IAPOP Conference, Global and Community Health, Day 2

This creative action research project explores the dreaming process of suicide to find the wisdom behind it.

Culturally suicide is surrounded by silence, is seen as the individual’s problem, leaves behind many difficult and painful feelings in family members, friends and colleagues and is also seen as being very final. However starting from Kerri’s personal experience of her brother Simon’s death, we have found that suicide is a collective issue and an ongoing process.

standing at the edge of the beach, with his toe in the water, I began to be him

the sick and the shit and the mess, and not wanting to make a mess

We worked collaboratively, using image making, movement and shape shifting which enabled us to engage with a difficult subject in a way that was surprisingly enjoyable and deeply satisfying and we realised that this was connected to the support we felt from the spirits of the dead.

We showed a 15 minute video poem which is the result of our creative collaboration and arose out of and contributed to the research. It expresses both the essence of Simon’s personal story and the essential themes of the research.

The video introduces the roles of the killer and the killed in each of us, what needs to die and what is trying to live.

it”s the silence that killswhen there is no dialogue, that’s when suicide happens

After the video there were deep feelings and reactions in the room and a general appreciation of bringing this taboo subject out into the open. We spent time sharing our responses: Some people spoke about their own experience of bereavement by suicide. Others spoke about how the personal setting of the film in our homes made the theme easier to be with and relevant to all our everyday lives. Suicide is not just about someone else.

Another person felt that the film is about universal themes of life and death and how to live our lives as fully as possible.

We noticed the atmosphere in the room and it was named as love.

you did eat the poison and survive

This link will take you to a short trailer for the film. For an opportunity to see the full film please contact us. We are offering 1 or 2 day Suicidal Wisdom workshops which include the film, time for discussion and reflection and powerful and transformational exercises to explore suicidal processes. Copies of the DVD will be available to participants for their private use.

Contact heavenwells@mac.com or kerri@waking-up.com

Preliminary outcomes of this research project include:

• Relief of individual suffering
• Finding meaning in the experience of bereavement by suicide
• Tools for going beyond death and continuing the dreaming process
• Discovering the deepest essence of what was trying to live and the desire to live it
• Increased awareness of our collective responsibility in processes of social marginalisation, especially of the everyday ways in which we ‘kill’ ourselves and each other.
• An increasing sense of interconnectedness and the impact we have on each other, on our communities and on the world

Kerri Stewart: Expert by Experience

Helen Wells: Artist, Art Psychotherapist, Dip. POP

Facilitated by Process Workers:

Aleksandr Peikrishvili, MSW

Aleksandr Peikrishvili holds a Masters in Social Work and is in the final stages of his Process Work Diploma studies. He is an awareness facilitator and a therapist and is currently accepting new clients. Aleksandr loves to work with individuals, couples, and groups, here in the Portland area, and internationally. Most recently, he is thrilled and terrified to be delving into his life long love affair with performance art, and as a result, hopes to put on a one-man show by September of 2010.

Elva Wolf Redwood, MPW, Dipl PW.

Elva Wolf Redwood has a masters and diploma in Process Work. She has facilitated groups on global issues in the UK, Mexico and Israel/Palestine, as well as here in Portland. She is a life and relationship coach and counselor practicing at the Process Work Institute and is currently accepting new clients. She is also a meditator and writer.

The forums are free and open to all (suggested donation $5)

Location:The Process Work Institute, 2049 NW Hoyt St, Portland OR, 97209

Dates are listed below.

All times are 7pm – 9 pm

For additional information, please visit: www.processwork.org

Group Process Schedule

March 25: Economic Crisis

Who is in crisis? What does it mean for the individual? What lessons does the new economy have for us?

April 22: Gay Marriage

Let’s learn together. Where do you stand and why? Join us in this dialogue with some of the following voices: “Equal rights now”, “That’s not marriage”, “One man, one woman”, “Love is love” and “Who cares about marriage anyway”. Come, share and learn.

May 20: Health and Healthcare

Is health care a right or a privilege? What kinds of medicine should be accessible to all? Private insurance or socialized medicine?

June 17: Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the 21st Century

In the U.S., a country based on freedom from persecution and on democracy, have we arrived at a pluralistic society? What are your hopes, dreams, and fears for the world in the 21st century?

July 15: Immigration

“Are those unlawful immigrants stealing your job”, “Green card lottery” and “Imagine there are no borders.” Where do you find yourself in this conversation?

August 19: US Involvement in Foreign Conflicts

Colonization – Profits – Altruism. What is our role in our foreign policy?

September 30: Globalization – the Good, Bad and Ugly

Media, communications and trade. What are the positives and negatives of being connected globally? What lessons and responsibilities does it give us?

October 21: Climate Change and Pollution

Who has the power to influence our ecology? Hopelessness and empowerment. Does an impending crisis bring us closer together?

November 18: Disappearing Species

What does it mean for humanity, and will our species leave too? How we as individuals relate to this global process. Is it enough to meet those other beings only in dreaming?

December 16: Homelessness

“Are my tax dollars going to that?” Is home where the heart is?” and “Why can’t they pull themselves up by the bootstraps?” What do you think about homelessness in Portland?

We have had an on going group of dedicated and very gifted students, who have stuck-out the highs and lows of a difficult pregnancy and birth process of the Israeli PW Training Program.

But we have come so far, and the exams are to take place soon!

A big part of the training has been the participation of the students in several Israeli-Arab-Palestinian WW seminars, organized and lead by Gary Reiss and Najah Manasra a team of colleagues from around the world. As Israelis, part of the mainstream and part of the ongoing confliuct, this has not been easy on us. I am proud to say that most of us kept coming and participating.

I am looking fprward to welcoming our students to a new phase of their studies. Good luck to all taking them.”

Michal Wertheimer-Shimoni,
Israel Study Coordinator