Shadows of Historical Cultural Trauma
26/5/2023 – Katowice – Poland
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” C.G. Jung
The Shadow is the realm of the unconscious into which we put all the self-parts we repress and deny, that we disown and can’t acknowledge in ourselves. The Shadow is ‘born’ to the family we are born into and into the culture(s) we are brought up in.
Cultural Shadows are what the culture as a whole (meaning a majority of its members) have pushed into the Shadow, what it denies, is unwilling to own or to acknowledge its existence.
Historical Trauma (Intergenerational trauma) is the trauma experienced by the previous generations, by our ancestors. These traumas affect us, the living through unconscious loyalties and entanglements on both personal and collective/cultural levels.
This workshop is for therapists, facilitators, teachers, practitioners and other professionals who wish to be in touch with what preferes to stay hidden and buried belowground.
The origins of this workshop
For me it begam 6 years ago, and also 84, and also more
I am Jewish, Israeli, born to parents who were children in WW2, in the holocaust.
My father was orphaned before he was 6, he never met any living family member.
My mother was born inside the Warsaw ghetto. Her entire family was saved from death by a Polish friend who smuggled them all out of the ghetto, and with the help of the underground helped them to find shelter.
We still have family in Poland, living in Gliwice.
6 years ago we were visiting Poland. I couldn’t be in touch with its beauty, or connect with its ground at all
I felt as if the ground was soaked in blood, heavy and dense.
I felt rejected by the ground and my roots were not willing to connect with it.
This otherwise lovely family trip ended with me having high fever for several days while things cleaned away from my body.
Healing the connection with this land
This time here, I wished for a different experience – to heal my connection to this land in which my ancestors lived.
I decided to use the opportunity of visiting here again to offer a Shadow Constellations workshop.
A professional focused workshop that had nothing to do with my personal experience.
Yesterday I met with Marta, my student, assistant and the workshop organizer.
When we were walking the streets of Warsaw I noticed how I felt much better towards the ground, I didn’t recoil from it and was willing to connect with it.
However, the ground still felt very dense, holding in it painful history and secrets.
Each time I tapped into the ground I needed several minutes to digest, shake, sometimes tear in order to release the intensity from my body.
We walked slowly, stopping every 10 minutes to “hug a tree”, to digest and support myself.
Finally, we sat at a nice place to discuss the workshop and to do a short Constellation about it.
“Surprisingly” a dark, intense, suffocating pulling representation was attached to the workshop representation.
Instead of trying to “free the workshop” by distancing it, we turned to ask what would support this dark intensity.
What came up was that it wanted to be heard, had to be heard really.
The moment we allowed for it to be heard, it transformed to an emotional wave which then turned into a sense of lightness, healing and connection.
The workshop had to be adapted
It became clear that it made no sense to stick with the original, purely professional program for the workshop.
The historical cultural trauma asked to be heard and we felt strongly that we should go with that.
A new workshop format easily presented itself to us.
This is the workshop that you are warmly invited to now (:
What to Expect
♥ Sharing and Q&A circle
♥ Say goodbye.
You don’t need to have experience with Family Constellations in order to participate – all professional helpers are welcome to take part.
About Nir Esterman
Nir Esterman(M.Sc),
♥ Nir is a teacher and a facilitator of Family and Systemic Constellations, Embodied Shadow Work and Bodywork.
♥ From his diverse professional and personal experience he developed the Shadow Constellation approach.
♥ Based in Israel and teaches internationally – both online and in person.
♥ Specializes in work with professionals, introducing systemic work to therapists and facilitators of all backgrounds.
♥ Staff member of the Constellation Way School of Systemic Constellations, the Systemic Trauma University and presents in professional conferences.
Practical information and Registration
Time & Date: May 26th, 4pm – 9pm
Lcation: Katowice, Przestrzeń Serca
Cost:: 95€ / 430 Zwoty.
You may pay in advance (details with Marta below) or when you come.
Language: While I speak a little Polish, I am not able to teach in this language.
This is why I will be speaking in mainly in English with a little bit of Polish. /
You may speak in Polish and Marta will translate for me.
Registration:
For Registration, please contact the workshop organizer and assistant Marta Grabowska.
at domoddechu@gmail.com / whatsapp: +48 536 490 206.
Any questions?
For any questions about the content, please contact Me (Nir) through the contact form.
For any practical and organizational questions and registration, please contact Marta.
Workshop Registration Form
Registration: When you fill in the form below, you will receive an email with registration instructions.
(If you do not receive it in 5 minutes, please write me through the contact form).
