Counselling

1 Day Workshop led by Prosentis "Narcissism, Addiction and the Failure to Mourn"

Being held at the Cornerstone building, Norreys Avenue in Wokingham on Saturday 7th November 2009, 10.00am - 4.00pm.

For the person who either loves, cares for, or treats the ‘addict’, the experience can be frustrating, hurtful and terrifying as the ‘addict’ seems to descend into a spiral of destruction. Nothing I say, do, offer, change or threaten will divert them from this path. And more often than not, we can be left with the choice of continuing to support or leave the person to their untimely and awful death.

For the person with the addiction, what is at stake is their emotional, psychological and sometimes physical survival. He or she eventually descends into a dark spiral of need, mania and loneliness, continually striving to feel safe, part of the world and to belong. The irony is that in striving to feel safe he or she becomes more and more unsafe and in danger of death but even then cannot let go of an insatiable need that drives them onward to manipulate, beg, borrow and steal in ever greater quantities.

In these two paragraphs then, the dilemma is set: on the one hand the carer, partner or family member cannot seem to let the ‘addict’ go to their self chosen destruction and on the other hand the ‘addict’ cannot seem to let go of this insatiable appetite and driven mania that has besieged them.

In this workshop you will have the opportunity to explore this stuck and locked in experience through:

♦ Addiction and Cutting Edge Neuroscience
♦ The framework of Ovid’s Greek Myth of Narcissus and Echo
♦ Addiction as a Form of Melancholia and Co-dependent Relationships
♦ Addiction as the Failure to Mourn

Led by Prosentis (Addiction Consultancy Training & Management )

Presenters
Phil Joslin: MA in Counselling, BA (Hons) in Theology.
Lee Hughes: BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences (Pharmacology and Psychology)
Keith Joslin: Substance Misuse Counsellor
ProSentis Training Operations & Co-ordination Manager

Venue. The Cornerstone, Norreys Avenue, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 1UE.

Cost. £60.00 (£45.00 for BCC counsellors).

Dates. Saturday 7th November 2009, 10.00am - 4.00pm.

Drinks and biscuits will be provided and a buffet lunch can be booked for an additional £5.00.

The Workshop is expected to be popular so please book early to avoid disappointment.