Clifford Wessel

International Integral Coach and Counsellor

Introduction to Spiritual Strategies for Therapists, Counsellors and Mental Health Professionals

Are you a Psychologist, Psychiatrist or Mental Health Professional interested in integrating spiritual work with your current treatment modalities? If so where would you start? What options are there? What approach fits your style, vision and capacities best? How do you help a client integrate an experience that might be deemed “spiritual” or assess how one or another spiritual practice may aid or hinder therapeutic progress? How would you answer the following questions:

1. If we ask a mystic/spiritual seeker/master who has had an experience of enlightenment what preceded it, they will most likely describe the "dark night of the soul" in essence an existential depression beyond any depression they have ever felt. What is the difference between this type of spiritual depression and a clinical depression, and further, what if they are the same thing?
2. Millions of people practice meditation with the intention of entering "the void" a state of perfect nothingness. What is the difference between this nothingness and the emptiness/nothingness people who are unhappy, unsatisfied and/or unfulfilled feel? What if it is the same void?
3. Reframing is a very popular technique that many professionals use regularly and which has been around in our western world for about 30 years, within the science of Psychology which in turn has been around for about 130 years. Reframing is also part of Hawaiian mysticism a tradition that goes back more than 9000 years. If a tradition spanning 9000+ years discovered reframing, hypnotherapy, etc. what other psychological methods might they have discovered that we have yet to?
4. At its root, most fears and anxieties are ultimately grounded in a subconscious fear of annihilation/death. What implications/insights might the tens of thousands of interviews with people who have had NDE (Near Death Experiences) reveal about life and death?

Session 0 - Introduction to Spiritual Work for Therapists, Counsellors and Mental Health Professionals is the first session in a series of 7 designed as a meta-frame that introduces 6 different areas of spiritual work and experiences of some.

Tuesday December 6, 2011, 6 – 8:30pm or

Tuesday December 13, 2011, 6 – 8:30pm

Investment: $65

For more information or to register in person please contact:

cliffordmaw@gmail.com

Session 1 - Introduction to Spiritual Laws. These laws are as readily observable as are physical laws like the law of gravity. These laws are essential to the assessment, design and implementation of any spiritual intervention. These laws are also instrumental in helping us differentiate between the plethora of spiritual courses, masters and other learning opportunities. Tuesdays, December 20, 2011 

Session 2 - Introductions to Spiritual Tools. In this session we will review 40+ spiritual tools/methods/interventions to give the participant an opportunity to get a sense of some of the variety of strategies available. This list is by no means exhaustive, it is a sampling of a evolving spiritual tool kit. We will review the pro and cons of the different tools and experience some. Tuesdays, January 3, 2012 

Session 3 - The Mono-Myth/Hero’s Quest as a blueprint for spiritual development. Explore the cultural differences of all religions and spiritual/mystical paths and connect with the universal principles at the core of each one. This model allows Mental Health professionals to develop the ability to create rapport with clients regardless of cultural origins or spiritual beliefs. In addition it offers the psychotherapeutic value of a “myth that moves us” or the powerful stories/narratives that can support us in challenging times as well as motivate the development of our capacities and soul’s journey. What myth is your client living by? What myth are you as a Mental Health Professional living by? Tuesdays, January 10, 2012 

Session 4 - Spiral Dynamics Integral (SDi). Like the Mono-Myth, SDi is a very valuable meta-model that merits a deeper exploration. Unlike the Mono-Myth which is poetic and lyrical, SDi is grounded in over 40 years of scientific research and 40 years of practical applications. The result is likely one of the best meta-models that outlines a predictable path of human spiritual evolution and on it’s leading edge gives us an immediate insight into a client’s “shadow work” (the spiritual purpose behind certain pervasive emotions, behavioural patterns, etc.) This model is excellent for assessment, treatment design and implementation purposes. Tuesdays, January 17, 2012 

Session 5 - Relationships as Mirrors on the Spiritual Journey. One of the many ironies or paradoxes of spiritual work is that while it may seem fantastical and other-worldly at times the greater purpose is a clearer and truer perception of reality. In other words spiritual work at best is an exercise in breaking through illusions/attachments. Relationships represent for many the most fruitful arena to discover attachments and thus the most direct path to attachment-free (unconditional-love) living, which in a sense is the ultimate goal of all spiritual paths, religions, etc. Relationships is where spiritual rubber hits the road. Tuesdays, January 24, 2012 

Session 6 - Integral Capacity Assessment. Underlying every single session of Spiritual Strategies above is the appreciation that human beings exist at the very least in four distinct dimensions these being physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual. For clients who are interested in human potential and are highly structured and most comfortable mapping out their journey on an MS Excell sheet this might be the strategy of choice. This proprietary coaching model is in beta form. It includes a “menu” of 110 Capacities (organized by the 4 dimensions listed above) which the therapist/coach and client use to create a customized program 9 levels of mastery deep. Tuesdays, January 31, 2012 

Investement

Individual Sessions: $65

All 6 sessions (1 through 6): $330 (special early bird $270 by November 23, early bird $300 by December 9th)

Clifford Wessel Bio

On my journey to discovering how to coach/counsel others as "whole human beings" I completed both traditional and "other than traditional" training. The later of which opened my appreciation and understanding to what a whole and free human being actually is. 

Traditional training  

1. BA Psychology (www.ucalgary.ca) and 8 years progressive experience counselling children, teens and families undergoing severe life challenges at Hull Child and Family Services
2. MSc HRM plus 5 years experience as a HR consultant 
3. Coach at  Right Management Consultants (www.right.com) and Toombs KWA (www.toombsinc.com)
4. Instructor, SAIT Polytechnic (www.sait.ca)  in accredited business, leadership, HR and entrepreneurship courses
5. Instructor Con. Ed., University of Calgary (www.ucalgary.ca) , developed and led over 60 hours of courses dedicated to the exploration of human potential
6. Created and/or led over 2000 hours of professional development, lectures
7. Certified in the Birkman method (www.birkman.com). 2001
8. Certified in Values Orientation an integral assessment tool. 2011
9. Certified SDi Consultant (www.spyraldynamics.net) 2011
10. Member in the ’98 and ’99 National Masters Mountain Bike team, placing 55th and 19th at the World Cup respectively

“We can not solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Albert Einstein

Other than traditional training

1. Joseph Campbell Foundation (www.jcf.org) moderator of 3 forums (including one in Spanish). The JCF is dedicated to the study of comparative religion and mythology across all time and cultures. Conversations generally revolve around the application of spiritual/religious wisdom such as found in the mono-myth or hero's quest to day-to-day issues.
2. Graduate of the Nine Gates Mystery School (www.ninegates.org). Nine Gates is a perfect example of how in 18 days of experiential mystical/spiritual training one can learn more about the human condition and change than in 15 years of traditional training and professional experience.
3. I have studied with a Celtic Druid, African Energy Healer, Sufi Mystic, Hindu Monk, Christian Mystic/Esoteric, Hawaiian Kahuna several North and South American Shamans and a variety of Buddhist teachers (Zen, Tantra, etc.) to learn and develop transformation tools and skills to share with my clients and other professionals ready to explore a much broader definition of who we are, as human beings and what our greater potential might be.
4. Completed a year and a half apprenticeship with a South American Spiritual teacher and co-created and co-led several workshops, a 7 month in depth course, and coached over 150 clients
5. Launched my own practice in 2009. I facilitate workshops (in English and Spanish) in Canada and abroad and coach/counsel individuals ready to take their next step in their personal and professional evolution.
6. Have facilitated Spiritual Professional Development Workshops ranging from 2 hour to 4 day intensives with Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Coaches, Executives, Nuns, Artists,  all from different spiritual backgrounds such as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Atheism, Agnosticism, etc.. They all expressed gratitude for the opportunity to integrate new strategies as well learn from each other .
7. Certified in PLRT (www.brianweiss.com), 2011
8. Facilitated PLRT via Skype with participants in Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, North and Latin America. 

Recommendations:

“Clifford is a really passionate ambassador for Integral and Spiral approaches to relationships, teamwork and organizations. He brings people together for meaningful dialogues and real change.”

Marilyn Hamilton 

“Clifford is a vitally needed "new" thinker / facilitator for the 21st century. In working with me, he always at all times spoke to me as a whole person, where there was nothing wrong, only something not yet seen. As a result, I was able to express my thoughts and ideas fully and completely; I felt heard. From a woman's /artist's /entrepreneur's point of view this was tremendously empowering.”

 Nan Thibert 

“Clifford asks all the right questions in the right way, at just the right time. He's an active listener, a strategic analyst and an absolutely uncanny intuitive when it comes to helping someone discover who it is they are meant to be. I highly recommend Clifford as a business consultant, personal coach and professional friend.”

 Dr. Dan McKinnon 

For more information or to register in person please contact: cliffordmaw@gmail.com

May you find challenges worthy of your many gifts!