“Passions, Obsessions and Compulsions: Forces that Drive Us”

Sunday July 26, 2009

Orientation, Opening meeting and Welcoming Dinner!

 

Monday July 27, 2009

Stephen a. Martin, Psy.D.

The Passion of Collecting: Individuation or Insanity?

Collecting, an active process of of the concrete imagination, is in its best sense  a highly refined symbolic interaction between the lover of objects and the soul of the objects loved. Taking Jung’s notion that objects have a “soul spark” within them, this seminar will explore the symbolic meaning of collecting and how this passionate activity can represent one of the ways the soul strives to know itself

 

 

Julie Bondanza, Ph.D.

Eros and Addiction

The power of Eros can take us to ecstatic heights, but also to the depths of despair.  We experience this power whenever we fall in love or whenever longing for another overtakes us.  As long as we remain unaware that the ideal image of the beloved is a projection of our own psychic content, and the more our longing for wholeness is confused with the external satisfaction of erotic fantasies, the more we can get lost in compulsive longing, destructive relationships and sexual addictions. Understanding the archetype of Eros can help us develop a sense of how Eros can become destructively connected with addiction.

Tuesday July 28, 2009

Michael Conforti, Ph.D.

Forbidden Paths, Unfamiliar Waters:
An Archetypal Perspective on Compulsions and Attractions

The archetypal world is as real as that of our every day lives. The power of addictions, complexes, and obsessions such as alcohol, gambling and sex, draw us into their world, demanding near total obedience, and eclipsing conscious discernment. Drawing from his forthcoming book Hidden Presence: Complexes, Possessions and Redemption, Dr Conforti will discuss how we can transform these “possessions” into potentially redemptive experiences

 

Afternoon Workshop Choices:

Michael Conforti, Ph.D.

Hidden Desires: Obsessions, and Compulsions

Julie Bondanza, Ph.D.

Who’s Sorry Now: The Compulsion to Revenge

 

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Allen D. Koehn, D.Min., MFT

Creation and Destruction: Wrestling with Life’s Passions

 

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Thomas Patrick Lavin, Ph.D.

Our ‘Polyaddicted’ Culture: The Call for Personal and Collective Transformation of Spirit

What if, instead of having a “War on Drugs” we had a “War on Meaningless Behavior”? What if, instead of spending billions on a “War against Terrorists” we had spent the money and energy on “Outrageous Acts of Compassion and Kindness”? Our culture is suffering from addictions - and addictions are not simple realities to have or to treat.
“Addiction” rests on four pillars: the physical, the psychological, the social, and the spiritual.  Each pillar needs attention if a transformation is to take place in our culture. This presentation will examine each of the four pillars of personal and cultural addiction and come to understand that addictions point beyond themselves to a hunger of the soul, a need for  a return of Spirit and Archetypal Awareness in our culture – the need for an archetypal level of rebirth.

 

Afternoon Workshop Choices:

Thomas Patrick Lavin, Ph.D. &
Mary Ellen O’Hare, Ph.D.

Male/Female Myths of Addiction
and Transformation

Allen Koehn, D.Min., MFT

The Alchemy of Passion

The essence of the alchemical approach is the Opus, the work of transforming that which is perceived of as of low value into one of gold, so speak. One stage of this process is named Calcinatio, which has to do with heat, emotion, affect and passion. We forget too easily that we can “follow our bliss” into possession, compulsion and death.  The key element is the strength of the ego, which often serves as the Prima Materia for the Opus.  All too easily the ego can be carried off in an identification with the life force; and, just as easily be crushed by it.  The deciding factor is always consciousness which allows the ego perspective to focus on service to the Opus, rather than itself. This presentation will focus on how our lives are awakened by passion- which can give us direction and meaning.  We will also consider what demands passion may place on us and the demands and sacrifices that are called for.

 

Evening: Festive Dinner!

Friday, July 31, 2009

Ann Belford Ulanov, Ph.D.

Making Sense of No Sense: Relating to Obsessions that Compel Us

To be obsessed is to feel crazy; it stems from not knowing where to put the bad. We will focus on one of the most disturbing obsessions: thoughts that circle around the rage that springs up from being badly hurt- where we feel discarded as a disposable object, whether by a person, a government or an insurance company.  Obsessive thoughts that make us feel helpless to control them, that bring a break-through of alienated aspects of the self, compel behavior and introduce strenuous conflict. We believe we should let go of these emotional toxins, should forgive the enemy, and yet we cannot. We will explore in depth making sense of this no-sense by following where the obsessive thoughts take us: to trauma, to rage, to the necessity to witness to the truth, which may lead us beyond the conflict to an arrival of the new.