SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS TRAINING

In thinking about coming to Europe for our traditional training, we realized that these trainings have actually been, for the past 20 years, international conferences. It has been a time when people from all over the world have gathered to deepen their own personal process and experience of our work, to sharpen and deepen their clinical skills, and to meet others interested in Voice Dialogue, Relationship, the Psychology of Selves and the Aware Ego process. It has always been an exciting time of learning and sharing.

These conferences have been sponsored by ITP and Robert Stamboliev. From the earliest gathering in Katwijk in 1984 to last year’s Conference at the Gwatt-Zentrum, they have been wonderful celebrations. People from every inhabited continent have attended. Last year’s gathering included participants from South Africa, Hong Kong and Australia as well as from the US, the UK, and Europe. We’ve had these conferences in settings as diverse as a Sufi Temple, a 14th century French Chateau, an ashram, a new age conference center in the south of France, a NATO missile-launch base, and a business conference center. This year we’ve decided to return to the Gwatt conference center on Lake Thun in Switzerland. It is centrally located and we were delighted with the service and the variety of accommodations last year.

Voice Dialogue and the Psychology of Selves have become increasingly popular in the world. Like all happenings, this has a good side and a bad side.

The good side is that it is gratifying to see all of the work we have done together paying such dividends and the idea of the selves becoming so much a part of our culture. It is gratifying to see the work spreading into many areas, such as business coaching and training, systems of body work, spiritual disciplines, and a variety of approaches to therapy and counseling. Inner Critics, the Inner Child, Pushers, Pleasers and many other similar terms have become household words.

The downside is that people are taking only some pieces of the work and using these in a more superficial way to accomplish a specific end. This is an inevitable – and quite natural - consequence of popularity and we don’t see it as a problem.

From our perspective, however, Voice Dialogue is inseparably connected with the Psychology of Selves and the Aware Ego process. We feel that it is more important than ever for those of us who have been working in this field to deepen our own experience and understanding of this process, so we have chosen this as our theme for the conference. As much as possible, we want to support a sense of an ongoing “movement towards excellence” as we each continue to develop in our personal process and continue to develop and expand towards excellence in our professional work. So let’s all enjoy the ride and have a good time together in Gwatt!

REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPANTS

We require that participants have a working knowledge and experience of the Voice Dialogue process. The program is designed for people who have reached a point in their training where they can competently facilitate someone in the Voice Dialogue Process, so it is perfect for anyone operating in either the intermediate or advanced levels of training.

Please contact the ITP office if you have questions about your level of competence.

VENUE

For the training this year we are returning to the site of the 2003 training in Gwatt, Switzerland. Gwatt-Zentrum is a combination hotel, restaurant, banquet and seminar facility. It is located near Interlaken on Lake Thun (Thunersee) and it is perfect for our program. This is a beautiful place – with excellent facilities - and it is a wonderful location from which to visit some of the very lovely areas in Switzerland and the surrounding countries.

FOCUS OF TRAINING

Underlying Focus
As is always the case, our primary focus is the personal development of each participant. Everything that we have planned for the training has this goal in mind.

The Aware Ego Process and Spirituality
In so many of the Voice Dialogue developments that are taking place there is no comprehension at all of the Aware Ego process and its importance. Instead, the work is being used to constellate particular energy states. This is a legitimate way to use the knowledge of the psychology of selves. It is simply not Voice Dialogue unless the Aware Ego process is the focal point of the work.

In addition, more and more we are asked about what Voice Dialogue has to do with spiritual development. We need a clear and precise focus on this issue and, though we have dealt with this in the past, a yet deeper understanding and clarification is possible.

The Architecture of Dreams
Nowhere is the power of the unconscious seen with such authority and profusion as in the dream process that generates at a conference like this one. This was particularly awesome during the last two programs in 2001 and 2003.

As in these past two conferences, we will set up a dream process group about three months before we actually meet and we will start the dream sharing at that time. You will receive further information about this after registration.

In addition to our generic work with dreams during the conference, we will also be looking at the architecture of the dream process. For example, when we are separating from a primary self and embracing a disowned self, what is the structure of the dream process that supports and reflects this change? Along with this we will look at what constitutes an Aware Ego dream so we can be alerted to this kind of dream and why it is coming at a particular time.

Bonding Patterns and Partnering Relationships
We will be reviewing the essential ingredients that constitute Partnering relationships. Partnering does not simply apply to a primary relationship. It is a consciousness that applies to all of our relationships.

As a part of this examination of Partnering we will, of course, be re-visiting our old friends, the bonding patterns. This time, however, there will be a more specific focus.

Most of us have a few people in our lives with whom we remain in a negative bonding pattern for decade after decade. It may be a parent or stepparent or ex-spouse or sibling or ex-boss. We have become so used to these negative bonding patterns that we don’t know that we are in them. They are simply a part of our primary self-system.
Please bring to this conference one or more of these problematic relationships and set an intent to work through the bonding patterns that have held you prisoner for so long.

Deepening of Voice Dialogue Skills
The work in this area will go on in three different ways. First, there will be afternoon sessions set aside for participants facilitating each other. There will be a small staff to help supervise these facilitations if you wish to have supervision.

Secondly, there will be a number of facilitations by senior people and you will have the opportunity of watching different facilitators doing the work. Hal, Sidra, and Robert will be doing demonstrations along with a few senior teachers. It is our hope that these “master classes” will provide new ideas and new inspiration for you in deepening your own work.

Thirdly, there will be training in energetics. We feel that the ability to work with energetics is crucial to the development of an Aware Ego process.

Energy Fields and Networking
One of the real advantages of a larger conference is the tremendous field of energy that is activated. This energy field acts synergistically to enhance the consciousness process of each participant. One of the additional advantages is the chance to network with people of like mind and focus.

We look forward to having you with us in Gwatt!

With warmest wishes,

Sidra, Hal and Robert