We can help to rekindle the foundational human need for belonging.
Psychotherapists know a great deal about making healing connections. We know about the necessity of creating a safe environment where feelings are explored and our needs of belonging are met. It's time we set out to scale this knowing — to take it to another level.
As traditional communities erode, we are less likely to know our neighbors. Instead, we are more likely to circle around common worldviews, whether religious, conservative, liberal, or progressive. These divisions lead to polarization and our current culture wars. We risk missing the experiences of belonging essential to developing the generational attention needed to face threats like collapsing community-mindedness, climate change, economic and social injustice, and the disparity in wealth between rich and poor.
This crisis of belonging is an invitation for those of us with psychological training to gather together in creative ways to learn how to foster the experience of psychological belonging. While this does not replace the original belonging experienced in a family, kinship group, or community, it does support us in building the new connections needed between disparate identities in every group and between groups.
In this workshop, we will examine the current cultural wars within our communities and nation that have resulted from the deterioration of traditional forms of group belonging. We will imagine the ways psychological practitioners can extend themselves toward their communities. The overall goal is to support our communities in cultivating the leadership capacities needed to support the emerging experience of psychological belonging, helping to rekindle this foundational human need. This work begins in our professional groups, but readily extends outward into any community group we choose.
WORKSHOP HELD IN COLLABORATION WITH onlineevents.co.uk, The Voice of the Practitioner, an online platform offering CPD to counselors and psychotherapists from the comfort of home.
Peter T. Dunlap, PhD, is a clinical and political psychologist focused on helping psychologically minded citizens to identify and explore their unique leadership capacities and to develop the public emotional intelligence called for by our time. His group trainings support participants to cultivate this self-awareness and to learn how to foster the fellowship needed for group and community development. Peter is the author of Awakening Our Faith in the Future: The Advent of Psychological Liberalism (Routledge, 2008) as well as many other journal articles, book chapters, blog posts, and an occasional rant on one list server or another.
How can I attend?
To reserve a place in the workshop, please register through Eventbrite using this link.
How can I get a recording?
This 2-hour workshop will be recorded, and you can use the ticket function to pre-purchase the recording before the event. This will be useful for colleagues who are not able to attend the event live and also for those who attend the event live and want to watch again.
Who is this workshop for? Psychotherapists, community leaders and activists, mediators, educators, organizational development consultants, coaches and other psychologically minded citizens interested in forming work groups that focus simultaneously on personal, group, and community development.
Zoom details This workshop will be hosted on the Zoom meeting platform, where we will use our cameras and microphones to interact with each other as a group.
Fee To support practitioners in this time of extraordinary circumstances we are offering access to this group for a self-select fee. The self-select fee is a radical inclusion policy to open learning for all colleagues. The guide price for this event is £20.00 (~$28 USD), however, we appreciate that income varies greatly in different locations and circumstances. Please contribute what you can to help us maintain inclusive professional training.