Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Bids For Connection by Ilene Wolf MFT: Couples and Relationship Counseling, Making Relationships Work

HOW DO YOU MAKE RELATIONSHIPS WORK- NO MATTER HOW DIFFICULT?   

Consult a licensed MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPIST and RELATIONSHIP EXPERT!

EVERY INTERACTION IS either based on fear or a BID FOR CONNECTION! AT BIDS FOR CONNECTION, you will discover your ability to handle difficult conversations by utilizing proven tools.
When was the last time you CAN remember being happy? Changing how you think is essential to changing self-defeating behavior. Ilene Wolf CAN SHOW YOU HOW.

Consult with Ilene Wolf MFT at Bids for Connection Therapy, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, WORKING in San Francisco and Marin FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS, SPECIALIZING IN couples counseling and individual counseling.

ILENE has helped 100s OF INDIVIDUALS AND COUPLES resolve DATING AND relationship problems to give you (the Stanford research evidenced- based tools to overcome CONFLICT IN marriage. AN EXPERT in Conflict Resolution, Ilene LEADS Empathy CIRCLES AND forgiveness workshops THROUGH THE USE OF COGNITIVE THERAPY (CBT) AND drama therapy .

Have you locked yourself into an unloving relationship?

Addressing all relationships: partners, family and work. Safe. Confidential.

WHAT ARE "BIDS FOR CONNECTION"

A BID FOR CONNECTION is an attempt to create a CONNECTION between two people to keep the relationship going forward.

It is FINDING A DEEPER MOTIVATION TO CONNECT WITH PEOPLE in spite of hurt and anger:

It is CONNECTING IN A DEEPER WAY WITH OUR SPOUSE OR PARTNER, OUR CHILDREN, OUR COWORKERS, OUR PARENTS.

Remedy: Learn your unique attachment style (PREOCCUPIED, AVOIDANT, SECURE); how does the lack of trust and past hurt determine your interactive style.

Reclaiming: Give yourself a tremendous amount of SELF-empathy and compassion within the context of a caring therapist. Reclaiming the hurt, lost and disowned parts of the self.

Reconnecting AND RECOGNIZING YOUR FEELINGS to FIND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE FOR YOURSELF so that you can learn to move beyond hurt.

Recovery: Going back for the lost parts of ourselves, integrating the hurt, metabolizing the grief.

Replenishment: Finding the dreams behind the conflict. To understand and experience what compassion for the self and others feels like.

Resources: Discover the resources and gifts in our hidden emotions. What would it mean to get past the anger, anxiety and depression and be the beneficiary of your own energy?
Building: Experience love as a feeling -- otherwise AS a commodity we CAN never  have enough of IT.


TOOLS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

WE LEARN HOW TO trust, stemming from our early childhood experiences, blueprints and impressions that carry over in our day to day experiences.

Discover THE TOOLS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SO YOU CAN trust yourself and your partner MORE:
  1. The Universal laws of love based on nonviolent communication
  2. The essential ingredient of love is the power behind vulnerability
  3. Finding the confidence to stand up to everyday conflict in relationships at the work place and home
  4. The Art of showing and receiving empathy
  5. Why requests and needs are repeatedly not met, and what you can do about it
  6. Requests as camouflaged demands, Recognizing Hidden Emotions
Learn AND RELY ON EVIDENCE -BASED STANFORD research-proven tools that help create positive changes in your relationships

We all have felt and feared our vulnerability, yet this essential ingredient is what truly connects us. This therapy will show you how to have a RELATIONSHIP THAT WORKS.

CONFLICT 

By Having The Courage --Things CAN AND Do Get Better!
PEOPLE ASK: Why can’t I seem to feel better? The answer goes back to our beliefs about people, places and things.

Therapy works when it involves a trusting relationship with a therapist who gives you the exact tools to get out of the predicament you are in. While empathy is one key element of therapy, it is not enough alone to single-handedly change your behavior.

If your childhood was filled with uncertainty, disregard, neglect or violence, chances are some of your problems in relationships may stem from wanting to keep people at a distance to determine whether or not people or situations are safe.

Finding the Capacity to Be Happy and Experience Contentment
The source of anxiety and depression is often unexpressed feelings. The impossible demand that we be "nice" at the expense of ourselves -- leaving us at the risk of anyone truly knowing who we are.

FORGIVENESS 

Have you locked yourself into an unloving relationship?

Master the ability to forgive yourself and others.
A safe confidential space where you can work through your feelings of loss, hurt and grief, whether THE LOSS IS recent, or long ago.
The purpose of the Practicing The Art of Forgiveness Group is to provide a safe and compassionate space to share, connect, and learn from others who have had a similar experience. With tools and insight provided by a supportive therapist, group members will have the chance to share experiences, explore feelings and move beyond hurt, and repair relationships through the use of metta (loving kindness) meditation and modern therapeutic tools -- including The Five Secrets. We do deep experiential work in these sessions, so this group is not for everyone.
Practicing The Art of Forgiveness Group meets the first Thursday of the month in San Rafael, CA. Individual session required to ensure that this group meets your individual goals.

ABOUT ILENE 

Ilene Wolff, LMFT, RDT, a licensed marriage and family therapist, graduated from UC Berkeley and trained at Stanford University (Advanced Applications of Cognitive Therapy with David Burns, MD.) Ilene is a member of The Feeling Good Institute. Ilene teaches at JFK University and Sonoma State University. She  is the director of the Drama Therapy Institute www.dramatherapyinstitute.com.
Ilene is the winner of the California Marriage and Family Therapists’ 2012 Education Foundation Award. Ilene HAS trained and taught at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto (Brief Solution-Focused Therapy. Ilene is a past vice president of the San Francisco Chapter of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT). Ilene was the Teaching Assistant for The Milton Erickson Institute of the Bay Area (2010-2012) as well as David Burn’s Summer Intensive (2011) on Cognitive Therapy (CBT) and the TEAM model. Ilene has presented at the National Drama Therapy Conference and has been a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Tai Chi and Feldenkrais Instructor by teacher Kenn Chase

Tai Chi Ch’uan, is the ancient art of moving meditation, has profound effects on our neuro-biology and produces many health benefits as well as improving strength, balance and flexibility. Through the centuries the Chinese have utilized Tai Chi as a healing art. We now have current medical research to confirm the power of Tai Chi as an optimal preventive as well as restorative healing technique.

The Integral Way Tai Chi combines traditional Yang style Tai Chi Ch’uan, Feldenkrais™ – Awareness through Movement™, Chi Gong and meditation. It offers a blend of Eastern philosophical practices and Western mind-body techniques to enhance learning and human potential.

Kenn and Vicki Chase have a unique, personable and nurturing approach to teaching. They have taught together for over 30 years and bring a pleasing blend of Yin and Yang to their teaching.

ABOUT KENN AND VICKI

Kenn and Vicki Chase have been teaching together since 1982. Combined, they have over 75 years teaching experience. As a husband and wife team, they bring a unique balance of yin/yang and east/west philosophy and practices.

Their clientele includes hospitals, corporations, schools and community groups.

SERVICES:
 
TAI CHI

Traditional Yang Style Tai Chi includes a series of 54 synchronized moves. The advanced – Long Form is 108 moves.  Students are required to become proficient at the 54 (Short Form) before proceeding to the Long Form.  New moves are introduced each week with plenty of repetition and time for review of previous moves.  Posture, breathing and alignment are emphasized to prevent strain.

Classes are small (generally 6-12 students per class) and you will have both Kenn and Vicki working with you.  Individual attention and guidance is offered freely.

Fees are based on a month-to-month basis.  The actual fee varies with location.  Please call for up to date information.  A calendar of class dates is always available.

FELDENKRAIS CLASSES

Awareness through Movement® Classes
 
Feldenkrais® – Awareness through Movement® (ATM) is a neuro-muscular re-education technique. Developed by physicist, engineer and martial artist, Moshe Feldenkrais, it is a self-healing after a paralyzing accident.  He applied the principles of physics to his rehabilitation and was able to become fully functional despite the words of his physicians. His peers were so astonished that they asked him to teach them and a new healing technique was born.

Awareness through Movement® exercises are guided by a certified Feldenkrais® practitioner.  They are done on the floor (using a mat) in a relaxed, effortless state out of the field of gravity.  The emphasis is on being aware of ones limits and working within those boundaries allowing for a gentle release of tension and holding in the musculature.  Thus one learns from their own body and allows the body to reprogram the mind-body connections freeing one from habitual patterns that constrain the body and movement.  The overall goal is to decrease holding patterns that limit function.

The Feldenkrais integrates movement with thinking, feeling and sensing; it can also expand your potential in other areas, particularly creativity and problem solving.

Awareness through Movement® exercises enhances the learning of Tai Chi.

All Workshops include:

Instruction and refinement of Tai Chi forms

Feldenkrais®-Awareness through Movement® session

Educational components on the History and Health Benefits of Tai Chi

For more information about Tai Chi and Feldenkrais class schedule call Integral Way Tai Chi at 415 488 4213. Visit www.integralwaytaichi.com/