|
The emotional-mental state of openness is a state that we are
born with, and is a state that we need to reconnect with,
just as we may need to discover and reclaim any of our
natural emotions and drives which at times seem difficult
to locate within ourselves --- our pain, our anger, our love,
our sensuality and sexuality, our empathy.
The state of openness is what we believe is sought through
the various practices of meditation dating back to ancient cultures.
Openness is an inner state with a high degree of mindful presence
and awareness, a doorway to discovering more of yourself,
and to living with more aliveness and depth of feeling,
including a peaceful feeling.
The content of this Emotional Education workshop includes:
- Subtle feelings--- tenderness, wonder and fascination, love, contentment, serenity.
- Primal, survival-based emotions of fear, anger, disgust, surprise, and distress.
- Socially and environmentally shaped emotions which plague us--- shame and fear.
- Biologically based need for bonding and emotional closeness.
- The importance of emotional activation in shaping the total experience and in influencing the behavior of any person, including oneself.
In this workshop, we will utilize a variety of process exercises and frequent discussions, to help each of us re-discover our infant's heritage of openness, to see if we can connect any new discoveries with our adult development, experience and learning.
Michael Morrison and Ora Yemini-Morrison are licensed psychotherapists in private practice who have done collaborative work for over 20 years in conducting groups and in leading seminars & workshops on understanding the dynamics of human emotions and the intricacies of human experience.
Ora received her B.S.W. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Michael from Williams College in Massachusetts. They both earned their Masters degree at Carleton School of Social Work in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital city of Canada, and received further training in gestalt and expressive therapies, as well as methods derived from Voice Dialogue, interpersonal, object relations, and analytic theorists.
Their workshops have always placed value on experiential processes that allow participants to feel and name their deeper primary feelings and sense perceptions. Additionally, they design processes for dialogue since dialogue is a fundamental way that humans make contact. Dialogical process enables workshop participants to notice their reactions and responses in these interpersonal situations, and to experience the power of mirroring and validation.
Michael and Ora work in group settings with the understanding that establishing safety within the group is a prime element that allows personal openness to emerge naturally. | 
Emotional Education Workshops
