HLUMELO WORKSHOP FOR CAREGIVERS

An introduction to Hlumelo theatre therapy

• Tuesday 9 August 2005 until Friday 12 August 2005
• Old Fort, Constitution Hill
• Starting at 10h00 and ending at 16h00 everyday of the workshop
• Maximum of 25 participants

top

Presentation style

Workshops take place in the experiential setting at Constitution Hill as part of the Ansisters Constellation. Participants use their own process as material to work with. This creates the opportunity to acquire new skills whilst at the same time offering an opportunity to expand self awareness and processing.

top

Admission criteria

This training workshop is open to CAREGIVERS working as professional therapists, community workers, psychologists, social workers as well as students of community work, social work and psychology.

top

Aim

To introduce caregivers to the main subjects in Hlumelo theatre therapy and to offer an experience of some practical techniques that will enable participants to immediately gain practical skills from the workshop.

top

Course outline

• Session 1: Introduction.
• Session 2: The group as therapeutic player-developing trust.
• Session 3: Role playing: archetypes and characters.
• Session 4: Reality theatre: the symbolic perspective in therapy; towards authentic acts of power.
• Session 5: Image theatre: Body stories – the way you walk through a room, is the way you walk through life.
• Session 6: Life scripts.
• Session 7: Closure

top

Feedback from independent outside experts

“One of the main achievements of this working method is that it helps participants to make their assumptions, perceptions, bias and expectations more conscious. They are given ways to encourage reflexivity. The importance of that at the level of individual, community and nation in South Africa now is hard to exaggerate. Participants are encouraged to take their powers of observation seriously; to make their awareness of body language and people’s use of space conscious so that it can inform them about others’ sense of self and relations with those around them. The combination of greater reflexivity, attention to observational abilities, and body consciousness should empower the participants in their professional work. This work seems to me to provide an important way of challenging people without confronting them.”

Professor P. Reynolds, professor and head of Social Anthropology (UCT)

“Most of these techniques could be used with individuals, groups and communities, across all ages and in response to a number of different personal or social needs. The range of methods and skills used during the workshops offered both therapeutic and educational benefits, and consistently encouraged participants to take responsibility for their own growth and to come up with their own solutions within a supportive group atmosphere. I was greatly impressed with level of sensitivity, commitment and integrity that was demonstrated through the work, illustrating a deep understanding of the methods, and a dynamic insightful ability to translate this into practice.”

L. Rabinowitz, lecturer: Social Work (UCT)

Read more...

Posted 02 July 2005, www.face.org.za, author: Nolene Nel.