NOTE: ZOOM LINK SENT TO YOUR BOOKING EMAIL 24 HOURS BEFORE EVENT |
Peter McKay
The boy behind the wall and the emergence of a safe enough space
Participation available via Zoom Teleconferencing.
YOU WILL RECEIVE THE ZOOM LINK THE DAY BEFORE THE SEMINAR
PLEASE NOTE: NO RECORDING IS PERMITTED of this event, in order to preserve and respect both intellectual property rights and confidentiality. |
Seminar Description:
The boy behind the wall and the emergence of a safe enough space
In this paper, I invite you to come along on a journey of discovery…the journey of a boy discovering how to be in relationship without the need to hide. By the age of six, T had developed many successful strategies to help keep him separate from his internal experience. These strategies allowed T to live without feeling the pain and suffering he had experienced inside. This pain and suffering were catapulted into a hypersensitivity that underpinned many strategies that kept him safe. The downside of these successful strategies was that he shut himself away from the world behind a huge wall and only briefly could he open the door in the wall to peer through and experience what it was like on the other side. The impacts permeated through many aspects of his life such as making friends, separation, focussing on tasks and the types of clothes he wore.
In this paper, I explore the workings of the therapeutic relationship created between T and myself while working with him at different times in a group and as an individual, with reference to his parents.
Using approaches and theories including but not limited to attachment, contemporary trauma, intersubjectivity, polyvagal theory, somatic psychotherapy and embracing the links between attunement and integration of T’s experience into his sense of self; we curiously explored these parts of the complex journey of discovery. In this seminar I will first of all, provide some context about T’s life. I will then expand on the underpinning theories, followed by talking about some specifics of my approach. By describing a few vignettes throughout the paper, I will ground the theory in our shared phenomenological experience to allow you to gain a sense of our work together. While unpacking my observations, I explore the question of how best to support T’s journey to build his capacity to bear the door to be open for longer and to allow a richer experience of life.
About the Speaker:
Peter McKay is a Somatic Psychotherapist with a private practice in the Melbourne CBD and Hampton. Peter became interested in contemporary trauma theory, Self Psychology and dynamic systems theory while studying at the Australian College of Contemporary Somatic Psychotherapy and he uses these to inform the way he works with individuals and groups. In addition to seeing private clients, he co-facilitates workshops on emotionally intelligent parenting, social and emotional learning for children and the mind, body, gut connection. His studies include a Bachelor of Arts, Graduate Diploma of Training and Development, Certificate of Embodied Relational Dynamics and Diploma of Contemporary Somatic Psychotherapy. He is on the IARPP Webinar Committee, is a Clinical Member of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia and has strong links to the Empathink Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology (EAPSP).
DATE:
3rd September 2022
VENUE:
ONLINE EVENT