Inner Work 1

Inner Work 1

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  2. Courses
  3. Specialist Training in Holistic Counselling - 1 Year

Unit Description

Develop students’ capacity to open to deeper levels of awareness than everyday consciousness, thereby becoming aware of the essence, or the working of a universal consciousness in each person’s life

The development of skills in self-awareness through inner work is central to the holistic counselling and psychotherapy model. The Inner Work 1 unit develops the meta skills of deep respect, listening, presence in relationship, the not knowing mind and curiosity.

Self-reflective exercises are introduced in this unit, including the use of rapid writing, journaling, drawing, mindfulness and meditation. Exercises in this unit are designed to be applied in therapy sessions for the empowerment of clients.

Specific exercises in Process Oriented work are developed, including “Working on Yourself Alone” (Mindell, 2014), dream work, body work and relationships. The flirting exercise (Mindell, 2002) and other experiential exercises such as Goethe’s observation of nature are introduced, to develop students’ capacity to open to deeper levels of awareness than everyday consciousness, thereby becoming aware of the essence, or the working of a universal consciousness in each person’s life.

Unit Code

102S

Unit Type

Core Unit

Credit Points

3.0

Consultation Times

30 minutes before and after workshop intensives and by appointment during the semester

Topics Covered

  • Awareness exercises: reflective journaling, rapid writing, guided meditation and drawing.
  • Meditation, mindful practice and Goethe’s observation of nature.
  • Other exercises and methods for self-reflection and increasing self-awareness, including Mindell’s flirting exercise.
  • Core process oriented skills: dreamwork, body work and relationships.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit, students will be able to:

  1. Utilise the skills of journaling, rapid writing, guided meditation and drawing to increase self-awareness and in counselling work with clients
  2. Apply experiential exercises to develop the capacity to notice signals and open to deeper levels of awareness
  3. Apply core process oriented and meta skills to self and in working with others to develop an active self-reflective process
  4. Bring a “not knowing mind”, wonder and curiosity to counselling practice and to oneself and others about the experience of connecting with the deeper mystery of life
  5. Critically analyse a range of counselling and psychotherapy models in the contemporary context as seen through the lens of evolution of consciousness and quantum physics
  6. Demonstrate critical awareness of their strengths and limitations in counselling practice, thereby knowing when to appropriately refer, seek their own therapy, and how to utilise supervision

Graduate Attributes

Delivery Mode

Workshop intensive on-campus 1:

9:00 am – 5:30 pm
On-campus teaching comprises 12 hours in total.

Study Buddy activities
Eight hours over the semester

Student Workload

The total unit workload is equivalent to 7.25 hours per week over the semester, 116 hours in total.

  • Twelve hours of on-campus workshop intensives
  • 8 hours study buddy work
  • 96 personal study hours

Available in Courses

This unit is available in the following courses:

Specialist Training in Holistic Counselling & Psychotherapy Specialist Training in Holistic Counselling - 1 Year OLD_STP

Created: June 28, 2021, 2:22 p.m. • Updated: June 28, 2021, 5:27 p.m.