Friday, 19 May 2017

7.00pm-7.45pm   Discussion Group

'FOR EVERY TATTER IN OUR MORTAL DRESS'
Stayin' Alive at the Front of the Mortal Parade
by James Hollis Ph.D
Chapter Twelve of "Jung and Aging: possibilities and potentials for the second half of life"
Editors:  Leslie Swain, Lionel Corbett, Michael Carbine (2012) pp202-213

8.00pm   Guest Lecture

Dreams at Transition Points in Life

Dreams come in the service of life —weaving together memories, experience, wishes, fears and hopes. At transitional points and stages of our lives—youth, middle years, eldership we find that our dreams, if we are paying attention, signal a rite of passage and can help point to the necessary steps ahead.

‘Big Dreams’ which canhave an anticipatory character often come in times of transition. Such dreamscanhelp to illuminate the pathways we are following by alerting us to conflicts, oppositions as well asrevealing motivations, sparks ofhope, and newpossibilities.

Jung wrote:

‘Sometimes, we accomplish our greatest deeds in dreams. Dreams are the guiding words of the soul. Dreams pave the way for life’.

Dreams are creative and we know that dreams can support us at times of crisis and when facing challenges of loss, of meeting change, of experiencing ill –healthor anticipating death .

In this presentation we will be looking atthe dreams of children,  of mature age individuals and seniors to consider how dreams from our, or from others’ experiences of these stages of life can be best be engaged with . What do we know about these differing stages and what is the impact on our dreaming lives? What can we do to support ourselves and loved ones or clients through transitional stages using dreams as our vehicle?

Dr Susannah Benson has a diverse background as academic, researcher and counsellor. She has qualifications and experience in education, academic research, publishing, social ecology and transpersonal counselling. Dr Benson has studied, worked and lived in the United States, Europe and Asia, and holds a doctorate from the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, Education & Social Sciences, School of Social Ecology and Lifelong Learning. Dr Benson is a Board member and current President of the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD), and is the Founding President of Dream Network Australia Inc.