A slow and visceral descent into the darkness, or shadow realm, is characteristic of the middle phase of the dark night. During this time, it feels as if everything falls apart, including the self, and all of its ideas and beliefs. Undigested pain and trauma take centre stage, and there is a touching into all the parts of the self that have previously been neglected, suppressed or abandoned. Gradually, there is a sense that a more real self is emerging, if only fleetingly. There is a call to attend to the pain in new ways, and the beginnings of a radically different relationship with oneself.
In this workshop, the third of four, we will explore the dark night phenomenon more fully, and how the experience of pain and trauma during this phase is different from other times in life. We will discuss how to support clients to navigate this phase, and how to hold both the dissolving of the “old” self and the tentative emergence of the real, or more authentic, self. We will explore what it takes to become a safe haven for clients who are undergoing a dark night.
Learning Objective Participants Can Expect From This Event
- Participants will explore the nature of the dark night of the soul and its various phases.
- Participants will learn how to differentiate the dark night of the soul/spiritual emergency from depression and anxiety.
- Participants will explore how to support clients who are going through a dark night of the soul, and how their practice may be challenged in this process.
Who is This Workshop Appropriate For?
- All therapists, counsellors, coaches and spiritual directors.
How May This Workshop Impact Your Practice?
- This workshop will help participants to recognise when clients are going through the dark night of the soul.
- Participants will have a greater awareness of and ability to respond to clients who are navigating this terrain.
- Participants will also be supported to reflect on their own experiences.
Course Content
Presenter
Fiona Robertson is the author of The Dark Night of the Soul: A Journey from Absence to Presence. She is also a facilitator of embodied inquiry, and supports people (many of whom are going through a dark night) to reconnect with and deepen into their real selves. Her work encompasses body, psyche and soul, and is radically inclusive of all aspects of the self.
She has an MA in Philosophy (2021) and is an occasional poet.
