The DCPA Center for Learning & Professional Development
with
Marilee Aronson, Psy.D.
present
You are the Instrument: The Role of Conscious Travel in Deepening Awareness of Self, Other, and the Collective
Friday, September 30, 2016 - 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Coffee & Check-in begins at 9:30 AM
6 Diversity CE credits for psychologists
6 NASW approved CE contact hours offered to social workers
Educational level: Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced
NARRATIVE:
Flooded by the noise and demands of everyday life, and attuned to that experience in her clients and students, Marilee Aronson embarked upon an Off the Grid adventure in September of 2012. Seeking to immerse herself in other ways of being in the world, she spent 10 months primarily in Africa and India. In this workshop, Marilee will share highlights from her journey through image, sound, video and story. She will describe cultural themes spanning her time in Africa and India, and explore with participants how these themes relate to aspects of life in the United States. While this presentation parallels many themes in the diversity and worldview literature, it explores them in embodied and accessible ways -- since true cultural competence often comes more from an experience of the heart than of the mind. This presentation also describes the power of extended and immersive travel to hone ourselves as therapeutic instruments and to evolve personally, professionally and collectively.
GOALS:
This workshop will:
* Highlight aspects of a personal Off the Grid experience—through images, sounds, stories and reflections—that reveal the impact of conscious travel on self-awareness, other-understanding and a sense of global interconnectedness.
* Provide participants with an embodied understanding of cultural differences mirroring common themes in diversity-related psychology literature.
* Foster a sense of connection with people who look and live differently.
* Increase awareness of cultural values and assumptions underlying aspects of life in the US and insight into the relativity of cultural experience.
* Demonstrate how genuine cultural understanding and attunement enhance our clinical work and deepen interpersonal relationships.
OBJECTIVES:
* Participants will explore the concept of conscious travel and identify at least 3 of its potential benefits.
* Participants will be able to identify different cultural orientations to self, family, health, nature, elders, time and spirituality in several African communities.
* Participants will be able to identify different cultural orientations to self, other, nature, elders, gender, schooling and spirituality in several Indian communities.
* Participants will be able to compare and contrast cultural realities, values and assumptions in the US, Africa and India along at least 5 dimensions.
* Participants will have the opportunity to discuss in small and large groups how these differences--and how our often ingrained cultural assumptions--impact therapeutic and other interpersonal interactions.
* Participants will specifically examine how increased self-awareness and cultural understanding enhance empathic resonance and clinical effectiveness.
About the Presenter:
Marilee Aronson is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with a degree specialization in Multicultural Clinical Psychology. Her lifelong interest in diversity has led her to work in a variety of clinical and consultative capacities, both domestically and abroad, that have deeply acquainted her with human reactions to difference. She has explored our country’s unique relationship with diversity, sought experiences as a minority both domestically and overseas, and examined the types of interactions that best facilitate cross-cultural understanding.
As a psychodynamically-oriented clinician, Marilee sees the therapist and the therapeutic relationship as the primary instruments of healing. As a spiritually-oriented therapist, she embraces the transformative power of genuine encounters with difference—whether within the therapy room or traveling miles away from home. As an avid adventurer, she advocates conscious travel: extended, immersive travel approached with a curious mind, an open heart, a willing body and an expansive spirit. Marilee has come to believe that conscious travel not only promotes personal and professional growth, but also provides a powerful opportunity to reawaken our collective sense of aliveness, meaning and purpose.
"The District of Columbia Psychological Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The District of Columbia Psychological Association maintains responsibility for this program and its content."
There is no corporate support/payment for this workshop.
DCPA Event Cancellation Policy
The DC Psychological Association is unable to provide refunds for events. However, we do allow up to one year to make up a CE session that may have been missed.
