In a contemplative setting we will create a space to allow the self-healing capacities of the heart, soul and spirit to emerge through meditation and dream-work. We will also explore and present the concept of exquisite empathy (Harrison, 2009), a form of empathic engagement that can be both replenishing and healing for those who take care of others. The self-knowledge and self-awareness that come through meditation and dream-work facilitate self-care and enable a more sensitively attuned and heartfelt connection with others. Mindfulness meditation helps to quiet the mind, open the heart and experience the ground of being. This is a discipline of the spirit. There will be instruction in the method of mindfulness meditation and opportunity for sitting.
Dream work helps us to understand ourselves, our history and our challenges, more fully. We will explore three new approaches to dreams; Dreamtending, Embodied Imagination, and The Open Window psychospiritual approach. These newer approaches help us to learn from the embodied wisdom of the images themselves, and to connect our personal psyche with the ground of being, opening us to deeper sources of wisdom and perspective. There will be instruction in all three methods and an opportunity to work on one's own and others' dreams.
Radhule Weininger, MD, PhD, trained as a physician in West Germany and as a clinical psychologist in the United States. She has worked as a psychotherapist in private practice in Santa Barbara for the past 15 years. Since 1981 she has been studying Buddhist mindfulness-meditation both as a personal practice and as a tool for healing. She has been exploring how dream-work and mindfulness meditation can work in a complementary way in the therapeutic process. She offers ongoing weekly meditation and dream groups.
Michael Kearney, MD, has 30 years experience as a physician in end of life care for. He trained and worked at St Christopher's Hospice in London, and subsequently worked for many years as Medical Director of Our Lady's Hospice in Dublin. His particular interest is in psychological and existential aspects of end-of-life care and the therapeutic use of oneself in clinical practice, and he has published two books, which explore these issues. He lives in Santa Barbara, California where he works as Medical Director of the Palliative Care Service at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and Associate Medical Director at Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care.
