... dream analysis workshop / dreamwork in the philippines ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, quezon city, manila, philippines)

facilitating this workshop relived in me vivid memories of my wonderful stay in kerala, india way back in 2004.  why, you might ask?  well, in this workshop, participants were mostly indian nationals doing their graduate studies in clinical psychology.  

as a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, i always make sure to work on my clients' dreams whenever they're brought up.  dream analysis is sort of like a game for me, wherein i help my clients decode the personal meaning of their dreams.  i always get a kick out of witnessing their 'aha' moment as the meaning of their dream dawns on them.  

as shown below, we did a lot of fun dreamwork activities:

by the way, i identify myself as a dream analyst and NOT a dream interpreter.  a dream interpreter interprets dreams for the dreamer.  a dream analyst, on the other hand, assists the dreamer in interpreting his/ her own dream.  a dream analyst therefore shuns dream dictionaries, knowing that each symbol in a dream has personal meaning which only the dreamer knows.    

this dream analysis workshop ended with a cultural show which i so much enjoyed that it made me dream of going back to india someday, and hopefully, soon! 

nighty night and sweet dreams everyone!

... gestalt therapy growth group: live the questions now! ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, osteopath, quezon city, manila, philippines)

angel and bart, medical students of the u.p. college of medicine, drop by for a session on gestalt therapy.

one theme which we tackled today was about being at a crossroads in one's life and not knowing which direction to take.  

for those of you feeling confused, i would like to share with you this quote from the poetess maria rilke:  

"... have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves .... Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."  

- Maria Rilke, 1903, in Letters to a Young Poet

i hope maria rilke and i have inspired you a bit today.  God bless you all! :D 

... gestalt therapy growth group: sunog! sunog! ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, osteopath, quezon city, manila, philippines)

love nagpala and ronald miranda, both doctors-to-be from the u.p. college of medicine, dropped by for an experience of gestalt therapy.

the theme that emerged from today's growth activity was on "self-nurture and self-care."  many of the roles we play in life require us to take care of other people.  however, in putting the need of others ahead of ours, we place ourselves at the risk of burning out.  

what comes to my mind is this verse in the bible which says, "love others as you love yourself."  it is a verse that implies self-love as a pre-requisite for loving others.  we simply cannot give what we do not have.  and we cannot fully give what we ourselves are deficient in.  

just to put this "preaching" into practice, ronald and i decided to do cranio-sacral therapy on love nagpala, whose stream has run a little dry from helping others.  notice her delight as she gets recharged! :D

... gestalt therapy growth group activity: puno na punong-puno ng snakes ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist , quezon city, manila, philippines)

after a long while, i facilitated a gestalt growth group activity for some wonderful students from the u.p. college of medicine students- hadi mahammad-isa, sheryl manalili, kris mangunay, patricia nacienceno, and christine olivar.  

in processing the growth group activity, a lot of themes came up.  of all the themes, what struck me the most was the theme about the "little snakes on the road."  these snakes are those little problems or challenges in life that I'm still able to run away from.  

but then, at the dead end of the road i'm treading, I come face to face with this "tree full of snakes," and this time, there is no recourse but for me to confront what I've evaded and feared for so long.

what i love about gestalt therapy growth groups is that it enriches everyone.  i may play the role of facilitator, but i am as much a student of life as the participants in the group are.  so to hadi, sheryl, kris, patricia, and christine,  thank you so much for life lessons I've learned from you. 

... Gestalt Therapy growth group activity: the evil eye in the sky ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, philippines)

friends from the u.p. college of medicine- jonas bico, marge bocaya, franco catangui, rona abad, marvyn chan, and bon buno, dropped by for a sharing session.  

marge shared a story about receiving some message of doom as she was watching tv. and just to make sure that it nothing ominous was going to happen, she checked by looking out her window.  on ground level, there was nothing extra-ordinary but when she looked up, her attention was caught by an array of colors splashed in the sky.  to her surprise, she saw an image of an eye in the midst of the colors.  hmmm...

the rest of the guys talked about themselves:


marvyn:  i'm the type of person who just rides the waves and goes with the flow.


rona:  as a doctor, i'm like a bringer of bad news when i tell patients about their diagnosis.


bon:  people perceive me as a conventional type of person.  they haven't met the adventurous and wild side to my personality.


franco:  i catch people's attention because i have a identical twin brother who is my exact opposite in character.  

well, they didn't only share with me their stories, three of them were sick of the common cold and they were nice enough to share that with me, too!  (joke)  

... Gestalt Therapy growth group activity: gumuho ang aking mundo habang namimili sa divisoria ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, philippines)

when we least expect, our world sometimes just crumbles down on us, leaving us confused, disillusioned, angry, sad, or afraid.  

we may get emotionally knocked out for a while, but when we start coming to our senses, what else can we do but to slowly pick ourselves up, shake the dust off ourselves, take our shaky first steps, and get moving again.   

a world that's crumbled down only offers us the opportunity to create a new one- a world that's hopefully better, more joyful, and more meaningful.

here are friends from universidad de manila: 

kc santos, wats watanabe, berlin perales, marielle paraiso, and charmaine bilan.  

... Gestalt Therapy growth group activity: malaking ahas na nilulon ng arowana sa aquarium ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, philippines)

student doctors from the u.p. college of medicine visited my place to get a taste of gestalt psychotherapy. 

we did an activity which generated a number of issues:


> we need to step up to the challenges of life. -(tonicci/ jayson)


> we need to ask for help when we feel afraid and helpless. -(julie)


> we may be harboring a seething anger within that seeks to destroy. -(nico)


> despite feeling small and vulnerable, we need to have a confidence that we can overcome the hurdles of life. -(patrick)

well, to cap off our meeting, we (Jayson Panganiban, Patrick See, Tonicci Paulino, and Julie Reyes) did some tuning fork therapy on Nico Rogelio to revitalize him after playing a very convincing portrayal of an angry slithering snake in our gestalt activity.

we all wondered how he ever learned to play that part so well! :D

... Gestalt Therapy growth group activity: shadow boxing one's self ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, philippines)

"beating one's self up" is an idiom which means "being overly critical of one's own flaws, shortcomings, or weaknesses."  

first of all, we need to evaluate whether the flaws, shortcomings, or weaknesses we think we have are real, imaginary, or merely exaggerated. and for whatever reason we beat ourselves up, the important thing is to make a plan for overcoming these flaws.  


what comes to mind is the well-known poem by theologian  Reinhold Niebuhr entitled "The Serenity Prayer."  It goes like this:  

God grant me 
the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

this is a beautiful prayer and i hope that it guides and inspires you to live life fully and meaningfully.


up and coming doctors from u.p.college of medicine-- laya zamora, clare toledo, godfrey torres, yen waga, april tagayona, and zie versoza learn life lessons while simultaneously having fun:

... Gestalt Therapy growth group activity: chopping up a snake and reviving a skeleton back to life ... (life coach, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist)

medical students from u.p. manila dropped by for a growth group activity experience. shown here with me are ralph mendoza, april lapuz, jean mendoza, and bryan mesina.

the activity entitled "chopping up a snake" revealed how intimate relationships can surface our insecurities and fears, make us feel vulnerable, and result in trust issues.

the activity entitled "reviving a skeleton back to life" revealed how past situations still get resurrected when they should really be buried for good.

i hope that ralph, april, jean, and bryan gained insights that can guide them well in their journey through life.

... Gestalt Therapy growth group activity: pangiisnub sa akin ng tatay kong bungi ...(life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, philippines)

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today's growth group comprised dianne, marc, marie franz, merwin, michael, and miguel. they were already a lively bunch to start with, but after i did acupuncture on them, they became 10x more energetic and ecstatic, as if they all had adhd.

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from their growth group activity, the lesson that surfaced was this:

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our needs for acceptance, acknowledgment, and affirmation aren't always going to be met by the people who we would like to receive them from.

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but just because our needs may never get met by these people who matter to us, it shouldn't stop us from being kind, loving, and concerned towards them.
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thanks dianne, marc, marie franz, merwin, michael, and miguel! i truly enjoyed our session :D
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