Genuine intimacy requires that two autonomous, powerful persons lay down their entrenched habits of self-protectiveness and participate deeply in the vulnerability of relationship. Many women find themselves in an internal bind of wanting intimacy but of not wanting to take on the inner power that true intimacy requires. This workshop explores the resistance women have to embodying power and offers resources that can empower women within intimate relationships. Potential themes for the day include:

• Power, accountability, and co-dependence
• The cultural obstacles to vulnerability & intimacy
• The importance of initiatory experience
• Imagination as a source of power
• Fear and trauma as barriers to autonomy
• Cultivating empowerment in relationship to self, others, and intimate partners

Melissa Schwartz, Ph.D. is Academic Dean and core faculty at the Institute of Imaginal Studies. Formerly a faculty member in both the Psychology and Counseling departments at Sonoma State University, she is in private practice as a Licensed Psychologist and Marriage & Family Therapist. Her interests include the psychology of women, eating disorders, couples therapy, and the Enneagram in psychotherapy.

Program Information:

Dates:Saturday, August 21, 2004

Times:9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Location:IIS, 47 Sixth Street, Petaluma, CA 94952

Fee:$75

Registration:Call IIS at 707-765-1836 to register.

CEU Information:

CE Hours: 7.0

CE Fee: There is a $20 CEU Certificate Fee.

CE Approval For:

• MFT/LCSWs: This course meets the qualifications for 7 hours of continuing education credit for MFTs and LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. (Provider number PCE1391)