led by Nick Totton and Kate Ellis
Spiral Centre, Holloway, London
September 28-9, October 26-7 & November 23-4 2024
£950
There are so many ways of thinking about the different kinds of people! What makes character theory (as developed by Wilhelm Reich) different from the others is its grounding in embodiment, and specifically in each individual’s history of embodiment. Character brings together several apparently very different aspects of a person, and shows them to be profoundly linked: developmental history, body structure, emotional attitudes, underlying belief system, relationship style – all emerge as different facets of a fundamental style of being-in-the-world.
Character is an enormously useful tool for grasping what matters to our clients, and in what ways we can best interact with them. Having a character is not a pathology! – we all have to be someone, and character can be as creative as it can be limiting. We come into the world with two equally urgent priorities: to express ourselves, and to protect ourselves. The ongoing tension between these poles, as they are conditioned by the different circumstances, restrictions and possibilities afforded to each individual, create the space within which an embodied human personality is shaped.
It is only when we grasp character in our own body that the system starts to be meaningful and useable.
Therefore this short course will be strongly experiential in its focus, centred on a series of pairwork exercises to give us a direct taste of each of the six main character structures; it should be understood that these exercises can be extremely stirring. There will be a Dropbox resource of relevant material.
The course is open to any interested practitioners of psychotherapy, counselling and/or other bodymind approaches. It leads to a certificate of successful completion. We welcome participants from all communities of difference, and are happy to negotiate fees for those from disadvantaged groups. Please contact us to discuss access issues.
Nick: I trained in Post Reichian Therapy over 40 years ago, and have been a therapist ever since, and a
supervisor and trainer; I developed Embodied-Relational Therapy, and taught it for many years, it now
continues with other trainers. I have published several books, including Embodied Relating: The Ground of Psychotherapy, and most recently Different Bodies: Deconstructing Normality. www.nicktotton.net
Kate: I trained with Nick over ten years ago and have been practicing ERT ever since. Previously to that I have been teaching bodywork and yoga for 25 years so my practice is a synthesis of all of this experience. I’m personally very grateful to my understanding of character which continuously unfolds, lighting the way to being ever more human. http://www.kateellisyoga.co.uk/
Bookings and enquiries Contact Nick at [email protected]. £200 reserves a place. Some reductions are available. If you haven’t met either of us before, we will need to have a brief online chat.