The Heart of the Matter: Conscious Living, Conscious Dying
– Presented by Dale Borglum, PhD [CO-SPONSORED]

For thirty five years I have been blessed to be in close contact with many people who were approaching death. Almost all of these people were reaching out for healing – healing in relationship to death, healing in relationship to illness, in relationship to a wounded heart, to separation from their own self. My consuming interest, both personally and professionally, has been the healing process. Why do some people experience wholeness as they approach death while others lose themselves in denial, depression, distraction? Why is it that some of the most alive and awake Westerners I’ve known have been, almost without exception, people near death? Is there some powerful truth about life and about healing that you and I can receive from these few who, as they went through the process of dying, deeply realized their own wholeness?

Bringing emotional/spiritual support to someone with a life-threatening illness is a twofold task. First, help the client realize they are more than that which will die – the finite self – the body and personality. At the same time, honor this finite self, healing it’s woundedness, it’s identification with separateness. Rumi said “Grief is the garden of compassion.” This transmuting separateness of grief into the connectedness of compassion is at that the heart of the work. Confusion, anxiety, depression, and anger are typical responses arising as the end of a life approaches, both for the patient and for their family.

This presentation will explore possibilities for realizing wholeness at the edge of life where illness, grief, and loss arise. Both psychological and spiritual tools will be used in the investigation of these profound and challenging issues. We will offer participants the opportunity to explore the deeper questions surrounding death, healing, and the sacred, so that each of us can better embody an enlivened sense of being in the world in each moment rather than a sense of isolation and denial.

Learning Goals and Objectives:

• Gain a better understanding of the defining characteristics of compassion.
• Distinguish between compassion and pity.
• Fully understand the somatic foundation for being able to let go of identification with separateness.
• Understanding how to transmute the separateness of grief into the connectedness of compassion.
• Become familiar with several contemplative practices that will help a client transmute fear of dying into acceptance.
• Skillfully work with one’s own fear of death as it is resonated by the client’s situation.
• Enable one’s client to use the prognosis of a life-threatening illness as an opportunity to become more present and alive.

Dale Borglum, PhD, founded and directed the Hanuman Foundation Dying Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the first residential facility in the United States to support conscious dying. He has been the Executive Director of the Living/Dying Project in Santa Fe and, since 1986, in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the co-author with Ram Dass, Daniel Goleman and Dwarka Bonner of Journey of Awakening: A Meditator’s Guidebook. Dale gives workshops on the topics of meditation, healing, and spiritual support for those with life-threatening illness, and on caregiving as spiritual practice. He has a doctorate degree from Stanford.

Cost:
$175 early registration, $195 on day of event

CEs: 8 CEs for LMFTs, LCSWs, and Psychologists. Certificates issued after completion of full session.

Community Institute for Psychotherapy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Community Institute for Psychotherapy maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CEs are also offered for LAcs and RNs through the Living/Dying Project.  For more information regarding this, please call (415) 456-3915.

Cancellations must be received in writing 10 business days prior to the seminar or class for a refund minus a $25 cancellation fee.

Accommodation for Special Needs: Accommodations will be made wherever possible to accommodate those with disabilities.  Please let us know of any disabilities upon registration, to ensure that proper accommodations are put in place prior to workshop/training.

Grievance Procedure: CIP will respond to complaints in a reasonable, ethical and timely manner, when submitted by program attendees in writing to the Chair of CIP’s Professional Development Committee.

Anti-Discrimination Policy: CIP shall not discriminate against any individual or group with respect to any service, program or activity based on gender, race, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, age or other prohibited basis. CIP does not require attendees to adhere to any particular religion or creed in order to participate in training. CIP will not promote or advocate for a single modality of treatment that is discriminatory or likely to harm clients based on current accepted standards or practice.

*There is no conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.