This program consists of a text and hands-on training at your location or at our headquarters in Sarasota Florida
Training:
We train you in Elementary SOULSPEAK so that you are self sufficient, which takes 3 hours. If we come to your location, we stay with you and assist you getting started (with your group or class) for as many sessions as you need. Normally this is 4 sessions
Therapists Comments.
Here are some comments from therapists who have worked with us in Therapeutic SOULSPEAK programs. Although we wish it were otherwise, there are some therapists who are personally uncomfortable with having to open up and participate on an equal level with their clients, which is one of the prerequisites for Therapeutic SOULSPEAK. Without that equal participation, Therapeutic SOULSPEAK loses much of its power. In other words, everyone has to enter the circle. Many therapists however, even those who feel uncomfortable with it, have commented on the remarkable self-healing nature of SOULSPEAK. What they have witnessed is the fact that clients require little or no post-processing after a deep SOULSPEAK session as compared to what has to be done after normal therapeutic sessions when painful emotional situations have been brought up.
SOULSPEAK in Children’s Grief
Counseling
“I appreciated learning about SOULSPEAK… I must admit I was skeptical at first… I have a fourth grader whose sister died in a car accident almost a year ago. ..Many of the regular counseling techniques were just not working. In the last three weeks, the only change in our working together has been using SOULSPEAK as a part of individual counseling. The change, well, it has been remarkable. This little girl is expressing herself, smiling, sharing her poems with her mom, which is beginning to open things up at home for her. She is so proud of her work…she often requests to share them with the office staff…( this is a little girl who considered herself “no good at poetry”.) We spoke of the [SOULSPEAK program at last night’s Sarasota Counseling Association. Robyn Marinelli is looking into all of the counselor’s receiving this wonderful training.”
Tammi Cowan
Guidance Counselor
“I have been using SOULSPEAK on small groups of students in my RAINBOWS (grief counseling) groups…. Regardless of academic ability ALL the middle school students were soon eager to share their feelings through this unique medium… students were able to reach deeply inside themselves….I would recommend this medium as an icebreaker or anytime during RAINBOWS, as it is a very positive experience and very rewarding for all.”
Kim Blood
School Counselor
SOULSPEAK Programs for At-risk Children.
I was a participant observer in their SOULSPEAK projects ..at
a number of institutions specifically designed to treat at-risk
children : Juvenile Justice Myakka Stop Camp, Oak Park School,
Adolescent Recovery Center at Manatee Glens, Pace Center for
Girl’s. Just for Girls Inc. The young people
involved…were boys and girls, 9-17 years old. They were
victims of physical, sexual and/or substance abuse. Many were
prone to violence.
…There are
several aspects of SOULSPEAK that strike me as unique and
powerful.
1) The
SOULSPEAK process can be used by ANY youngster. It is not limited
to the artistically gifted.
2)
The
participants’ process, within a peer setting, of
emotionally embracing their identity….is remarkably
therapeutic in itself.
3)
SOULSPEAK encourages joint participation and cooperation in
the creation of these spontaneous, oral/musical poems. This is
totally unique to the SOULSPEAK process and creates empathy and
bonding within the group.
4)
SOULSPEAK uses seed words to guide the youngsters creative
processes to the particular area of trauma, i.e., drugs, sexual
abuse, anger, etc. This is healing and cathartic.
Natasha Mann, BS, MS, Clinical Psychologist, with half a
century of clinical practice, teaching and training with Fritz
Pearls, Carl Rodgers, and Albert Ellis.
On SOULSPEAK and Clients Recovering from Mental
Illness
“It was nothing less than awe-inspiring to see (those
participating)… work in tandem, access their creative
potential, develop a sense of self and a sense of community
belonging… I witnessed withdrawn and depressed people
speaking…in a way that our culture neither fosters or
allows, intimate touching of the hearts… I would very much
like to see this medium used in the mental health
community…[SOULSPEAK] is a powerful, powerful and
exciting experience and highly
therapeutic.
.”
Patricia Musselwhite-Weaver, MA, CRC, LMHC , Foundation for Intensive Rehabilitation of Sexual Trauma
We have just completed the third sequence of SOULSPEAK for women
who have been sexually abused…Each woman became more self
confident expressing herself with the weekly recordings and by
the end there were no women who did not participate …
Noteworthy was the bonding effect between members…
Issues addressed… were relationships, losses. grief,
anger, love, suicidal thoughts…shame, interpersonal
boundaries, depression, loneliness,…. intimacy, empathy
and validation.
Rather than talk about these issues , [through SOULSPEAK] the women were able to share and experience with the group and receive intimate and personal feedback… Some of the participants .. have had severe dissociate and post traumatic stress disorders. The rate of flashbacks or dissociate episodes was greatly reduced [as a result of SOULSPEAK]… Several of the women who had been too depressed to work, returned to work, several severed dysfunctional relationships, all became more comfortable expressing their feelings, all greatly reduced if not ceased self-derogatory statements, and there were no incidents of suicide attempts during any of the sessions, and many felt bonding within the group sustained them in their daily lives…I can say with certainty that SOULSPEAK is an effective medium …in treatment of sexual abuse survivors… SOULSPEAK is nothing short of therapeutic, reverent and healing.”
It is my clinical experience that the deep level attained
through SOULSPEAK was more rapid than conventional group
therapy…
In no case was a patient overwhelmed by the
experience
, since it is contained. It is clear from our videotapes that
patients have a sense of relief after doing their poems and their
affect brightens during the course of each session.
I have stopped short of calling SOULSPEAK psychotherapy but it is
indeed therapeutic. It is experiential therapy. It is much
less overwhelming than psychodrama, more creative than
standard group therapy and dispenses with the history telling and
cuts right to the feeling level, rapidly overcoming patient
resistance.
Interestingly enough, it came to be known to the participating
therapists that SOULSPEAK was sufficient in and of itself and
that it was not necessary to process after the SOULSPEAK
experience…. The making of the poem is the
process.
If any therapist requests more information, I would be happy to speak with them.
Patricia Musselwhite-Weaver, MA, CRC, LMHC , Foundation for
Intensive Rehabilitation of Sexual Trauma
“I am a Florida LCSW who has recently completed SOULSPEAK training in a weekly group … for sexually abused women…. I found SOULSPEAK to be a fascinating and effective medium, one that allows the participants to quickly and safely tap into and express underlying feelings … I saw a dramatic change in several of the women ….there seemed to be a blossoming of their inner selves and an increase in self confidence.. an added benefit to this medium is the empathy that is generated [between participants] I feel that SOULSPEAK is a powerful therapeutic tool.”
.
“ I was a participant observer in the SOULSPEAK project
conducted with the Foundation for Intensive Rehabilitation of
Sexual Trauma.. As a clinical; psychologist with thirty five
years of experience in therapy, I am deeply impresses by this
method of work….. The [SOULSPEAK} poems offer helpful and
diagnostic understanding of the problems the client is
experiencing. This can be an invaluable tool for the
therapist.. SOULSPEAK uses seed words to guide the
client’s creative process… The result is both
healing and cathartic… and creates therapeutic empathy and
bonding within the group. I see SOULSPEAK as a
valuable therapeutic tool that releases the creative process. The
tangible process of clients seeing their poems in print and
hearing themselves on tape enables them to put a healthy
distance, or separateness, between themselves and their trauma.
Externalized in this way, it is safely out in the world and more
easy to handle emotionally.”
Natasha Mann, BS,MS, Clinical Psychologist, with half a
century of clinical practice, teaching and training with Fritz
Pearls, Carl Rodgers, and Albert Ellis.
“The purpose of [SOULSPEAK is to allow participants to
express their feelings in a safe environment and in a manner that
feels safe, supportive and non-threatening…..it was
not necessary for the group to become closely connected in order
to accomplish the depth of expression they achieved . This is not
the norm for group treatment with sexual abuse survivors
SOULSPEAK is an interesting and comforting
technique…it is easy to learn, it is extemporaneous
yet keeps the participants in touch with themselves at a deep and
real level. It was beneficial to the staff member
because it allowed the opportunity to both observe and to
participate; the latter is not what occurs other methods of
group treatment”
Jean M. Long. MSW, ACSW
Clinical Supervisor, Family Counseling Services