Dancing With Your Disowned Parts:

About This Workshop:

As trauma therapists, our bodies carry not only our own trauma, but that of our clients as well. Our parts need attention, and often words are not enough.

Imagine entering another world, for a little while, in which all of the parts comprising your whole self are granted full permission to express themselves however they want – even those parts you fear, resent, shame, push away, and dislike. Imagine that this world is comprised of a community of fellow feelers and movers, all wanting to support themselves and each other through this process.

Imagine that, in this same world, your many complex and intense emotions are welcomed to move through your body in any way they need, no matter how it looks on the outside. Here, your body can act as both playground and cocoon, for these aspects of you that have been calling for your attention.

What would it be like to greet these parts and feelings with love and respect? What would it be like to believe that they are all appropriate reactions to the complexities of your life experience, and to simply being human? What would it be like to imagine that your psyche produces some of them out of a desire to protect you?

And, what if all parts of you could dance not just with each other, but also with the parts of others?

In this workshop, we will begin by establishing group agreements to promote safety, inclusion, and respect. We will discuss the concept of parts of the self, as it relates to the experience of inhabiting a body. Movement practices and dance will be interwoven with grounding practices, other forms of somatic self-expression, and writing exercises. The musical journeys are in the form of ecstatic dance (please see the “About” page for a description of this form of dance), following a wave pattern specifically designed to impact and regulate the nervous system. These dance practices will give permission to that which we usually suppress. Between these practices and at the end, we will gather in supportive community to process the experience with curiosity and compassion.

Practicalities:

This workshop is OHIP-covered for those who have been referred to me by a family doctor or medical specialist.

There is instead an option to pay a $75.00 fee for the day if not covered by OHIP (as of June 17 I will no longer be able to take OHIP covered as it requires an MD referral).

Please contact me to register ahead, as we will have a limit of 15 participants.

You must arrive early (anytime after 9:30 am) as the door volunteer will come upstairs promptly at 10:00 am, and the church doors will then be locked. The door volunteer will be available by phone for another 15 minutes if absolutely needed. If you are coming from Toronto, give yourself 2 hours to drive out here; traffic is unpredictable.

Some light snacks will be provided but please bring your own lunch (the lunch break is not long enough to go out to buy food), and water bottle.

For all other information about location, guidelines, ecstatic dance, and what to bring, etc, see our “About” page or reach out to me by email anytime at justine.dembo@mail.utoronto.ca.