Couples Workshops
Upcoming Workshops
Reawaken Your Relationship
Based on the Hold-Me-Tight workshop for couples
Next workshop date TBA
“From making important decisions and having a place to discuss all the sides of the issues to overcoming serious crisis. We both gained a deeper understanding of our dynamics, our individual childhood wounds and the ones we created together. We feel much happier and connected than ever before.”
Women's Group
Details
Women's group is ongoing and meets alternating Tuesdays from 7:30-9:00pm at Seattle Mind Counseling in Greenlake. Series length depends on the current book (about 4-8 sessions).
Cost: $25 per session, paid in full at beginning of each series.
Scheduling is flexible according to the needs of the group.
Location to be provided upon registration.
About
This group is for women only. The focus of the group is to consider life at its origin, and to live in harmony with the way of things. Women finding their own voices, and returning to the community to contribute as only women can do – that will be the quest of this group. This is not a therapy group nor a book group. Deep emotional issues are respectfully noted, but not intruded upon without permission. There is no pressure to talk when you prefer to be quiet. What you share is welcomed. Each 1.5-hour discussion centers on a book selected for its relevance to the feminine self in the given world. Conversations will direct participants to a rigorous look at the self, and a daring challenge toward community. Though intellectually stimulating, the matters will have practical applications. Women, though similar to men in almost all ways, have some significant differences. To filter those differences out from the bustle of ordinary life, and to sharpen their power, is an activity that requires space. This group provides space to read, discuss and learn that which we have left behind, untended and unrefined. We endeavor to bring those qualities back in order to live more intentionally and powerfully. There are issues of health, of community building, of birth, and intuition that often bear the mark of the feminine. We read “Care of the Soul,” by Thomas Moore, a spiritual text of classical foundations After that we read “Habits of the Heart,” by Bella, et al, which broadened our perspective into social life in the United States, comparing the consequences of strong traditional community to the changing perspective of modern individualism. Sprinkled with discussion led by professionals in the areas of physical health, sexuality and philosophy, women will enjoy each others’ company, and learn from the collective wisdom. Recently we read “Thinking Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman. Women are often conflicted between using intuitive thinking and logic. Being capable of both, they are at times reticent about these abilities and do not fully assert themselves in male conversation. This book showed up the different types of thinking, how intuition can at times, and cannot at other times, be trusted, and the cognitive biases that operate in the culture.
Next book
Awe by Dacher Keltner
Awe is mysterious. How do we begin to quantify the goose bumps we feel when we see the Grand Canyon, or the utter amazement when we watch a child walk for the first time? How do you put into words the collective effervescence of standing in a crowd and singing in unison, or the wonder you feel while gazing at centuries-old works of art? Up until fifteen years ago, there was no science of awe, the feeling we experience when we encounter vast mysteries that transcend our understanding of the world. Scientists were studying emotions like fear and disgust, emotions that seemed essential to human survival. Revolutionary thinking, though, has brought into focus how, through the span of evolution, we’ve met our most basic needs socially. We’ve survived thanks to our capacities to cooperate, form communities, and create culture that strengthens our sense of shared identity—actions that are sparked and spurred by awe.
There will be 4 sessions, costing $100 for all 4.
Next session
Tuesdays, alternating weeks, starting December 19, 2023, 7:30 to 9 PM
Past books
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Useful Delusions by Shankar Vendantam
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown
Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino
Active Hope by Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone
How to Change your Mind by Michael Pollan
Selfie by Will Storr
Can Love Last?: The Fate of Romance Over Time by Stephen A. Mitchell
The Way of Woman by Helen Luke
Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Mason
Into the Magic Shop by James Doty
Soulmates by Thomas Moore
Soulcraft by Bill Plotkin
The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker Palmer
The Mythic Path by Stanley Krippner and Daniel Feinstin
“The discussions are deeply thought provoking, ranging from topics both funny and universal, to quite personal and poignant. Dominique maintains the perfect balance of professionalism and warmth to encourage us all to go deeper in our experience of the material and of ourselves.”
Men's Group
Details
Men's group is ongoing and meets alternating Tuesdays from 7:30-9:00pm at Seattle Mind Counseling in Greenlake. Series length depends on the current book (about 4-8 sessions).
Cost: $25 per session, paid in full at beginning of each series.
Scheduling is flexible according to the needs of the group.
Location to be provided upon registration.
About
The focus of the group is to recognize desire as central to motivation. Discussions between men on this topic are not common, and yet, in session after session, the members of the group have found rich rewards they could not have found elsewhere.
This is not a therapy group nor a book group. Deep emotional issues are respectfully noted, but not intruded upon. There is no pressure to talk when you prefer to be quiet. What you share is welcomed.
Each 1.5-hour discussion centers on a book selected for its relevance to human desire and to broadening our understanding of it. Conversations are about practical matters but are also intellectually stimulating. We will talk about relationships and intimacy, as well as about other aspects of life that bring us fulfillment. The group is for men only. I bring a female voice; my role is to keep the group focused on the great matters of life.
Desire, such a natural life force, is often a confusing phenomenon. On the one hand, unmanaged, excessive desire leads to many social problems: alcohol and drugs, sexual deviance and addiction, unstable family relationships, and more. To counteract that trend, people have tried to “give up” desire… as if that were possible. Desire is the engine that drives us to smell a flower, enjoy a child, learn and perfect a skill or sport.
Next book
The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber, David Wengrow
A dramatically new understanding of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the origins of the state, democracy, and inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.
There will be 12 sessions, costing $300 for all 12.
Next session
Tuesdays, alternating weeks, starting January 23, 2024, 7:30 to 9 PM
Past books
Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone
We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love by Robert A. Johnson
Useful Delusions by Shankar Vendantam
Dancing in the Streets by Barbara Ehrenreich
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Selfie by Will Storr
How to Change your Mind by Michael Pollan
The Heart of Desire: Keys to the Pleasures of Love by Stella Resnick
Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan & Cacilda Jethá
To Be a Man by Robert Augustus Masters
Ethical Slut by Janet Hardy & Dossie Easton
In Praise of Love by Alain Badiou
Loneliness by John Cacioppo & William Patrick
What Do Women Want?
Love Sense by Sue Johnson
Wild Mind by Bill Plotkin
Rivers and Mountains without End by Gary Snyder
The Practice of the Wild by Gary Snyder
Passionate Marriage by David Schnarch
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Religion and Politics by Jonathan Haidt
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Erotism: Death and Sensuality by Georges Bataille
Becoming Animal by David Abram
Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel
By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
“…a great place for men to talk about being better at life… The books have all been very thought provoking… I find myself asking questions derived from the books on daily basis.”