The handouts used for this presentation are available here.

November 4, 2011, 9:30am-11am; Tucson, AZ.  Part of Sierra Tucson's "Carrying the Message" Retreat and Conference.  Register with Sierra Tucson.

In this workshop we will explore the powerful archetype of Initiation as it relates to recovery from trauma and addictions.  Traditionally initiation involves three stages: severance, an event or events, usually traumatic, which force the journeyer to set off on the transformational path; transformation, where the journeyer meets allies and enemies, and must face and overcome fears, trials, and challenges; and reincorporation, where the journeyer returns to the world as a transformed person with gifts to offer and a message to bear.  In this workshop we will draw on the wisdom of the ancients and the science of the moderns to explore the reincorporation stage, an ongoing experience in recovery where we continuously transmute our Sacred Wounds into Sacred Medicine, carrying into the world those unique gifts our personal journeys empower us to give.   

An MP3 of this talk will be posted shortly.

August 25, 2011, 9am-12pm; Santa Fe, NM.  Part of the Southwestern College "Interpersonal Neurobiology: Integrating Body, Mind, and Spirit" Transformation and Healing Conference.  CEU's available for licensed counselors. Register with Southwestern College,  877-471-5756.

The avoidance of feeling shame motivates and maintains a variety of addictive and trauma-derived patterns of behavior.  We will explore the spiritual, psychological, and neurobiological dimensions of the experience of shame, and practice relational mindfulness-based approaches that facilitate skillful encounter with this misunderstood emotion, and allow for a deeper experience of self-acceptance, personal integration, and physiological repair.       

This class has been completed and will likely be offered again in 2012/2013.

April 29 - May 1, 2011, Southwestern College, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Friday, April 29, 6pm-9pm, Saturday and Sunday, April 30 - May 1, 9am-5pm. $429. Appropriate for: counselors and counselors-in-training.  20 CEU's available through Southwestern College.

The healing instinct underneath sex addiction could be said to be, “To heal, I must connect,” and “My body will liberate me from the pain.”  This workshop follows the lead of these two deep instincts in the addict, to share an approach to treatment in which the aim is to transform the way in which sex addicts connect to others and the way in which they relate to their bodies.  We will focus especially on the interpersonal neurobiology of sex addiction, both in active addiction and in healing. Particular areas explored include:

• Attachment wounding creating the addict as a one-person psychological system
• Sexuality as a means of affect regulation and self-state manipulation
• “Crosswiring” of sexual impulses and other stimuli; sexual arousal templates
• Improving the capacity to attach; making others real to the addict
• Moving from “body-as-object” to be used, to “body-as-subject” to be known
  

This group ended in February 2011, exactly one Mars cycle after it began in February 2009.  It was a powerful way to navigate our way through the Cardinal Cross and into the Pluto/Uranus squares. Thank you to all who participated.  

Ongoing group currently running 2009-2011.  1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month, 7:00-8:30pm.  Drop-in group, no pre-registration required; $15 per session.  Appropriate for intermediate astrology students.  Taught by Atma Devi, Depth Astrologer, in the lineage of Jeffrey Wolf Green, and Jason Holley.

This drop-in class is intended for people who wish to deepen their understanding of soul-centered astrology and in particular the layers of meaning when encountering each planet in the chart.  The two classes each month will focus on a specific planet, its meaning and function in the chart, including nature in the signs, houses, and aspects.  We will work with the charts of those present and well-known charts to experience the material most directly. 

This workshop was held Sunday, September 19, 2010.  We primarily covered the 8 Phases in an intensive and experiential way.  A follow-up workshop is planned for November/December 2010 on Aspects, and the Sacred Geometry of the Chart.  

Sunday, September 19, 2010,10am-5pm, Santa Fe. $60. Appropriate for beginning and intermediate astrology students.  Held in the group room of my office in Santa Fe, NM.  Co-teaching with Atma Devi.  Please contact me to register.

Plants, animals, human beings, relationships, economic markets, the seasons -- all things follow their own rhythms and cycles, with clear stages, pulses, and even reversals along the way.

Astrology is the study of these cycles and rhythms. The aspects and phases -- words like conjunction, square, crescent, first quarter -- are part of our rich celestial heritage to describe cycles. They allow us to see how every planet in the chart relates to every other planet.

In this workshop, we will catch and ride the waves of relationship
between planets in our charts, in order to know and directly experience the eight phases and several of the major aspects. Participants will complete the workshop empowered with a basic understanding of astrological cycles enabling one to get at least a basic understanding of how any two planets are related in the chart.

This discussion was held June 4, 2010; DVD's of the talk are available from Quimby Library at Southwestern College.  A written version is available here.  

June 4, 2010, 6-8pm, Southwestern College, Santa Fe.  Talk is free but space is limited so reservation is required -- call 505-471-5756 to reserve a seat.

In this encounter we will revisit a special moment in 1976, when the sun and moon conjoined at the highest point in the sky; the center of the Milky Way galaxy arose in the east; and Southwestern College, then known as Quimby College, was spoken into form.

Astrological traditions invite us to discover, “as above, so below.”  The old cultures found that the nighttime sky is a mirror of consciousness, a fractal expression of the field of being, of which we are all also fractal expressions.  The horoscope, a “view of the hour” of birth, shows us the attractor patterns at play in consciousness at the moment a person or entity takes form.

This night we will inquire into the attractor patterns represented in the birthchart of Southwestern College .  It is a fascinating chart revealing an uncommon level of coherence and concentration.  We will explore patterns of karma, destiny, potentiality, and history, including "sky-tracking" significant moments in the College’s development the past 34 years.  We will also explore the astrological connections between the College chart and the charts of the USA , the first use of atomic weapons, and the significant astrological aspects occurring across the next few years. 

This discussion was held October 30, 2009; MP3's of key segments of the talk are available here.

Friday, October 30, 2009, 6-8pm; Southwestern College, Santa Fe.  Free and Open to the Public.

You are invited to a free lecture/discussion with Jason Holley, College faculty and long-time astrologer, on Friday, October 30, 6-8pm, at the College.

Many cultures, old and new, have remarked on the emergence of a new awareness and consciousness in humanity during our times, known variously as the Great Turning, the Aquarian Age, the Quantum Shift.  The outer planets -- known to astrologers as "ambassadors of the galaxy" to our solar system -- are currently entering uncommon alignments that mirror these observations.

These aspects pack a strong punch; taken together, they describe a 'stressful' yet evolutionary time.  Learning about them is helpful because they provide us with information about the particular attractor patterns in consciousness that are currently active, and how they are relating to one another.  This information can empower us to consciously participate in these events through collaboration and co-creation, rather than resisting or becoming identified with any particular archetype/attractor pattern.

We will look at how these aspect patterns show up collectively and personally.  We may also spend a few moments outside looking at the nighttime sky, if it is warm and clear enough, to see some of what is happening with our own eyes.

This workshop has been completed.  If you are interested, you may download a PDF of a portion of the presentation materials, which describe the characteristics of the archetypes, or attractor patterns, each of the outer planets represents. 

August 27. 2009, 2pm-5pm; Santa Fe, NM.  Part of the Southwestern College "Consciousness in The Aquarian Age" Transformation and Healing Conference.  CEU's available for licensed counselors. Register with Southwestern College,  877-471-5756.

This class has been completed.   

Friday 3/6/09, 6-9pm; Saturday-Sunday, 3/7/09-3/8/09, 9am-5:30pm; Southwestern College, Santa Fe, New Mexico; $360.  Appropriate for: counselors and counselors-in-training.  20 CEU's available through Southwestern College.  Taught with Kate Latimer, LMHC.

Sexual trauma can range from overt events such as rape and sexual abuse, to more covert experiences of family and cultural rules about sex.  The responses to sexual trauma are equally diverse, including body shame, PTSD, sex addiction, intimacy avoidance, and dissociation, among others.  In this course, we will explore the symptoms and corresponding diagnoses as well as treatment approaches for healing sexual trauma and its effects.  We will especially focus on the complexity and healing potential of the intersubjective field between therapist and client when sexual trauma presents in therapy.  The course will include didactic and experiential components.  To register, contact Southwestern College directly.

This talk was held in February 2009.  Handout materials will be uploaded shortly.  

Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 7-9pm; Southwestern College, Santa Fe. Free and Open to the Public.  $20 for 2 CEU's for licensed counselors in New Mexico through Southwestern College.  Co-presenter: Kate Latimer, LMHC.  No pre-registration required.

What would it be like to experience sex from the inside out, in a conscious and loving way?  What if sex were not defined in terms of illness, pathology, and trauma?  How have cultural myths about sexuality affected your personal sexual mythology?  Therapists working with sexually traumatized clients are realizing that in addition to trauma resolution and recovery, clients need our help in imagining and envisioning new possibilities for love and sex.  This lecture will explore a variety of emerging perspectives and concepts that expand our understanding of what healthy sexuality can be.  No preregistration required.