I'm sitting at a table, my finger tips covered in blue, red and black chalk pastels. In front of me is a drawing: a tiny person standing below a cloud of black and red, erupting above her, closing down on her. I have felt this many times in life: My throat closes up and I can't get the words out, that are stuck in my chest. I become angry and frustrated but no matter what I try, I can't speak. It is the third week of the Hero Book course, and I am sitting at a table with eight other participants and our facilitator. We are all here on a personal journey to identify what we struggle with in our lives, and how to transform it.
The thing within ourselves we most struggle with, is also our greatest strength. Through my life, I have struggled to speak when I am angry or upset or hurt by someone. I have often pushed these feelings aside, when I felt like I was not being seen or heard by others. At the root of it, I was not seeing and hearing myself. This realisation has changed my life.
Hero Book is an art and narrative group therapy workshop that enables us to rewrite our life stories with ourselves as the hero.
“It is profound, and uses a combination of methods such as drawing and colour, talking and writing, movement and reflection,” says course facilitator Suzanne Leighton.
“The process unlocks the energy trapped in pain and trauma (physical, mental and emotional pain) and empowers you to go forward and create the future as you would like it to be. It is effective because of its simplicity and clever design.”
In order to become the hero in our own lives, we need to identify what we struggle with. When we learn how to work with it, we are able to transform it and use it for our own good. Through a series of six sessions, participants slowly come to identify a repetitive pattern in their lives, which seems to holding them back or “stuck”. Using the imagination, creativity and positive affirmation, we are able to see this pattern in a new way, and ultimately find a way to reclaim power in our lives.
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| A participant's drawing of herself as a hero |
“Through movement, visualisation, colour drawings and sharing memories, emerging heroes tell their stories of the struggle through their darkest hours to an acknowledgement of their own heroic qualities,” says Suzanne. “Rather than dwell on an unpleasant incident, we spend time looking at how resourceful we have been. We also shift the perspective on events so that we can see that things previously seen as destructive or traumatic could actually have been the greatest teachers in our lives.”
“I made a real, measurable breakthrough with the repetitive problem of not feeling worthy,” says one participant. “It opened up parts of my inner symbolic world that I had not been able to access before, despite a lifetime of personal growth and an occupation as an artist. I came unstuck. It changed my life.”
“It was originally designed by Jonathan Morgan of UCT in collaboration with REPPSI (Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative) for AIDS orphans and vulnerable children, to help them process the trauma they had experienced and move forward, taking responsibility for their lives,” says Suzanne.
It has since been used extensively with adults, and at present, Suzanne is particularly interested in introducing the course to be used in the health sector.
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| A participant shares one of her drawings with the group |
The group process creates an environment in which participants affirm one another's growth and change. Suzanne has facilitated groups where people from very different backgrounds have worked alongside each other with great results. “We have had business people in the same group as those who have never been to school and they have enriched one another’s lives,” she says.
The course runs over six weeks, after which you can receive a facilitator's manual for how to run your own course. eight weeks. A number of social workers, occupational therapists, teachers, facilitators and even artists have completed the course and are now using the techniques in their work.
Since identifying my repetitive pattern, I've come to see how my struggle to speak and feel heard has led to amazing opportunities and experiences in my life. It is the reason I write poetry. My poetry led to my career as a journalist. Because I struggled to be heard, I endeavoured to listen to other people and to create spaces where people could express themselves, hear themselves and feel heard. This deep listening taught me empathy for others, which has allowed me to meet and connect with people across the world, from different cultures, beliefs and ways of life.
Seeing how my struggling to speak, has led to beautiful moments in my life, has given me courage to face the fear of expressing myself head on. It is still a challenge, but I'm learning and most importantly, now I believe that I can.
Next Course
Time: Wednesdays 10am-1pm, 25 Jan, 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Feb 2012 (i.e. 6 x 3hrs)
Venue: Casa Labia, Art and Cultural Centre & Museum, 192 Main Rd, Muizenberg, Cape Town
Cost: R2500 per participant. Payment secures your place.
Booking: Casa Labia on 021 788-6068 or email events@casalabia.co.za
or Suzanne Leighton on 021 794-2738 or 084 293-3214 or email suzl@mweb.co.za
Contact Suzanne to find out about other facilitators or courses that are being held.
