Elizabeth Heren

Open Sesame – Taster Workshop and Course

admin — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:38:06 +0000

A new course for qualified therapists and counsellors beginning October 2012 with Mary Smail and Elizabeth Heren.

‘OPEN SESAME’ – the use of Drama and Movement in Therapy. & ‘OPEN SESAME’ ‘Taster’ workshop Friday May 18th 2012 2-4pm

Venue: Centre for Counselling & Psychotherapy Education, London, W2

Cost: £25.00

More details here: . . . → Read More: Open Sesame – Taster Workshop and Course

A client’s feedback on using drama & movement in psychotherapy

admin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:18:13 +0000

A former client describes a session when Sesame was incorporated/introduced: -

“I shall never forget using Sesame to “make” a tapestry of my life with Elizabeth during our time of working together. Using gentle movements, I worked my loom and wove together the fabric of my life. I remember how therapeutic it felt to stand in the room and make the whooshing movements back and forward. I realise while doing this that it also reminded me of ironing which I actually love. There was peace and rhythm in that movement, which I felt were both lacking in what often felt like an awkward, chaotic life. I remember feeling as if I had been weaving this tapestry for many years and that it was still not complete. When I “looked” at it, I was amazed to see the many different hues. I had forgotten how rich my life could be. There were knots in the thread that jarred my shoulders at times, but they refused to unravel, and so I wove them in. These knots gave my tapestry texture. I realised through this movement that the knots in my life were what created the wonderful terrain I walked upon. They were part of me, and even though they sometimes jarred, life would be bleak and boring without them.
My final session with Elizabeth had us sitting on my tapestry, enjoying it. I have never felt more at peace. I could not believe that I could create something of such beauty and that it came from within me, from my imagination. I had locked much of my imagination away and it was wonderful to be able to open the door. Sesame was the key I needed. There was no need for talking, my body did that for me and I was amazed to find I had another language within me. I had forgotten that too.

(In my final session,) Elizabeth rolled up my tapestry and handed it to me. I will never forget that. We had worked together for six years and this was her final gift to me. The gift of myself. I cried so much and I often still do when I think of what working together meant to me. Sesame gave me a powerful image and a body memory of creating my tapestry. I remember the work each time I iron and it soothes me (funny to think of ironing as soothing, I know!). I often imagine adding more to my tapestry – it now hangs in the walls of my mind, and its beauty reverberates through my body. Sesame has made it somehow eternal and unforgettable. Funny how easy it can be to forget words, but images and movements seem to stay. It was a wonderful experience and one I know I shall revisit in the future.”

Being in the Body – a drama & movement therapy group

admin — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 22:27:38 +0000

BEING IN THE BODY – A Drama & Movement Therapy group incorporating the Sesame approach

Starting: February 23rd, 2011 at CCPE Wednesdays: 3pm – 5pm With: Elizabeth Heren

Would you like to develop your body-mind connection?

Do you want to move and give shape to your creative imagination?

Click here for . . . → Read More: Being in the Body – a drama & movement therapy group

Chiron and Neptune the Transpersonal Teachers

Elizabeth — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 12:28:51 +0000

Astrologer Lynn Hayes writes:

“Chiron and Neptune both operate on the level of the soul; neither planet is very concerned with supporting the ego or the personality. Chiron’s work is to clear the emotional debris of past experiences by awakening dormant emotions and forging new energetic pathways of healing. Neptune’s role is in dissolving the ground upon which we rely so that we will awaken to a higher expression of the Self. I like to call Chiron the “Soul Healer” and Neptune the “Soul Teacher,” so under these two planets we have been inspired/urged/forced to address deeper matters in our lives.
This has been particularly true for those of us in our 50s who have Pluto in the later degrees of Leo. Chiron and Neptune have been opposite Pluto in these charts, instilling a sense of urgency in healing the wounds of the past. I have been able to watch the process of the Chiron/Neptune conjunction in the experiences of my clients. Back in early 2009, when the conjunction first began to align (peaking in April through July when Jupiter was involved as well) clients of all ages were reporting intense experiences of grief and mourning as old wounds resurfaced, seemingly out of nowhere. As Chiron and Neptune continued their dance, the intensity of the emotional clearing began to subside and clients began to report a sense of completion and a desire to begin making external changes in their lives to reflect the internal changes that had transpired.

Much of this healing occurred because the intensity of the inner experiences forced many of us to seek external healing modalities in order to become more completely aligned as physical, spiritual and mental beings. The Chiron/Neptune conjunction has occurred in Aquarius which has a transpersonal effect, helping us to detach from the needs of ego and teaching the wisdom of pure Spirit.

The conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus that has been occurring since the spring of 2010 may have served as an awakening force, helping us to detach somewhat (the Uranus/Aquarius factor) from the emotional story (Chiron) so that we can start to unwind ourselves from the bondage of our emotional and psychic wounds.

In any case, the emotional intensity of the past few years seems to be subsiding for the time being. If you are being personally affected by a Chiron transit, or one of the other challenging planetary gods like Saturn or Pluto, you may still be experiencing some difficulty. But when we do the emotional work of Chiron we are left with a deep wisdom that comes from letting go of the past and facing the future for which we have come to Planet Earth. An amazing story!”

Transpersonal psychotherapy and global events such as the Mexico oil ‘spill’

admin — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 22:09:52 +0000

Scott Brown, writing in OpEd News, on August 31st, highlights the relevance of transpersonal psychotherapy to our understanding of global incidents – in his case the oil spill in Mexico…

“As much as anybody, I want to see the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico be the final wake up call needed to move our society away from oil and other fossil fuels. One likely outcome of the tragedy will be an upwelling of activism toward that end. And yet, if the past 40 years of environmentalism are any indication, the transition will continue to be too little too late, and the collapse of civilization as we know it will continue unabated. Why? Because there is a vitally important piece of the equation that continues to go missing in the culture of environmentalism and in society in general. That piece can be summed up in a single word: psyche (as in psychological). It’s a word you don’t hear much. And yet, in so many ways, it’s the most important word in the world.”