Drawing Your Dragons          

What happens when we take the time to seriously think about recurring and seemingly cyclical difficulties or “challenges,” as it is now politically correct to call them?  Take for example, a deep-seated fear of making decisions because we’re afraid we’ll make a mistake (and feel/look foolish)?  Like being addicted to gaming (or chocolate!) and not being able to own up to it ?  Like being paralyzed by fear of authority or feeling negative about having to take orders from someone younger and less experienced that we are?  Like procrastination and not knowing why we do it  … Yup! There are lots of those nagging situations that we can’t seem to shake because we don’t know how to look them in the face or even accept that they exist sometimes. Well, Drawing Your Dragons is all about a first step in figuring out why they exist and trying to resolve them, not alone but in a group of motivated and like-minded individuals as harassed as we are!

Let’s take a look at what happens.  Firstly, we realize that they usually recur in certain well-defined circumstances and possibly around the same (or same kind of) people. We also realize that they probably recur because there is a reason, or even several reasons that need to be identified and dealt with.  Lastly, we realize that these events will prevent us from moving ahead or even maintaining our present position until they are cleared up.

One of the greatest difficulties, however, is closing in on the problem enough to define it and name it in the Naming Process (part I).  Names have “power” in that once we have named something it becomes real to us and we can find a way to deal with it. As long as it remains undefined and vague we can’t get a grip on it.  Once we have named it we can sit down and figure out the answers to the Basic Questions (part II) and do an assessment (part IV) of the abilities, skills and talents, as well as the experience we can use as a foundation, to discover what tools we have to make sure that we can begin changing either the situation or ourselves so it doesn’t continue to wreck havoc in our lives, both personal and professional.

This series of workshops is only a preliminary step in not only analyzing the “cling-on” difficulty or problem, but also in discovering that we already possess all the tools we personally need to diminish, and in many cases rid ourselves of the causes.  Yet we don’t need to do so in serious, therapeutic surroundings, nor alone, which is another difficulty in today’s highly isolated world.  Your cause for concern may be the same as another person’s.  It may also be something another person in your group has already found a way to work through or around.  You may discover that having fun doing your research is not excluded either!

Games and the creative art process can allow us to review the priorities in our lives and put them into a better, more positive perspective.  Many have used “Art-Therapy” to help them get past stages that have been difficult.  What we are proposing is a combination of learning to analyze, define and deal with a recurring difficulty but with the help of both art (Drawing Your Dragon, part III) and a “team” of others who are also seeking their personal or professional solutions (Teamwork, part V)

Drawing Your Dragons takes place in a neutral context and atmosphere that is non- judgmental.  It usually takes place in an art studio where we can get down and dirty placing all our difficulties into the Dragon we create once we have named and defined them.  We can paint, cut, glue, add glitter and take our Dragon home to put it on the wall and look at it, laugh at and remember what to do when things start looking “familiar” and the problem tries to reassert itself.  It takes place in the comfort of a group of people who will work together to find solutions to situations we have been unable to discover alone.  Truth, Trust, making use of past Trial and Error and Treatment (not therapy) of causes to redefine and change the paradigms that created the difficulties in the first place.   

Drawing Your Dragons is an incredible way to uncover why these things happen again and again.  It takes some time, honesty, good will and energy.  But it’s also fun and interesting, diverting and stress-reducing all at once.  It can, but doesn’t usually take place at work or with people who are colleagues, not unless the demand comes from the team itself regarding a common issue to be thrashed out.  This workshop series has been successful for women executives and as a corporate training program for engineers, more particularly among management teams for communication and change strategy difficulties encountered when a company is growing or reformulating long term objectives that require change where change is not appreciated, whatever the reasons.

The results and lasting effects of Drawing Your Dragons are surprising: a clearer understanding of priorities, what is at stake, what needs to be done, the knowledge that we truly have the capacity to deal with difficult issues, a renewed belief in our own worth and an incredible feeling of release and renewal, not to mention increased creativity, teamwork and productivity. 

Things take on a different perspective and our attitudes toward them are healthier, more objective and in the long run more realistic. What’s more, we also come out of the series of workshops with a whole new team of people we can trust to understand what we are talking about in the future if we need some additional support; a new closeness (like in the theatrical family if any of you have ever done any theatre) and a sense of close  belonging to a group of extraordinary people who are there for us, on whom we can count or for whom we can be of help if there is a need to revisit the issue… rather like an Outward Bound or AAA tie where difficulty and joint resolution create ties that bind. 

This series of workshops isa good start at self-assessment and the discovery of where we stand in the various systems in which we live, work and love, as well as where we place our priorities (which can change over time).  Greater self-knowledge leads to a more balanced way of dealing with any difficulties that arise, be they old or new. Join us for these enlightening workshops, either in the intensive or semi-intensive format.  See attached information for details.

 WORKSHOP TITLE: DRAWING YOUR DRAGONS, a 5-prong analysis series (usually 5 hours or a minimum of 3 work days: normally, in corporations or associations, a full work week of 25 hours): 

I.        The Naming Process – defining & putting a name on the recurring issue(s) to be worked on

II.       Answering Basic Questions:

         Who (is involved), what (takes place), where (at work, at home?), why (which emotions take over and why?), when (in what situations) and how (how it acts on you  and what are the results on you, your work and colleagues or family)

III.       Drawing Your Dragons – Placing the issues in or on the Dragon that has been plaguing you (individual painting session, the results of which are shared with the group)

IV.      Self-assessment to define tools available for use to correct the issue

V.      Teamwork Solutions – to define a series of possible options to deal with the issue

LOCATION: Espace Quint-Essences

SERIES I, II OR III - DATES (tbd) & TIMES:

Series I – evening introduction (2-hour) or

intensive 1-day (5-hour) Saturday workshop, bring your own brown bag lunch, two breaks from 9-12 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. or

Series II – 3-days 9am-5pm (long weekend or in situ in enterprise) or

Series III - week-long series of 5-hour workshops (3 in a.m., 2 in p.m.)

YOUR WORKSHOP LEADER: Anaïs Laurent, certified coach (IRSP Lausanne), Master’s in Ed. (Université de Paris) and university & corporate curriculum developer and trainer with over 25 years experience in France and the United States.  Ms Laurent is also the CEO of Destination GROWTH consulting services in training and coaching (Neuchâtel, Switzerland) and the director of the Galerie Quint-Essences (in the Bevaix train station) where art is not only esthetic but a functional tool in systemic personal development.

REQUIREMENTS:

1)   Clothing you don’t worry about and can, if necessary, throw away (if they get too dirty) after the program (jeans and a sweat- or T-shirt), a large piece of thick white paper or a canvas based on which you prefer to use – gouache or finger paints will be provided, as well as brushes, water cups and decorations (although you can collect certain things beforehand to use on your own if you so choose).

      2)   A notebook or pad of paper and pen, pencil & eraser

COST: Evening introduction program for 2 hours = 150 CHF / person

       1-day intensive including breaks   =   750 CHF/person or 1000/team (no more than 6 - 8 in the team, please)

       3-day semi-intensive or week-long wk.shop    = 1'000 CHF / day / team + meals et transportation - Let’s discuss a coaching workshop adapted to your particular needs: info@galerie-quint-essences.ch / 079 255 0308.

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