CEU Workshop: Imaginative Contemplation in Clinical and Spiritual Practice

Participants who complete this program should be able to:

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe various forms and practices of imaginative contemplation within a spiritual tradition

2. Participate experientially in at least two forms of imaginative contemplation and one form of guided imagery in order to distinguish their similarities and differences

3. Examine and discuss the use of interactive guided imagery in a clinical case study

4. Explore spiritual and clinical benefits as well as potential risks in the use of imaginative contemplation, guided imagery, and interactive guided imagery within therapeutic settings and as complementary to therapy

Registration and continental breakfast

9:30 a.m.  Opening contemplative imagination practice
9:45 a.m.  Purposes and practices of imaginative contemplation within several spiritual traditions: Definitions, descriptions, and differentiation
10:30 a.m.  Break
10:45 a.m.  A method for and an engagement with imaginative contemplation
11:30 a.m.  Clinical explorations of benefits, risks, and counter-indications
12:30 p.m.  Lunch and round table discussion with reflection questions
1:30 p.m.  Guided imagery and interactive guided imagery in therapy: Definitions, descriptions, and differentiation
1:45 p.m.  Presentation and discussion of a clinical case study using interactive guided imagery
3:15 p.m.  Stand up and stretch.
3:20 p.m.  Encountering inner wisdom through guided imagery: Experiential exercise followed by          discussion
4:00 p.m.  Evaluations and dismissal

Martha A. Robbins is the founder and director of Pneuma Institute LLC, an ecumenical organization that offers formation, enrichment, and training programs in spiritual direction and spiritual leadership and the Joan Marshall Associate Professor Emerita of Pastoral Care at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. A graduate of Maryville University (B.A.), St. Louis University (M.A.), and Harvard University (Th.D.), she is also a licensed clinical psychologist, spiritual director, and retreat leader.

Dr. Robbins has lectured and given workshops and retreats in Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Ghana, France, and Canada as well as the United States. As a licensed psychologist, she has worked in a
number of counseling settings including The Cambridge Hospital at Harvard Medical School and the Family Centre in Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

Dr. Robbins is the author of published poems, numerous articles, book chapters, and a book, Midlife Women and Death of Mother: A Study of Psycho-historical and Spiritual Transformation. She authored a series of professional CDs, Guided Meditations on Sacred Scripture to help others engage in contemplative prayer practices.