Friday, 20 October 2017

7.00pm-7.45pm   Discussion Group
Facilitated by Annette Lowe

Excerpts from Chapters 1, 2, 3 & 4
"The Invisible Partners"
by John Sandford

8.00pm   Guest Lecture

Love, Sex and Relationships

How do we attend to our own life and development, as well as the life & development of our partner, and the life and development of the relationship? How can our relationship be a completely equal co-partnership so that neither partner is disempowered, and both reach the full potential of their gifts? These are big questions & high ideals.

This talk introduces aspects of relationship from Jung, and also contemporary understanding from various sources. Part of her talk is about how relationships function. She also alerts us to what can go wrong. Lastly she focuses on what you can do to build a solid, lasting relationship. This will include repairing even very deep rifts and woundings.

Part of self-knowledge is to do with knowledge of our internalized concept of the opposite sex. For men this aspect is feminine, for women this aspect is masculine.  This is regardless of sexual orientation. As Marion Woodman says, in "The Ravaged Bridegroom":

“If men and women are to be equal partners in the outer world, the foundations for that partnership must first be laid within themselves.  As within, so without. Nothing can be achieved without, if the foundations are not firmly established within.

Negotiations between the sexes are bound to collapse into misunderstandings or remain suspended in compromises that satisfy neither, so long as men and women remain strangers to their inner reality”. The same dynamics are at play in same-sex relationships.  The need for inner development is not confined to heterosexuality!

This lecture by Kaye Gersch is for everyone - whether you are in a new relationship, or travelling a long journey with your partner; whether you have recently had your heart broken or are longing to find someone to share your life with, you will find something that is pertinent to you. This talk is relevant for all relationships—not just couples.

See 'Divine Feminine' for Kaye's follow-up lecture: 'Mysticism as the Feminine Divine'

Kaye Gersch is a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist with a Jungian emphasis, working in private practice since the 1980s.  She recently completed a PhD at the University of Queensland on the topic of The Feminine in Body, Language and Spirituality. Her work is multidisciplinary, encompassing philosophy, theology and depth psychology. Kaye is also a clinical supervisor primarily to clinicians in the medical field. She has specialist couples-therapy training and particularly enjoys meeting individuals in the crucible that is relationship.