kripalu Yoga Teacher. Heather has been a Toastmaster for 2 ½ years and has earned her qualifications as a Competent Communicator and Competent Leader. Heather has also been the President of her Toastmasters Club, Golden Gavel for this past year. Heather feels that the skills that she has learned at Toastmasters have been vital in improving her confidence in speaking in front of an audience, and being able to better handle being caught off guard and making sure that a potential client or referral source knows about the value of RSM by the end of the conversation!
  2 CEUs
  
• Saturday Afternoon Option #2: Deepening Presence: Rubenfeld Synergy, Gestalt & Biodynamic Cranial Therapies [+]
  
  Deborah Merkle
  
  

  

  This experiential workshop will offer a hands-on opportunity to explore listening to each other while integrating the "I-Thou" Relational Gestalt concept, as well as a biodynamic cranial therapeutic approach.
  
  Energy follows awareness. Awareness is the first step to change. Where have we heard this before? It certainly is a Gestalt principle (Paradoxical Law of Change) and one we heard from Ilana at least a hundred times, yes? How can we as Synergists perhaps be more relationally present to our clients by cultivating a deeper awareness of our emotional and energetic self?
  
  In this mini workshop we will briefly discuss the role of presence in healing, enjoy a guided meditation intended to deepen our presence to our energetic self, and then move to the table and explore listening to each other from this place of expanded self awareness.
  
  Deborah Merkle maintains a private practice in Portland, OR. She has trained with various professionals at the Portland Gestalt Training Institute for seven years; and for the past six years has trained in the art of Biodynamic Cranial Therapy, including a six-month mentorship with her teacher in 2010.
  
  Deborah feels the study of Relational Gestalt Therapy has grounded her work as a Synergist, and the integration of Biodynamic Cranial Therapy has greatly enhanced her listening skills and deepened her work with clients. She continues to believe her work is to educate clients to trust in their body/mind – giving them their most precious resource, Self.
  2 CEUs
  

• Sunday Morning: Moving Forward in Your Practice and the World with Value [+]
  
  Theresa Pettersen-Chu
  
  

  

  Each of us embodies RSM with our own distinct style; shaped by our experience and values. In this workshop, using touch and talk, each of us will mine our value, by clearly articulating and anchoring it into our bodies and beings. We will envision touching our clients from our embodied value, sense the messages they receive and the stances they take. Inspired, we will vow to take action, in a specified way, to step forward and touch more lives.
  
  Theresa Pettersen-Chu, RST 14, RSTI faculty holds a deep belief about RSMs ability to connect us to our true nature and inherent value. As a teacher and Synergist, Theresa, supports and guides both students and clients to fuller embodiment of their wondrous and worthy souls.
  3 CEUs