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SoulCollage® Community Update
July 1, 2012

 Getting Started with SoulCollage®

A New Facilitator's Journey

By Catherine Williams 

  

Finding SoulCollage® was a revelation. I knew immediately that this was a path I would take from my first exposure when Facilitator Katherine Ziegler spread the images on the floor. I'm grateful to Katherine for opening the door and helping me get started in this remarkable, enriching practice. She asked me to share my experience as a new practitioner, and I said, "Yes, of course."

  

Yikes!_CWilliams

Then I got a bit overwhelmed with fears and concerns:  

 

 

* Yikes!

* No one will relate.

* My challenges with getting started will seem trivial.

* Everyone else already knows how to have a successful practice

* How do I clarify key themes? What is useful to say and what is not    essential?

 

I've identified seven phases from that first exposure to the beginnings of a fledgling practice. They are not perfectly chronological, and may more accurately represent pieces of a puzzle. Any surprise that there's a card for each one?   

 

1. Recognition-The first jolt of knowing the beauty and power of SoulCollage®: This is for me!  
Recognition_CWilliamsIt's like finding simian ancestors who share your soul's code, or like uncovering a secret library of wisdom. SoulCollage® brings together two significant avenues of endeavor in my life, collage-making and divination, into a powerful new synthesis. I appreciate how, unlike tarot or traditional forms of divination, in SoulCollage® the reader is the source of meaning. There's no book with set interpretations of images. Meaning arises through direct interaction between the card and one's own knowing. My heart, head, and belly all say "Yes!" to this path.

 

2. Exploration - Beginning a period of active engagement and learning     

 

Exploration_C.WilliamsAll I wanted to do was make SoulCollage® cards and do readings. I took many classes from Kathy, learning valuable things, including:

 

      *The basics of card making

      *The power of intuition in the process

      *A card too crowded with images is hard to read

      *The importance of a safe, non-shaming, accepting group container

      *Reading the cards brings up shadow and you may feel vulnerable

      *It's engaging and fun to make cards!

  

 3. Training - Becoming a SoulCollage® Facilitator 

 

I was thrilled to go to the source and to meet Seena Frost, Kylea Taylor, and Audrey Chowdhury. I gained a fuller understanding of SoulCollage® principles and practices. I learned so much and emerged with a deeper appreciation of and connection to the SoulCollage® community.

  

                                        Training_C.Williams

4. Identification - Now that I'm a Facilitator, can I own the word "Soul" in SoulCollage®?

 

 Identification_C.WilliamsAt first I avoided using the word and felt uncomfortable describing  the  reading process, fearing people would dismiss it-and me-as  being too  "woo-woo." So I delved further into what "soul" means  to me. Among  its many connotations, I most resonate with James  Hillman's views. He  says soul is the "imaginative possibility of our  nature" that emerges at  times when our routines, beliefs, and  assumptions about who we are  break down. For Hillman, one's  soul is involved when cooking (in the  metaphorical sense),  deepening, and creativity are happening. I see the  soul in us as  something forged from the full range of experience. I believe it  grows richer and deeper when we face the shadow, experience love  and loss, and open to the rejected elements of ourselves and our  world. I imagine soul as a source of strength, nourishment, creativity and meaning. I believe there is a spark of soul in everything.

 

Opening the discussion of soul to workshop participants has helped me feel more comfortable branding myself as a SoulCollage® Facilitator. Hearing other points of view helps me describe SoulCollage® in terms that different audiences can understand in their own ways. It's not important that participants share my way of understanding soul. The goddess in this card is serene in the midst of roiling water and sky. She is offering something of value, something wholesome. To me, SoulCollage® is that offering. The essence of a SoulCollage® reading is like receiving a gift of wisdom and guidance from one's own soul.

 

5. Limitation - Two steps forward; self-doubt takes me one step back. 

 
Limitation_C.Williams

 As I begin to lead workshops, the obstacles seem large. The inner  critics hold forth, asserting:

 

    *"You're too old to start something new!"

    *"The Bay Area doesn't need one more SoulCollage® Facilitator."

    *"You've failed before and you will fail again."

    *"You lack the charisma, the marketing ability, the whatever ..."  

 

It helps to have cards, yes, for the critic(s) and for such parts as Fear,  Resistance, Self-Sabotage. I interact with these parts, doing active  imagination work, and embodying them in movement to loosen their  grip. I come to feel more balanced, aware of the fear, yet also  strengthened with excitement and resolve.

 

6. Intention - I affirm my intention as if it is already done: "My SoulCollage® practice is thriving!"

 

Intention_C.WilliamsCommitting to develop the practice is committing to my own development. In a SoulCollage® reading, I ask this card, "What do I need to do to manifest my intention?"

 

She responds, "I Am One Who is willing to ride the waves, in smooth or choppy seas. I Am One Who works skillfully to channel wild creative energies." She adds, "Be courageous and visible. Acknowledge your particular gift and hold steady in your truth.

 

  7. Action - Leading workshops, gaining confidence, and learning from practice

 

Action_C.Williams

Taking action to make it happen is a stretch. Recently, I consulted with a wise and successful creative arts teacher who suggested I tune in often to the way I will feel when I have a thriving practice. This has been very worthwhile. The good feelings of happiness and expansiveness move me to want to keep the momentum going, to keep stretching. Her other great suggestions were to have a professional photograph taken for marketing materials (done), create a website (have begun exploring), determine realistically what kind of income I want/need from SoulCollage® workshops (have begun - very challenging), and explore different ways to market myself (begun). I also frequent the SoulCollage® Facilitators website for inspiration and for the abundant resources it offers.

 

I'm working to find a balance between my full-time job and my new SoulCollage® enterprise. If I feel overwhelmed, creating cards and doing readings bring me comfort and centering. I can return to the basic practices. To me, that's the heart and, yes, the soul of it. That's the ongoing revelation.

 

Catherine has a Master's Degree in Drama Therapy and has led workshops for over 20 years combining movement and drama therapy. She is currently completing the Enneagram Teacher Certification Training, and works full-time in affordable housing property management.

  

 

If you have been working with SoulCollage® for a while, are enthusiastic about your own SoulCollage® practice, and want to share SoulCollage® with others, join us for a SoulCollage® Facilitator Training

 

SoulCollage?? Facilitator Training at Temenos
Check out this video of a Facilitator Training at Temenos Retreat Center in Weschester, PA.

 

 

Visit www.soulcollage.com to learn more about SoulCollage® and reading your SoulCollage® Cards. 

Receive a PDF of Seena Frost Answers Questions about SoulCollage®

2012 U.S. Facilitator Trainings

 

 Virginia (Charlottesville) Mili Dillard 

July 19-22, 2012 - Doubletree

 

Ohio (Cincinnati) Mili Dillard
August 16-19, 2012- Hyatt Place Hotel

 

California (Santa Cruz) Seena Frost
September 7-9, 2012 FULL    

 

Massachusetts (Westfield) Anne Marie Bennett - Sept. 7-9  - Genesis Retreat

 

Maryland (Marriottsville) Roberta Rook
Sept. 21-23, 2012
 - Bon Secours Retreat

 

Arizona (Prescott) Kat Kirby, ATR
October 12-14, 2012  

 

North Carolina (Charlotte) Mili Dillard
October 18-21 - Marriott/South Park

 

Wisconsin (near Dubuque, IA)  Audrey Chowdhury, ATR-BC - November 9-11, 2012 - Sinsinawa Mound Center

 

 

Click here to view the 2013 

Training Calendar.

SC Evolving Book 

 SoulCollage® Evolving

By Seena B. Frost

 

SoulCollage® Evolving is a Silver Medal Award Winner of the 2011 Nautilus Book Awards for the Personal Growth/Self-Help/Psychology category and also a Finalist in ForeWord Magazine's 2010 Book of the Year Awards in the Body, Mind, Spirit category

 

SoulCollage® is an accessible collage process with practical applications that has a growing international community. It's easy to learn and it's inexpensive. Best of all, it inspires individual creativity and encourages good communication in families and groups. It is adaptable to many contexts and groups. Anyone can enjoy this multi-leveled, creative process. All you need is a good pair of scissors, pre-cut mat board cards, images you can find anywhere, and glue! When you have made some cards, you can consult them, asking important life questions and letting your cards speak your own intuitive wisdom back to you. SoulCollage® is fun to share with friends and in groups for personal enjoyment and self-discovery or to work with professionally, as a trained SoulCollage® Facilitator. You might want to buy a Card Pack of blank matboard cards too, as you will want to get started making your own deck as soon as you begin reading this book! 

 

$26.95 Order

  

   2012 International Trainings   

 

Azores Islands (Sao Jorge - Manadas Village) Mariabruna Sirabella 

August 30-Sept. 2, 2012 - Saudade Wellness Retreat. Beautiful location and very accessible for Europeans.

  

Canada (Guelph, ONT) Seena Frost 

Sept. 28-30, 2012 - Ignatius Jesuit Centre. Registration has closed for this Training. Contact Barbara regarding the wait list 

  

Australia (Melbourne)  Karen Mann
October 19-21, 2012 

 

Here's an idea!  Take a vacation to Portugal and take the Facilitator Training.

August 30 - September 2, 2012
Saudade Wellness Retreat -Azores Islands

If you have been dreaming about becoming a Facilitator and wish to combine the Training with a stay in one of the most intact and powerful places on earth, the program offered by Mariabruna at the end of August is meant for you. This extended residential Training is designed for those who prefer to take it in a small intimate group and at a slower pace. The natural setting, the attention to details, and the special care devoted to the food enhance this learning experience and the Training becomes a double treat....read more
Facilitating Group CD  

By Seena B. Frost

  

Learn the basics of how to share SoulCollage® with friends, clients, and in other groups by listening to Seena B. Frost, founder of SoulCollage®. Those who have not yet taken the SoulCollage® Facilitator Training can learn the basic guidelines for facilitating SoulCollage® in groups. Listening to this CD and the CD, Introduction to SoulCollage®, 

are pre-requisite for attending the SoulCollage® Facilitator Training. 2010

 

Tracks

1) Introduction

2) The Basic Principles of SoulCollage®

3) The elements of SoulCollage®

4) What Does a Facilitator Do?

5) Frequently Asked Questions

6) What Happens at a SoulCollage® Facilitator Training?

7) Why practice SoulCollage®?