Saturday, February 19, 2005

Ohio Workshop on Sex and the Sacred, Feb 19.

I thank Ohio Psychologists for their warm and enthusiastic response to my workshop completed today, Feb. 19. This was the 3 hour workshop on Sex and the Sacred at the Spirituality and Psychology conference for Ohio Psychologists, Deer Lake Resort, Feb. 18-19. (Kentucky is very different and does not even offer certification or CE in my speciality of organizational psychology.)

It was an honor for me to be invited to present at an OPA event as this state psychological association has a high professional reputation for leadership. Several were in my workshop who had attended my workshop: Conflict Management: A New, Creative and Effective Approach, at OPA in Columbus this past October. See www.winwinfinesse.com We had 17 present, my memory is about 5 men and 12 women.

Aside from the content, I chose also to demonstrate the method we have developed over some 15 years here in Central Kentucky in the Spiritual Growth Network, leading our retreats. This powerful method accomplishes two diverse outcomes: A. Develops authenticity, and B. Develops Community. Four step path, which I demonstrated twice in 3 hours. Learning this method provides a way for them to lead their own groups for the same ends.

I set this "Sex and the Sacred" topic as a challenge for myself, because our society is really messed up on these basic needs with the churches making the situation worst, because no one has attempted it in workshop style for psychologists and I felt not only called to do it but that I had the experience to do it. The entire workshop was fun and exciting for me to do and I think also for the group. We laughed a lot. I am pleased at the positive response. I expected more critical remarks from a group of psychologists and got none. They (you, if you are reading this) were a warm and positive group.

I demonstrated, experientially, how to reframe sexuality so we can accept it as holy and sacred good in itself, (not simply for making babies), that is, how to combine these two most basic mysteries of life, Sex and God, for which we no longer have any adequate metaphors. Our Sexuality calls us out of ourselves into relationship. The ultimate relationship is with God, who is loving relatedness. I suggested new metaphors that could bring the experience of one’s sexuality into an appreciation also of the sacredness of that eroticism of our nature. Nice challenge for a workshop leader, and I will look forward to their written comments on the evaluation form. I believe that we did that together. That is, I figured out a way to help the participants do that for themselves. No small task for 3 hours. Time went fast. I will look forward to reading the comments, and you can leave any there you wish.

Enjoy the other readings here and in the other blogs. My other blogs dealing with these issues , accessed from the same Writing as a Summons page, are Healthy Spirituality, Love's Poetry, Stories of God, Whence the Wind, and the Human Shadow.
Namaste, to my new Ohio friends.
Paschal Baute

P.S. I also learned from Katie Crabtree that the "Blogging 101 for Psychologists" will go to press next week, their edited edition, and be published March 15 in the OPA Review. Since OPA is a highly respected organization, this will be nice recognition.

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