I spent eight years working on a therapeutic wing in a high security prison. I worked as a group therapist, individual therapist, manager and supervisor and subsequently ran reflective practice sessions for multi-disciplinary teams and senior staff. Having always been drawn to prison work, my personal research and motivation was to discover why it was that people are capable of doing really bad things. I wondered what it was within psychotherapy theory that might help me to understand and work with extremes in human behavior. I was also drawn to group work and the opportunity to run groups with a five-year duration appealed.
I came to realize that prison is a microcosm of society and that what happens in there also happens out here. The issues that prison raises are issues for all of us and instead of shutting these problems away we would do well to consider them for our own liberation as well as for the good of the wider society in which we live.
It would give me great pleasure to share with you my top ten take aways as a standalone workshop which for some may prompt deeper exploration into the dilemmas, pain and joy about what it means to be a human being in this challenging and wonderful world.
Course Content
Presenter
Geoff is a Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst, with nearly thirty years experience as a psychotherapist and trainer. This experience includes twenty years of private practice and and eight years working in a high security prison. Since moving to the South Coast, he has maintained clinical supervision practice and has become one of the partners of the Link Centre where he is also a core tutor.
He is an experienced workshop presenter and interested in mythology, archetypes and symbolism. He is also an Interfaith minister with a strong interest in ancient wisdoms and the interplay between science and spirituality.
As a seasoned mental health practitioner, he is committed to ensuring that we deal urgently with the challenges of the 21st century. For psychotherapy this includes working with many new and pressing challenges, as well as embracing and developing anti-oppressive practice. He also believes that peace and happiness are our essential nature, and that our healing involves loving ourselves well enough to be able to love others, with whom we are all ultimately connected – eve though it doesn’t always feel that way.
