SIGN IN YOUR ACCOUNT TO HAVE ACCESS TO DIFFERENT FEATURES

CREATE AN ACCOUNT FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD?

FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

AAH, WAIT, I REMEMBER NOW!

CREATE ACCOUNT

ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT?

IAHIP

CALL: +353 (0)1 284 1665
  • Contact Us
  • Classifieds
    • Publications
    • Services
    • Training
    • All Ads
    • Submit Ad
  • News
    • IAHIP News
    • Blog
  • Members
    • AGM 2020 & 2019
    • Events Calendar
    • Professional Conduct
    • Continued Professional Development -CPD- For Accredited Psychotherapists
    • Accreditation
    • Re-accreditation
    • Supervision
    • Honorary Membership
    • Child and Adolescent
    • Garda Vetting
    • Resources
      • Members’ Resources
    • Payments
  • SIGN UP
  • LOGIN
  • Home
  • About
    • About IAHIP
    • Governing Body
    • Committees
      • Committees
      • Regional Development
    • Complaints
    • Constitutional Documents
      • Articles of Association
      • Bye-Laws of the Association
    • IAHIP in N.I.
    • Considering a career in psychotherapy?
  • Psychotherapy
    • About Psychotherapy
    • How Psychotherapy Can Help Me
    • Choosing a Psychotherapist
    • Useful Links
  • Join
    • Join IAHIP
    • Why Join IAHIP?
    • Benefits of Membership of IAHIP
    • Categories of Membership
    • Fees
  • Publications
    • Inside Out
    • Subscribe
    • Buy Back Issues
    • Buy Full Page Ad
    • Buy Half Page Ad
    • Advertising
  • Training
    • Online Workshops 2020 – 2021
    • Recognised Training Courses IAHIP
    • Pay for a Workshop
    • European Certificate of Psychotherapy (ECP)
  • Find a Therapist
  • Home
  • Inside Out
  • Issue 75: Spring 2015
  • Workshop Review: Seven-Day Silent Retreat in Perugia

Workshop Review: Seven-Day Silent Retreat in Perugia

with Catherine Ingram Perugia, Italy, 24-31 October 2014

Reviewed by Ger Murphy

I recently attended the above workshop with 21 participants, among them several other IAHIP psychotherapists, and while this is an unusual workshop to report on for Inside Out, I would argue that the radical difference involved may make it interesting for us psychotherapists, who use speech so centrally as part of our work, to consider the value of silent retreats as part of our self-care practices.

Catherine Ingram is a world-renowned spiritual teacher and author who has been leading this type of workshop for over 20 years.

The workshops take place in locations of beauty where comfort, great food and aesthetically pleasing surroundings are a core part of the workshop experience. The structure of the week, which is very spacious, involves two one-and-a-half hour group discussion sessions daily, where participants report on their meditative and process experience and are guided to engaging in deeper presence by Catherine. This sense of presence is described well in Catherine’s book, Passionate Presence. There are also two yoga sessions per day with poetry, group walks and lots of relaxation time. All activities are optional and all present are silent at all times, including meal times, except for group discussion sessions.

In the first day or two it is remarkable how tired people are, often sleeping or resting for many hours between sessions, showing, as Catherine says, the speed and demand of most of our lives – a speed we are often unaware of until we avail of this kind of opportunity to rest deeply. As the days go on, one could see how more rested, and indeed younger, participants were looking. This shows me how what we usually call relaxation is often merely replacing one kind of speedy demand with another, in our manic lives.

It was also clear how less cluttered participants’ minds became, how held feelings were released and how playful and childlike people became – a kind of return to natural childlike innocence emerged as we slowed down and came into a deeper sense of presence and ease. In this context it was then possible for participants to explore life issues in a serene way, allowing their own intuitive wisdom to emerge, with no attempt to fix anything. Issues from family and work contexts emerged and were met, as were major existential issues of meaning, death and purpose, and these could be explored in a radical and spacious way.

This was not a self-improvement programme – it did not attempt to have participants believe any creed or belief structure, nor was it a mindfulness or meditation teaching. The invitation was to return to a deeper sense of presence, where pleasure, quietness and gratitude could spontaneously emerge, and the silence did the work, as Catherine would often say. The return to deeper sensual awareness where nature, others and self could be met in a new way was touching.

For psychotherapists who spend many hours with clients in psychological suffering, this was a great treat. To be able to bask in silence, beauty and the love that opens in hearts relieved of pressure, stress and demand was profound.

I would strongly recommend this type of workshop as a most valuable CPD experience for practitioners – from beginning ones grappling with developing appropriate compassion and empathic attunement to seasoned psychotherapists battling with vicarious traumatisation or burnout, this may be of great benefit.

I wrote the following lines during the retreat/workshop and this may give some sense of the experience on another level:

Pouring Forth
The Holy of Holies, the Tabernacle
of the heart throbs with
the jewel of essence.
The key has been placed
In the door and it is
opened,
The embroidered silken
curtain is pulled back
The majestic light pours
forth and the world
is created.
Every kind of bug,
every leaf of tree,
every fontanel of baby
pours forth
is born, withers
and is born again.
Time itself pours out like
honey,
I can only breathe
in awe at the
ever present birthday
of creation
arising from
this heart
and sigh in wonder
as it’s all drenched in God

Ger Murphy works as an Integrative psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer and is accredited by IAHIP. Ger has been Director of the Institute of Creative Counselling and Psychotherapy for over 25 years – see www.iccp.ie/library for other articles and information. He can be contacted at germurphy@edgeworth.ie

Reference:
Ingram, C. (2003). Passionate presence: Seven qualities of awakened awareness. New York: Gotham Books. See also www.catherineingram.com.

Search Inside Out

Latest from the Blog

Latest News

  • Spanda India in Association with Ochre Ireland – Online 2021
  • Pieta House – Psychotherapists / Counselling Psychologists (Lucan)

Upcoming Events

Contact Us

The Administrator,
The Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy Ltd.
40 Northumberland Avenue,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co. Dublin

Telephone: +353 (0)1 284 1665
Email: admin@iahip.org

Office Hours

9.30am – 4.00pm Monday
9.30am – 5.00pm Tuesday to Friday

Telephone Line Answered
Monday – Friday 9.30am – 1.00pm.

Disclaimer

IAHIP Ltd. cannot be held liable for the services, products or information contained in ads posted on this website.

FIND A THERAPIST

Search in radius 0 miles
  • Contact Details
  • Privacy Statement
  • Code of Ethics for Psychotherapists
  • Company Registration

© 2018 All rights reserved.

TOP
This website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.