The Give-Away
Ann Filemyr, Ph.D.
Vice President of Academic Affairs & Dean, Southwestern College
In a number of different but related indigenous cultures, there exists the practice some call the Give-Away. This Ceremony is undertaken whenever an individual or family or clan group experiences a sense of great abundance, of plentitude and joy. Then…
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If you’re considering the Human Sexuality Certificate program but still aren’t sure, consider how it can open doors for you as a practitioner…and as a sexual being.
Sexual problems are among the most common difficulties not disclosed to therapists (Hook and Andrews, 2005).
Feeling ashamed was the most commonly cited reason, followed by…
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At Southwestern College, in the first year of classes, the instructors and the curriculum invite us to look deeply at ourselves. We are invited to become more aware of both inner sources of strength and unconscious patterns that may not be serving us. I'm very grateful to have had this opportunity for self-inquiry. I'm sure…
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What a gift, to learn to recognize the call of the soul! Thanks, Southwestern! Here's an excerpt from a paper I wrote for the Addiction Assessment and Treatment class that I took with Jason Holley:
In the past, I have had trouble connecting with a personal understanding of the word soul. Dictionaries tend to define…
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by Christina-Villarreal
The American Art Therapy Association's 45th annual conference (2012) was held in San Antonio, Texas.
As a budding art therapist, I decided to take the opportunity to attend my first official art therapy conference, located an hour and half from where I lived in Austin, Texas.
In retrospect, I am amazed at how…
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If psychology is the study of the soul then therapy becomes a process of healing by which we utilize our understanding of soul or, perhaps more accurately, we attempt to understand the soul and in the process, reveal some helpful insights along life's journey. Exploring these depths requires more than just talk, especially when soul's first language is art; whether that be visual,…
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The skill set you cultivate getting a master's degree in Counseling from Southwestern College prepares you for many possible career paths...…
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An art therapist knows that art-making facilitates transformation within the client/artist. Art therapists know that art can serve as a solvent, a catalyst, a salve, a stepping stone or a philosopher's stone depending on the needs of the artist. In this way an art therapist is also an alchemist practicing the ancient arts of metaphysical transformation. Art-making is an…
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In the summer of 2014, I took "Foundations in Human Science Research" with Michael Schwab at Southwestern College. As part of this class, I wrote a research paper on spiritual awakening. This paper was based on 10 years of personal experience exploring spiritual awakening (through meditation and other forms of spiritual practice) from 2004 to…
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In the spring of 2014, I took "Archetypal Psychology" with Heather Wulfers at Southwestern College. I was a bit intimidated about taking this class. Of all the classes I'd taken at Southwestern, this was the subject I'd had the least experience with, and I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I had a feeling this…
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There is a fresh light beckoning,
breaking,
brimming with integrity.
It stands there.
I stand here.
Steadfastly still.
Burning at the foot of my solitary gill
I sing sweet songs of empathy.
And she knows where to turn when the lights dim,
Down and in
To tap the nectar from urchin fin.
This kind of…
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Here is an example of an effective art therapy directive for someone struggling to decide between two things. We are all familiar with this position: opposing directions are presented to us and we are unsure which way to go. Between a rock and a hard place. We wonder where to place our energies and how to move forward…
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What is New Thought?
This is a great question. At this point in time, I may have 100 New Thought books in my house and there are dozens of answers to this question, largely because there IS no real definitive answer to this question. But I wanted to start offering responses to this question here…
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Our sexual lives - our desires, our behaviors, our fantasies - are intimately connected to psyche. It’s no surprise then that students and therapists have been asking for more. More training. More information. More conversations about sex. Because the truth is even if you don’t have a practice specializing in sexual issues, sex is…
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Southwestern College faculty member Jessica Callaway reflects on her profound experience of Haiti, and its resilient people. …
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Michelle Harkey is a student at Southwestern College and a Life Coach. This blog is an incredibly open and vulnerable, bold and powerful sharing of her own experience of herself and her own self-image...
Please click below to access this amazing piece of work......
http://www.michelleharkey.com…
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by Debbie Schroder
On a recent Saturday I needed to be at a task force meeting at 9 a.m. Yes . . .Saturday . . .9 a.m.! Running late, desperate for caffeine, I zipped into a fast-food drive-through. And I was stunned by the beauty of an image I saw there. In an advertisement promoting…
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by Debbie Schroder
The gardens on campus are lush and the temperature is hot – it must be Portfolio Review time!
Every year we ask our art therapy students who are moving into 2nd year, to bring in at least three pieces of art created during first year. By looking at their art and hearing…
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Last night I stayed up late, sat in circle with dear friends sharing perspectives on life and made art - lots of art in lots of forms.
Our words became poetry, our bodies became dancers, our mediums became miracle-makers.
The sky inspired the lightening inspired the moon inspired the art inspired me to move, speak…
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Counseling student Sylvan Schneider explores the connections of Vedic Scripture, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the philosophy of Southwestern College.…
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a new dawn is upon you. take yourself into it. be beckoned. be born into moments afresh. send spells of glory with your mouth. listen for your breath. and love, love, always love.
sometimes we think we are not enough. our words are not enough. our actions are not enough. our skills our intellect is…
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Art Therapy/Counseling student Christina Calderon reflects on the deeper levels of what it means to love...…
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Claudia Escareño-Clark explores the impact that assimilation and being an immigrant have had and how this will impact her work with clients. …
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Sylvan Schneider goes on a Vision Quest at Southwestern College, and shares his experience....…
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In April, 2014 a call was made: "Archetypally speaking, who is showing up for you lately? What mentors, thieves, medicine folk, or tricksters are asking you to speak their name, embody their abilities, and artfully express the connections you have? Please, answer the call, create the art, embody the voice that wants to be heard…
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The following images and words arose out of the 2014 spring Archetypal Psychology course. The students moved into dialogue with their soul and its language of image. My heart swelled tenfold as I witnessed these students share themselves...may you be touched as well.
"The experience of this class has been a letting go of so…
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And suddenly you realize that each moment is attached with the same force of seeds on a dandelion and that they are destined to depart. Your life is a mandala of moving parts. Wet water-colored memories bleed as you blow on them and the seeds spatter and scatter in the wind. Those seeds set by…
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In an inspired moment, Dr. Carol Parker captures, from her perspective, and in her own poetic words, what the underlying philosophy is at Southwestern College...…
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