Workshops

get all the love we need…. but sometimes our parents are beset by problems of their own (like depression or other mental health issues) not available (through work, alcohol or divorce) or did not know how to show their love (because they had poor role models themselves).
The father wound is what happens if something in this first key relationship goes wrong. It is particularly deep with many gay and queer men – who often grow up sensing their interests, their behaviour or they themselves make their fathers uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, when we are young – and our brain is not completely formed – we think ‘I am as I am treated’. These childhood messages are so strong and so deeply buried that even as adults we can struggle with a lack of self-acceptance and end up choosing men that reject us (and reaffirm the old messages of the father wound).
So how has the father wound affected you? Perhaps you hold other men at arm’s length (for fear of being found to be unworthy of love). Alternatively, your father’s love could have felt conditional on getting good grades, excelling on the sport’s field or acting tough and you still feel under immense pressure to be ‘perfect’. Even if you made a conscious choice to be nothing like your father, rejecting him and rebelling against him is still having your life shaped by him – rather than what is right for you.

Over a this weekend workshop, International therapist Andrew G Marshall will lead a series of exercises and rituals to help you:
    •    Identify the impact of your father on your life today
    •    Understand the nature of your particular father wound
    •    Feel less alone by meeting other sons with similar wounds
    •    To explore ins a safe environment what you would like to say to your father and for him to say to you.
    •    Learn how your relationship with your father shaped the one with your mother.
    •    Explore whether your father shows up in your relationship with other male authority figures – like your boss.
    •    Discover if the first man in your life has influenced your choice of lovers
    •    Decide what kind of relationship is possible with your father today and how to go about achieving it.
    •    Look at what you’d like to change in your relationship with all men.

If you are a father yourself or considering becoming one, there will be space in the workshop to explore how not to pass on your wound to the next generation.
Andrew G Marshall

Some feedback from Participants:

• 'It really helped me and I feel much more at peace.'

• 'I learned a lot, I was emotionally involved and I always felt guided in a very professional way. I especially liked the design being so complex and empowering. And what a wonderful brave group we were.'

• 'I felt a lot of release of old emotions and the invitation to speak about my story lasts'

• 'Worked for me to see how much this theme relates as well to others and that I´m not alone with this issue.'