A Mindful Compass for the Family Therapist, November 2014With Andrea Schara, LCSWA November 15, 2014
Courtyard by Marriott – Santa Rosa, California 9:00am- 4:45pm “It takes time and courage to understand the tricks of the emotional system and to function as a more separate and solid self.” Andrea Schara, as a student of Dr. Murray Bowen and later as faculty at the Georgetown Family Center, has developed a unique understanding and approach to individuals and families. She specializes in coaching people to observe the relationship system and to think strategically as to one’s part in the system. By deeply understanding the push and pull of relationships it is possible to become neutral to the emotional polarizations of the system and even playful in defining a self. Ms.Schara has recently published Your Mindful Compass: Breakthrough Strategies For Navigating Life/Work Relationships in Any Social Jungle, used by consultants as a way to introduce family systems ideas. The four points of the mindful compass remind one that knowledge of the emotional system is the basis for connecting with others, defining oneself, and sustaining one’s own direction when the system threatens and opposes a shift to a higher level of differentiation. In this meeting, through lecture and discussion Andrea will present the mindful compass and explore how it clarifies the emotional reactions that are activated whenever one makes a decision. She will discuss the patterns and processes of the family system in the context of the social sciences where there is a growing awareness of the importance of interactions, and clarify the basic nature of relationship patterns often unrecognized in our human lives, by observing them in other species. And finally, Ms. Schara will show in a presentation with video, how in a family with significant emotional illness, separating a self out of the the family patterns makes a significant positive difference for the patient and the family. Andrea Schara is a on the faculty of Navigating Systems in Washington, DC, and is a founding board member of the Murray Bowen Archives Project. She coaches families with emotional illness using Bowen theory and neurofeedback. You can read her blog at http://yourmindfulcompass.com. Two DVDs of this meeting–an AM and PM session are available for purchase. Request A Mindful Compass for Family Psychotherapy and the Therapist’s Own Family. |
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