When lives are shattered by grief and loss, an internal invitation often arises, guiding us to embrace the chaos, and to find a new ordering that challenges our assumptive world while undergoing a process of meaning reconstruction.  This module introduces learners to the mandala as spiritual medicine, for the act of creating into a circular structure helps to both contain and express deeply felt emotions.  “My mandalas were cryptograms concerning the state of the self which was presented to me anew each day…  I guarded them like precious pearls….  It became increasingly plain to me that the mandala is the center.  It is the exponent of all paths.  It is the path to the center, to individuation.”  ~ C.G. Jung 

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This didactic and experiential module is centered in the creation and use of mandalas in clinical practice, enriched by poetry and writing, as they relate to grief and loss.  Jung’s techniques of active imagination grounds and enhances this presentation’s integrative approach to expressive therapies techniques in conjunction with Neimeyer, Worden, and Rynearson’s models of grief and bereavement.  The Mandala as Soul Medicine invites learners to engage circular, poetic forms that safely contain both light and dark night journeys or complex dual processes.  This mythic journey serves as an inspiration to those wounded by personal loss, for a sense of trust emanates from a helper who has the inner confidence to have circled through.

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identify three ways to use mandalas in clinical practice;

• Explain how the blending of writing and art making enhances grief processing and meaning reconstruction;

• Relate three ways that Jungian theory supports the uses of expressive therapies for developing greater resilience in the face of loss; and

• Describe two active imagination techniques that could be used in clinical practice with the bereaved.

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Note:  Completion of this program and return of the Responsive Journal satisfies 1 Technique Module required for Certification in Grief Therapy as Meaning Reconstruction or Certification in Art-Assisted Grief Therapy.

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PROGRAM CONTENT

This program contains the following video segments:

1. Mandalas and the Wholeness of the Self:  Setting an Intention (43 mins)

2. Bridges to the Psyche:  The Role of Expressive Writing (42 mins)

3. The Mandala of Grief:  Nesting Your Secret Burden (38 mins)

4. The Mandala of Wisdom:  Representing Your Larger Story (42 mins)

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COURSE PACK CONTAINS...

• A PDF copy of the presentation slides;

• List of art materials for mandala making;

• List of words for experiential processing;

• Guidelines for active imagination techniques; and

• The Responsive Journal that, upon completion and return, confers 1 credit of Technique Module leading to Certification in Grief Therapy as Meaning Reconstruction or Certification in Art-Assisted Grief Therapy.