Time has flown since the Worldcon in July and so many things have been happening. I want to first thank everyone at ACBS for creating and supporting the opportunity for me to attend the conference and the training before. I would like to especially thank Chris Wemple and Suzan Stafford who made me feel so comfortable when hosting me so far from home, and giving me greater insight into life in DC.
The pre-conference workshop I attended was presented by Paul Gilbert and Dennis Tirch on Compassion Focused Therapy. I found the workshop very inspiring, and I began to apply what I had learned to my personal process and my work with individual clients immediately. In September, I used some of these principles and exercises in a facilitator training and a leadership camp for cultural diversity intelligence, called Umthombo Wesizwe (Spring of the Nation, see www.uwfund.org) near Cape Town. The facilitators were especially moved by the compassionate approach, and there was a lot of positive feedback about how this helped them to deepen their connection with themselves, others, and within the group.
Over the past 5 months I have been involved in a process of exploring a research topic relating to the process of transformation in South Africa. I find that I have been deeply affected by the work on shame that we explored with Paul Gilbert, and I am intending to follow in this line by exploring "white shame" and its consequences in terms of transformation in South Africa.
On the ACT front I continue to apply an ACT approach with many of my clients and I continue to grow in this work. I have also done an introductory presentation on ACT to a group of mental health professionals at the military hospital in Cape Town that I based on an introductory pamphlet that I compiled for distribution to health professionals. The pamphlet has been well received and I had some requests for more from interested General Practitioners.
I had made plans for an introductory workshop on ACT in November/December to be presented by an international ACT trainer, though due to time and communication constraints this did not happen.
I have subsequently come into contact with others that are also working with ACT, and have been asked to do another ACT presentation in a neighboring town in the near future.
Overall the opportunity to participate in the conference was a great inspiration to my work in various areas. I have had numerous conversations with people since that time discussing my experience and sharing the knowledge gained in D.C., and I continue to contemplate Worldcon X in Cape Town.
Thank you again to all of those that have supported this wonderful opportunity.
Regards,
Yoav Van der Heyden
Cape Town, South Africa
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