Training with Mark

Train with mark at one of his upcoming expressive therapies courses on the sunshine coast.

Download Full 2020-21 Program

Certificate in Expressive Therapies with Children & Adolescents

Somatic focused, creative counselling for emotional integration

26 NOVEMBER 2020 - 29 MAY 2021
15 days, spread over five 3-day training workshops
This highly experiential course offers training in emotionally expressive methods and Inner-Life Skills that promote emotional integration, self-awareness, self-esteem and resilience in children and adolescents.

Modalities introduced
Emotion-focused Processes, Symbol Work, Bioenergetics, Art as Therapy, Music in Therapy, Expressive Writing, Body Focus, Visualisation, Role-Play, Relaxation and Meditation. There will be a focus on developing trust with young clients, encouraging their self-discovery, introducing emotional processing and integration activities.

Workshop One: 26-28 November 2020
Supporting Emotional Expression: Art, Music and Movement
Workshop Two: 28-30 January 2021
Exploring Family Issues: Processing Strong Emotions
Workshop Three: 25-27 March 2021
Symbol Work, Group Work and Transforming Trauma
Workshop Four: 22-24 April 2021
Balancing Emotional, Cognitive and Somatic Processes
Workshop Five: 27-29 May 2021
Inner-Life Skills for Self-Awareness and Self-Esteem

COURSE DETAILS
Maroochy River, Sunshine Coast QLD
Trainer: Dr Mark Pearson
Each 3-day workshop: $825
Contact Mark on 0419 492 713 or email info@expressivetherapies.com.au to book your place.

Certificate in sandplay & symbol work

With children, adolescents and adults

25 February - 17 July 2021
12 days, spread over four 3-day training workshops
This course provides a thorough training, with extensive practical experience and supervision in the Expressive Therapies approach to Sandplay Therapy and Symbol Work. The method of Sandplay Therapy introduced was developed by Dora Kalff in the late 1950s, based on Dr Margaret Lowenfeld's play therapy, Jung's Analytic Psychology and mindfulness. Sandplay Therapy is now taught and practiced around the world, supported by an international society, and a fast-growing evidence base.

Workshop One: 25-27 February 2021
Foundation Skills One
Workshop Two: 15-17 April 2021
Skills Two: From Theory to Practice
Workshop Three: 20-22 May 2021
Symbolic Expression, Trauma Care and Sandplay Research
Workshop Four: 15-17 July 2021
Transpersonal Contexts, Supervision

COURSE DETAILS
Maroochy River, Sunshine Coast QLD
Trainer: Dr Helen Wilson
Each 3-day workshop: $825
Contact Helen on 0421 129 117 or email turnaround2@bigpond.com to book your place.

Spirituality in Counselling

Transpersonal exploration through Expressive Therapies

12 February 2021
1 day workshop
Help your clients accept, value and communicate their existential questions and spiritual quest. This highly experiential workshop includes practical ways of supporting your spiritual self-exploration as a therapist and our therapeutic work with adult clients. There will be discussion on the relationship between religion and spirituality, and how an individual search for meaning can contribute to wellbeing. In addition to the traditional tools of trade for transpersonal therapists, the Expressive Therapies of using writing and art for self-reflection, symbol work, visualisation, and mindfulness will be explored. Along with some of the core concepts and history of Transpersonal Psychotherapy, there will be some practical ways of introducing meditative practice. The evidence base for including spirituality in counselling will be reviewed.

COURSE DETAILS
Maroochy River, Sunshine Coast QLD
9am - 4:30pm
Trainer: Dr Mark Pearson
1-day workshop: $245
Contact Mark on 0419 492 713 or email info@expressivetherapies.com.au to book your place.

multiple intelligences theory & practice in counselling

Using Expressive Therapies with adult clients

5 March 2021
1 day workshop
Learn to use the multiple intelligences [MI] framework and related expressive therapies activities in your professional work, according to client preferences. Responding to client preferences has been shown to improve therapy outcomes and dramatically reduce drop out.

This training provides
An overview of MI theory and its relevance to counselling, familiarity with the scale for assessing counsellors' and clients' preferred intelligences, practical counselling activities that utilise each of the intelligences and a framework to consider a client's intelligence profile in planning treatment.

Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences – first published in 1983 - delineates 8 [possibly 9] distinct intelligences, each one representing a different way that clients can communicate and learn. Expressive Therapies activities related to the original seven intelligences will be used in this program. These activities were designed by the trainer and colleagues, and have been tested and published.

navigating resilience pathways

Using Expressive Therapies to build client strengths

7 May 2021
1 day workshop
The APA identifies ten basic pathways to build resilience. It is notable that all these pathways could be navigated more effectively with counselling support, and equate to some of the core aims and activities of strengths-based counsellors. This workshop presents the ways counsellors act as guides, models, teachers, collaborative strategists; and provide a caring therapeutic relationship from which clients' resilience levels are bolstered.

Five central Expressive Therapies activities for counsellors to build client awareness of strengths and resilience will be introduced. Finding the most effective activities to suit each client is at the heart of pluralistic practice, and in conjunction with finding clients' multiple intelligences strengths, can lead to enhanced resilience in the face of life's challenges.

The five therapeutic activities explored in this program include:
1. Enhancing therapeutic connections through use of image and symbols
2. Supporting timeline life reviews
3. Helping clients find their natural intelligence strengths
4. Recognising, exploring and applying strengths
5. Gaining support through creative arts resources

self-care for therapists

Expressive Therapies and mindfulness approaches

8 May 2021
1 day workshop
This program reviews the need for self-care to maintain optimal clinical effectiveness and avoid compassion fatigue and burnout. Topics covered will include: how to recognise signs of impending burn-out, and individual and organisational actions to reduce the risks. A combination of organisational, mindfulness-based and creative arts responses to self-care will be explored, including increasing workload flexibility, simple and quick mindfulness time-out activities, use of reflective self-compassion journaling, visual arts, relaxation techniques and ways to increase time with nature.

expressive therapies in cognitive behavioural approaches

Creative arts approaches to link awareness of sensations, emotions, thoughts and actions

24 September 2021
1 day workshop
In this one-day experiential professional development workshop you will learn multiple creative arts-based and mindfulness ways to support clients' self-awareness and discover how their sensations, emotions, thoughts and behaviours are linked. The focus will be on Expressive Therapies additions to the therapist's toolkit, including therapeutic writing, use of art, use of miniatures and somatic focus. The multiple ways ET can support integrative CBT approaches will be discussed.

A number of worksheets created by the directors of ETA will be provided for: functional analysis, articulation of beliefs, problem solving and goal-setting. Relaxation activities as supports for anger management wil be explored.

expressive therapies with troubled & traumatised young clients

Hands-on experience, theory and research

25 September 2021
1 day workshop
A practical workshop to introduce the methods and frameworks of Expressive Therapies, and provide hands-on experience, theory, some research and case stories of counselling distressed and traumatised young clients. There will be a focus on the care needed in supporting those with long-term emotional problems or who are affected by trauma, prolonged duress stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorders.

Some topics covered: trauma-informed care, expressive activities for young clients; use of therapeutic writing; use of miniatures [Symbol Work]; role-play for a stronger sense of self, use of relaxation; matching treatment to types of trauma victims; the evidence base for using client-centred, activities-based approaches.

introduction to symbol work

Catalysts for Therapeutic Conversations

12 November 2021
1 day workshop
A practical workshop using projective techniques developed in Australia over the last thirty years by mark and Helen, the founders of Expressive Therapies Australia. Learn to use a collection of miniatures to support clients to open up, symbolise their inner world, talk about self and resolve issues. Symbols can be used to increase communication, activate creativity, clarify cognition, process emotions and enhance problem-solving. In this innovative program you will gain confidence in using miniatures with art, with movement, with life narratives, with emotion-focussed processes, and with somatic awareness.

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