This is the second workshop in a series of three events: Silence as Primer, Kindness as Primer, Play as Primer.
‘Kindness as Primer’ is an offering to pay attention to being kind and receiving kindness, eliciting a genuine engagement with shared meaning and divergent possibilities. Drawing on our range of experiences of what it means to practise kindness and receive kindness, we can begin to reflect on the restorative potential of kindness within ourselves and in interaction with others.
Working with the group’s synergies, collaborate in defining a Manifesto for Kindness, which can be engaged in our practice with individuals and groups, and – importantly – can serve as a catalyst for self-compassion, taking stock of our being, becoming and potential.
Learning Objective Participants Can Expect From This Event
- Expect an interactive circle, where responses to prompts are shared and valued; bringing together subjective and collective understandings of kindness, so that you may nurture and engage this value intentionally and in meaningful ways in the therapeutic encounter.
- By identifying different subtleties, small gestures, responsibility, and more, we can re/present our ideas around kindness and ‘being kind’, developing a manifesto to encourage collective action towards a gentler way of becoming in togetherness.
- Participating in a three-part experiential gathering exercise, allow yourself to accept the good that comes from reflecting on kind actions, co-creating clarity and recognition within the group, drawing on personal/individual definitions and expectations for a kindness-first approach towards ourselves and others, in different spheres.
Who is This Workshop Appropriate For?
- Anyone hoping to engage in reflection and collective meaning-making; therapists, coaches and socially-engaged practitioners.
How May This Workshop Impact Your Practice?
- This intentional appreciation of kindness can offer a generative approach to the therapy space and relationship, eliciting meaningful connection with past experiences, their restorative role, and their potential to ignite a gentler interaction with a demanding world.
Course Content
Presenter
Dr Francesca Bernardi (PhD, FRSA, MA, QTS), is a creative facilitator and coach, community artist, writer and advocate. She trained in Art and Design education and therapy and has worked as a teacher and artist-in-residence in schools, alternative provision and further education. She most consistently engages in multi-disciplinary research, setting up creative environments for critical participatory work with marginalised communities. Francesca has published international research on arts-informed methodologies, autism, childhood and children’s rights; is founding chair of the Antonio Gramsci Society UK, international board member of the Disability Without Abuse Project (Los Angeles), Councillor and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and Associate Member of CATA (Canadian Art Therapy Association). Francesca is a Visiting Lecturer in Childhood Studies and Research Methods at the Carnegie School of Education (Leeds Beckett University) and Arts Therapies at the University of Roehampton, Francesca is also a translator (Queen’s University Belfast; Routledge).
