Workshops
Introduction
Popular wisdom
has it that boarding schools breed strength of character, self-confidence
and the qualities of leadership. And yet there are other effects
which many ex-boarders are able to recognise: the pain they experienced,
the price they may have paid, and the shame they may still feel
for apparently failing, despite their ‘privileged’ start.
In the security
of these institutions many of us learned to do without our parents,
but also to disown our fears and our needs. While excellence
was pursued, many were bullied or intimidated; while individuality
was encouraged, hierarchical structures produced conformists
or rebels, and sometimes casualties. While physical, intellectual
and religious values were professed, we learned to repress our
feelings and fear our sexuality, thereby loosing a sense of
being whole.
Psychologically
speaking, we may have learned to internalise the exhortation
to build resilient and elite character, and act out our lives
either in compliance or rebellion to that call. And yet there
may be much more to our experience than that which we have been
able to include in our daily lives. For example, we were taught,
and have learned well, not to acknowledge our pain - the pain
inherited from our families, of enforced separation, of humiliation
and the fear of failure.
We needed
to survive; and as adults we may, unwittingly, still be driven
by that need.
Now we may
find ourselves experiencing problems in our lives - with our
emotions, our relationships, our careers - which could have
their roots in our schooldays. These difficulties could offer
an invitation to look back, to tell our story, and perhaps to
redeem something from our childhood.
Methodology
In these workshops
we will be drawing on the experiences and perceptions of the group
as our prime source of material, in order to build a context for
understanding the past and choosing the future. We use a variety
of methods, including meditative, gestalt and cognitive techniques,
but participants are not required to go further than they wish.
We aim not only to point to the possibility of changing behaviour
patterns, but also to the value of repression and of survival
mechanisms.
Scope
This programme is open to those who want to re-examine their experience of boarding school, consider the effects on their lives, and look for ways of healing the wounds. The workshops are particularly suited to those who have never fully shared their experiences, as well as to those who feel they may not have yet fully lived their true potential, because they are stuck in rebellion, anger or distress.
No previous workshop experience is necessary. There is no age limit.
For workshop dates and times, to downoad a brouchure, or to apply for a workshop please click here
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